I have no insider information or medical training, but here are my thoughts.
- If the MRI results were good news, that likely means the risk of him making it worse are minimal. If there was a high risk of him making it worse (like a partial tear to a complete tear), then I don't think the MRI results would be good news.
- If there is a high risk of playing making it worse, then I'd bet that Jefferson is done for the whole tournament.
- If the risk of making it worse is minimal, then I believe pain management is the ONLY thing that will keep him off the court completely.
- If Jefferson suits up, then he will start and he will play. There will NOT be a situation where he suits up but only plays if we need him. That'd be asinine. Dropping him into the middle of a game when Iowa State is struggling is NOT going to help Iowa State win.
- If he can tolerate the pain and suit up, then he will start. If his mobility impacts his effectiveness (lateral quickness, can't drive and finish, can't hit a shot), then his playing time will be reduced. Maybe he only gets a couple spurts in the 1st half and 1 last spurt to start the 2nd half.
- If he plays well, then his minutes will be close to normal.
Game predictions
- If Tennessee protects the ball and dominates the offensive boards and Iowa State shoots normally or worse, Iowa State loses.
- If Tennessee protects the ball, dominates the offensive boards and Iowa State shoots out of their mind, Iowa State wins..
- If Tennessee turns over the ball a lot and dominates the offensive boards and Iowa State shoots normally or better, Iowa State wins
- If Tennessee turns the ball over a lot, dominates the offensive boards and Iowa State is ice cold (30% overall), Iowa State loses.
- If Tennessee turns the ball over a lot, Iowa State minimizes 2nd chance points and Tennessee shoots a normal percentage, then Iowa State wins in a blowout.
If Jefferson does not play or is ineffective, the Probability of those 5 outcomes would be 35, 5, 45, 5, 10.
If Jefferson plays, then the probabilities are 25, 5, 35, 5, 30
Roughly that equates to a 60% chance of winning without Jefferson and and 70% chance of winning with a near normal Jefferson.