Degand Tears ACL, Out For The Season

07-08 Basketball52

Merry Christmas, Wolfpack style.

NC State head men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe has announced that sophomore point guard Farnold Degand will miss the remainder of the 2007-08 season after tearing his ACL last night in the win over Cincinnati. Degand will undergo surgery at a later date.

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07-08 Basketball

52 Responses to Degand Tears ACL, Out For The Season

  1. Trip 12/24/2007 at 10:02 PM #

    ” had heard some stuff about Marques Johnson from someone outside the program (but a very reputable source) who has seen him play. I hadn’t posted it because it hadn’t really been relevant and I was waiting to see how it played out. It seems much more relevant now.

    “I’d be surprised if Johnson develops into a major player. That’s after talking with a lot of the gurus who saw him play in HS, as well as some folks at NCSU. The good news is, he’s probably an ACC-caliber player down the road. He’s just not a star, or even close to that.
    ”

    Well, while i’m not surprised by that critique of MJ, the same can be said about our other 2 (Well, one..) PG’s at the moment. Javi wasn’t hotly recruited and Degand was redshirted at Iowa State. It seems we have three “Not-Star” PG’s with different styles of play at the moment. Lets see if Sidney and company can turn our diamonds in the rough into ACC caliber PG’s. Up to now they’ve worked their magic and it seems to have paid off on Javi/Degand. I’m willing to be that MJ is also benefitting from their coaching.

    If Sidney recruited the right PG’s, he was looking for potential, not current playing ability. All the PG’s with the ability to play right away in a major conference were taken, so Sidney had to look for diamonds in the rough. If he made the right selections, we’ll see continual development from Javi/MJ, and I think we’ll find out that they ARE acc caliber guards, they just needed a little coaching to make it there.

    I like Javi, he has something that can’t be taught easily, mental toughness. Shooting can be improved, with experiance you can develop that “Floor awareness” that elite PG’s have, but toughness is an attribute that you’re just born with and can build your other skills with. Toughness creates potential at the PG position.

    It’s nice to hear from a reputable source though, rather than simply wondering and attempting to figure out something about MJ. From what i’ve read about MJ he seems to really really hate losing. If that’s what drives him, well, he’s gonna have plenty of reasons this year to get better.

    I still hate that we have to discuss this possibility of Grant or fells (The worst ball handling shooting guard in the ACC?) at the point again. I’m hoping Degand retains a role with our team just like Big Lew and that our team pushes to become better with the loss of a guy who really gave it his all.

  2. RTPMedic 12/24/2007 at 10:36 PM #

    I was at the game and it was ridiculous how physical the refs were letting Cincy play. In the first half it was almost like the refs were afraid to call all of the fouls being committed so it would not be so one-sided. Many, many times our guys were being fouled repeatedly on the press after made baskets – not just nit-picky reach-in fouls, but hacks and holds. That was one of the worst officiating crews I have ever seen.

  3. Sweet jumper 12/24/2007 at 11:21 PM #

    We finally made the MSN homepage–N.C. State loses starter to torn ACL! I hope Javi and MJ are up to the challenge. They need to grow up fast. Good luck to Degand during the surgery and the rehab. I hope to see him back next year.

  4. bTHEredterror 12/24/2007 at 11:51 PM #

    Take a look at the play again. The foul had EVERYTHING to do with Degand’s injury. While Degand was coming to jump stop, the contact kept his front leg from planting, and thus all the weight and force he was applying to the jump stop was off kilter and blew the knee.

    It was far from a dirty foul, but certainly injury became more likely with the tactics Cincy employed defensively.

  5. redfred2 12/25/2007 at 1:29 AM #

    It’s 2:15am, Santa’s gotten his job done and can’t go back to sleep, MERRY CHRISTMAS 2007 EVERBODY!!!

    Now, it’s back to BB. I’ve read some comments on here asking why Lowe even took MJ and Javi to begin with. I’m just wondering if you guys remember the timeframe Lowe had to work with, or a kid named Chris Wright, who alledgedly did a complete turn around and backed out the night before he was supposed to be officially introduced as a Wolfpack player for 2007?

    I also don’t remember a whole lot of quality choices left coming out of HS at the PG position when Lowe entered the fray anyway. I’m just glad he picked up who he could and that he is still left with at least a couple of options available after Degand’s injury.

  6. RAWFS 12/25/2007 at 7:41 AM #

    Yes, that “popping” feeling can be very distinct. When I tore my ACL skiing, I definitely could feel it, it felt like a rubber band popping deep in my knee. After that, the leg was useless and my trip out to Utah was over. Swelling came right after that and the docs said surgery wouldbe done as soon as the swelling went down. 10-12 days later I was at Rex getting scoped and repaired.

