In Tennessee’s win over Oklahoma, the Vols' absence of forward J.P. Estrella wasn't felt too much, as Felix Okpara rose to the occasion, scoring 18 points. Not to mention, DeWayne Brown II and Jaylen Carey stepped up alongside him to fill the void, making for a dominant performance in the paint.
However, Tennessee will need Estrella down the stretch. He is a key to the Vols' offense, feeding the ball to him in the low post and having him grab rebounds to give Tennessee's wings second-chance points and buckets. Estrella missed most of last season with a foot injury, and that same foot has been bothering him as of late.
“ I don’t think there’s any question it’s a concern for him," said Rick Barnes. " I mean, feet problems are hard to get right, but based on where the screw was placed and all that, I probably shouldn’t be talking about it because Chad knows it, but I don’t think that’s a problem (with) the surgery itself. It’s just some soreness (has) set in, and we just got to get it quieted down.”
The good news is it's just soreness and not anything wrong structurally with the surgery itself. Rick Barnes was nevertheless upset with Estrella for not speaking up sooner about the soreness.
“Well, I’m upset with him. We tell those guys we don’t care if it’s a little sore, you know? I think he had been sore and he didn’t tell anybody, because I think he wants to play so badly. It was probably there before he let Chad (Newman) know it, so you’d have to ask him exactly, but I think it was sore before he let us know it, because he wants to really help this team and his teammates, but he can’t do that. I mean, he’s had that problem with that foot, and that’s something that you can’t mess around with.”
Okpara, Carey, and Brown need to step up on Saturday against Vandy
It remains unclear if Estrella will suit up on Saturday, but for now, we have to assume he won't play. Tennessee has already taken a hit to its frontcourt with Cade Phillips having shoulder surgery in December, and losing Estrella would be an even bigger blow, but for now, things do look somewhat encouraging long-term.
In the meantime, the other three big men for Tennessee will have to keep playing excellently. Vanderbilt is not a Great defensive rebounding team, so second-chance points will be a must in Saturday’s rivalry game.
If Tennessee's trio of forwards can compete at a high level, they will be successful. If not, they could be in for a long game in Nashville.