Noted in the game thread that Taylor didn't look right during stoppages of play; like someone trying to walk very gingerly after their feet fall asleep. Shaka Smart just told us that Isaiah Taylor didn't practice yesterday and was in a walking boot today with a heel injury. He's been in pain, but was still able to play tonight, obviously. However, Smart said he wasn't quite right, and also said he has Plantar Fasciitis.
Will give the full quote once the presser wraps up.
It's the right foot.
*****
Full quote from Shaka Smart:
"His heel is bothering him pretty bad after the Oklahoma game, and he did not practice yesterday. He was walking around in a boot yesterday and today, so is he okay? Obviously he was okay enough to play tonight, but he didn't look quite like himself out there. That's concerning. Isaiah is going to try to do the best he can.
"He's got plantar Faciitis. I don't really know if he did one specific thing in the Oklahoma game to aggravate or if it's just the cumulative effect the pounding from that game. He was in major pain yesterday."
*******
Tuesday 5:35 p.m. update from media session earlier today:
We met with Shaka Smart today, who updated Taylor's injury. There is good news for Texas, at least today, and Taylor plans on playing through the issue, which is one that he's actually had for some time. However, it hasn't been normally as bad as it was after the Oklahoma game.
"He’s feeling a lot better today. He has Plantar Fasciitis... it’s a bear of a thing, and it’s one of those things that you can sideline him for a month and it would get better, but we obviously don’t have the luxury of doing that. He doesn’t want to do that. He’s had it for a while. For whatever reason after the Oklahoma game, it really, really flared up bad. He was in a walking boot all of Sunday and most of yesterday. So no one knows did he have one fall or landing that aggravated it? Or was it a cumulative effect? Because he wasn’t feeling particularly bad directly after the game. Sunday morning, he texted me and was like, 'Coach I can’t walk. But he’s feeling a lot better today. I don’t know what happened. I’m sure this is something that he’s probably going to be dealing with for the rest of the season. Fortunately, he’s feeling a lot better today."
Smart added on that it's a painful injury, and an issue for a player like Taylor that relies on quicks. But no one is making any excuses.
"It's a really painful injury. It’s one of those things that you kind of have to grit your teeth. He’s a tough kid, but you’re talking about someone whose game is based on explosiveness and quick movements. As of yesterday morning, he couldn’t really put weight on his heel. He was walking around on his toes on that leg (right). It’s time of year. Everyone has guys that re banged up. Just have to find a way to manage it. The other thing is you have to find a way as a player to somehow not allow yourself feeling less than 100% to impact your mindset and how you approach the game and how you approach being a leader, the game-plan, your teammates and that’s not easy. But you have to do it."
Will Taylor practice today or this week before Friday's game? It sounds like Texas is taking it day-by-day to see how he's feeling, and Smart is also trying to figure out how to balance the practice time Texas needs and not wearing his guys out.
"We held him out on Sunday. It will really be a day-to-day decision. That’s the hard thing for me about this time of year. Clearly, you play a game like last night and you’re like, 'We have to get better, we have to practice, we have to get in there and play one-on-one defense and we have to work on defensive rotations and ball-screen defense.' Well you also don’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face and have the guys not really be as physically ready as they can be for the Oklahoma State game. That’s something that I’ll have to figure out over the next few days is how to strike the balance between those two things. Some of the guys I worked for when I was an assistant would completely annihilate these guys over these next few days in practice. Other guys I’ve worked for would take a more positive approach and kind of, 'burn the tape' as they say. I’m somewhere in between.
Unless Taylor loses his foot sometime this week, he's playing Friday, according to his coach.
"I would be amazed if he sits out Friday. He lives for one thing – to play basketball, which I’ve encouraged him to understand he has a lot of other things going for him. But I was the same way at that age. He’s no sitting out unless you cut his foot off or he just absolutely can’t do it. Again, he’s feeling a lot better today so hopefully he can keep moving in that direction. We’re planning on him playing."
Will give the full quote once the presser wraps up.
It's the right foot.
*****
Full quote from Shaka Smart:
"His heel is bothering him pretty bad after the Oklahoma game, and he did not practice yesterday. He was walking around in a boot yesterday and today, so is he okay? Obviously he was okay enough to play tonight, but he didn't look quite like himself out there. That's concerning. Isaiah is going to try to do the best he can.
"He's got plantar Faciitis. I don't really know if he did one specific thing in the Oklahoma game to aggravate or if it's just the cumulative effect the pounding from that game. He was in major pain yesterday."
*******
Tuesday 5:35 p.m. update from media session earlier today:
We met with Shaka Smart today, who updated Taylor's injury. There is good news for Texas, at least today, and Taylor plans on playing through the issue, which is one that he's actually had for some time. However, it hasn't been normally as bad as it was after the Oklahoma game.
"He’s feeling a lot better today. He has Plantar Fasciitis... it’s a bear of a thing, and it’s one of those things that you can sideline him for a month and it would get better, but we obviously don’t have the luxury of doing that. He doesn’t want to do that. He’s had it for a while. For whatever reason after the Oklahoma game, it really, really flared up bad. He was in a walking boot all of Sunday and most of yesterday. So no one knows did he have one fall or landing that aggravated it? Or was it a cumulative effect? Because he wasn’t feeling particularly bad directly after the game. Sunday morning, he texted me and was like, 'Coach I can’t walk. But he’s feeling a lot better today. I don’t know what happened. I’m sure this is something that he’s probably going to be dealing with for the rest of the season. Fortunately, he’s feeling a lot better today."
Smart added on that it's a painful injury, and an issue for a player like Taylor that relies on quicks. But no one is making any excuses.
"It's a really painful injury. It’s one of those things that you kind of have to grit your teeth. He’s a tough kid, but you’re talking about someone whose game is based on explosiveness and quick movements. As of yesterday morning, he couldn’t really put weight on his heel. He was walking around on his toes on that leg (right). It’s time of year. Everyone has guys that re banged up. Just have to find a way to manage it. The other thing is you have to find a way as a player to somehow not allow yourself feeling less than 100% to impact your mindset and how you approach the game and how you approach being a leader, the game-plan, your teammates and that’s not easy. But you have to do it."
Will Taylor practice today or this week before Friday's game? It sounds like Texas is taking it day-by-day to see how he's feeling, and Smart is also trying to figure out how to balance the practice time Texas needs and not wearing his guys out.
"We held him out on Sunday. It will really be a day-to-day decision. That’s the hard thing for me about this time of year. Clearly, you play a game like last night and you’re like, 'We have to get better, we have to practice, we have to get in there and play one-on-one defense and we have to work on defensive rotations and ball-screen defense.' Well you also don’t want to cut off your nose to spite your face and have the guys not really be as physically ready as they can be for the Oklahoma State game. That’s something that I’ll have to figure out over the next few days is how to strike the balance between those two things. Some of the guys I worked for when I was an assistant would completely annihilate these guys over these next few days in practice. Other guys I’ve worked for would take a more positive approach and kind of, 'burn the tape' as they say. I’m somewhere in between.
Unless Taylor loses his foot sometime this week, he's playing Friday, according to his coach.
"I would be amazed if he sits out Friday. He lives for one thing – to play basketball, which I’ve encouraged him to understand he has a lot of other things going for him. But I was the same way at that age. He’s no sitting out unless you cut his foot off or he just absolutely can’t do it. Again, he’s feeling a lot better today so hopefully he can keep moving in that direction. We’re planning on him playing."
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