Arizona Postgame Report

#29
#29
orangemadam said:
If Philips doesn't improve enough to become our "go-to" scorer (or possibly ON), we won''t get past sweet 16, much less EE.
Our defense can only take us so far. Plavsic really needs to start playing smart for UT to advance in NCAAT.

If JJJ lingers into Jan with this problem, we should just consider him done and develop the younger players.
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Would JJJ come back for a sixth season?
 
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#30
#30
VolGee4 said:
Pretty sure that most (if not all) of the past champions for a while now are in the top 20 on KenPom for both offensive and defensive efficiency. So, you really have to do both. We are at 48 in offense right now. Still can improve, and that’s just for champions.
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True. I feel like our current number is pretty much killed by playing in NYC, which I don’t think was accounted for. I think without that game we’re probably close to 30ish because it was such a slog
 
#32
#32
cncchris33 said:
10. Julian Phillips. If you want to be a superstar, you can't disappear on the biggest stage. His worst game as a Vol, easily. Our leading scorer doesn't hit a shot from the field and only scores 2 points and we lost by 5 on the road. I'm not concerned about this team. I think our ceiling is limited because of our lack of PG depth and lack of natural scorers, but we will have a really good season. Get to the NCAAT and anything can happen, but those deficiencies become more glaring, as well.
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To me this was the biggest factor in our loss. As you pointed out officiating we can't control, but Julian didn't show up anywhere in this game.

He played 23 minutes, went 0-5 had 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, and 2 fouls and just 2 points from the FT line.

Before the game he was leading the team in rebounds (still is too) and points (behind Santi/Olivier now). We needed him to find a way to contribute even without scoring. Santi has been able to do it, JJJ does it, and now the next step for Phillips is to be a difference maker even when he's not scoring.

I'll also say I'm a bit confused with the shrinking role of Mashack the last two games. He has gotten a total of 20 minutes in our last two games, before that he was averaging 21.1 mpg and nothing he's shown on the court has really been a huge red flag imo. I guess it's a trust thing and Barnes doesn't have that for him enough to give him those late minutes over Key, Santi, ZZ

Last point, Awaka was playing very well and them calling him for 4 fouls was probably the most criminal example of home cooking out of the bunch. In his 7 minutes he had 2 rebounds and 4 points and didn't miss a shot, even had a clean block they called a foul. I'm really excited about him as a player long term I also think him being as good as he is at rebounding and defending is pushing the other bigs to step their game up (Uros and Olivier specifically).

I feel like Mashack has the most potential of our current players to help give some depth at PG. I know he's not our best ball handler but with his athletic talent and size he could be a guy that if he ever figures the position out he could really be special.
 
#34
#34
MoCo_Vol said:
To me this was the biggest factor in our loss. As you pointed out officiating we can't control, but Julian didn't show up anywhere in this game.

He played 23 minutes, went 0-5 had 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, and 2 fouls and just 2 points from the FT line.

Before the game he was leading the team in rebounds (still is too) and points (behind Santi/Olivier now). We needed him to find a way to contribute even without scoring. Santi has been able to do it, JJJ does it, and now the next step for Phillips is to be a difference maker even when he's not scoring.

I'll also say I'm a bit confused with the shrinking role of Mashack the last two games. He has gotten a total of 20 minutes in our last two games, before that he was averaging 21.1 mpg and nothing he's shown on the court has really been a huge red flag imo. I guess it's a trust thing and Barnes doesn't have that for him enough to give him those late minutes over Key, Santi, ZZ

Last point, Awaka was playing very well and them calling him for 4 fouls was probably the most criminal example of home cooking out of the bunch. In his 7 minutes he had 2 rebounds and 4 points and didn't miss a shot, even had a clean block they called a foul. I'm really excited about him as a player long term I also think him being as good as he is at rebounding and defending is pushing the other bigs to step their game up (Uros and Olivier specifically).

I feel like Mashack has the most potential of our current players to help give some depth at PG. I know he's not our best ball handler but with his athletic talent and size he could be a guy that if he ever figures the position out he could really be special.
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I agree with your points, and especially about Awaka. The officials erroneously determined his court time. He would have had more if not for the tight whistle on him. He played some outstanding basketball the short amount of time the officials gave him on the court.
 
