3 moves into the promised land!

[cncchris33]

You guys don’t give SV his fair due. His defense is better than your critiques. He plays under control much better than the freshmen at this point and clearly understands the offense way better. Keon and Springer are turn overs waiting to happen so far but also show glimpses of their potential. CRB is trying to teach them without throwing them in the deep end immediately. I don’t understand why all the second guessing of this coaching staff as they’ve earned my trust. JMO

To be clear, I'm not questioning CRB's lineup choices at this moment. Clearly, I have been one of his biggest supporters on this board. I'm more speculating on what I think may happen over the next month or two. I'll even admit that Springer isn't currently ready to take over the PG position, today. He is still learning. I just won't be surprised if we don't see their (Springer and Vescovi) roles begin to flip over the season.

Even if it doesn't happen, Rick Barnes had forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know. He'd have to really go awry as a coach, and there would have to be compelling evidence for me to start seriously questioning his decisions.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

We are absolutely loaded at the 2 and the 3. Probably 6 of our first 8 are at their best as a 2 or as a 3. Pons is a question mark and it might depend on the opposing lineups if he is better suited as a smallish 4 or a less than ideal 3 (he needs to be a 3 to have a successful NBA career). Even 3 of the next 5 off the deep bench are maybe best suited as a 2 or 3. Ticket, Pember, Walker. All 3 of them will have more opportunities for minutes if they can bulk up and play the spots for bigger players. I think that ORN is ideally a 4, I wish he was an inch or 2 taller.

So there is an opportunity for a lot of PT at the 1 and at the 4 for anybody that can learn it and earn it. Vescovi and Bailey seem to be the best perimeter shooters, but really aren’t our best 2s. Our “best” 2s don’t list outside shooting as their greatest skill although several will be very good at getting looks for deep, open shots due to their length and/or ability to attack the paint. JJJ has an opportunity to play a ton of PT if he is able to give strong minutes at the 1 and 4. That’s a lot of positions to master for a guy this early in his 2nd year that sat out a big chunk of his first.

Chandler can’t get here soon enough. And man if we could add just one premiere big to the 2021 class...

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Once CRB gets this team playing better on offense opposing teams are going to get ran out of the gym. The open shots and drives to the basket are there. Springer looked great yesterday with the ability to create his own shots. We have two solid wins and this team is only going to improve GBO!

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Shoot decently and we score 75 points, guys are missing shots they routinely hit last year, common theme among teams early in their seasons... give me 4-5 games and then I will worry about offense.

 

[omghulkhands]

3 moves that need to be made for this team to achieve their ceiling!

1) springer moves into being the primary PG


2) SV moves off the ball.


3) Keon moves to being exclusivity a slasher. He doesn’t need to have the ball in his hands so much.

Rewatching the game, Springer doesn’t see the court well right now. He drives with purpose to score, but doesn’t really even look or have a feel for where his teammates are.

Keon actually has much better court vision. Lots of example I could show.

Doesn’t mean Springer can’t play and excel at PG as a dribble drive PG. but I don’t think he is gonna average many assists until he gets more comfortable and develops better court vision.

 

[cardvolfan]

Rewatching the game, Springer doesn’t see the court well right now. He drives with purpose to score, but doesn’t really even look or have a feel for where his teammates are.

Keon actually has much better court vision. Lots of example I could show.

Doesn’t mean Springer can’t play and excel at PG as a dribble drive PG. but I don’t think he is gonna average many assists until he gets more comfortable and develops better court vision.

Keon always has his head up.

 

[omghulkhands]

Keon always has his head up.

Absolutely. He just seems so advanced, like an upperclassman.

Haven’t seen a freshman like this at UT since Harris. I know it’s just two games, but you can see it. He is different.

 

[cardvolfan]

Absolutely. He just seems so advanced, like an upperclassman.

Haven’t seen a freshman like this at UT since Harris. I know it’s just two games, but you can see it. He is different.

And coachable with a great work ethic. I think he's the player I'm most excited about to watch.

 

[BruinVol]

Rewatching the game, Springer doesn’t see the court well right now. He drives with purpose to score, but doesn’t really even look or have a feel for where his teammates are.

Keon actually has much better court vision. Lots of example I could show.

Doesn’t mean Springer can’t play and excel at PG as a dribble drive PG. but I don’t think he is gonna average many assists until he gets more comfortable and develops better court vision.

Who was is that had the lob to Fulky on the break??

They showed some good vision. Was it springer or Keon?
I was thinking it was springer but could be wrong

 

[The Dog]

Who was is that had the lob to Fulky on the break??

They showed some good vision. Was it springer or Keon?
I was thinking it was springer but could be wrong

Pretty sure it was Springer

 

[omghulkhands]

Who was is that had the lob to Fulky on the break??

They showed some good vision. Was it springer or Keon?
I was thinking it was springer but could be wrong

It was a fast break though. You learn in junior high to look up during a fast break. Everyone on the team makes that play.

I’m not clowning on him. I’m just saying go into the replay and watch all his possessions.

When he drives 2 things happens. He has only the intention of scoring or he gets cut off and does a jump gather and has to look around to see where he is going with the ball because he doesn’t know where his teammates are. It’s a big hesitation.

If you look, you’ll see it. He’ll get there. It’s normal freshman stuff.

 

[omghulkhands]

29:22 - Watch Johnson drive and see the defense collapse on him and open up an oop

It’s those kind of things that pop on tape with him to me.

 

[walkenvol]

Who was is that had the lob to Fulky on the break??

They showed some good vision. Was it springer or Keon?
I was thinking it was springer but could be wrong

Nice play but it Didn’t take a ton of vision as Fulky had his hand up calling for the pass.

