BTO’s Alabama Postgame Report

[NighthawkVol]

1. What a showing, I’ll be the first to admit that being down Phillips & JJJ against the #1 team in the country I wasn’t optimistic, I was scratching my head trying to figure out why and how we were favorites. Somehow Vegas was able to measure the heart and grit of this team when the rest of us couldn’t, kudos to them because these Vols showed a whole lot of it tonight.

2. Tennessee had 1 way to win this game, and that was get physical, lock you up defensively, and make one of the nations best offenses work for everything…mission accomplished. Everyone deserves credit, but I will single out Jahmai Mashack, my goodness, not often you can point to someone who played 27 minutes and didn’t score a point and say you might be the MVP. He absolutely made Miller’s night hell, a Top 3 draft pick, I don’t have final numbers but seems like Miller might’ve only scored 4-6 points against Mashack, absolutely incredible. Hate to put a negative spin on it but if he can find an offensive game he has all the tools to be something, he is such an elite defender, it’s wild.

3. This team goes as ZZZ goes, look at his numbers in wins vs. losses, that simple…he wasn’t perfect offensively, just 4-11 in fact, but 8 assists with 0 turnovers and played some great defense as well. He broke things down and harassed their guards all night, he stayed in with 3 fouls and avoided a quick 4th which might’ve lost us the game, that is big. We need him, we can spell him for 2 minutes a half, but to be at our best we need ZZZ at his best for 35+ minutes a night.

4. Just gonna lump this into one, our 5, this is about our 5’s…I don’t envy Barnes, you just don’t know. Nkamhoua is struggling again, Aidoo has arguably his best game of his career after a bad stretch, Awaka disappears after everyone wants more of him, and Plavsic is strong and efficiency after seeing his minutes diminish. All our 5’s have a role and serve a purpose, good luck picking night to night or even possession by possession, it’s got to be maddening for Rick. With that said, well done Aidoo & Uros tonight, they were very good and we don’t win tonight without them, you see the ceiling for Aidoo and it excites you, that guy can be something special.

5. This team needed this obviously, what’s maddening is you’re 2 buzzer beaters away from being 22-4(11-2), likely #1 in the country and right behind Bama for SEC regular championship, such is life. I say that to point out that maybe it’s not doomsday, maybe this team hasn’t quit like many in this fanbase have? If you can beat the #1 team in the country without 2 of your better players you’re a good team, does that mean you’ll make a E8 or F4, of course not, but it proves the potential is there. This team needs to get healthy, we need to find our groove and get all our pieces working together as we head into March. Lock up a 2/3 seed and get yourself in a good spot while getting healthy, that’s what is important, we’ve proven we can play with the best in the country (wins over #1, #5 & #6) so get healthy, find our best basketball, and find some consistency.



GBO!!!

Great writeup, as always.

I mentioned Mashack in another thread. You make a great observation about ZZ. When he's good, Tennessee is good. This team's greatest weakness, which has been discussed ad nauseam, is that we simply don't have shot-makers. ZZ, when he's right and when he's breaking down defenses, he creates easy shots for other guys. That's like being a shot-maker.

As the old saying goes, you're never as good as you think you are when you're winning or as bad as you think you are when you're losing. There were some bright spots in the last 2 losses and some negatives from this win. In the Missouri game, Tennessee showed a lot of guts (which continued into last night) in coming back from 17 down. Barnes showed a lot by adjusting the lineup/matchups and that "continued" with his gameplan last night.

One thing that didn't continue that I'd hoped would is Key playing as well as he did against Missouri. I'd hoped that was a lightbulb moment for him. We need guys who can hit shots and I thought maybe he could be that guy going forward. Santi came around, though. And we did what we did without Phillips, the guy with the most upside to be a shot generator.

This team is still a work in progress. That's a good thing to be at 20-6 with 3 wins over top 10 teams. But if we can get Phillips/JJJ back, keep playing D like we did last night (and have most of the year), and finally get guys hitting shots as they're capable come March (specifically Santi, Phillips, JJJ, ON, and Key), this team can make a run.

