Lady Vols won't fast break through early work

The Tennessee Lady Vols began individual women's basketball workouts Thursday at Pratt Pavilion with six freshmen and another player who sat out her first year last season.

Given the influx of inexperience, UT coach Pat Summitt is not about to step on the coaching accelerator.

"It's going to take a lot of time," she said. "We have to understand we're not trying to play a basketball game next week or in a month."

Redshirt freshman center Kelley Cain, who missed last season after undergoing surgery to address the tracking of her right kneecap, came out of her workout session to have her knee iced and examined. Summitt described it as a precautionary measure.

"She didn't feel good when she was cutting,'' Summitt said. "We want to err on the side of caution."

Sophomore Vicki Baugh and freshman Briana Bass, who are recovering from anterior cruciate knee ligament surgeries, were on the court but didn't participate. The same was true for freshman Amber Gray, who had a left quadriceps injury.

The squad was divided into groups of four and each had a one-hour session with the coaches.

"They're looking at you from different angles,'' freshman Glory Johnson said. "If you make a mistake, you have three people teaching you. Individually, you can get a lot more done."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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