    The initial rehab was the worst part. I still have the TENS Device they gave me…it’s an electrical muscle stimulator that I used on my quads and hammy to force the muscle to contract and work the knee. Pain doesn’t begin to describe it. Later on at the rehab center I was sure that the folks there were Gestapo torture experts (not really, but they were TOUGH) but thanks to them, I have zero troubles with my knee and have full usage. I even resumed skiing a year later, but it took 2-3 years to have full confidence in the repair.

    I feel for Degand and for the football players going through this. It’s a tough row to hoe, and those guys can use all of the support that we as fans can give ’em.

  7. Noah 12/25/2007 at 10:27 AM #

    yeah, the electrical stuff in knee rehab is supposed to be the worst. It’s for range-of-motion type stuff.

  8. GoldenChain 12/25/2007 at 11:55 AM #

    And I was just beginning to think the team was coming around.

  9. redfred2 12/25/2007 at 1:49 PM #

    ^They were. Let’s hope they still are.

    It’s funny to me how people placed most all of their discontent on Gavin Grant’s shoulders last season, and then started directing it toward Degand/Gonzales this season.

    I hope the team is going to be able to stay focused and work through this injury, but some fans needed to stop and THINK before they rush to criticize kids who haven’t played in quite awhile, along with those who have been forced to play out of their natural position more than they ever wanted to.

    Either way, I’m sure right now that those same folks would like to be able to change what happened to Degand at the end of Cincy game. Also, Gavin Grant is only now, and finally, receiving some worthy praise for his ALWAYS positive attitude and contributions.

    Go figure???

  10. Packster 12/25/2007 at 3:39 PM #

    Man….everyone here is really down in the dumps seems like. At least we HAVE a backup point guard. Unlike last season. It might take a game or two but Javi is going to lead us. We are going to be OKAY. This team is still going to do good…maybe even great things.

  11. wufpup76 12/25/2007 at 6:14 PM #

    Really tough break (shocking, as this NEVER happens to any Wolfpack teams) …

    I hope on a personal level Farnold can recover quickly and hopefully will be able to play again down the road … best wishes

    Ok, Javi – keep proving me wrong buddy, like you did the other night when I thought we would lose w/ you running the team for the final 4 minutes … at least he’ll get a “baptism by fire” and will hopefully be close to an ACC level point guard by the end of the season

    The season’s not anywhere near over; hopefully Javi will keep improving and gain much needed confidence … we’ll need him to knock down 2-3 open jumpers per game as well. The one shot he took the other night he really rushed and never got set – hopefully just freshman jitters. Above all else though, please take care of the ball … if we don’t turn it over we can stay in games.

    If MJ can give us anything at all we could still be a pretty good team by the end of the season. Also, I know a lot of you don’t want to hear or consider it but we may see (or even perhaps need) Trevor to spell people at the 1 or 2. Trevor hasn’t shown me much to inspire a lot of confidence, but he at least has a little experience and if he gained some confidence I’ve seen him knock down open jumpers (of course, that was against Barton and UNC Pembroke).

    Anyway, let’s see what ya got Javi and Marques!

    Go Pack!!

  12. bTHEredterror 12/25/2007 at 7:06 PM #

    Merry Christmas!

    Electro-Stim was the worst. I tore a hammy and after surgery the electro-stim was used to minimize scarring as well as return range of motion. It worked to a degree, but having an injured muscle contract against your will is disconcerting. I had rehab for about 3 months (this was 1991), and at the end of that it was second nature. But the first couple of sessions were uncomfortable to say the least.

    I had a hyper-extension of my knee, never anything requiring surgery, but my roomate had a full blown ACL/MCL tear and rehab was 3 times longer and immeasurably more difficult for him, so Farnold is in for a tough year. Hopefully he can recover most of his speed, and he will still be effective.

  13. Trip 12/25/2007 at 8:12 PM #

    Sort of related, but Johnny Thomas is walking around, looks like he’s recovering well from knee surgery. He was shooting some with the team before the Davidson game. Didn’t run around any, but it looks like he is walking without much difficulty.

  14. dawgitall 12/25/2007 at 10:40 PM #

    I was checking the rosrer at go pack and saw that the big guy Lew that we brought in last year wasn’t listed. Has he transfered? If so where? What’s the story. I know he was brought in as insurance and really isn’t a ACC level player but I hope we did right by him.

  15. travelwolf 12/25/2007 at 10:45 PM #

    vs. UC, i could see that having 2 tough PG’s that could both play considerable minutes was a great advantage – both of them were playing tough D the other night. i could see how this would effect teams that had a star PG – like VA or Wake – we’d wear down their PG and have an advantage at the end of the game. unfortunately, fate felt otherwise.

  16. Trip 12/25/2007 at 11:43 PM #

    Big lew had a physical condition that ended his career, he’s an assistant to the team now, still on scholarship, but it isn’t counted toward our BB team.

