Quick notes from Donnie Tyndall’s Press Conference 1/5/15
- Tennessee guard Ian Chiles, a graduate transfer from IUPUI, will have season-ending surgery on his shoulder. Chiles had tried to play through the pain, but will have surgery within the next couple weeks, according to Ben Frederickson. The injury was apparently aggravated last week in practice.
- In another blow to the Vols’ roster, Braxton Bonds had his appeal denied. Bonds will redshirt and have four years of eligibility remaining. No explanation for the denied appeal was given, but likely has to do with Bonds attending three days of class prior to coming to Tennessee.
- Jabari McGhee will be another redshirt candidate, assuming he doesn’t return from foot surgery.
- With the above news and the previous departure of Dominic Woodson, Tennessee is now down to only nine scholarship players.
- The Vols are 8-4 despite the 13th-toughest schedule in the country.
- It was a great academic semester, with a 2.5 team GPA.
- In order to reduce the number of fouls by his team, Tyndall has condensed his defense so defenders aren’t asked to guard opponents too far from the basket. This will impact the number of steals, but should help limit foul trouble.
- Fatigue is a concern with Josh Richardson. He’s been playing roughly 35 minutes a game.
- Because of his physicality, the Vols probably miss Jabari McGhee more than anyone.
- There’s no chance of Brandon Lopez returning this season. He would have played 15-20 minutes a night had he not been injured.
- Armani Moore is going to start making shots before the year is over. He makes them in practice, it’s just a matter of time before he does it in games.
- Tennessee is +1 in rebounding margin this year, which is the worst of any of Tyndall’s previous squads. We just need to get better in that regard, Tyndall said, but it’s challenging without any big, physical players on the front line.
- Tennessee opens its SEC schedule on Wednesday at Mississippi State.
Forum discussion: Vols down to nine active scholarship players