Rosiak: Fulce Out

[Pardner]

Didn't see this feed come through...wtf! 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/33702354.html

Fulce out with knee injury
By Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 1, 2008 9:05 p.m. | Already paper-thin on the front line, the Marquette Golden Eagles learned on Saturday they'll be even thinner for the time being after sophomore forward Joe Fulce was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right kneecap.

Fulce, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Tyler Junior College, is expected to be out anywhere from 2-4 weeks.

"You hate it for Joe," said coach Buzz Williams on Saturday night from Lincoln, Neb. "Joe had practiced 14 times, and had been getting better with every practice. Obviously our team needs any depth that we can get, no matter the position. We hate that he got hurt, because this is the best time as it relates to the development of your team, and as a newcomer he definitely needed to be a part of every possession in that development.

"But we can't control what happened, we're sorry that he's hurt and we'll do absolutely everything we can to make sure to put him in the best possible position from a rehab standpoint, and whenever he's able to get back on the court we'll welcome him with open arms."

Fulce took part in all of MU's "Haunted Hoops" scrimmage on Friday night, but only made it through part of the Golden Eagles' practice Saturday morning before being pulled.

"I thought that he got hurt probably 10-12 days ago," said Williams. "That's when I saw it, noticed it. I thought that it probably got worse within the last 4-5 days. He practiced today for 30-45 minutes, then I just told him to step off because I could tell he was in pain. They went and got the MRI, and I was sitting on the plane when they came to tell me.

"I don't know that it's been a lingering thing at all. He was fine for the start of practice, made it all the way through boot camp, no pain there. It was lingering if lingering means 6-8 days, but it's not like he's been hurt since he's been on campus."

Williams said Fulce had an X-ray last week that showed no sign of injury to the knee. Fulce will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Fulce's injury leaves MU with just three players 6-7 or taller: senior Dwight Burke, sophomore Pat Hazel and freshman Chris Otule. Of the three, the 6-8 Burke -- the Golden Eagles' starter at center -- is the most experienced, but still only averaged 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.8 minutes last season.

With Fulce out, it's likely MU's starting power forward, junior Lazar Hayward, will see his role increase even more. Senior guard Wesley Matthews might also slide over and play some power forward as well on occasion, a role he's filled in the past.

"It's just like anything else in life -- when you're handed lemons you've got to make lemonade," said Williams. "We'll work at it. We've done some things in regards to inter-changing our personnel. Not to be negative toward Joe at all, but we were going to have to inter-change our personnel no matter what.

"We're a very small team whether Joe plays or not; obviously we become smaller without him. But we'll figure it out and continue to work hard to make it the best that we can with regard to our efficiency in the front court, we'll get better because of it and we'll be happy when Joe makes it back."

Fulce is the second Golden Eagles player to deal with a stress reaction in the past few weeks. Sophomore center Liam McMorrow, who's redshirting after transferring in from Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, has been out since shortly after practice began in mid-October with a stress reaction in his right foot.

Junior guard David Cubillan also continues to recover from off-season surgery on both shoulders.

Fulce was named second team all-American at Tyler last year, where he averaged 16.6 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. Should the timetable for his recovery hold up, he could miss as few as one game or as many as seven.

[Daniel]

I wonder why two players got stress reactions so far - I never heard of it, but I hope that Joe can heal in two weeks and not four, or that this isn;t anything more serious - we need him!

JOE - heal up fast!

