Bruce Pearl and the Vols

#1
O

orangewizard98

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Messages
309
Likes
0
#1
Tough loss tonight, but I think many were expecting it.(I certainly was) It really exposed our personnel issues. We are thin, we are very suspect on the inside on both ends of the floor, we are small, we are very poor on the boards, overall we are a poor shooting team(Watson and Lofton are the only consistently good shooters we have), etc. I think most people already knew these problems were there, they were just confirmed tonight.

This team showed a lot of heart tonight by not folding after being down 16 after the 1st half. One thing that I know will be addressed will be the lack of discipline we showed everytime we closed the gap to within a one possession game. Everytime we were in that situation, we would play out of control and turn the ball over or force bad shots.(Usually bad 3 point shots) Pearl mentioned this after the game and talked about we started jacking the ball up instead of being patient and working our way back in the game. he said it made us looked poorly coached, but its something you have to go through and it will be addressed. I love that about Pearl. he will take responsibility and point out things that he could do better as a coach even though the real reason we lost tonight was simply a case out being out-matched personnel wise.

I'm really impressed with Pearl. I honestly believe there isn't a coach in the country that could get any more out of this current roster than what Coach Pearl is getting out of them. This is the same team as last year, only without Brandon Crump, Scooter, and Jemere Hendrix. This team was much more talented a year ago, but Pearl has them playing better than they played at any point during last season. He has taken the roster he inherited, adapted by putting them in the best position to utilize the own individual abilites, and ultimately give them the best chance to be successful.

He is a tremendous recruiter. Bringing in what many considered a Top 10 class and the #1 class in the SEC before ever coaching a game at Tennesee. That is amazing. He is bringing in two 5* caliber guys in Duke Crews and Wayne Chism. We will soon have the best frontcourt in the SEC. Not to mention Johnson and Tabb. He is looking to feel that last spot with either Ramar Smith, 5* SG, or Kiwan Smith, 4* PF. We are very much in it with both of them.

He has terrific "people"skills, attitude, work ethic, etc. Just a very impressive guy in every aspect. I think we will all look back at the hiring of Coach Pearl as what got Tennessee basketball on the level we have been wanting to see it at.

Next years team:

I think its success rides very much on what kind of play we can get from the PG position. Watson is a HUGE los, because I;m not sure we have a solid SEC caliber PG on the team right now other than CJ. We really need MJ to come in and show a lot of promise as a PG. I'm anxious to see him because you just don't see many 6'5 PGs.

I believe the starters will look like this:

PG: Dane Bradshaw(atleast early on)
SG: Chris Lofton(No brainer)
SF: Anthony Passley(I think will be an upgrade over Asumnu)
PF: Duke Crews(plays with a ton of heart and is an athletic freak of nature.terrific finisher. crazy defense.can score on the inside)
C: Wayne Chism(plays with a passion....terrific rebounder....terrific scorer on the inside and has the ability to step out and hit from the outside)

I think Major Wingate will lose his starting spot to a true freshman. Pearl has already said that he would be our best post player if he was on the team right now. That as soon as he steps on the floor that isn't a team in the SEC that will have an advantage over us at his position with Wayne in there) Major is not strong with the ball around the basket(weak finisher), very poor rebounder, can't step out and shoot with any consistency, not the greatest of hands, adn is just too passive. Very overrated player.

Future is bright for UT basketball, people. I hope you guys get out to TBA and show your support for Pearl and the boys.
 
#2
#2
Nice post.

I really like what I hear from Pearl on the radio. He was talking after the game, about how the team looked poorly coached tonight. lol.

Nothing could be further from the truth, but just that he would say that. I hope Hamilton does what it takes to keep him here, because he seems like a great coach. Pearl said they werent taking the shots he wanted, passing, etc, he seemed to really have a good idea of what he wanted and expected.

I've never heard Fulmer say his team looked like they were poorly coached, etc.
 
#3
#3
when I told you guys right after the Texas game I thought we would still get killed by both Memphis, and OSU, because we cant shoot like that every night, you guys all said I was crazy and that OSU isnt any good because the lost to NW State, well I told you so, I wish I was wrong but I wasnt.
 
#4
#4
when I told you guys right after the Texas game I thought we would still get killed by both Memphis, and OSU, because we cant shoot like that every night, you guys all said I was crazy and that OSU isnt any good because the lost to NW State, well I told you so, I wish I was wrong but I wasnt.
Click to expand...

Good call before the Texas game too....

you guys that are saying we have a chance after them getting killed by Duke, but Duke is the #1 team in the nation, look at it this way we're like Vandy in football starting 4-0, there starting to think there pretty good, but if they played Texas (#2 in FB) that 5th game, they'd get slaughtered, we havent been playing good teams, even last year we'd be 5-0 right now, we've played 2 decent teams, the rest crap.
Click to expand...
 
#5
#5
Am I the only person or does anyone else thing Major Wingate plays NO DEFENSE OR REBOUNDS worth a crap..
 
#6
#6
(Orangewhiteblood @ Dec 23 said:
Good call before the Texas game too....
Click to expand...

Good observation Orangewhiteblood with his posts. Funny how people love to take credit for what they previously said that come true, but forget about what doesn't come true.
 
#7
#7
Good initial post. Tennessee played a bad first half. They kind of looked shell shocked. They did however come back strong in the second half which really impressed me. They did not lay down!!!!! This team is on the way up. They will upset some people this year. Still not ready to say NCAA trny but I will continue to support the team and Bruce.
 