The remaining schedule is:
at Kentucky
at Texas A&M
South Carolina
Arkansas
at Auburn

I think Tennessee can win every one of those games. Obviously, the 3 road games are the toughest. I'll predict 4-1 (but with the possibility of 5-0) with the returns of JJJ and Phillips, as long as this team keeps playing this kind of defense. So then we're at 24-7 heading into the SECT. We'd be either the 2 or 3 seed. If we're the 2, our most likely first game would be Missouri. Sweet revenge. If we're the 3, our most likely first game would be Vandy. Also sweet revenge. After revenge, we'd get Texas A&M for a shot to go to the final.

I'm going to predict a win over aTm and a loss in the final, so Tennessee goes into the NCAAT at 26-8 and a 2 seed. But more importantly, we hopefully get good matchups, and get our best offense/shooting at that point. If so, the sky's the limit. If not, a first weekend loss is possiblle.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I feel like with our bigs it's really about matchups. Uros was a bad matchup for Bama when Bediako was in, Barnes made sure he got a touch in the paint and he took advantage even in his limited minutes going 4 of 4 and even (big credit here) hitting 2 of 3 from the FT line. Bama tried to mitigate that by going smaller with Clowney/Gurley at the 5 and bringing in Burnett and/or Quinerly for additional guards but that's where Aidoo really shined he's terrible at getting position and boxing out, but Bama trying to small ball it didn't matter he is just too tall and long for smaller players to keep him off the glass. It's why he had 4 fouls to go with his huge night the few times someone did manage to get a good boxout he was getting called for over the back.

Awaka is still learning, tonight I think his inexperience on defense and him missing FT shots limited his minutes. To Barnes' credit he kept ON on a short leash since he seemed interested in shooting some awful looks (a few of the 3s were late in shot clock or he was open so not those so much, but a few of his decisions closer to the rim were bad choices and forced).

Key had a tough game on offense, tonight he seemed to be pressing a bit. The good news though, he didn't let it impact him on defense and he didn't turn it over. Not a great game shooting, but a solid game overall.

Santi is just something special, I love that guy so much. My favorite Vol at this point. Almost immediately Bama tries to set a tone and show they're going to play physical. Refs called the moving screen and after a bit Santi recovered. His response? finishes with 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist, 0 turnovers and 15 points shooting 40% from the field 50% from deep and going 4 of 5 from the FT line (hitting his last 4 FTs to ice it). Ice cold response imo, he simply isn't a guy that's going to be outworked by anyone on any night and I love that about him.

Of course ZZ has that dog in him too, SEC should thank their lucky stars he's not 6'4" or we would be undefeated right now. Still just a sophomore so like Aidoo you get some nights where it's just frustrating the mistakes that get made but he's growing. And by his senior season he'll be a Vol legend.

Mashack is just that dude, the best thing Barnes can do for this young man right now is give him minutes and just give him a target to shutdown. He'll gain confidence from more minutes and playing well on defense, then I think the offensive game will really take off. Not sure you can have him on the court when ZZ and Santi are sitting...but he'll get there I think. Still see J-Richardson vibes big time in his game, and I hope Mashack has that sort of offensive explosion his senior year we saw from J-Rich.

I think this game really highlights what Barnes' philosophy is, he doesn't tell his team they need to hit shots he tells them they need to take shots. We didn't shoot better from 3 or the line than Bama, but we beat them with volume which was driven by generating turnovers. If you have two teams both shooting in the 30% the team that puts up 15 more shots has a better chance to win and that's what happened last night.

 

[Sudden Impact]

I have complained about the Refs before but in losses. I am complaining about the Refs in the win. I thought that this game was poorly officiated at both ends of the court. One example was some of the Foul "No Calls" . Another was Primarily regarding screen set by Alabama called one at the first of the game but ghosted the 5 or 6 afterwards.

So yes the NCAAT will come down to the luck of draw with officiating. I was waiting for Barnes to get Tee'd up and glad it did not happen.

I know it works both ways, but....

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Impressive performance. I had strong doubts we could win this game without JJJ and Phillips. Down 2 of your 4 best players, scuffling in a 1-3 stretch, momentum with Alabama….felt like a recipe for disaster.

