Pitino: Gorgui Dieng Unlikely To Play Against Kentucky

Rick Pitino announced during his weekly press conference on Tuesday that center Gorgui Dieng is "unlikely" to play in Louisville's Dec. 29 showdown with rival Kentucky.

According to Pitino, Dieng's most recent visit to the doctor revealed that the fractured scaphoid bone in his left wrist is not healing as fast as they had hoped.

Pitino originally targeted Wednesday night's game against Florida International for Dieng's return, but last week stated that that the junior would play "a little" for the first time against Western Kentucky and then be ready to go against the Wildcats. Louisville's Big East opener against Providence on Jan. 2 is now being labeled as Dieng's expected return game.

For the first time since suffering the injury against Missouri on Nov. 24, Dieng suited up and went through pregame warm-ups with the team last Saturday against Memphis. He was averaging 8.2 points and 8.0 rebounds before the injury.

If you're looking for my expert breakdown of when I think we're going to see Gorgui back on the court, here's the percentage of likelihood I'm going with:

Florida International: 25%

Western Kentucky: 25%

Kentucky: 25%

Providence: 25%

You can't tell me you'd be shocked if you saw Gorgui stand up and check into the game at the 16-minute mark tomorrow night. It'd be perfect "messing with Richard" fodder for the postgame presser.