 

[BruinVol]

I think JJJ has great vision

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Giving a true freshman PG responsibilities under Barnes when there are other options isn’t the best idea

 

[All Vol!]

someone better learn how to shut the 3 on a consistent basis Very Quick

CO and Cincy were 13 for 50 combined from 3 point range.

 

[Fullfillmer]

Santi is by far our best ball handler and playmaker right now. He needs the ball in his hands. Now the two freshman might get there or at least close soon, but Santi is the PG. Keon is far too careless right now, which is understandable given he's a freshman and didn't have much of an offseason in comparison. In general, we have to learn how to finish at the rim. That's been my biggest complaint with Jo, as he can really get there, but his finishing ability isn't very good. He's too strong for him to not shoot better in there. Defensively though, it's clear that we're elite. I expect the offense to come around sooner or later. It's just rust.

Springer and Keon, while great players have not shown a propensity to penetrate and pass - the hallmark of a true pg and their assist to turnover ratios reflect that. Nor should they - they are prepping for the NBA which is a completely different game. Great point guards are pass first, constantly looking for cutters and open men. When the freshmen penetrate - they are looking for their shot primarily. Two different styles of play - Vescovi is way better than he was last year and a decent point guard. If Springer reaches a point where he can penetrate and pass - maybe. I have not seen enough of Vescovi at shooting guard - so because Springer can find his shot off the dribble easier - that may also be a reason to keep the structure as it is. Our offense will get better, but we have to have better passing and ball movement to get Fulkerson the ball low and find open shooters.

 

[rdk4121]

Early season shooting woes will happen. Weird offseason, but we'll get it figured out. Yves and Fulky have struggled with efficiency, but I'm not worried about them at all. Freshman guards, no matter how talented, are going to struggle with efficiency. Jo struggled being efficient last year, and had struggled as well this year (mainly finishing at the rim). Santi has been more efficient at least this year, but our whole team needs to work on reducing turnovers, as that will help us put some more points on the board.

 

[BruinVol]

3 moves that need to be made for this team to achieve their ceiling!




2) SV moves off the ball.

.

boy oh boy am I a happy man! @cncchris33 and myself have been talking about this for awhile now and tonight’s game was the best example of it.

SV is a damn good player and I don’t want my negative post about him to sound otherwise but he really can stall our offense when he’s met with pressure around mid court. His lack of blow by quickness means our offense just stalls a lot 45 ft from the basket.

We saw Barnes move SV off the ball a lot tonight and it was a thing of beauty.

I know it’s easy to fall into the category of it ain’t broke don’t fix it but this team could
Cut down the nets in March. In order for that to happen we need James or Springer getting this team into its sets late in close games in March. Keon has surprised me and he’s done better playing the PG than I expected but I just see JJJ or springer being better options.



Tonight makes me extremely happy to see Barnes make this move at least in the type of game where it was clear that SV was stalling out this offense!

 

[BreatheUT]

English looks like a head coach on the sidelines.

We could be in good hands in a post Barnes era.

 

[BruinVol]

English looks like a head coach on the sidelines.

Last year I posted I wanted to start following which coach has the scout for that game.
I thought it would be nice to see which coach did the best job of putting the game plan together. Obviously English has it tonight


Imo Swartz is the best followed by English and Oliver is the worst.

 

[BreatheUT]

Last year I posted I wanted to start following which coach has the scout for that game.
I thought it would be nice to see which coach did the best job of putting the game plan together. Obviously English has it tonight


Imo Swartz is the best followed by English and Oliver is the worst.

If Oliver is the worst then the other two are outstanding because I think Oliver has head coach potential. A fun problem to have.

 

[BruinVol]

If Oliver is the worst then the other two are outstanding because I think Oliver has head coach potential. A fun problem to have.

I wasn’t saying anything about their ability to be head coaches. Just their ability to game plan and scout

 

[bleedingTNorange]

boy oh boy am I a happy man! @cncchris33 and myself have been talking about this for awhile now and tonight’s game was the best example of it.

SV is a damn good player and I don’t want my negative post about him to sound otherwise but he really can stall our offense when he’s met with pressure around mid court. His lack of blow by quickness means our offense just stalls a lot 45 ft from the basket.

We saw Barnes move SV off the ball a lot tonight and it was a thing of beauty.

I know it’s easy to fall into the category of it ain’t broke don’t fix it but this team could
Cut down the nets in March. In order for that to happen we need James or Springer getting this team into its sets late in close games in March. Keon has surprised me and he’s done better playing the PG than I expected but I just see JJJ or springer being better options.



Tonight makes me extremely happy to see Barnes make this move at least in the type of game where it was clear that SV was stalling out this offense!

Vescovi played the most minutes of anyone at PG tonight

 

[Lefteye]

boy oh boy am I a happy man! @cncchris33 and myself have been talking about this for awhile now and tonight’s game was the best example of it.

SV is a damn good player and I don’t want my negative post about him to sound otherwise but he really can stall our offense when he’s met with pressure around mid court. His lack of blow by quickness means our offense just stalls a lot 45 ft from the basket.

We saw Barnes move SV off the ball a lot tonight and it was a thing of beauty.

I know it’s easy to fall into the category of it ain’t broke don’t fix it but this team could
Cut down the nets in March. In order for that to happen we need James or Springer getting this team into its sets late in close games in March. Keon has surprised me and he’s done better playing the PG than I expected but I just see JJJ or springer being better options.



Tonight makes me extremely happy to see Barnes make this move at least in the type of game where it was clear that SV was stalling out this offense!

Wow Bruin, you’re reaching hard for an “I told you so” moment that just ain’t there. The offense wasn’t “stalled” tonight. Keep that hate though, cause the Told you so’s work both ways