Monday Morning Lofton update

#1
orange+white=heaven

orange+white=heaven

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#1
Pearl is talking optimistically.

tfpOnline...
KNOXVILLE —Tennessee’s basketball team is optimistic today’s X-rays and MRI on star guard Chris Lofton’s right ankle will reveal nothing more serious than a bad sprain.

A one-to-two week absence for Lofton is "a good guess," Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl said Sunday, but nothing is definite until today’s tests. While it’s doubtful that Tennessee’s leading scorer fractured his foot, he likely damaged ligaments in his ankle during a ghastly spill with 18:11 left in the second half of Saturday’s 64-61 victory over South Carolina.

Lofton groaned as his foot twisted sharply while he trailed a breakaway lay-up by the Gamecocks’ Dominique Archie. He lay on the court for a few stressful moments before departing without placing any weight on his foot. UT trainer Chad Newman ruled Lofton "out indefinitely" after the game.

Swelling was so bad that initial examinations were inconclusive, prompting the Vols to delay more extensive tests until today. Lofton, restricted to a walking boot, has iced and elevated his foot in an attempt to curb swelling.

At the very least, he isn’t expected back this week. No. 22 Tennessee (14-5, 2-2 Southeastern Conference), losers of three of its past four games, plays Wednesday night at Ole Miss (12-7, 1-4) and Sunday at Kentucky (15-4, 4-1).

"It’s going to be tough," said guard JaJuan Smith, the Vols’ second-leading scorer behind Lofton. "We’ve got a lot of players that are going to have to step up."

Reserve guard Josh Tabb played a career-high 28 minutes Saturday in Lofton’s absence. Point guard Jordan Howell, fresh off a month-long hand injury, returned for a whopping 16 minutes, including time at shooting guard.

Both Tabb and Howell will be used to replace Lofton, a particularly daunting task. Lofton’s 21.5 points per game leads the conference and is seven points higher than Smith’ 14.5 average.

Without Lofton for most of the second half Saturday, Tennessee nearly blew a 15-point home lead against South Carolina, the only SEC team without a league victory this season. The Vols shot 1-of-8 from 3-point range in the second half and 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) for the game.

It tied for the fewest 3-pointers made by Tennessee a game this season. Lofton finished 0-2 to break his string of 35-straight games with at least one 3-pointer, dating back to a Jan. 14, 2006 game at LSU.

"This situation did not build character," Pearl said. "It revealed character."

Saving Saturday for Tennessee was Smith, who snapped a recent drought with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, and true freshman reserve Wayne Chism. When Pearl turned to him down the stretch ahead of starter Duke Crews, Chism answered with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Afterward, Chism didn’t concede his team’s future without its star.

"We just go and play," Chism said. "There are certain things we can do without Chris. Our whole team is not based around Chris."
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#2
#2
It goes without saying that it is definitely going to be tough without "5". If he's out two weeks, that includes three road games out of four games, at Ole Miss, at Kentucky, vs. Georgia, and at Florida. A tough stretch with or without him.
 
#4
#4
Sounds like Pearl talked with Phil about how to make a bad injury not sound so bad - ala Eric's ankle.
 
#5
#5
I hate to sound negative here, but the Vols are in some serious trouble without Lofton. Without him, they struggled to beat a terrible SC team at home.

Hopefully the young guys can step up, but filling Lofton's shoes is going to be a huge task.
 
#6
#6
Honestly, as great a coach as Bruce is, this is where I look for him to make lemonade from lemons. If Lofton misses 4 games, do I expect us to go 4-0? Hell no. But this is one of those times that if they make it to serious games in March and Lofton has an off night, there is the chance that the team could survive because of what they are about to learn.
 
#7
#7
OWB said:
I hate to sound negative here, but the Vols are in some serious trouble without Lofton. Without him, they struggled to beat a terrible SC team at home.

Hopefully the young guys can step up, but filling Lofton's shoes is going to be a huge task.
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I don't think anyone disagrees with you, OWB.
But all you can do is suit up and give 100%.
Hoops is a quirky game, Pearl may be able to work some kind of magic with his chemistry set and keep a competitive group on the court.

I really hope he doesn't need the smoke and mirrors approach for more than a week or so.
 
#8
#8
I guess in a way it's going to be interesting to see how the team plays when they're not depending on Lofton. I don't have a good feeling about it though.
 
#9
#9
orange+white=heaven said:
I don't think anyone disagrees with you, OWB.
But all you can do is suit up and give 100%.
Hoops is a quirky game, Pearl may be able to work some kind of magic with his chemistry set and keep a competitive group on the court.

I really hope he doesn't need the smoke and mirrors approach for more than a week or so.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we'll see what happens. This is a determined team with some very talented young guys. It's time for them to step up.

I just hate that Chris is going to miss the UK game. I love watching him light it up against them. You can bet your bottom dollar that Tubby is a little relieved.
 
#10
#10
OWB said:
I just hate that Chris is going to miss the UK game. I love watching him light it up against them. You can bet your bottom dollar that Tubby is a little relieved.
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How cool would it be if the Vols went up there and stole one with Lofton on the bench in a boot...
:shades:
 
#13
#13
Getting back to the theme of the thread. It's just been reported that Lofton definatly did not break or even fracture his ankle.
 
#14
#14
UT IE 95 said:
We'll have a great shot. KY is not very good. Even without Lofton we will have the talent edge.
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Gotta disagree here. I think KY is a good team. Not great, but very good. We are gonna have our hands full on Sunday. It will be very interesting to see these guys try to fill in for Lofton. I expect to see them sub in and out often to stay fresh for a high pressure D.
 
#15
#15
That's great news, although it remains to be seen whether or not there is ligament damage. My guess is that he's out for the next 2 weeks (4 games), as initially predicted.

I hate saying things like "must-win game," but the Ole Miss game is, at this point, a must-win. UT is the more talented team, even without Lofton. It's just a matter of stepping up on the road. A true gut check for Ramar, Tabb, Crews, Chism, etc.
 
#16
#16
2 weeks is probably right, but in the unlikely event that there was no ligament damage, I would not put it past Lofton to return on Sunday.
 
#18
#18
Kentucky blew out SC in Columbia... so they're pretty decent.

Still hoping for the best as far as Lofton is concerned. At he very least, it'll be interesting to see how the team does for whole games without Lofton.
 
#19
#19
Maybe some of the MDs can chime in but I have heard a break/fracture heels faster than a bad sprain.
 
#21
#21
volinbham said:
I say put Bradshaw at the point. Put Chism in Bradshaw's place and use Ramar as a 2 guard.
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Hmmmm. Agree that more Crews-Chism together is good, but why would you take Ramar out of the pt position? Dane is a forward with above-average ball handling skills, and he'll help tremendously, but I think we're much better keeping him at his current role.
 
#22
#22
Pearl was on the "Locker Room" last night at 10 and he was saying that he's gonna shift Howell to the 2 with Ramar running the point and have Bradshaw go between the 4 and backup point guard. He never mentioned who was starting either.

He did mention that Passely and Tabb are not in 25 min conditioning- Passley is 5-10 min shape and Tabb is 15 min. He made a point to say that they are going to have to work on their conditioning so that they can play more minutes while Lofton is out.
 
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