Basketball Roster

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Per TB the staff will be adding the Virginia shooter and the Lincoln Memorial kid (he’ll need to put on weight). Good chance at the Maryland transfer (Ja'Kobi Gillespie from Belmont and Greenville, TN), but he’s very expensive. They’re preparing for the potential loss of Cade or JP. Worried that JP’s injury will be a problem. 6 or 7 will be added from the portal. Unsure if Bishop will be back. Planning to add a big man that can play.

 

[cncchris33]

Per TB the staff will be adding the Virginia shooter and the Lincoln Memorial kid (he’ll need to put on weight). Good chance at the Maryland transfer, but he’s very expensive. They’re preparing for the potential loss of Cade or JP. Worried that JP’s injury will be a problem. 6 or 7 will be added from the portal. Unsure if Bishop will be back. Planning to add a big man that can play.

Cade makes no sense unless he's the mention by @Stoerner Fumbles that he couldn't go in-depth on.

 

[OrangeInKy]

I will always wonder what this team might have been with a healthy Estrella. I was extremely excited of what his year 2 would look like before the injury

I keep wondering what if Purdue didn’t get ripped off at the end of that game Friday.( it was funny at the time for obvious reasons)
I think we see a much different offensive performance against Purdue.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Cade makes no sense unless he's the mention by @Stoerner Fumbles that he couldn't go in-depth on.

It was a dumb for me to allude to something I can’t share. Trippie entrapment. Unfortunately I still can’t say anything except that the current plan involves adding one additional big.

 

[OrangeInKy]

Per TB the staff will be adding the Virginia shooter and the Lincoln Memorial kid (he’ll need to put on weight). Good chance at the Maryland transfer, but he’s very expensive. They’re preparing for the potential loss of Cade or JP. Worried that JP’s injury will be a problem. 6 or 7 will be added from the portal. Unsure if Bishop will be back. Planning to add a big man that can play.

I’d hate to lose Cade. I’d hate to lose Estrella too, but I understand concern.

 

[VolGee4]

I say this, fully admitting that I don't know **** about basketball. But from a lay person's perspective, it seems to me the reason Barnes struggles getting to the big dance lies directly in the choices he makes with his roster construction. I know we had a key injury this year, and one guy left unexpectedly early in the season. Maybe those factors would've made a difference, but it really galls me that Bruce Pearl has now managed to reach two final hours in almost the same amount of time at Auburn that Barnes has been at UT with no FF appearances. I refuse to believe it's because Pearl is a better X's and O's guy than Barnes or because Auburn can somehow offer more as a program than UT. It has to come down to roster construction and the players Rick scouts to come here and play for him. How in the hell to do mid major teams like UConn, Gonzaga, Houston, etc manage to construct rosters to get to the final four but we somehow cannot???

Last year's roster was built for it. Had an elite defensive PG, a three level scorer at wing, and post play that could score and defend. We hit a #1 seed with the two time POY and had our post play tentative. Those are the breaks.

We also had a FF type roster in 2019 but hit the same team that got hot, and our team wasn't as good defensively.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Cade makes no sense unless he's the mention by @Stoerner Fumbles that he couldn't go in-depth on.

Somebody in his family sure made it sound like Cade wasn’t planning to transfer.

 

[TrippieRedd]

It was a dumb for me to allude to something I can’t share. Trippie entrapment. Unfortunately I still can’t say anything except that the current plan involves adding one additional big.

**** don’t blame me for mistakes

No accountability. Barnes wouldn’t approve

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I’d hate to lose Cade. I’d hate to lose Estrella too, but I understand concern. If all the possible 5th year returnees.

What TB said was that the doctors were warning the staff that JP might not recover well.

Also TB said the staff is expecting to lose JP or Cade. And that Felix is expected to be back. And as noted above, a big that can play is expected to be added.

Also the player probably heading to Fordham (Henderson) was added as insurance in case BB leaves.

 

[TrippieRedd]

can’t remember who it was that I was chatting with the other day, but they said what if it’s Okpara’s immigration status

Could that be it or is that usually pretty easy to resolve?

 

[05_never_again]

Last year's roster was built for it. Had an elite defensive PG, a three level scorer at wing, and post play that could score and defend. We hit a #1 seed with the two time POY and had our post play tentative. Those are the breaks.

We also had a FF type roster in 2019 but hit the same team that got hot, and our team wasn't as good defensively.

Barnes has gotten unlucky in NCAATs at Tennessee. With the exception of Michigan, each of his early exits was to one of the tournament's Cinderellas that year. It isn't like he's losing early to teams who then immediately get blown out in the next game.

 

[Pmarav23]

What about Burries or Matthew Able? Haven't heard anything about either in a while.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

**** don’t blame me for mistakes

No accountability. Barnes wouldn’t approve

My game is all defense.

