It must not be the shoes, after all.
Ivory white tennis shoes with orange adidas stripes adorned the feet of the Tennessee men's basketball team when they stormed the court for Friday night's 80-63 season-opening win over Temple at Thompson-Boling Arena.
All the Vols' feet, that is, except for those of preseason All-American shooting guard Chris Lofton.
The night before the game, Lofton was spotted wearing the old "Piranhas" model he wore through most of last season.
Lofton said it was a matter of comfort, but one has to believe he also was looking to shake off his slow start through two exhibition games. Lofton hit just 1 of 8 3-point attempts in blowout victories.
Whatever the motive, the plan didn't work: Friday, Lofton was 1-of-8 and 0-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line.
UT coach Bruce Pearl said he's not concerned by Lofton's slow shooting start.
Senior JaJuan Smith said UT fans shouldn't be, either.
"Worry about Chris? Don't stay up late,'' JaJuan Smith said after the seventh-ranked Vols' win over Temple. "Go ahead and go to bed. Come back and he'll be ready.
"He's capable of coming out the next game and putting up 45,'' Smith said. "He will light it up when it's close and you need him, that's C-Lo.''
Point guard Ramar Smith agreed.
"All great players struggle at times, but it won't last,'' Ramar Smith said. "Chris is an All-American.''
Indeed, regardless of the model of shoe he's wearing.
Lofton has switched out of the 2006 Piranhas before, swapping out last season after suffering an ankle injury against South Carolina.
"I thought they were bad luck,'' Lofton said at the time.
After going through three or four models of adidas shoes toward the end of the season, Lofton went back to the Piranhas once more.
Earlier this year, adidas introduced an update version of Piranhas, but Lofton said they hurt his feet, so it was back to the old kicks.
Now, it's just a matter of Lofton returning to his old tricks.
The Vols play host to Arkansas-Monticello at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena as part of the Legends Classic Tournament, which includes a Nov. 16 home game with Prairie View A&M before concluding at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. There, the Vols play West Virginia on Nov. 23 before meeting either Texas or New Mexico State on Nov. 24.
© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 11
bricker865 writes:
Arkansas-Monti-Who?????? Exsqueezme?
lnbadger320 writes:
is this article really necessary, or is the writing staff really bored? they've played one game.
alfrizzle097 writes:
Hey, its just good to see some basketball coverage. I really do enjoy football coverage, but it always got on my nerves that there was no attention to basketball until January.
tlc429#392720 writes:
Inbadger I bet you sleep with your fists balled up in case someone starts something while you're asleep. Some people just aren't happy unless they're griping. GO VOLS!! I don't care if it's underwater basketweaving. GO VOLS!!
Plasticman writes:
I'm just glad we get to read something about the #7 ranked basketball Vols on Sundays after a football game.
AllVol writes:
I'm with you, Plasticman. I'm with you, pal--especially after a big football win! It is great to be Tennessee Vol--always.
Pocket_Passer writes:
Lofton's gonna come out and drain a few just a couple of steps off center court, and this will all be water under the hoop!
IceVol writes:
He's still money from the line. 8-8 against Temple. He will be stone cold just like he was against Virginia in the tournament. Hes unselfish and so talented hell shock us with some numbers soon enough.
lnbadger320 writes:
tlc429, what are you talking about? i think it's stupid to even write an article worrying about Lofton after one game. i'm not griping at all about the team, i just think it's a stupid article. write this article if lofton hasn't shot well 6 or 7 games in the season.
bleed_orange writes:
I'm with you guys. I'm not at all worried about Chris Lofton's shooting touch. Right now while he's in a slump, he just needs to take the ball to the hoop over and over. Maybe his free throw shooting touch will rub off on the rest of the team. He is getting some good assists and a few steals here and there. He probally will not have to lead the SEC in scoring this year for us to win. He might not even lead TN in scoring. Tyler or Jajaun might be leading the team in scoring. I believe that along with Ramar, we'll have 4 players averaging in double figures in points. It might be something like this: Tyler 16, Chris 15, JaJaun 14, Ramar 10-12, Wayne 8-9 points a game. I believe the team will average about 83 points a game with the 2nd team getting about 20 points of that. Keep practicing those free throws and boxing out for rebounds. GO VOLS!
JDS
bleed_orange writes:
Well said TouchdownTN. GO VOLS!
JDS
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