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#37
#37
Phillips is just a young immature BB player right now who is used to being able to use his athletic ability to score. He just needs to understand that when the shot is not there one night you can do many other things to help the team win, rebounds, assists, steals, etc. He will get there.
 
#38
#38
this game came down to FTs plain and simple. They got way more foul shots thus the win. They shot almost 30 FTs to our 8 or 9 FTs. TN made several mistakes and still could have won, but not shocked they lost with that big of a discrepancy at the line.
 
#40
#40
JettVol said:
this game came down to FTs plain and simple. They got way more foul shots thus the win. They shot almost 30 FTs to our 8 or 9 FTs. TN made several mistakes and still could have won, but not shocked they lost with that big of a discrepancy at the line.
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27 to 10. But 30 to 8 makes for a better sounding conspiracy theory. And it also sounds more shocking than 24 whistles to 15.
 
#41
#41
Thanks, Chris! I quite enjoyed reading that. I appreciate you putting it together.

I’m late to the party, so most things have already been covered, but I’ll add two cents anyway, FWIW.

I am 100% not disappointed in the end result. I expected a loss, although in the moment it obviously hurt due to having chances to win and failing to capitalize.

Austin Peay on Wednesday ain’t changing my mind, so with non-conference (essentially) behind us now, I think this is enough of a sample to draw some early conclusions.

Our defense is great, potentially historic in fact, but much like a Barnes’ coached-team we continue to be very average, if not slightly below, when it comes to scoring the basketball. I think we’ll have a great season, and I feel comfortable in saying we’ll be a Top-4 seed again in the SEC tournament. But, I’m not confident we will bring any hardware home this year. We’ll see.

I don’t think you can count on JJJ coming back. I think with him barely playing the first 12 games of the season, the injury is far worse than we are led to believe. Without him, this team lacks a true on-the-court leader and a dynamic scorer. He was prone to some baffling offensive lapses, but we don’t really having a true scoring threat on this team. Vescovi is clearly nursing an injured shoulder, Key has been average, Phillips is showing his youth, and the rest of the squad is just kind of there. ZZ is the only person I feel confident in right now.

I say all that to note that there is plenty of time to right the ship. Especially after the run we went on in February and early March of last season. But, the SEC has some very good teams in the top half of the league and this offense isn’t going to win you hardware. It has to improve. Too many long periods without scoring. I think this team will go as far as Phillips takes us which is a lot of pressure to put on a Freshmen. He has the talent. You can see if clear as day. The question is just whether he’ll figure it out in time.

TL;DR Good performance on Saturday. This team will have another great year, but the offense will limit our hardware potential.
 
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#42
#42
It looks like Barnes was trying to create a strong inside out game with the assortment of bigs but that is not working out. My guess is he will go with the 3 guard lineup similar to last season most games and use the bigs when facing teams with height. None of the bigs can generate any points consistently which relegates them to guarding the rim.
 
#43
#43
Thunder Good-Oil said:
27 to 10. But 30 to 8 makes for a better sounding conspiracy theory. And it also sounds more shocking than 24 whistles to 15.
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i didn't look up the exact stats arse. The point is they shot 17 more FTs, so to be surprised that we lost is dumb. The refs weren't great, Uros was behaving as he always has, etc... The reason we lost is they had many more opportunities for free baskets. Explain again how them shooting 17 more foul shots is a conspiracy theory? Lemme guess you're a life long libby.
 
#44
#44
TheMookieMonster said:
Thanks, Chris! I quite enjoyed reading that. I appreciate you putting it together.

I’m late to the party, so most things have already been covered, but I’ll add two cents anyway, FWIW.

I am 100% not disappointed in the end result. I expected a loss, although in the moment it obviously hurt due to having chances to win and failing to capitalize.

Austin Peay on Wednesday ain’t changing my mind, so with non-conference (essentially) behind us now, I think this is enough of a sample to draw some early conclusions.