 

[1Big_Orange_Fan]

This is total conjecture on my part but Cade and JP both seem to be true Vols at heart like ZZ and Mashack. I know they could jump in the portal tomorrow but I don’t see it.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

It was a dumb for me to allude to something I can’t share. Trippie entrapment. Unfortunately I still can’t say anything except that the current plan involves adding one additional big.

I’ve heard rumors but you saying that but also adding that a player wouldn’t be leaving threw me off

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

I’ve heard rumors but you saying that but also adding that a player wouldn’t be leaving threw me off

Anything I say is going to encourage more questions that I can’t respond to. There is one player with a situation he doesn’t control and one considering leaving. Our staff reads it that we have to add an experienced big. I get that implies a numbers problem if both current players stay, but coaches don’t want to miss on a chance to sign a big who has proven they can succeed at this level— while we wait.

 

[omghulkhands]

I’m of the opinion that Felix and Cade have a lot more value with a player like Zakai on the roster. And their value is much lower without him.

I’d personally prioritize JP over them in most roster constructions. I think he has offensive potential that’s not dependent on having an elite PG throw lobs. potential the others don’t, depending on how much his injury has delayed/hurt his development.

Point is, it’s brutal to say, but I view them as very expendable

 

[cardvolfan]

You realize winning every 5/6 games is 83% which is a ridiculously high winning percentage. Most championship teams the last decade or so have always hovered between winning 80-90% of games.

Yes, I do realize that. My response was to some other texts that had nothing to do with your assumptions. I will say that I certainly enjoyed all the “go big blue” totally unsolicited comments as I walked around downtown Indy Friday. I didn’t see anyone doing that Friday evening. The unsolicited comments from Kentucky fans made the game even sweeter.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

I think Igor not working out like Barnes thought and Estrella not being able to play screwed up the plans for the inside game and as others have said, Barnes just worked with what they had left.

 

[cncchris33]

I’m of the opinion that Felix and Cade have a lot more value with a player like Zakai on the roster. And their value is much lower without him.

I’d personally prioritize JP over them in most roster constructions. I think he has offensive potential that’s not dependent on having an elite PG throw lobs. potential the others don’t, depending on how much his injury has delayed/hurt his development.

Point is, it’s brutal to say, but I view them as very expendable

I think that's fair and that any player whose offense is dependable on the ability of another player should not be prioritized, really. Okpara is a good defender, Cade is an OK defender who can get better, but neither is great enough to just completely punt on any ability to produce offense on their own. Cade in year 2 looked more capable than Felix in year 3 from that perspective, tbh.

 

[BradstarVols]

Duke seems to have a good balance of offensive and defensive players. Tennessee needs more balance.

 

[omghulkhands]

Duke seems to have a good balance of offensive and defensive players. Tennessee needs more balance.

Cooper Flagg is paid $4.8M. more than our entire roster combined.

 

[vavolfan6]

I’m of the opinion that Felix and Cade have a lot more value with a player like Zakai on the roster. And their value is much lower without him.

I’d personally prioritize JP over them in most roster constructions. I think he has offensive potential that’s not dependent on having an elite PG throw lobs. potential the others don’t, depending on how much his injury has delayed/hurt his development.

Point is, it’s brutal to say, but I view them as very expendable

I don't see why JP should be given priority over Felix or Cade. The injury he sustained is unfortunate, but even leading up to it, he has not really proven himself to be an offensive weapon as well. To me, this season was for either him or Cade to seperate themselves from the other. JP simply wasn't available and as unfortunate as that is, such is life.

Also, while I agree Okpara has not shown an ability to create offense on his own, but neither has anyone else. Yet, Okpara is a better rim protector, shot blocker, rebounder, and free throw shooter. You have to keep him and roll with his potential. See if he can put on 10-15 more lbs of muscle and maybe it will make a huge difference in him standing his ground a bit better.

So for me the staff needs to prioritize adding a big guy who can create offense and post up. Keep Okpara as your main rim protector. And then let the dominoes fall as they will.

 

[LittleCat]

Yes, I do realize that. My response was to some other texts that had nothing to do with your assumptions. I will say that I certainly enjoyed all the “go big blue” totally unsolicited comments as I walked around downtown Indy Friday. I didn’t see anyone doing that Friday evening. The unsolicited comments from Kentucky fans made the game even sweeter.

What does this have to do with anything I said? Lol

 

[CAVPUT]

Anything I say is going to encourage more questions that I can’t respond to. There is one player with a situation he doesn’t control and one considering leaving. Our staff reads it that we have to add an experienced big. I get that implies a numbers problem if both current players stay, but coaches don’t want to miss on a chance to sign a big who has proven they can succeed at this level— while we wait.

So Estrella can't control is injury situation leaving Phillips as a potential flight risk. Seems logical to this old noggin'. I know you can't respond. Understandable, but I do like a good mystery.