ARKANSAS-INDIANA NOTES : Weems’ injured knee healed enough for Indiana game
Posted on Friday, March 21, 2008
RALEIGH, N. C. - Arkansas scoring leader Sonny Weems believes game-day adrenaline will take care of the last 5 to 10 percent he needs to have a completely healthy right knee against the Indiana Hoosiers tonight.
Weems strained his knee during last Monday's practice in Fayetteville but said he participated some in the Razorbacks' real practice at North Carolina State's practice facility before they shot for an hour at the RBC Center.
The RBC Center is the site for tonight's CBS televised 8: 40 p.m. NCAA Tournament East Regional first-round game between Arkansas and Indiana.
"My knee is actually feeling good," Weems said at the Hogs' NCAA press conference at the RBC Center. "I did a little bit in practice today and ran around a little bit. I think I'm about 90 to 95 percent. If we played today, I would be able to play."
Does he expect to be 100 percent tonight ?
"No doubt," Weems replied.
Weems leads Arkansas with a 14. 3 scoring average, but senior point guard Gary Ervin remarked during the press conference that his scoring doesn't predicate his play. "Every good team, every great team, needs a go-to guy," Ervin said. "He's our go-to guy, at the same time, he's not the kind of person when he's playing bad and not knocking down shots that he's going to give up. He'll do other things like get defensive plays and grab rebounds and do what it takes to win. "The Razorbacks upset ranked Vanderbilt and SEC regular-season champion Tennessee at the SEC Tournament with Weems scoring just 3 and 7 points. Hoosiers grilled about coaching turmoil Indiana's Hoosiers had to answer a lot of hangdogposed questions during Thursday's press conference for a team that went 25-7 overall and 14-4 in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers are the eighth seed to Arkansas'ninth, but what went wrong type questions come with the territory of losing three of your last four following a late-season coaching change.
Indiana is 3-3 under interim coach Dan Dakich after Kelvin Sampson resigned Feb. 22 following an investigation of allegedly impermissible phone calls during recruiting.
"The season isn't over," Indiana senior forward D. J. White replied Thursday to a question implying there's much to lament. "We want to win a championship and we still have that opportunity. We've had a lot of transition this year but we have the opportunity to end the year special and it starts tomorrow night."
Indiana freshman guard Eric Gordon said the Hoosiers know how good they can be because they've been there.
"If we're playing good, we are a team that can beat anybody in the country," Gordon said. "Hopefully, the shots will start falling and we'll get it back on track."
At least for press conference consumption, Gordon, White and starting sophomore guard Arman Bassett said Dakich essentially coaches them the say way Sampson did.
Dakich was a player and assistant under for mer Indiana coach Bob Knight and then was the 10-year head coach at Bowling Green before returning to Indiana under Sampson as director of basketball operations.
"Coach Dakich has been around, and coached us just like Coach Sampson has," Gordon said.
Pelphrey expects the Razorbacks to see how good the Hoosiers can be.
"We'll get Indiana's best shot," Pelphrey said. "We fully anticipate them playing their best game."
Dakich said he's personally had little adjusting to head coaching again but empathizes with the Hoosier players.
"You go 20 some games into the season, and then what happens happened, I think that is a huge adjustment in a number of ways to the players," Dakich said. "I try to equate if that happened to Coach Knight when I played here. It's not something I would have liked. Their adjustment is a different voice, the person who brought them here not being here, but these kids have jumped in."
Running with the Razorbacks Dakich said the key now is adjusting to Arkansas' fast tempo, particularly when Razorback senior center Darian Townes roams on the break. "Townes does a great job of running the floor," Dakich said. "Not good, great. And you've got to know where the shooters are, [Patrick ] Beverley, Weems, [Stefan ] Welsh when he's in the game. "He said the Hoosiers must be able to play fast yet not in a rush against Arkansas'defensive pressure.
"We can't get sped up," Dakich said. "You can get good shots, but if you are sped up, they are not good shots, not if you shoot it too quickly instead of in rhythm."
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
