BTO’s Auburn Postgame Report

#26
#26
bleedingTNorange said:
1. Hey Auburn, Hey Bruce, GFY!!!! What a game, felt a bit like that was a tennesse vs. the refs and vs. the opponent type of game for awhile, we definitely weren’t getting the benefit of the whistle in the fist half and even early in the 2nd half it wasn’t good…our guys did not quit, they locked in and found a way to win this game, it feels damn good.

2. We weren’t great offensively, definitely could’ve been much better…too many turnovers, didn’t shoot all that well, but we crashed the boards to give ourselves 2nd chance points, we kept possessions alive and our effort was so good. I would’ve liked to see us less hesitant to let it fly from 3 when the looks were there and not try to back down Kessler, but hard to argue.

3. Defensively though, my freaking goodness, that 2nd half was borderline orgasmic (outside the final 2 minutes). The first half wasn’t bad, but the 2nd half we absolutely locked up and said you gotta score points with someone beside Smith. Now granted for Smith he still got his, something like 18/30 2nd half points, but that’s how you have to defend Auburn…that dude is gonna get his shot any time that he wants, we disrupted his flow enough and made him work enough and that was enough. Simply put, can their guards beat ours and the answer was no.

4. Sure I’m an advocate for Barnes, I love what he’s done here, but I don’t think I’ve ever singled him out postgame…how about a tip of the cap? Auburn has our number? The man wears his team out in January? He’s coasting to retirement? His teams never peak at the right time? This team is unequivocally playing its best ball of the year this past month, they are moving up metrics and seed lists and they’re doing so while navigating a season ending injury to a starter and incorporating freshman who one hasn’t played much and the other has hardly played at all…that final season of Grant & Admiral is tough to beat, but this one may be right up there, so much for retirement Rick.

5. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield…he got exposed some tonight sure, but without him we quite possibly lose, helluva an effort young man. His ORB were huge, he also had some possessions where he gave Jabari hell, and that is not something I expected at all leading up to this game. Yes Jabari got him some, but the point/fact is it wasn’t every time, and BHH made him work, the potential is there and we are starting to see is at just the right time.

6. Ok big picture, ooooh I’m giddy….we sit at 21-7(12-4), we said going into this final stretch 2-1 would be a solid finish, and it would be, but now you’ve changed the outlook and momentum a bit. Zero questions asked you should beat Georgia, which sets up a monumental game against Arkansas here in Knoxville…with what has gone on around us it’s very much possible Tennessee is getting talked about as a 2 seed, at worst a 3 seed, win against Georgia and that’s hold serve….which again leads into Saturday’s game against Arkansas. We locked down a double bye with todays win, so realistically outside of losing to Georgia (please god no), it’s hard to see us as worse than a 4 seed, but a 2/3 sounds so much better ;)



GBO!!!
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Great win for Barnes over Pearl. The first half was not a good one for our guards. They didn't handle the Auburn physical play. That whistle just wasn't coming so you have to be strong with the ball and we weren’t. The bigs were all over the glass and played well the whole game. They combined to make Kessler almost a non factor. Our guards were much better in the second half and we prevailed. Which of these four teams will prevail on a neutral court in the SEC Tournament? Home teams have dominated in these head to head matchups.
 
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#28
#28
ColinS said:
Great win for Barnes over Pearl. The first half was not a good one for our guards. They didn't handle the Auburn physical play. That whistle just wasn't coming so you have to be strong with the ball and we weren’t. The bigs were all over the glass and played well the whole game. They combined to make Kessler almost a non factor. Our guards were much better in the second half and we prevailed. Which of these four teams will prevail on a neutral court in the SEC Tournament? Home teams have dominated in these head to head matchups.
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Get out of here with this crap most objective fans will call that bad officiating. The first half was poorly called…it effected our offense. Second half called correctly thus why we won
 
#30
#30
TheMookieMonster said:
I will admit, I had big concerns through the first 25 minutes that this was going to be another game like Texas, TTU, Arkansas, where nothing we shot would go through the hoop. Granted, we still didn’t shoot well the entire game but we shot JUST well enough in the 2nd half to win because…..

….MY GOD. That defense. Easily the best half of defense I’ve seen us play all year. It was a work of art.

It was nice to win an ugly one. Feels like all year the ugly games against good teams just haven’t gone our way, but we pulled one out despite a horrid final 1.5 minutes. We really need to work on breaking press.

Anyway, I’m all smiles today. Just such a great performance. This team has been fun to watch for quite some time now. Really hope we stay locked in and don’t overlook Georgia. Auburn was taken to the wire and we really can’t afford that loss.

I’m not sure how this season will end. I hope we can make a run in March for once and really look back and reflect on this team as being special, but it’s been quite a turnaround. Bravo, Rick.
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Except for playing Auburn again, I'm not sure we will see a press as good as theirs. Remember, even some of our less talented teams were really good at defending the in-bound pass, when Pearl was here. Auburn is simply elite at some things, and this is one, if you ask me.
 
