2024-2025 Tennessee Basketball Team Discussion

[NighthawkVol]

Not sure how this will show up in the scrimmage, but we’ve been running a three forward lineup this week quite a bit. Igor, Cade, JP/Felix with ZZ and Mashack. Separately, Boswell has really made some leaps and is getting more consideration for backing up ZZ. Again, hard to know what of this makes it to games, but interesting.

Sounds like, whether Boswell makes an impact this year or not, he’s positioning himself well to be the PG next season. And to be a pretty good one.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Has the athleticism, but you’re probably right.

I like your thought though. He’s only 6-8. That’s a SF in the NBA. He’d be smart to work on extending his range.

 

[omghulkhands]

Not sure how this will show up in the scrimmage, but we’ve been running a three forward lineup this week quite a bit. Igor, Cade, JP/Felix with ZZ and Mashack. Separately, Boswell has really made some leaps and is getting more consideration for backing up ZZ. Again, hard to know what of this makes it to games, but interesting.

Hmm. I assume in this lineup, Igor is more like a wing since he can stretch the floor.

Also, (and I know this is a leap) running a lineup like this / experimenting with it makes me think Dubar might not fit.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

Hmm. I assume in this lineup, Igor is more like a wing since he can stretch the floor.

Also, (and I know this is a leap) running a lineup like this makes a lot / experimenting with it makes me think Dubar might not fit.

I bet you’d have Cade playing the 3 on defense and Igor playing the 3 on offense. That lineup would be a menace defensively, especially if the opposing 3 isn’t a knockdown shooter.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Picked the below off and article in Offthehooks sports w/Barnes on roles for players.
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Igor:
Tennessee will ask him to help in the frontcourt, sure, but Milicic is also going to space the floor and give the Volunteers yet another big-time shooter. He connected on over 37 percent of his shots from long range last season with Charlotte.

Milicic will likely slide into the hybrid-4 role that Josiah-Jordan James had last season. That’s obviously going to bring more size to the table, and perhaps some more consistent shooting. Barnes has kind of been forced to play smaller in recent years at the ‘4’ spot, but that won’t be the case this season.

 

[Chaz-Vol]

2024-25 Conference Previews: SEC

The Evil Empire can never truly be defeated, I suppose

statsbywill.substack.com

Will has good write ups for anyone interested in seeing how this vols team compares to other SEC squads.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Hmm. I assume in this lineup, Igor is more like a wing since he can stretch the floor.

Also, (and I know this is a leap) running a lineup like this / experimenting with it makes me think Dubar might not fit.

I think that’s right on Igor. He’s playing the hybrid 4 and stretching to wing as JJ did last year. On point two, I can’t extrapolate much on PT for anyone. Dubar played a lot this week, but I think that is due to Mashack and JP being banged up. It’ll be interesting to see who plays tomorrow and how much.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Poor Dubar…at this point I hope he’s like Gainey was last year coming off the benchm

 

[FeelVol]

Man, I don't think Phillips is ever going to be a stretch 4, he is an around the basket, high energy, rebounder that will have several follow up dunks, imo. Hell, Barnes has already ran an inbounds play, where Phillips crashes the paint for an alley-oop, last year. I'm not saying he can't extend his range, but I think it will be limited, with very few 3's

I think eventually he’ll have to develop a consistent offensive identity and I’m hopeful that has grown this offseason.I certainly agree with your observations of his current abilities on this team.

 

[hUTch2002]

Between football and the election I haven’t had much of a chance to get into basketball yet so the season opener snuck up on me. I think regular season we take a step back but overall it’ll be a good year. Sweet 16 minimum. Chance at Elite 8. Forget that. I say we Elite 8 again. Go Vols!

 

[RockyTopTexas]

I miss tobe

 

[Volfan1000]

Igor got the start tonight along with Chaz.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Between football and the election I haven’t had much of a chance to get into basketball yet so the season opener snuck up on me. I think regular season we take a step back but overall it’ll be a good year. Sweet 16 minimum. Chance at Elite 8. Forget that. I say we Elite 8 again. Go Vols!

I think this team will gradually get better as the season wears on. I’m hoping for a season like Alabama’s last year…they weren’t as good as the year before (when they won the SEC) and lost a generational talent, but got better as the year went on and made a surprise run to their first final 4. Maybe we can get the same kind of lucky matchups and do the same.

 

[hUTch2002]

I think this team will gradually get better as the season wears on. I’m hoping for a season like Alabama’s last year…they weren’t as good as the year before (when they won the SEC) and lost a generational talent, but got better as the year went on and made a surprise run to their first final 4. Maybe we can get the same kind of lucky matchups and do the same.

That’s exactly what I’m thinking.

 

[griffdog14]

Eh I just haven't seen any reason why this team would have a 2nd weekend type of performance. The defense will keep us hanging around but the scoring options are limited. Need to see a lot of production from Estrella and Igor along with Chaz and Zakai before I start talking about sweet 16s

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

I have almost no expectations for this team other than noticeable improvement month to month. Just planning to enjoy the growth as a team and see where that takes them. Really need Okpara and Milicic to be much better than the very little we’ve seen. I think Mashack, Z, Lanier and Gainey gives us a good core. Philips and Estrella can help inside. We’ll see some struggles more than past years.

 

[VolGee4]

Eh I just haven't seen any reason why this team would have a 2nd weekend type of performance. The defense will keep us hanging around but the scoring options are limited. Need to see a lot of production from Estrella and Igor along with Chaz and Zakai before I start talking about sweet 16s

It’s one game. Long way to go.