Our defense is great, potentially historic in fact, but much like a Barnes’ coached-team we continue to be very average, if not slightly below, when it comes to scoring the basketball. I think we’ll have a great season, and I feel comfortable in saying we’ll be a Top-4 seed again in the SEC tournament. But, I’m not confident we will bring any hardware home this year. We’ll see.

I don’t think you can count on JJJ coming back. I think with him barely playing the first 12 games of the season, the injury is far worse than we are led to believe. Without him, this team lacks a true on-the-court leader and a dynamic scorer. He was prone to some baffling offensive lapses, but we don’t really having a true scoring threat on this team. Vescovi is clearly nursing an injured shoulder, Key has been average, Phillips is showing his youth, and the rest of the squad is just kind of there. ZZ is the only person I feel confident in right now.

I say all that to note that there is plenty of time to right the ship. Especially after the run we went on in February and early March of last season. But, the SEC has some very good teams in the top half of the league and this offense isn’t going to win you hardware. It has to improve. Too many long periods without scoring. I think this team will go as far as Phillips takes us which is a lot of pressure to put on a Freshmen. He has the talent. You can see if clear as day. The question is just whether he’ll figure it out in time.

TL;DR Good performance on Saturday. This team will have another great year, but the offense will limit our hardware potential.
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Without JJJ this team lacks a "dynamic scorer". Are you suggesting that he is a dynamic scorer? If so, what are you basing this off of?
 
#45
#45
JettVol said:
i didn't look up the exact stats arse. The point is they shot 17 more FTs, so to be surprised that we lost is dumb. The refs weren't great, Uros was behaving as he always has, etc... The reason we lost is they had many more opportunities for free baskets. Explain again how them shooting 17 more foul shots is a conspiracy theory? Lemme guess you're a life long libby.
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Pretty simple. It’s not unusual for the home team and a team with more size and strength to benefit from 9 more fouls whistled. The larger free throw discrepancy is simple math. You don’t automatically get to the line until foul #7. Arse? Life Long Libby?
 
#46
#46
ColinS said:
Without JJJ this team lacks a "dynamic scorer". Are you suggesting that he is a dynamic scorer? If so, what are you basing this off of?
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Did you watch his last 8 weeks of the season last year? Outside of Chandler he was arguably our best scorer. He was hitting 3’s, driving to the basket, hitting that mid range pull up. He was lights out. Like I said, he was prone to baffling offensive lapses, but when healthy he is easily one of our best offensive threats on this roster. Losing him has hurt the offense far more than we expected.
 
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#47
#47
JettVol said:
i didn't look up the exact stats arse. The point is they shot 17 more FTs, so to be surprised that we lost is dumb. The refs weren't great, Uros was behaving as he always has, etc... The reason we lost is they had many more opportunities for free baskets. Explain again how them shooting 17 more foul shots is a conspiracy theory? Lemme guess you're a life long libby.
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You want to bring politics into this? Thought conservatives are all about personal responsibility, but here you are whining about everything except what the team failed to do for themselves
 
#49
#49
He would definitely make
TheMookieMonster said:
Did you watch his last 8 weeks of the season last year? Outside of Chandler he was arguably our best scorer. He was hitting 3’s, driving to the basket, hitting that mid range pull up. He was lights out. Like I said, he was prone to baffling offensive lapses, but when healthy he is easily one of our best offensive threats on this roster. Losing him has hurt the offense far more than we expected.
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He would improve our overall team's offensive ability if healthy but he is far from a go to scorer. He did have a good stretch at the end, but he tends to get on hot streaks, make you think he has finally arrived, and then revert to his old self.
 
#50
#50
ColinS said:
He would definitely make

He would improve our overall team's offensive ability if healthy but he is far from a go to scorer. He did have a good stretch at the end, but he tends to get on hot streaks, make you think he has finally arrived, and then revert to his old self.
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Even still, his presence on the court would make things easier for everyone else. Even if JJJ isn’t hitting shots, teams know they have to prepare for him because of his versatility which opens more opportunities for guys like Santi to get open. Just his presence being gone is impacting us whether or not he is hitting shots. But when he does hit one of those hot streaks, this team is practically unbeatable. I am hoping his injury is not a season ended. We need him back.
 
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