Turner still battling long-term shoulder injury

#1

kamoshika

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
4,131
Likes
18,498
#1
Six months ago arthroscopic surgery was done to address the lingering shoulder issue for Lamonte Turner. But three games into the new season, it’s still an issue. “It is,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Monday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena, “but he’s as tough as they come. He’s a warrior. He does have problems. He works it every day. Some days maybe better than others. I don’t think it’s structural or anything like that. It could be some muscular or nerve situations going on there. We just have to keep working on it.”
Lamonte Turner's shoulder still an issue for No. 20 Vols
 
  • Like
Reactions: RollerVol
#2
#2
It really sucks because lingering issues and pain like this can lead you to alter your shooting form and it get committed to muscle memory
 
  • Like
Reactions: tn4elvis
#3
#3
Six months ago arthroscopic surgery was done to address the lingering shoulder issue for Lamonte Turner. But three games into the new season, it’s still an issue. “It is,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Monday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena, “but he’s as tough as they come. He’s a warrior. He does have problems. He works it every day. Some days maybe better than others. I don’t think it’s structural or anything like that. It could be some muscular or nerve situations going on there. We just have to keep working on it.”
Lamonte Turner's shoulder still an issue for No. 20 Vols

Finally a confirmation on why he is releasing the ball about chin level. Almost a "swish and flick" (for Potter fans).
 
#4
#4
Finally a confirmation on why he is releasing the ball about chin level. Almost a "swish and flick" (for Potter fans).
You’re waaaay too proud of being a Potter fan. JMO lol

Also, the release has always been near chin level. The short arm release, probably because of the pain, is what’s new. The short rim results are unfortunately also new.
 
Last edited:
#8
#8
Turner is settling into his new role as a defender and point. Barnes said they’ve told him from day 1 the huge effect he can have on games without ever scoring a point.

Absolutely; in spite of his shooting woes, he has such an enormously positive impact overall. Love Turner's tenacity, toughness and leadership but for now, I'd like to see him cut his FG attempts by about half. He's been our most prolific shooter through 3 games (almost 14 shots per game) but is scoring just 0.73 points per FGA vs 1.24 for the rest of the team.

It's concerning that his shoulder isn't 100% 7 months post-surgery; unfortunately, it's hard to imagine it healing over the course of the season. JMO but until/unless he's able to return to earlier form, I think we may be better off offensively if he limits himself to 6-8 shots per game.
 
Last edited:
#10
#10
Six months ago arthroscopic surgery was done to address the lingering shoulder issue for Lamonte Turner. But three games into the new season, it’s still an issue. “It is,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Monday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena, “but he’s as tough as they come. He’s a warrior. He does have problems. He works it every day. Some days maybe better than others. I don’t think it’s structural or anything like that. It could be some muscular or nerve situations going on there. We just have to keep working on it.”
Lamonte Turner's shoulder still an issue for No. 20 Vols

My two cents: all the more reason to make and keep this guy's minutes precious, i.e. reduce them now so we don't wear him out by February. We must find a strong backup to Lamonte (and Bowden and Pons) now and start giving that player serious minutes...like 20 or so. We need all three of these guys to be there in March and not completely exhausted. We need a rotation of at least nine deep so we can wear the other team out rather than wear our starters out by asking too much of them over a long season grind. I don't care about the polls and I honestly don't really care about the SEC tourney unless we need the wins there to get a bid. I care about the show. All we need to do to dance is win 20+ games. We will do that. But I'd like to show up at the dance with relatively fresh horses and a chance of getting past the first couple of rounds. It's November. Barnes has all season long to develop the bench to get us there. We need four or five more reliable players who will help us win when they are put into games, e.g. produce points, rebounds, assists, steals and jack up the defensive intensity. To me, that's where the coaching should start right now in practices, as much as possible -- finding the bench, building the depth immediately and playing that depth immediately. Just my opinions, with all respect to Coach Barnes and his staff, to whom I graciously defer.
 
#11
#11
I think by Jan. JJJ will have enough experience to take over the PG duties, so no worry there.

We still have a shot at a PG coming in mid season. This is another option.

I feel bad for Turner, but I don't think he will be adequate at the wing even if JJJ moves to point.
 
#16
#16
My two cents: all the more reason to make and keep this guy's minutes precious, i.e. reduce them now so we don't wear him out by February. We must find a strong backup to Lamonte (and Bowden and Pons) now and start giving that player serious minutes...like 20 or so. We need all three of these guys to be there in March and not completely exhausted. We need a rotation of at least nine deep so we can wear the other team out rather than wear our starters out by asking too much of them over a long season grind. I don't care about the polls and I honestly don't really care about the SEC tourney unless we need the wins there to get a bid. I care about the show. All we need to do to dance is win 20+ games. We will do that. But I'd like to show up at the dance with relatively fresh horses and a chance of getting past the first couple of rounds. It's November. Barnes has all season long to develop the bench to get us there. We need four or five more reliable players who will help us win when they are put into games, e.g. produce points, rebounds, assists, steals and jack up the defensive intensity. To me, that's where the coaching should start right now in practices, as much as possible -- finding the bench, building the depth immediately and playing that depth immediately. Just my opinions, with all respect to Coach Barnes and his staff, to whom I graciously defer.
I think depth is a good thing, but I also believe that young, well-trained athletes should be able to play twice weekly for 35-36 minutes for roughly 4 months. I know most guys who are highly recruited come in wanting to play 90% of the time. How often do you see someone train to play 28 minutes? I am not advocating for minutes one way or the other, but just saying things have changed a lot over the years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wlkx and walkenvol
#17
#17
If we sit him, we would be playing 6 people total. Our depth is concerning. By seasons end, we will be a tired team.
Someone else will step up. James and Bowden may have to play more PG by sitting Turner out, but that creates minutes for JJ, Gaines, and Pember. And in games like Alabama St., Lamonte Turner shouldn’t be necessary.

Right now, we only have 10 available bodies, to begin with, so fatigue is going to be an issue all season. Hopefully, they have prepared for this ahead of time in their conditioning.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Vols All Day
#18
#18
I think depth is a good thing, but I also believe that young, well-trained athletes should be able to play twice weekly for 35-36 minutes for roughly 4 months. I know most guys who are highly recruited come in wanting to play 90% of the time. How often do you see someone train to play 28 minutes? I am not advocating for minutes one way or the other, but just saying things have changed a lot over the years.
Just got to keep in mind it's not totally about the game-minutes. There's hours of practice, working out, school, travel and probable lack of sleep to factor in too. Sure, if all they did was the game-minutes, they could probably play the entire night.

Edit: Barnes has his teams go 100% in practice. I've seen it first hand. Their practices are almost as intense as any college game I played in and I didn't play at a super-high level.
 
#20
#20
Just got to keep in mind it's not totally about the game-minutes. There's hours of practice, working out, school, travel and probable lack of sleep to factor in too. Sure, if all they did was the game-minutes, they could probably play the entire night.

Edit: Barnes has his teams go 100% in practice. I've seen it first hand. Their practices are almost as intense as any college game I played in and I didn't play at a super-high level.
Yes, I thought about all the points you make, and I agree about everything you mentioned. Very good observations. Thank you.
 

VN Store



Back
Top