#8
#8
Nice post, Wizard. I think you hit the nail right on the head in two regards: 1) This team plays much better than it actually is, and 2) OK State really took advantage of the mismatches and exposed our weaknessES. Texas failed to do so, and thus the loss. We just don't have any presence underneath, and Wingate (for whatever reason) isn't stepping up.

I was really proud of the boys for staying in the fight. . . even cutting the lead to 1 late in the game. The press was killing them -- I don't remember seeing a team have so much trouble getting the ball in on EVERY possession. I think one of the problems we had was that our bench is so short and Bruceball is so demanding, we ran out of gas a little at the end.

Like you, I'm really excited about our team and our coach, who seems like a real genuine and honest guy. We get these big-shots in here next year, and look out.
 
#10
#10
That is a really weak thing to say.

Maybe Wingate hasn't blossomed the way we hoped, but a lot of it could also be that as one of the few capable big men on the roster, he is probably being relied on a little too much.
 
#11
#11
All I know is that I am seeing a Tennessee team play to win for a whole game. When we got behind by about 16 points, I thought "Uh-oh, here comes the rout." Well, the rout never happened because as the ESPN announcer said, Tennessee refused to go away. The season is FAR from over. Don't count our guys out yet.
 
#12
#12
(LadyinOrange @ Dec 23 said:
All I know is that I am seeing a Tennessee team play to win for a whole game. When we got behind by about 16 points, I thought "Uh-oh, here comes the rout." Well, the rout never happened because as the ESPN announcer said, Tennessee refused to go away. The season is FAR from over. Don't count our guys out yet.
Click to expand...
yeah, the word they used was "relentless", which i thought was pretty accurate....lio, i was the same way...once it got to 14 down, i turned the channel...shame on me, but when i turned it back, they were w/in 6...couldn't believe it....they're a scrappy bunch i'll tell ya.
 
#13
#13
I think last night's loss came down to the shot selection everytime we got close to tying. We'd be methodical and get back within 2 or 3, then run down the court and jack up a three attempt from the middle of nowhere. And after we'd shoot when our offense wasn't anywhere near set, they'd throw it down the court and layup in transition.

If they'd calmed down, and waited for OSU to give them something, I think the game would have been a lot closer.

However, we can be happy that at least our players posess even a third grade level of speaking, unlike the poor attempt at english, like their freshman Eaton.

"`We was in the same hotel as them and they was talking noise,'' Eaton said. ``At the dinner last night, they was talking. They was doing a lot of talking. We had to come out here and take care of business.''

He went on to say that they got fired up because Patterson shrugged off the injury to their player at the half. Well, what would they expect, for him to lean over him and make it look like he's taunting?? He'd get thrown out or fought. The BEST thing an opposing player can do when there's an injury is to walk away.

 
#14
#14
(jwells @ Dec 23 said:
He went on to say that they got fired up because Patterson shrugged off the injury to their player at the half.
Click to expand...

:lolabove: Yeah. They got so fired up that they let Tennessee cut the lead from 16 to 1 point.
 
#15
#15
IMO that Eaton clown is a no-class punk. I watched the way some of their players were acting last night, and I was getting pretty irritated. I know that what they do the rest of the season has no bearing on us, but I hope they lose every game this season. If this is how he acts when he wins, I would hate to see his response if they had lost. Nice try by the VOLS, but maybe this gets it out of their system. They see that they have things to work on, and three teams to work on techinque before entering the SEC schedule. GO VOLS. By the way, I saw a web-site yesterday that predicted that UT would only lose four games this season (FLA, OK ST, Memphis, UK - all away games). I think that is a little optimistic, but good to be getting some respect for once. We just now have to prove that we are worthy of the praise. MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody.
 
#16
#16
if you picked Tennessee before the Tennessee-Texas game then you were just a homer or dont know what your talking about. No one saw this coming period.
 
#17
#17
(mattvols @ Dec 23 said:
if you picked Tennessee before the Tennessee-Texas game then you were just a homer or dont know what your talking about. No one saw this coming period.
Click to expand...

Oh I see. So when you pick wrong, everyone's a homer, and when you pick right, everyone's crazy and doesn't know a thing about basketball.

 
#18
#18
Great post orangewizard. I think you are right on.

What are your thoughts on JuJuan Smith? He seems quick enough to play point some next year. I think he has decent ball handling ability and I am sure he will learn to make better decisions by this time next year. What am I missing with him???
 
#19
#19
(GAVol @ Dec 23 said:
That is a really weak thing to say.

Maybe Wingate hasn't blossomed the way we hoped, but a lot of it could also be that as one of the few capable big men on the roster, he is probably being relied on a little too much.
Click to expand...







Exactly.The way I view it is we live and die by the perimeter shooting and the threes (basically).
 
#23
#23
(kiddiedoc @ Dec 23 said:
In a word: No
Click to expand...

I was just wondering what happened to you this morning. Seems like you've been away for a while. :hi:
 
#24
#24
Oh, another thing now that I'm thinking of it..did anyone notice that the refs were calling some things like charges ALL the time even when feet weren't set, but NEVER called pushoffs, or carries, or the double-dribble?

The announcers said at least 5 times about OSU "I think he got away with ______ there"

And some of the fouls they called both ways were questionable, esp some reach-in's.
 
#25
#25
(21VOL @ Dec 23 said:
Am I the only person or does anyone else thing Major Wingate plays NO DEFENSE OR REBOUNDS worth a crap..
Click to expand...
That's Buzz's fault...he's never been taught, that's why he's soft
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top