But, kudos to Barnes and his staff and this entire team for the performance they strung together. Potentially the type of win that can resurrect a season. A confidence building win and one that will pay huge dividends on Selection Sunday.

People have already covered just about anything else I would say, a truly impressive feat.

Now…..let’s hope we ca win Saturday and build off of this. It would really suck to go 0-2 against this Kentucky team.

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

That goes into the unbelievable category.

I was racking my brain to find a comparable player in recent years to Mashack and landed on Armani Moore. Built a little different but both defensive nightmares for opponents

 

[NighthawkVol]

I was racking my brain to find a comparable player in recent years to Mashack and landed on Armani Moore. Built a little different but both defensive nightmares for opponents

I still think Josh Richardson is the best comp. Same size/build and JR came in as a defense-first guy who had to develop his offense.

 

[cncchris33]

I have complained about the Refs before but in losses. I am complaining about the Refs in the win. I thought that this game was poorly officiated at both ends of the court. One example was some of the Foul "No Calls" . Another was Primarily regarding screen set by Alabama called one at the first of the game but ghosted the 5 or 6 afterwards.

So yes the NCAAT will come down to the luck of draw with officiating. I was waiting for Barnes to get Tee'd up and glad it did not happen.

I know it works both ways, but....

Yeah, I didn't get the idea of the officials setting the tone by calling the illegal screen by Bediako to open the game, and then ignoring the ensuing half dozen. He literally did it on the next several possessions, and no more/less egregious than his first one.

 

[volunator]

At times, felt like I was watching the Harlem Globetrotters when ZZ was weaving in and out of players.

 

[AthensVol2007]

We beat these assholes without our two best wing defenders. Must suck to leave Knoxville empty handed in football and hoops. Couldn’t be us!!

Waiting for the SEC to exempt Bama from traveling to Knoxville for any future sporting events. All games will be played either in Tuscaloosa or B’ham.

 

[KTrain]

At times, felt like I was watching the Harlem Globetrotters when ZZ was weaving in and out of players.

Yep, that one time he did a 360-degree dribble while his butt was either inches from the floor or sliding on it. Images of the Harlem Globetrotters Curly Neal popped in my head. Neal turned dribbling into an art.

 

[ZDogPharizle]

I love JJJ and what he brings to the defensive end and on the boards, but I think this offense flows better when he’s not chucking up a 30-foot brick with 15 on the shot clock every other possessions.

 

[turbovol]

Yeah, I didn't get the idea of the officials setting the tone by calling the illegal screen by Bediako to open the game, and then ignoring the ensuing half dozen. He literally did it on the next several possessions, and no more/less egregious than his first one.

Yea, you can count on one or two illegal screens being called in every game--one a side--but otherwise they let it go when of course there are a lot of moving screens. What you really see a lot is the leaning screen, where the player, seeing that he's not quite close enough to the defender will lean into him or shift his feet/body subtly to get over another 4 inches and make contact with the defender.

Why is it that Uros never dunks the ball? The guy is 7 feet tall and stout, and yet when he gets the ball 3 feet from the basket and is open, many times he wants to hesitate or pump-fake and then shoot it off the glass as if he's 6-feet tall and trying to find a way to get his shot off. Hey, if if you make it, fine--nice game last night--but he's often slow getting his shot off, and I don't understand why he doesn't just jam the ball when he can. Part of it is probably that he's just not athletic--no real burst or fluidity in his movement; still there are times when he could just go up and jam the ball, and it would be nice to see him do it!

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Yea, you can count on one or two illegal screens being called in every game--one a side--but otherwise they let it go when of course there are a lot of moving screens. What you really see a lot is the leaning screen, where the player, seeing that he's not quite close enough to the defender will lean into him or shift his feet/body subtly to get over another 4 inches and make contact with the defender.