  17. spanky 12/26/2007 at 12:15 AM #

    I actually graduated with Ish Smith outta Central Cabarrus… guess thats irrelevant, but i agree on how having had 2 tough PG’s could help wear down one star PG… Hopefully MJ can step up and Javi grows up quick…. realllly quick…

  18. packpigskinfan23 12/26/2007 at 12:27 AM #

    am I the only one who thought Javi was gonna be the man at the end of the season anyways?

    I feel REALLY bad for Degand, and the WHOLE team… as he was of immense value this season, but I do think that Javi has more of a “natural” point guard approach and had more potential to begin with. He is also out teams most “skrappy” defender.

    call me crazy….

  19. Trip 12/26/2007 at 1:00 AM #

    I originally thought Javi would eclipse Degand, but that MJ would eclipse Javi after he was eligible. I’m still going to say that’s the case, atleast for this year. I think after this year Javi may have a higher upside than MJ, but I can’t judge that fully until I’ve actually seen MJ in action.

  20. ShootingGuard 12/26/2007 at 9:47 AM #

    Although a foul on the actual play versus FD didn’t directly cause FD’s injury per se, I think people underestimate how the earlier rough and often uncalled foul plays can lead a player to overcompensate on plays where they don’t get fouled. I have played enough basketball and in enough rough games to know that, you will jump stop harder and do crazy things to avoid contact or power against contact. No one will ever know for sure if and how much the rough play added to Degand’s situation, but the refs losing total control of a game does increase the odds of injuries. The refs sucked and that should be used against them. Sid should also take this situation and use it with other refs when they suck and start losing control of a game. If Seton Hall starts that crap, Sid should berate the officials about it and how his team was impacted by crappy refs who can’t control a game to get the refs back in line…

  21. newt 12/26/2007 at 9:59 AM #

    Good thing Lowe has been playing both point guards to develop some depth in the lineup. Javi actually played more minutes than Degand against South Carolina.

    Injuries are inevitable, so you really need to go 1.5 to 2 deep at every position. We’ve learned this lesson over and over again.

    A lot of people on the boards and in preseason magazines had Marques Johnson competing for the starting PG spot by the end of the year. On paper, he is the best player, and Lowe describes him as a “run the show” PG, which is what he says he wants. At least the timing worked out well for MJ – Degand’s misfortune is MJ’s opportunity, to reference TOB.

    Seems likely that we’ll see Javi start and MJ get Javi-like minutes, just like Lowe played Degand/Javi at the beginning of the year to develop a two-deep lineup.

    Aren’t you glad that we have 3 PGs on the roster and that the backup already has relevant game experience?

  22. Rochester 12/26/2007 at 10:04 AM #

    I am cautiously optimistic that Javi will do a good job. He needs to gain confidence, especially in his shooting. Several times in the Davidson game he was wide open and just wouldn’t pull the trigger from outside. Maybe he’s not that good of a shooter, but I think it’s kind of a double-edged thing. If he had more confidence he’d probably be better because he’d just let it fly without thinking about it. I like the way he hustles on defense.

    Still curious to see MJ play. At least we have him to go to. We are better off than we were went Atsur went down. We really are. If we can get past Seton Hall we have a few tuneup games for this to settle.

  23. JeremyH 12/26/2007 at 10:22 AM #

    I am glad, Newt. This is nothing like losing Atsur last year; we have 2 point guards waiting in the wings. Javi needs to continue gaining experience and he will be fine. Looking forward to seeing MJ and the pack at the Western Carolina game this Saturday as I have tickets.

  24. redfred2 12/26/2007 at 12:44 PM #

    Like I said up at the top of the thread, some people were scoffing when Lowe picked up JG, MJ, and FG. Those folks weren’t considering Lowe’s late entry into the recruiting wars or injuries like what happened to Degand the other night. Apparently all three of those players will need good coaching before they are true ACC type contributors, but I think we’d better back up and thank our unlucky stars that at least the coaches were thinking ahead and could see that we would be needing some kind of help, and some depth, at the PG position.

  25. Trip 12/26/2007 at 7:38 PM #

    Thinking ahead (08/09) this is going to help Javi out a lot. Tossing Javi into the fire for the ACC season is going to make a veteran out of him. We may not make it far in the NCAA tournament and we’ll be frustrated a lot by mistakes, while this sucks hard for Degand, it will pay out in dividends for Javi since he’ll be a sophomore with a full year of starting experience. (Assuming MJ doesn’t strip that from him…) I believe that MJ/Javi have a higher upside than Degand, so it’ll be interesting to watch them both develop for next year. Hopefully one of them has enough of a shooting touch (I like Javi’s shot, but I think his hand injury/confidence is hurting him) to get some time as a 2.

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