When women's basketball practice ends these days, Tennessee's Glory Johnson takes one for the team. Make that two.
"I put my feet up," the senior forward said. "I have these huge pillows that I put my feet on. Take whatever precautions (necessary) to get my energy back."
Good idea, since No. 9 Tennessee (13-4, 4-1 SEC) will need a supreme effort from her against SEC-rival LSU (13-4, 4-1) tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena. (TV: CSS, 7 o'clock). For that matter, the Lady Vols will need virtually every player to dig deeper into their reserves and their resolve for this key conference game.
Tennessee's ranks again have been by strafed by injury. Senior forward Shekinna Stricklen, UT's resident All-American, suffered a sprained right knee in Sunday's 87-64 victory over Vanderbilt. She wasn't overly optimistic Wednesday about her chances of playing tonight, saying that lateral movement was especially difficult.
"I'm still not sure yet," said Stricklen, who has started 121 consecutive games. "I'm going to try to do shoot-around."
The more likely scenario has her joining junior guard Taber Spani on the bench. Spani has been out since Christmas break, trying to recover from a bruised left knee. She's expected to miss her eighth consecutive game.
The Lady Vols know the drill. They started the season without guard Kamiko Williams, who still was recovering from offseason knee surgery. Along the way, they have played a game without center Vicki Baugh (knee tightness) and three full games without starting point guard Ariel Massengale (dislocated finger). Without Baugh, they suffered their most shocking loss of the season, 69-64 in overtime against unranked Virginia on Nov. 20. On the other hand, one of their best victories — 67-61 over then-No. 11 Rutgers on Dec. 13 — was achieved minus Massengale.
"Hopefully, everybody will come ready to play," UT coach Pat Summitt said. "Sometimes, it's a wait-and-
see and you might think: well that's not a good thing. Well it's a good thing if somebody does step up and typically that's what happens because of the depth we have and the leadership we have."
In this case, all remaining sharpshooters need to be front and center. LSU is among the nation's leaders in both points allowed per game (47.5) and opponent's field-goal percentage (30.3). Assistant coach Dean Lockwood, who prepared the scouting report, said that the Lady Tigers favor a sticky matchup zone alignment.
"However you slice and dice it ... you have to be able to stick some outside jump shots," Lockwood said.
Lockwood offered a football frame of reference for facing such a defense without Stricklen and Spani, two of UT's most productive 3-point shooters.
"How would you like to go against the NFL's best run defense and you know you have to throw the ball and two of your best wide receivers are out?" he asked. "You wouldn't be happy. We have to find a way to plug the gaps."
Guards Massengale and Meighan Simmons have been arriving early before practice for extra shooting. Simmons, who's shooting 32.8 percent overall and 31.3 on 3-pointers, estimated that she's been putting up at least 100 extra shots per day this week.
"There is always a danger after things happen to say 'woe is me,' " Lockwood said. "But hopefully there's that dimension where it makes you a little more resilient and little tougher because you have to gut it out."
Follow Dan Fleser at http://twitter.com/FleserKNS.
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Comments » 24
dwa7#337691 writes:
early predict:
L Vols 70
L S WHO 66
wigmeister writes:
A hurtin' team. If the freshmen continue to play scared, we are in trouble. Hope we win, but I just got through watching the men in one of the ugliest games ever, so I'm not running very optimistic right now. Go Ladies!!
butch31 writes:
The Lady Vols need to come in and play their game, put LSU away early, feed the post players. Alicia, Meighan and Cierra need to STEP IT UP big time. We need Isabelle not turning the ball over, finishing her shots. Vicki & Glory need to dominate the post on the defensive end, and we already know what they can do offensively. Briana needs playing time to run the point guard position. I hope Shekinna sits out, and actually rest that knee. I rather see her & Taber both healthy and us making a deep NCAA run in the tourney.
flatrock writes:
Whatever happened to Kamiko Williams? She is one of the few LVs who did not back away from UK's clawing defense (after almost single-handedly pulling out the win in Lexington last season)...Then the staff couldn't find her more than 5 minutes of PT against Vandy...If this staff would give her HALF the rope it gives Simmons, I believe Kamiko would grow into a more consistent contributor than Meighan- minus the outlandish turnovers...Only when the LVs are in big trouble (Vandy, UK, Auburn last year) does the staff give Kamiko any space..anytime else it is one mistake and done- and then crying about not having a "pure point guard..." Yikes!
butch31 writes:
Kamiko is coming back from ACL injury, I am sure as physical as that Vanderbilt game was, she was held back as a precautionary. We will see her tonight. She came back way too soon from this injury if u ask me! I would of sat the year out!
jt45 writes:
They gave her plenty of rope against Kentucky nitwit and she got beat in the lane, game over. Plenty of outlandish turnovers as you call them by every member of this team. I get tired reading BS like this claiming simmons is the turnover machine making all the mistakes, it shows you dont know what's going on.
Fall_Creek_Vols writes:
I agree about Shekinna and Taber, Butch.
Injuries are part of the game...no mater what the game is. Coach Pat certainly understands that, as her comment indicates. Someone (or perhaps a couple of someones) is going to have to step up...not just tonight, but for the long haul.
I'd nominate Alicia Manning. She always plays hard but she also needs to play smart...the kind of smart you get by being a senior.
So...injuries have made the path a bit rocky. Seems like it'll only make it that much sweeter when we overcome adversity...again. As long as we keep the proper mental aspect, we'll be O.K.
