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February 12, 2008

Pitt and Providence Go At It

Filed under: Basketball,Big East,Opponent(s) — Dennis @ 11:11 am

The one thing most people are going to say about this game is the possible return of Levance Fields. He’s been practicing with the team after he was cleared by doctors, and he could possible see a few minutes tonight.

“It will be his decision,” Dixon told reporters on Saturday. “It’s going to be day-to-day. There are going to be some ups and downs as it goes, as you would expect when he hasn’t done anything for six weeks.”

Following Ramon’s winning three over WVU, Fields ran faster off the bench faster than any other Pitt player. And just as Pitt starts to get a starter back, Providence is realizing how many players they are starting to lose. Sharaud Curry is out for the year while Jeff Xavier and Geoff McDermott are playing through pain. Ray Hall has been suspended and Weiyinmi Efejuku has simply played poorly. Also working for Pitt’s favor, the Friars have not won in the Petersen Events Center.

Providence AD Bob Driscoll is hearing from fans about the underachieving Friars team.

“My reaction is I’m disappointed we haven’t been better,” Driscoll said. “There are lots of reasons you can point to. We’ve had injuries and a few other issues but, at the end of the day, we’re judged on our record. It’s not what I wanted it to be.”

Head coach Tim Welsh’s seat is getting hotter. A win over Pitt would undoubtedly be huge for Welsh and the whole team, so they’ll be coming out ready to play. Don’t count out Pitt though. The Big East goal continues to be winning the Big East championship, even without Mike Cook and with Fields missing a chunk of time.

“Every game is huge from here on out,” said Benjamin, who’s averaging 12.6 points as a starter. “The Big East is a crazy league, and you never know when you’re out of it. We’re playing well on defense and once we get back to playing like I know we can on offense, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

Tip at 7:30 on ESPN Full Court and FSN Pittsburgh locally.





Am I the only who noticed that Dokish from PSR wrote Fields would be out 6-7 weeks when everybody else said 8-12 weeks? I don’t know who in the hell his source is but apparently it’s somebody very much in the know since they knew more than Pitt’s own SID who also said 8-12 weeks. Or his source was just very optimistic. Either way, he got the scoop once again. Kudos to him.

Comment by Mark 02.12.08 @ 1:10 pm

Mark,

I reported my reserach on the Fields situation after the Dokish prediction and the medical literature seemed to suport his estimates. I copied my posts form 12/31/2007 below. It was subsequently shot down in a post by a “Dr Jim”, who predicted that Fields would not return at all this season.
hee are the posts:

Comment by TMGPanther 12.30.07 @ 12:51 pm
“Omar, if it is a fracture here is the healing time. Let’s hope it is a bad sprain.
Metatarsal bones and the phalanges may heal in 3-6 weeks…..
Comment by TMGPanther 12.30.07 @ 11:01 pm
Here is some medical information from an Orthopedic journal that seems to be on point for Fields condition. This seems to support the Dokish view of 6-8 weeks. Let’s hope Levance heals like TO. Can we get him a hyperbaric chamber!!
“DeLee et al7 also reported successful outcomes in 10 athletes treated with percutaneous screw fixation, with clinical healing evident at 3 to 6 weeks. Mindrebo et al24 recently reported clinical results of nine Division I collegiate athletes treated for Torg Type I fractures of the fifth metatarsal. These patients were allowed full weight-bearing 7 to 10 days after surgery in a boot brace, with progression to bicycling, swimming, and Stairmaster at 2 to 3 weeks. The average return to running was 5.5 weeks after surgery, with return to full competition at an average of 8.5 weeks.

Comment by TMGPanther 02.12.08 @ 1:59 pm

I guess one thing that has to be considered in all of this is that Fields is a young, highly conditioned athlete who has some of the top medical help in the world, so could probably heal faster than your average person.

Comment by Mark 02.12.08 @ 2:02 pm

The literature regarding orthopedic conditions is based on the general population, the fact that he is young and healthy is HUGE!!! Also, he’s going to get more than your average rehab session. He’ll get any and all treatments available for several hours EACH day.

Comment by Hail2Pitt 02.12.08 @ 2:58 pm

I’m sure the lovin’ from Marcedes helped as well!!

Comment by Fred Flintstone 02.12.08 @ 3:37 pm

Hail2Pitt, Exactly. That is why the one study showed Div 1 college athletes return to actiion much quicker than the general population. Many advantages, as you pointed out. I just hope he doesn’t try to do too much when he returns and have a set back. We need him at the BE and the Big Dance.

Comment by TMGPanther 02.12.08 @ 4:04 pm

I emailed Dokish to tell him good job on calling it and he said that as of 4 PM, Fields is NOT playing tonight.

Comment by Mark 02.12.08 @ 4:14 pm

I’m torn on this. One hand says we need every BE win we can get and not to take Providence for granted. So Fields should play if possible. On the other hand, we should be able to beat this team at home without him. I definitely don’t want them to rush him back for a game that should be winnable without him. Especially if that makes him that much more healthy for Marquette. But of course then he’d be rusty … OH COLONEL KLINK, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

Comment by geeman2001 02.12.08 @ 5:29 pm

geeman2001, you hit the nail on the head. As Allen Iverson says…”practice”!! Nothing but playing in a game gets you ready for games

Comment by Hail2Pitt 02.12.08 @ 5:58 pm

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