Why is it that Uros never dunks the ball? The guy is 7 feet tall and stout, and yet when he gets the ball 3 feet from the basket and is open, many times he wants to hesitate or pump-fake and then shoot it off the glass as if he's 6-feet tall and trying to find a way to get his shot off. Hey, if if you make it, fine--nice game last night--but he's often slow getting his shot off, and I don't understand why he doesn't just jam the ball when he can. Part of it is probably that he's just not athletic--no real burst or fluidity in his movement; still there are times when he could just go up and jam the ball, and it would be nice to see him do it!

He’s a poor jumper. Shooting from the side allows him to use his body as a shield from a block, and he draws a foul if they try. It’s the right move for a landlocked Serbian. He just needs to hit more of these two-footers, as he did last night.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Aidoo is an easy top 10 pick if he puts it all together.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Bama fans have a lot of whiners that never can accept defeat without blaming it on the refs. All fans have these but Bama has a inordinate amount of them. GBO!!!!!

 

[Sudden Impact]

Great writeup, as always.

I mentioned Mashack in another thread. You make a great observation about ZZ. When he's good, Tennessee is good. This team's greatest weakness, which has been discussed ad nauseam, is that we simply don't have shot-makers. ZZ, when he's right and when he's breaking down defenses, he creates easy shots for other guys. That's like being a shot-maker.

As the old saying goes, you're never as good as you think you are when you're winning or as bad as you think you are when you're losing. There were some bright spots in the last 2 losses and some negatives from this win. In the Missouri game, Tennessee showed a lot of guts (which continued into last night) in coming back from 17 down. Barnes showed a lot by adjusting the lineup/matchups and that "continued" with his gameplan last night.

One thing that didn't continue that I'd hoped would is Key playing as well as he did against Missouri. I'd hoped that was a lightbulb moment for him. We need guys who can hit shots and I thought maybe he could be that guy going forward. Santi came around, though. And we did what we did without Phillips, the guy with the most upside to be a shot generator.

This team is still a work in progress. That's a good thing to be at 20-6 with 3 wins over top 10 teams. But if we can get Phillips/JJJ back, keep playing D like we did last night (and have most of the year), and finally get guys hitting shots as they're capable come March (specifically Santi, Phillips, JJJ, ON, and Key), this team can make a run.

The remaining schedule is:
at Kentucky
at Texas A&M
South Carolina
Arkansas
at Auburn

I think Tennessee can win every one of those games. Obviously, the 3 road games are the toughest. I'll predict 4-1 (but with the possibility of 5-0) with the returns of JJJ and Phillips, as long as this team keeps playing this kind of defense. So then we're at 24-7 heading into the SECT. We'd be either the 2 or 3 seed. If we're the 2, our most likely first game would be Missouri. Sweet revenge. If we're the 3, our most likely first game would be Vandy. Also sweet revenge. After revenge, we'd get Texas A&M for a shot to go to the final.

I'm going to predict a win over aTm and a loss in the final, so Tennessee goes into the NCAAT at 26-8 and a 2 seed. But more importantly, we hopefully get good matchups, and get our best offense/shooting at that point. If so, the sky's the limit. If not, a first weekend loss is possiblle.

Ranking the Wins as all are important but We need to maintain a lead in the standing with those close to us.

1. Kentucky (Win) avoids a potential tie breaker (Ark, FL, AU, FL, TN)
2. Auburn (Win) avoids a potential tie breaker (Vandy, AL, Ky, Miss, TN)
3. Arkansas Could be if we split the top 2 (FL, GA, AL, TN, KY)
4. Texas A&M Unless they implode. (Missouri, Miss St, Ole Miss, AL, TN)
5. USCe Should be a win. Important but should be a win.

Win them all but these are my rankings of impact games for the SECT and NCAAT Seeding

 

[Hbg]

I told my wife tennessee will fight tonight because they feel their back is against the wall. Why can’t we fight like that every game? Maddening

 

[VolGee4]

I have complained about the Refs before but in losses. I am complaining about the Refs in the win. I thought that this game was poorly officiated at both ends of the court. One example was some of the Foul "No Calls" . Another was Primarily regarding screen set by Alabama called one at the first of the game but ghosted the 5 or 6 afterwards.

So yes the NCAAT will come down to the luck of draw with officiating. I was waiting for Barnes to get Tee'd up and glad it did not happen.

I know it works both ways, but....