[ToddRosiakSays]

Fulce out with knee injury


Nov. 1, 2008
Already paper-thin on the front line, the Marquette Golden Eagles learned on Saturday they'll be even thinner for the time being after sophomore forward Joe Fulce was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right kneecap.
Fulce, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Tyler Junior College, is expected to be out anywhere from 2-4 weeks.
"You hate it for Joe," said coach Buzz Williams on Saturday night from Lincoln, Neb. "Joe had practiced 14 times, and had been getting better with every practice. Obviously our team needs any depth that we can get, no matter the position. We hate that he got hurt, because this is the best time as it relates to the development of your team, and as a newcomer he definitely needed to be a part of every possession in that development.
"But we can't control what happened, we're sorry that he's hurt and we'll do absolutely everything we can to make sure to put him in the best possible position from a rehab standpoint, and whenever he's able to get back on the court we'll welcome him with open arms."
Fulce took part in all of MU's "Haunted Hoops" scrimmage on Friday night, but only made it through part of the Golden Eagles' practice Saturday morning before being pulled.
"I thought that he got hurt probably 10-12 days ago," said Williams. "That's when I saw it, noticed it. I thought that it probably got worse within the last 4-5 days. He practiced today for 30-45 minutes, then I just told him to step off because I could tell he was in pain. They went and got the MRI, and I was sitting on the plane when they came to tell me.
"I don't know that it's been a lingering thing at all. He was fine for the start of practice, made it all the way through boot camp, no pain there. It was lingering if lingering means 6-8 days, but it's not like he's been hurt since he's been on campus."
Williams said Fulce had an X-ray last week that showed no sign of injury to the knee. Fulce will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Fulce's injury leaves MU with just three players 6-7 or taller: senior Dwight Burke, sophomore Pat Hazel and freshman Chris Otule. Of the three, the 6-8 Burke -- the Golden Eagles' starter at center -- is the most experienced, but still only averaged 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.8 minutes last season.
With Fulce out, it's likely MU's starting power forward, junior Lazar Hayward, will see his role increase even more. Senior guard Wesley Matthews might also slide over and play some power forward as well on occasion, a role he's filled in the past.
"It's just like anything else in life -- when you're handed lemons you've got to make lemonade," said Williams. "We'll work at it. We've done some things in regards to inter-changing our personnel. Not to be negative toward Joe at all, but we were going to have to inter-change our personnel no matter what.
"We're a very small team whether Joe plays or not; obviously we become smaller without him. But we'll figure it out and continue to work hard to make it the best that we can with regard to our efficiency in the front court, we'll get better because of it and we'll be happy when Joe makes it back."
Fulce is the second Golden Eagles player to deal with a stress reaction in the past few weeks. Sophomore center Liam McMorrow, who's redshirting after transferring in from Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, has been out since shortly after practice began in mid-October with a stress reaction in his right foot.
Junior guard David Cubillan also continues to recover from off-season surgery on both shoulders.
Fulce was named second team all-American at Tyler last year, where he averaged 16.6 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. Should the timetable for his recovery hold up, he could miss as few as one game or as many as seven.
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http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/33702354.html

[nola03]

Apparently, players suffering injuries during practice sessions doesn't end even though our former coach is in Bloomington. Tough.

[TallTitan34]

Say it aint so Joe!

[mviale]

will be lucky if he is only out in 2008.

[Nukem2]

Apparently, players suffering injuries during practice sessions doesn't end even though our former coach is in Bloomington. Tough.

Practice injuries are always tough; but, more injuries occur in practice in practice than in games.  Just the way it is.  Hard to improve without practicing hard.

[bilsu]

Never heard of a stress reaction until this year. North Carolina's center is out with it also. Maybe teams are overworking their players.

[77ncaachamps]

Yeah, I sure hope that Boot Camp didn't worsen or cause any stresses for Fulce and Co.!

[Niv Berkowitz]

Let's see if the anti-Creaners step up and rip Buzz' too-intense practices for causing this. You know...just to be fair.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[🏀]

I'm willing to wager he's practicing again by next week. Probably more precautionary than anything else.

[mosarsour]

I'm willing to wager he's practicing again by next week. Probably more precautionary than anything else.

+1...they probably just want to be overly cautious at this point.

[jce]

Never heard of a stress reaction until this year. North Carolina's center is out with it also. Maybe teams are overworking their players.

I think that's because they would have simply called it a "sore knee" in the past.