 

[cncchris33]

Eh I just haven't seen any reason why this team would have a 2nd weekend type of performance. The defense will keep us hanging around but the scoring options are limited. Need to see a lot of production from Estrella and Igor along with Chaz and Zakai before I start talking about sweet 16s

To be fair, you also haven't seen a lot of reasons why they won't, either. There is nothing to really be judged quite yet. Early on, they don't look great, but teams keep growing and making a hard judgement on the team on Nov. 5th is pretty myopic. Let's check back in on Feb. 5th and see where we are. You may still be right three months from now, but it won't be because we didn't play well in game #1.

 

[griffdog14]

To be fair, you also haven't seen a lot of reasons why they won't, either. There is nothing to really be judged quite yet. Early on, they don't look great, but teams keep growing and making a hard judgement on the team on Nov. 5th is pretty myopic. Let's check back in on Feb. 5th and see where we are. You may still be right three months from now, but it won't be because we didn't play well in game #1.

Yeah want to make it clear thats what I meant, from only 2 games, one being a scrimmage, I haven't seen anything too terribly exciting but that can obviously change once we see more and they get more minutes on the floor together.

My biggest concern for this season and something that definitely hasn't been helped over 2 games is Zakai being the scoring leader and #1 option. I don't think thats a place where you want to be. the 3/10 FG and 0/6 from 3 was concerning

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah want to make it clear thats what I meant, from only 2 games, one being a scrimmage, I haven't seen anything too terribly exciting but that can obviously change once we see more and they get more minutes on the floor together.

My biggest concern for this season and something that definitely hasn't been helped over 2 games is Zakai being the scoring leader and #1 option. I don't think thats a place where you want to be. the 3/10 FG and 0/6 from 3 was concerning

And I think it's a fair take as a snapshot in time. They've not been terribly impressive and the offense looks very disjointed. Hopefully, it gets cleaned up over time as guys grow into their roles. ZZ cannot be the primary option. That is bad for everyone. Lanier has had a good game and a bad game, now. Which is he? Gainey has probably been the best looking offensive threat, surprisingly. Igor doesn't look very fluid and seems like he's really trying to figure out where he belongs in the scheme. There's a lot more to unpack, but suffice to say, we should know more about this team by January. Hopefully, we have seen a lot of growth and development in terms of where the pieces fit by then.

 

[MoB_MoVols]

As for the current team, it’s been a pretty strong start to the season.

The Vols look like they have made some strides from game-to-game, which is what you’re looking for early in the season, especially with three veteran transfers in your starting line-up.

This will continue to be a team in development, like most everyone in college basketball in the new transfer climate, but there’s been some quiet confidence coming out of the program with the way that they have started.

The biggest surprise as far as the rotation goes in the first week is that Bishop Boswell looks like he’s going to get regular minutes. Or at least he’s going to have a chance at regular minutes.

Rick Barnes has been impressed with the freshman’s toughness and commitment on the defensive end, which as Cam Carr can tell you, is where your minutes are earned.

That will give Barnes a 10-man rotation, which would be a little unusual for him, but finding a way to give Zakai Zeigler a breather in each half is a priority for the staff.

-VQ

 

[NighthawkVol]

-VQ

Boswell needs to stop turning the ball over if he’s going to be in the rotation.

 

[Vol49er]

-VQ

Saying “That will give Barnes a 10 man rotation” about Bishop Boswell minutes assumed Dubar is not going to be part of the rotation, which is noteworthy

 

[MoB_MoVols]

Tennessee is in an interesting spot this week in the Baha Mar Championship with only nine scholarship players available.

That was a blow to lose Cam Carr for a chunk of time, but the silver lining is that he will be back early in conference play at the worst.

JP Estrella’s lingering foot injury is also a real concern. It’s something that has given Estrella problems off and on since the summer and something the training staff has been working diligently with him on.

The obvious hope is that completely shutting him down at this point for a time will be a workable solution.

With Estrella Tennessee has a very solid post rotation. Without him that isn’t the case.

Igor Milicic turned some heads on Sunday with his 23 point performance on 11-of-14 shooting. No one in the program is overly surprised by that kind of outing. It’s been coming for Milicic for awhile now.

No one is looking for that kind of output every night, but Milicic is a capable and efficient offensive player who is figuring things out.

With Milicic and Felix Okpara a quality pair of starters, there’s very little pressure on Cade Phillips, but he’s a guy that a lot of people in the program are excited about.

Phillips sometimes still looks like he’s running around with his hair on fire, but his motor and effort are contagious and he’s a great example of a ‘culture’ guy in this program. Just a teammate that everyone loves and a guy that the coaches really respect his work ethic.

-VQ

 

[MoB_MoVols]

Rick Barnes won’t say this, but this Tennessee basketball team—despite a numbers issue at the moment—is clicking at a pretty high level on both ends of the floor right now.

Tennessee is sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at the moment (52.3%), a number that may not be sustainable, but is certainly impressive.

Even more impressive, Tennessee is FIRST nationally in field-goal percentage defense (33.5%). That’s a pretty nasty combination.

We’ve talked about this a lot, but getting that kind of efficiency at this stage of the season with three veteran transfers in the starting line-up is noteworthy.

Speaking of transfers, Darlinstone Dubar turning into a useful role player could not have come at a more opportune time for this team.

Just a couple of weeks ago, as he was dealing with personal issues and taking time off from practice, it was unclear what kind of a role, if any, Dubar would have on this squad.

For him to return just as the team lost Cam Carr for 4-6 weeks and JP Estrella for the year was good timing to say the least.

Given what has happened in college basketball this week Tennessee will be in the top-five next week.

The SEC is shaping up to be an absolute war this season

-VQ