I thought it was officiated better than probably half of our other league games. The two instances though that I recall being bad officiating are the missed body block on Aidoo's missed dunk and a foul call on SV where the offensive player initiated the light contact at the rim. More often than not, officials bite on that offensive contact, and I don't get why they can't see that. The one official that I had a problem with was Roberts. I thought Anderson and Green were solid.

 

[Lurker]

Yo what about ZZ dribbling around the entire half court weaving in and out of defenders and then dishing dimes!! That guy just doesn't tire out. He's so short and stays so low that nobody can steal the ball from him.

BTO is right and we need him in 35 mpg. He has the stamina to do it but not fouling out or getting into foul trouble and being forced to sit out is the worst case scenario for this team.

My worry about Ziegler's mad dribbling is that the exact same type of effort led to very different results against Missouri and Vandy. He got away with some crazy moves last night that resulted in turnovers in the prior two games. He looked quicker last night. Maybe the Missouri game has helped him refocus. No question though, he did some amazing work against the Tide.

 

[cncchris33]

Yea, you can count on one or two illegal screens being called in every game--one a side--but otherwise they let it go when of course there are a lot of moving screens. What you really see a lot is the leaning screen, where the player, seeing that he's not quite close enough to the defender will lean into him or shift his feet/body subtly to get over another 4 inches and make contact with the defender.

Why is it that Uros never dunks the ball? The guy is 7 feet tall and stout, and yet when he gets the ball 3 feet from the basket and is open, many times he wants to hesitate or pump-fake and then shoot it off the glass as if he's 6-feet tall and trying to find a way to get his shot off. Hey, if if you make it, fine--nice game last night--but he's often slow getting his shot off, and I don't understand why he doesn't just jam the ball when he can. Part of it is probably that he's just not athletic--no real burst or fluidity in his movement; still there are times when he could just go up and jam the ball, and it would be nice to see him do it!

I agree with @Stoerner Fumbles on this. He just isn’t much of a leaper without the absence of traffic. When he’s boxed in, he feels he has to use his body as a shield from more athletic players.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Moving screens might be the most confusing and inconsistent “foul” in the game right now. That or charge/block. I felt like I saw moving screens by Bediako and Uros practically every possession they were on the court, but it rarely gets called.

I’m fine with it. I think if it’s not egregious you should let it go. But, it has to make it hard as player to not know when your making an illegal screen and when you are not when the officials have zero consistency from possession to possession in how they call it.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Ranking the Wins as all are important but We need to maintain a lead in the standing with those close to us.

1. Kentucky (Win) avoids a potential tie breaker (Ark, FL, AU, FL, TN)
2. Auburn (Win) avoids a potential tie breaker (Vandy, AL, Ky, Miss, TN)
3. Arkansas Could be if we split the top 2 (FL, GA, AL, TN, KY)
4. Texas A&M Unless they implode. (Missouri, Miss St, Ole Miss, AL, TN)
5. USCe Should be a win. Important but should be a win.

Win them all but these are my rankings of impact games for the SECT and NCAAT Seeding

In a somewhat related question: if 2 teams finish tied for the best record in the SEC, but one has a victory over the other, is the latter sole champion or are they co-champs? For some reason, I thought they were co-champs, unless it’s changed. It could come up with Bama-aTm this year.

Obviously, the tiebreaker would matter in terms of seeding the SECT, but that’s different than crowning champions.

 

[VolGee4]

In a somewhat related question: if 2 teams finish tied for the best record in the SEC, but one has a victory over the other, is the latter sole champion or are they co-champs? For some reason, I thought they were co-champs, unless it’s changed. It could come up with Bama-aTm this year.

Obviously, the tiebreaker would matter in terms of seeding the SECT, but that’s different than crowning champions.

I believe they are always co-champs because of the unbalanced schedule.

 

[cncchris33]

I believe they are always co-champs because of the unbalanced schedule.

This. The H2H winner gets the 1-seed in the SECT.

 

[LibertyVol]

I think Mashack is our best wing defender.

I cringe when Mashack touches the ball and he is often out of control. But you are always going to get effort from him.