Candace did good tonight even hurt

#3
#3
. . .definitely a gut check! I think they should be able to brace the shoulder, but don't expect her to be her normal self! Others like Hornbuckle have to step it up and "shoulder" some additional scoring responsibility!

Mike:crossfingers:
 
#4
#4
very impressive to dislocate your shoulder, and she did that twice. it will def change the way she plays for the rest of the year, but she'll be fine
 
#5
#5
Candace was pretty awesome last night. Without the shoulder problems, I think she would've hung 40 on aTm. She was in the zone in the first half.
 
#8
#8
OWB said:
Candace was pretty awesome last night. Without the shoulder problems, I think she would've hung 40 on aTm. She was in the zone in the first half.
Click to expand...
She'll have to keep that shoulder in a brace for the rest of the tournament most likely to keep the dislocation from reoccuring, which will probably impact her shot somewhat.

I imagine she'll have surgery on the shoulder at the end of the season.
 
#9
#9
She was amazing in the first half--best I've ever seen her play, and that's saying a lot. Of course she will play in the Final Four--the Vols couldn't beat the Citadel without her. PS's idea of offense is to recruit a star or two and let them, rather than the team concept, carry the load. I guess it's worked for her--tho it would be nice to see her recruit a center who as a clue about offensive basketball. Anosike is tough-minded and a leader--but geez, she has learned nothing about scoring from the center position in four years, continuing a long trend of UT centers who can't score. Actually, she did make TWO consecutive 8-footers against notre dame, which was jaw-dropping. But she was bad last night, which is one reason why Parker had to play with a bad shoulder in the last 10 minutes of the game. Candace may need to have surgery on both shoulders after the season--she had been having problems with her /right/ shoulder before last night when her left was knocked out of joint. She is a tough kid, though, in addition to being hugely talented.
 
#10
#10
Final Four heals pain for Parker
Lady Vols advance despite star player injuring shoulder
By MIKE ORGAN • Staff Writer • April 2, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY — Any questions about how heavily Tennessee depends upon Candace Parker were answered Tuesday when she returned from a shoulder injury in the second half just in time to lead the Lady Vols back to the Final Four.

Repeating as national champions turned into an uphill battle for UT after Parker headed to the locker room with a dislocated shoulder and didn't return at the start of the second half.


Parker finally came through the tunnel with 10:39 left to play, wearing a medical sleeve on her left shoulder, and lifted the top-seeded Lady Vols to a 53-45 win over No. 2-seeded Texas A&M before a crowd of 9,341 at Ford Center.

"I kept looking at the clock thinking, 'When's Candace coming back?''' UT Coach Pat Summitt said. "I anticipated that she would get to come back and then it took so long because they were trying to locate a sleeve, of all things, for her shoulder."

It was an oversight that upset Summitt.

"I was ready to fire about four people at that moment — why didn't we have this thing handy to begin with? That won't happen again. I can assure you of that,'' Summitt said.

The Lady Vols (34-2) will meet Southeastern Conference rival LSU on Sunday in the Final Four in Tampa, Fla.

Parker had enjoyed an extraordinary first half, even by her high standards. She scored 16 consecutive points before her shoulder was initially dislocated with 3:50 remaining and the Lady Vols up 27-21.

She returned after a quick trip to the training room but was able to stay on the court less than two minutes before the shoulder was dislocated again as she stretched out her left arm while going for a steal.

"The second time it popped out, I was a little worried,'' said Parker, who finished with a game-high 26 points.

"But I had all the confidence in the world in (UT medical trainer) Jenny Moshak and I know that she would never put me out there to do any more damage."

Parker suffered a similar injury to her other shoulder last week in a second-round game against Purdue.

Tennessee scored only nine points while Parker was out and Texas A&M (29-8) eventually took a 40-36 lead.

Parker grimaced in pain when she took her first shot after returning in the second half. It was from near the top of the key and did not hit the rim.

"It was weird bringing my arm up,'' Parker said. "When you have an injury like that, it's tough to bring it up. Obviously, I feel like I missed a lot of easy layups when I got back in and, normally, I would be able to rebound a little bit better. But I was just trying to give it everything I had for my team because I knew they needed me."

Parker made only two field goals after the injury but was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Alexis Hornbuckle hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining that put UT in front 48-43, and then made two free throws that put the Lady Vols up 50-45.

Texas A&M's offense collapsed in the final 6:14. After taking a 42-37 lead on a bucket by Danielle Gant, the Aggies scored just five points the rest of the way.

Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair said that even after she was injured, Parker gave his team trouble.

"She showed a lot of effort playing with that shoulder of hers,'' Blair said. "I know she was in a lot of pain, but we were in a lot of pain trying to guard her, too."

Takia Micheaux led Texas A&M with 12 points but made just four of 16 field-goal attempts.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top