It's time for our depth to come to the party.
wigmeister writes:
Your last sentence, it's time for our depth to come to the party. We don't have the depth. We have bodies. The skill level is not there. They may have been recruited for skills, but it has not shown. Once you get past Johnson, Stricklen, Spani, Massengale, & Manning, our strength drops immeasurably. Simmons has been very inconsistent, so I cannot include them with the other 5. There is such a huge drop off it is amazing. Williams will get there with more pt. Want them to win, hoping for them to win, but reality is tough.
8ball writes:
You get tired of BS then go play with ala football player in tight jeans..DA
madrigal writes:
This is a problem with only having 11-12 players. I wish they'd go ahead and all the scholarships they're allotted.
98reax writes:
flatrock, I saw KW get a chance to save the KY game and she failed at D & O; she could not defend Mathies and could not make a driving short jumper when left wide open by KY. I don't have a lot of confidence in KW. Truth is, we have a team of athletes who are just not being smart with the basketball. Too many TOs and too many missed FGs & FTs. That's basics. We need to step up accross the board. Glory is playing her tail off right now, but she's still giving up half her freethrows. These close games show a lack of fundamental play. Clean that up and we can beat any team in the country. Until we do we are going down in the polls and could very well lose a first round bye in the SEC, not to mention where we may end up when selection Sunday comes.
The ND game will be painful. Tonight's game will be painful. Some teams may be merciful toward the Lady Vols for obvious reasons; Nikki will play her bench. ND will pour it on.
flatrock writes:
Take a deep breath, jt...My comment was not an indictment of MS, just a question as to why staff only stays with KW when the game is absolutely on the line...Interesting stat lines over past 54 games:
-MS: 26.3 mins.pg / KW: 15.5 mins.pg;
-MS: 38.1 % FG / KW: 46.2% FG;
-MS: 29.5% 3PT% / KW: 36.0% FG;
-MS: 133 assists-140 TO / KW: 67 assists-61 TO;
-MS: 24 steals / KW: 28 steals;
-MS: 7 blocks / KW: 22 blocks.
Neither player is a stopper on defense. In the UK loss, KW made a great play by forcing 'Cats into a sideline trap. On final set play, UK was able to isolate and KW got NO help from teammates behind her when UK player got loose.
I like both players- Simmons has incredible quickness, but Williams has better vision, passing skills and overall court IQ. KW also has a very nice shooting stroke- except when she is looking toward the bench for the inevitable 'hook'.
SummittsCourt writes:
I see alot of the wanna be coaches are out today. Hopefully one day some of you will be able to actually coach a real basketball team instead of the "hiding behind a screen name" coaching done on these boards.
martinvol34 writes:
Why do you even post on our site? You are the most negative idiot I've seen on here. Go away.
SoddyVol writes:
The post by 98reax was just truthful. For myself, I believe the freshmen will contribute more tonight and unless LSU makes over 50% FGs, it will be a comfortable win.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The handling of Kamiko has long been a mystery to many of us, especially compared to that of Simmons. To give the staff as much benefit of the doubt as I can, I guess they are trying not to overwork her fresh off her knee surgery. Even so, they don't seem to be putting her in situations where she can succeed. I don't know the timeout situation late in the UK game, but it would seem that she should not have been in to try to cover Mathies, although no one else had been able to do that either.
I love the LVs, from Pat down through the staff to the team, but I am about to give up trying to analyze them. From now on, I'm just going to watch and cheer and try to live with the outcomes, win or lose. I am happy when they win, but I am just NOT going to be devastated if they lose, same attitude I've adopted for the men's team and for some of the same reasons. It is just not healthy for a fan to think they care more about the outcome of the games than the staff and players do, though I'm NOT saying they DON'T care. It's just that they can do something to fix the situation while I can only watch helplessly.
flatrock writes:
Well-stated!
flatrock writes:
I, too, am surprised that KW is back. I was hoping she would take the entire year and come back fully confident. However, the handling by the staff this season is about the same as it was last year. After her standout performances against UK and Vandy last year, the staff buried her on the bench the next game and limited her to cameo appearances- until the next crisis developed.
kazoo writes:
What's the deal with Spani? She's now been out a long time. She and Strick are the ONLY dependable outside shooters on this team, which means this game could be trouble without them. Will need to pass the ball well.
SoddyVol writes:
To help in Stricklen's absence, maybe Cierra Burdick can make several outside shots coming off the bench (probably) tonight. Manning needs to show up also.
Vols68 writes:
Many people bash Meighan Simmons, I dont care what anybody says, Meighan Simmons is a big time player in crunch time moments! Whether you like it or not Meighan Simmons is our go to player when its crunch time, you just have to live with it!
jt45 writes:
Ok your right I got caught up in the moment but way too many fans and trolls are using Simmons as a whining post. Checking turnover stats I see many turnovers commited by other players are getting ignored while they continue to trash Simmons who is one of our best offensive weapons
I have seen some posters trash simmons stats even when she gets few minutes playing time.
I think Kamika is an excellent player and does a great job getting rebounds I just dont think any one player should be getting trashed when they all have had good and bad games.
Juzkruzin writes:
Remember some years back when a linebacker at UT was asked about how they were going to defend against a QB by the name of Archie Manning? Not only did he kick our butts, but he said I will not lose to TN, while I am at Ole Miss. Look it up, but it was Archice 3, UT 0 the next three years. So be careful with LS Who, especially with Stricken and Spani still out. That is our 3 point shooters and Coach Caldwell hasn't forgotten what she learned her 4 years at UT from Coach Pat!!
butch31 writes:
We'll see what Vicki and Alicia are about today? LOL
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