Along with managing the hoopla surrounding tonight's homecoming game against West Virginia, Tennessee senior Alexis Hornbuckle has been attending to her physical well-being.
Hornbuckle's creaky knees are commonly referred to in the Lady Vols' camp as "grandma knees." She has been dealing with such medical issues as tendinitis throughout her career. Her condition occasionally forces her to miss practice. The 5-foot-11 guard missed some time last week and sat out the latter part of Monday's workout.
"She plays so hard, that can happen," Summitt said of the downtime. "It's happened throughout her career."
Lately, Summitt has been talking with Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols assistant athletics director for sports medicine, about Hornbuckle
"I thinks she understands that Lex has to communicate with her; I think Lex understands she has to communicate with Jenny," Summitt said. "If there are days she doesn't feel like going, then we rest her. It's not like I'm going to teach her a whole lot of things.
"I'd rather keep her legs fresh than tax them to the point she's not full speed."
Said Hornbuckle: "It's not something that's going to hold me back in a game. So I'm not too worried about it."
Cain Update: Summitt said Moshak was encouraged by the progress of freshman center Kelley Cain, who's moving better and feeling better after suffering a knee injury almost two weeks ago.
That said, nobody is speculating yet about a possible date for Cain's return to practice.
Notebook: Former Lady Vol Semeka Randall is an assistant coach on West Virginia's staff. ... Advance ticket sales for tonight are approximately 7,500.
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Comments » 5
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I haven't seen them on the tube yet, so don't know, but it seems from what I am reading that Ms Hornbuckle is playing a pretty mature game this year. Shot selection is better, assist to turnover is higher....that is looking to be really good for the vols.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
btw, I have a guess that Alexis and Nicky are the only two players who dare to get in Candace's face about anything. Not that it is probably much needed.
I have a small prediciton: look for Candace to be absolutely dominant towards the end of the season. With the new dtpth, and the better outside shooters, AND the fact she's a year older and tougher, WOW; it should be fun!!!
BTW2: Candace returns for her senior season to get a 3peat. It realy is a big deal, and she knows it.
tenn32rebel writes:
To mparker12 -- I hope you are correct about Candace but I have my doubts. If anybody but the LA Sparks had gotten the first draft choice, Candace would have stayed at UT. However, the LA market is the best for her talents, teamwise and endorsementwise. PLUS, the WNBA really NEEDS a shot in the arm for attendance. This past years attendance was down an average of 3500 fans per game!!! After a second title at UT, I seriously doubt that she will resist ALL THE PRESSURE that will be put on her to join the WNBA. That is a mountain of responsibility for one young lady to handle but no one else is even close to being able to pull it off. Remember all the hoopla about her committment? She announced on ESPN that she was going to UT, so she is used to being in the media spotlight/bullseye. However, it all changes if UT doesn't win the championship in April. Then, it would be personal for her and I think she would return to UT with her ONLY GOAL being another NCAA championship. Either way, I'm proud of Candace and have enjoyed watching her play and improve her game under Pat. Personally, I plan on seeing as many games as possible this year at Thompson-Boling to cheer Candace and the other Lady Vols onto victory!!!!
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I hope you aren't right, but I know where you are coming from. I've also read she's engaged to an NBA buy AND there's Europe....
I'm basing my hopes on this: if she gets the CHANCE for a 3peat, it might sway her to stay an extra year. That would put her up with Chamique and DT....and maybe some others I don't remember.
Still, whicheve way she goes I'll be a fan. She is a class act.
Not that anybody cares, but that girl could be one class A model as well:
http://images.usatoday.com/Wires2Web/...
betz writes:
Who better to teach her than Lisa Leslie who all modeled.
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