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#31
#31
bleedingTNorange said:
5. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield…he got exposed some tonight sure, but without him we quite possibly lose, helluva an effort young man. His ORB were huge, he also had some possessions where he gave Jabari hell, and that is not something I expected at all leading up to this game. Yes Jabari got him some, but the point/fact is it wasn’t every time, and BHH made him work, the potential is there and we are starting to see is at just the right time.
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Excellent analysis.

Well, you can eat just one bite of crow. BHH did indeed guard Smith (as I expected), and even held him below 30, haha.

Hopefully, this effort gives him confidence, and pays dividends for the rest of the season. How 'bout that big 3 pointer?!
 
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#33
#33
Man, what a win! Vols have proved me wrong. Crow taste delicious though in the wake of a win over Bruce the cheat.

I gave them little chance at beating LSU, KY, or Auburn (Arkansas either but we won't talk about that). Win out and an Auburn slip up and we win the regular season SEC, championship. Great job coach Barnes and company!
 
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#36
#36
turbovol said:
Where do the students sit in the arena? Are they close to the court or no? Watching the first half on TV, I see a lot of older fans sitting fairly passively in the, say, 20 rows behind the UT bench Watching the Vols on TV, I don't see the students going crazy close to the court as you always see with Duke and other schools.
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I think it would be a great public relations move to move the student section closer to the court in the future.
 
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#38
#38
TheMookieMonster said:
I will admit, I had big concerns through the first 25 minutes that this was going to be another game like Texas, TTU, Arkansas, where nothing we shot would go through the hoop. Granted, we still didn’t shoot well the entire game but we shot JUST well enough in the 2nd half to win because…..

….MY GOD. That defense. Easily the best half of defense I’ve seen us play all year. It was a work of art.

It was nice to win an ugly one. Feels like all year the ugly games against good teams just haven’t gone our way, but we pulled one out despite a horrid final 1.5 minutes. We really need to work on breaking press.

Anyway, I’m all smiles today. Just such a great performance. This team has been fun to watch for quite some time now. Really hope we stay locked in and don’t overlook Georgia. Auburn was taken to the wire and we really can’t afford that loss.

I’m not sure how this season will end. I hope we can make a run in March for once and really look back and reflect on this team as being special, but it’s been quite a turnaround. Bravo, Rick.
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If you look at the stats, most players shot well, but Fulky, Aidoo, and ZZ brought the avg. down.
 
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#39
#39
bleedingTNorange said:
1. Hey Auburn, Hey Bruce, GFY!!!! What a game, felt a bit like that was a tennesse vs. the refs and vs. the opponent type of game for awhile, we definitely weren’t getting the benefit of the whistle in the fist half and even early in the 2nd half it wasn’t good…our guys did not quit, they locked in and found a way to win this game, it feels damn good.

2. We weren’t great offensively, definitely could’ve been much better…too many turnovers, didn’t shoot all that well, but we crashed the boards to give ourselves 2nd chance points, we kept possessions alive and our effort was so good. I would’ve liked to see us less hesitant to let it fly from 3 when the looks were there and not try to back down Kessler, but hard to argue.

3. Defensively though, my freaking goodness, that 2nd half was borderline orgasmic (outside the final 2 minutes). The first half wasn’t bad, but the 2nd half we absolutely locked up and said you gotta score points with someone beside Smith. Now granted for Smith he still got his, something like 18/30 2nd half points, but that’s how you have to defend Auburn…that dude is gonna get his shot any time that he wants, we disrupted his flow enough and made him work enough and that was enough. Simply put, can their guards beat ours and the answer was no.

4. Sure I’m an advocate for Barnes, I love what he’s done here, but I don’t think I’ve ever singled him out postgame…how about a tip of the cap? Auburn has our number? The man wears his team out in January? He’s coasting to retirement? His teams never peak at the right time? This team is unequivocally playing its best ball of the year this past month, they are moving up metrics and seed lists and they’re doing so while navigating a season ending injury to a starter and incorporating freshman who one hasn’t played much and the other has hardly played at all…that final season of Grant & Admiral is tough to beat, but this one may be right up there, so much for retirement Rick.

5. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield…he got exposed some tonight sure, but without him we quite possibly lose, helluva an effort young man. His ORB were huge, he also had some possessions where he gave Jabari hell, and that is not something I expected at all leading up to this game. Yes Jabari got him some, but the point/fact is it wasn’t every time, and BHH made him work, the potential is there and we are starting to see is at just the right time.

6. Ok big picture, ooooh I’m giddy….we sit at 21-7(12-4), we said going into this final stretch 2-1 would be a solid finish, and it would be, but now you’ve changed the outlook and momentum a bit. Zero questions asked you should beat Georgia, which sets up a monumental game against Arkansas here in Knoxville…with what has gone on around us it’s very much possible Tennessee is getting talked about as a 2 seed, at worst a 3 seed, win against Georgia and that’s hold serve….which again leads into Saturday’s game against Arkansas. We locked down a double bye with todays win, so realistically outside of losing to Georgia (please god no), it’s hard to see us as worse than a 4 seed, but a 2/3 sounds so much better ;)



GBO!!!
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Best rebounding effort I've ever seen from a Barnes-coached Tennessee team.

