Friday, February 12, 2010

Heels' Davis out six weeks with broken wrist

In what's already been a difficult, injury-filled season, North Carolina announced Friday morning that sophomore forward Ed Davis (left) will be sidelined at least six weeks with a broken bone in his left wrist.

Davis broke the lunate bone in his left wrist when he fell to the floor in a collision with 9 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in Wednesday's 64-54 loss to Duke. He is the Tar Heels' leading rebounder and shot blocker, and their second-leading scorer.

His wrist will be immobilized for at least the next six weeks. Tests Thursday showed a fracture but not ligament damage. Surgery is not planned at this time.

North Carolina (13-11, 2-7 ACC), which has lost seven of its last eight games, plays host to N.C. State at 4 p.m. Saturday.

"We're all extremely disappointed for Ed and for our entire team," coach Roy Williams said. "It's hard to lose any starter, but when you lose someone likely for the rest of the season who does so many different things for your team it's a significant loss. . . .However, we have to band together and try to overcome this latest adversity caused by the injury."

Davis is one of three North Carolina players who are out with injuries. Sophomore Tyler Zeller has been out since the Clemson game on Jan. 13 with a stress fracture in his right foot. He is out until at least next week. Freshman Travis Wear missed the Duke missed Wednesday's game against Duke and is out indefinitely with a severely sprained left ankle.

Davis is averaging 13.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, has blocked 64 shots and is shooting 57.8 percent from the floor this season. He leads the ACC in blocked shots, is second in rebounding and would be first in field goal percentage but he has not attempted enough shots to qualify for the conference leaders.

-- Ken Tysiac

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch... I keep hoping for some good news out of Chapel Hill. Even though it's a down year I am excited to be going to the game this weekend.

Anonymous said...

And the hits just keep on comin'!

Rhyno said...

Keep on keepin' on, men. Let's be spoilers now.

Chris said...

Geez, UNC just can't catch a break, can they? We lose two big men in a week, wow. And our inside defense is what kept us in the Duke game.

Anonymous said...

Reupert broke his toe last night.

Anonymous said...

Oh no - now we may not win! What a bummer! Seriously though, they've had way too many knocks this season. Hopefully this will be known as the "rebuilding" year.

Anonymous said...

ed has underperformed anyways.....i doubt they were going to do much with him in or not

704Champ said...

"How can you go any lower?" Williams asked after the game, according to The Charlotte Observer. "Be honest: How can it be any worse than it is right now?"

Roy said that after the Virginia game. Guess what Roy: it got a lot lower.

Anonymous said...

I saw that...It does not appear Reupert is out for the season.

Anonymous said...

Leave it up to our Charlotte Observer to get the score wrong. Is there someone there to actually check facts. Poor performance from the Heels and the Observer. Go Duke!

Anonymous said...

roy stated, "ed hurting his hand is more catastrophic and concerning than the earthquake in haiti."

Anonymous said...

Curse of The Blue Hose

Anonymous said...

Wah,wah.....ever notice that all the injuries come out WHEN A TEAM IS LOSING? If the heels had a winning record or were atop the polls or acc standings,they would still find a way to play.Just sack up and get it done tarholes!! Roy has already mailed this year in,so go ahead and make all the excuses you can so you can blame this LOSING SEASON on injuries,roy's book,karma,the haiti comment,the fan from presbyterian he stared down and mouthed a curse word to and then got him thrown out,his broken arm.What's so funny is i don't see many unc national champions tees being worn anymore haha.You tarhole fans are still classy though haha....oops.

Anonymous said...

heh heh .. He said Tar Hole .. heh heh..

Anonymous said...

we can lose this year just as well without Ed as with him :-(

Anonymous said...

This is great opportunity for David Wear to develop. Go Heels!

Anonymous said...

Why is the Observer still listing the very talen ted Stan Olsen on the blog when the Observer, in a grave error, let him go becasue of "budget cuts."

Anonymous said...

Funny how I posted about an incorrect score in the original story and the Observer updates it with the correct score. I wonder if they have an opening for an editor? Sign me up.

Anonymous said...

...and here my prediction was for the Heels to finish ACC play losing five of their next seven, but without Davis and if Zeller takes longer to recover, they could lose out. Ouch. Has UNC ever finished ACC play with a record of 2-14?

Anonymous said...

When you translate the article, it's pretty obvious that:

season ending wrist injury = season ending pride injury

The Reid said...

I think this could end up being a blessing in disguise for the Heels. This increases the likelihood that Davis will return to Chapel Hill next year and give opportunities for Henson, Zeller, and the Wear Twins to get more PT and develop for next year. Go Heels!

704Champ said...

The Reid, why do you think this will increase Davis' likelihood to return for his junior season? I think before breaking his wrist, Davis probably wishes he had left after last year, a la Marvin Williams.

While Davis' draft stock was slightly hurt by UNC's struggles as a team this year, he would still be a first round pick if he left after this season.

I think the next basketball game you will see Ed Davis playing in will be a summer league game for whichever NBA team drafts him in June.

Anonymous said...

Stan Olson is gone?

How are we going to go on without a baseball writer in Charlotte?

Unknown said...

Whoever wrote that Ed Davis was gonig pro is insane! He has had a subpar year and his family is not hurting for money enought to rush him into the draft. Tough break for him but I wish him all the best! Tough year but things could be worse (we could all be Duke fans!)

704Champ said...

The NBA doesn't care about a sub par year. They draft on potential. Its the reason someone like Hasheem Thabeet was drafted well before Tyler Hansbrough. Potential.

Anonymous said...

ed davis is soft and at bout larry drew pt him on the bench and let strickland play.. and for all my duke all i got to say is wait for next year all ca you say harrison barnes reggie bullock and kendal marshall

Anonymous said...

Whats up with Anonymous 1:55? Is he smoking dope? Need some myself. Maybe it will help me write dumb statements. Losing the players that Carolina has lost on/off this year is enough to bury most teams. They were not even that good to begin with, but to say they are using excuses is simply stupid. Learn your basketball buddy before you post again.

704Champ said...

"They were not even that good to begin with"

Agreed, which made their preseason top 5 ranking completely ridiculous and undeserved.