Looking ahead: Chism to play, Vols need new plan

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game at Tennessee, UT big man Wayne Chism took a fall at Florida and limped noticably the rest of the game.

But Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said Thursday that Chism would play against Kentucky even though he did not participate fully in practice.

“The reason why he wouldn’t practice is because he wants to rest up to play,” Pearl told the UT press corps. “But in order to play effectively, he needs to practice.”

Pearl likened Chism to Willis Reed, whose limp onto the court and two baskets in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals is an iconic moment in New York Knick history.

“There’s a little Willis Reed in Wayne, there is,” Pearl said. “That’s OK, as long as it has that kind of ending. He’s certainly been through a great deal.”

Tennessee surprised Kentucky when the teams played in Rupp Arena on Feb. 13. For the first time this season, the Vols played a lot of zone. UK struggled with attacking the zone in the first half. Then with the UK offense at the UK bench end of the court for the second half, the Cats pulled away.

“The big challenge against Kentucky is we showed our cards (in Lexington),” Pearl said. “We did a lot of things differently. We did a lot of things that bothered Kentucky. It’s stuff that had been in the package, but stuff we hadn’t used much. But we’re also going to have to do some other things to keep them off balance.”