Jabari Smith got his 27 points, but it took him 21 FGAs and 9 FTAs to do it. That's a trade I think anyone is willing to take, especially when it accounts for 44% of Auburn's points.

Huntley-Hatfield is my POTG. Not a sexy pick, but relative to my expectations of what we'd get from him, he definitely stood out. 5 pts, 8 rebs, 1 asst, 2 blks is by far his best game as a Vol considering the opponent and importance.
 
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#41
#41
#5 was probably my favorite. BHH wasn’t perfect, but he was solid. He showed hustle and some life to him and didn’t back down. Also, TBA was awesome tonight. I had quite a few Auburn fans in my section, they were loud, but those last 15 minutes of the clock we absolutely gave them heck up there. Probably one of the better games crowd wise I’ve been too.
 
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#43
#43
This team has actually beat 3 top five teams this year (Kentucky, Auburn and Arizona) .. All the Big guys played well today-- I was impressed with Uri against Kessler early on. BHH, obviously-- Aidoo did some good stuff. Knock on wood, but we are getting better and better. Our defense in the second half could not be better. And lots of upsets today--we'll see where we land when the rankings come out.
 
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#44
#44
cncchris33 said:
Best rebounding effort I've ever seen from a Barnes-coached Tennessee team.

Jabari Smith got his 27 points, but it took him 21 FGAs and 9 FTAs to do it. That's a trade I think anyone is willing to take, especially when it accounts for 44% of Auburn's points.

Huntley-Hatfield is my POTG. Not a sexy pick, but relative to my expectations of what we'd get from him, he definitely stood out. 5 pts, 8 rebs, 1 asst, 2 blks is by far his best game as a Vol considering the opponent and importance.
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His 3 turned the tide in this game. Coming when we were desperate for a bucket and he drained a 3. It was the start of our 17-2 run
 
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#45
#45
We play that level of defense and continue with rebounding effort from all 5 guys on the court, we will create a headache for anyone. Our offenses lapses, missed free throws, and layups will be our undoing but this team has since the Texas loss has become a real joy to watch. No matter what happens in the tournament. 3 wins against top 5 teams is impressive and maybe we start getting some credit nationally.

Couple of points:
Give Barnes credit with his handling of BHH. Frankly I was worried about it early in the season. Get that effort from BHH the rest of the year and I think his offense will improve too.
Zeigler is an absolute menace defensively. There were a group of possessions that he controlled the floor just as much as Kessler does for Auburn, yet he is a foot shorter. That young man, exudes confidence.
Vescovi is a very underrated rebounder. There was one possession where he boxed out a larger Auburn player and backed him out of the lane by 5 feet.
Chandler is playing with a different tempo. He still has another level in my opinion and needs to continue to attack offensively when we inevitably hit lulls.

We are hitting our stride at the right time. Just need to find consistency of the offensive end.
 
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#46
#46
The good: Team showed more composure when they were handed bad calls.
Rebounding in beast mode.
The bad: The team played a little banjo tight on offense and it hurt fluidity of the shots. So low shooting %.
Played not to lose in the last few minutes.

Notes: Chandler has free throws in his immediate future. After missing them...got the ball quickly to ZZ so they could not foul him. Also had two turnovers trying get the ball out of his hand.
Check: Take care of Auburn at home.

Arkansas is making a run!!!!
Hold serve on road at Georgia.
Get a little Cinderella magic in Starkville. Fingers crossed.
Then the game goes from huge to monumental.
One game at a time.
@ BTO ... Well done sir!
 
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#47
#47
Volfan1000 said:
I think it would be a great public relations move to move the student section closer to the court in the future.
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Unfortunately, it will probably never happen. I’m pretty sure all the donors and blue hairs on the sides were given lifetime front row seats for their donations when Thompson Boling Arena was built. For all I know, they get passed down in the family when they die. The same thing happened with Rupp Arena, and Kentucky fans complain about it too.

Auburn was smart. They built a smaller arena and made sure the students got front row seats on the sides.
 
#50
#50
OrangeJuicebox said:
Unfortunately, it will probably never happen. I’m pretty sure all the donors and blue hairs on the sides were given lifetime front row seats for their donations when Thompson Boling Arena was built. For all I know, they get passed down in the family when they die. The same thing happened with Rupp Arena, and Kentucky fans complain about it too.

Auburn was smart. They built a smaller arena and made sure the students got front row seats on the sides.
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Drop the floor 6 feet and put a ring of 3-5 rows of nearly vertical concrete "bleachers" around the floor. The 1st 1k students in the doors get those SRO seats each game. The inaugural donors keep their seat, the students are suddenly on the floor and the capacity climbs by 1k.
 
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