BTO’s Auburn Postgame Report

[MoCo_Vol]

Good write up again bTo, one thing I'd like to touch on that I don't think gets mentioned enough at least in the main media. The way the "best bigs" are officiated.

Broome played 33 minutes and had 0 fouls.
Aidoo played 28 minutes and fouled out with 5
Awaka played 23 minutes and ended the game with 3 fouls
JP played 2 minutes and had a foul called.

Broome absolutely fouled in this game, they simply weren't called for whatever reason. A trend I've noticed throughout the year.

Edey for Purdue played 26 minutes and had 4 fouls (a sloppy mess of a game officiating, 51 total fouls called and Purdue shot 48 free throws) Aidoo AND Awaka combined for just 25 minutes and 10 fouls that game.

Dickinson for Kansas played 30 minutes and had 1 foul called, Aidoo played 27 and had 2 fouls, Awaka played 7 minutes and had 2 fouls. A "cleaner" game, but Kansas still shot 22 free throws (we had 8)

Bacout for UNC played 31 minutes and had 3 fouls called, Aidoo played 21 minutes and fouled out, Cade Phillips played 12 minutes and had 3 fouls (no Awaka this game)

Tolu Smith for Mississippi State played 29 minutes and had 4 fouls called, Aidoo played 20 and fouled out, Awaka played 20 and also fouled out.


It's not that we're not fouling, but it's the way we're being called at nearly a 2 to 1 against the "best bigs" in the country that is frustrating. Because in the SEC Aidoo is 21st in total fouls. Some in conference bigs that have more fouls Grant Nelson, Tyrese Samuel, Johni Broome. Maybe these teams with the "best bigs" just go at Aidoo differently, but for me looking at the season as a whole he's only had 5 games where he reached 4 fouls and South Carolina was the only one without an "elite" big on their roster.

 

[lostsheep]

Funny watching Barnes reaction every time DK scores. He puts his hand to his mouth. Probably a habit, but I want to think he's mumbling "F you Pearl" while covering his mouth.

 

[CAVPUT]

Usage rate this year for Véscovi is 14% (Knecht is 28%) and JJJ is 16.2%. Last night it was 12.9% and 6.4% respectively. If you’re not touching the ball, you can’t score. Some of that is Knecht taking up possessions but really we’re having Zeigler run the offense and Véscovi is not taking possessions this year like he did last year.

 

[LakeMaryFLVol]

Will re

1. What a phenomenal game, would’ve sucked losing that one obviously but really it’s sucks for either team, both teams played great and that felt like a battle of Elite 8 type teams. Both teams threw some punches and went on runs, and both teams responded with their own runs and got the lead back, this one felt like ultimately it came down to we had Dalton Knecht and they did not.

2. Speaking of, obviously I’ve gave him his praise in the past but have tried to avoid being a broken record and pointing him out every game, but no way I can ignore todays performance, specifically the 2nd half run he had. Tennessee went down 8 with 12 minutes left to play and Dalton Knecht proceeded to score 25 points, including an 8 minute stretch he dropped 23 points on 9-10 shooting, it was amazing. We’ve seen Grant & Lofton in recent memory, Grant did most his work down low and while he would drive sometimes majority of Lofton’s work came from 3, Knecht really scores at all 3 levels at an elite level unlike any of those guys were able to. I’m not sure how far this team goes, but having a guy like that on your roster is not something many teams have, and is an absolute weapon.

3. Through much of the first half of the season we’ve talked about our struggles against elite big men, Aidoo & Awaka have improved throughout the year and tonight was another test for them going against Broome. While Broome singularly won the statistical battle, combined those guys did more than hold their own. Aidoo & Awaka combined for 23 & 12 on 9-13 FG, Broome & Cardwell combined for 23 & 10 on 9-18 FG. So yes Broome won the battle and showed he’s probably the better big man, but our 2 bigs overall won the battle and outplayed their bigs, something that they weren’t doing earlier in the year against elite bigs. They don’t have to be great, or best those guys, but when we run into one of those bigs we need them to hold their own much like they did tonight.

4. Zeigler had a first 15 minutes I’m sure he would love to forget, but to his credit and much like we’d all expect he responded well and put together a solid game. He had 4 turnovers in about the first 10 minutes, and then finishes the game with 17 points 9 assists 4 rebounds and 4 turnovers, and hitting some huge free throws late while struggling at the line earlier in the game. I thought Auburn’s scout and guards gave him some fits early on for sure but thought he adjusted well and had himself a solid game.

5. We’ve talked about this gauntlet of a 4 game stretch to end the year, have said 2-2 wouldn’t be a shock at all and you’d gladly take anything better, well starting out 1-0 definitely takes some pressure off of you. Given the H2H tie breaks we’ve all but just about got a Top 4 finish in the league and double bye locked up, tonight’s result should also pretty much guarantee a 3 seed at worst in the NCAAT and likely a 2 seed as the floor if you can just find 1 more W. Obviously at this point we have our eyes on much more though, we control our own destiny for a SEC title and given the quality of opponents left we likely also control our own destiny for a 1 seed as well. Saturdays game is gonna be tough, they’re going to want revenge and obviously it’s really tough to win on the road in this league, winning tonight takes some of that pressure off though in what should be a great game.


GBO!!!!

Years and years from now this game and Knecht's run will still be talked about. ....Will Remember that second half and Knecht's 23 8 minute 9-10 run for a long long time. Never seen that size with his high release range 3 levels before. Enjoy this run Volnation. Man that was fun last night

 

[MoCo_Vol]

He's a generational player, so enjoy whatever is left of him. You just don't go out and get these types of guys. He might be the 2nd or 3rd best player Rick Barnes has had the privilege of coaching in his career behind Durant, and maybe TJ Ford (only because he managed 2 years out of Ford). Knecht is a far more dynamic scorer, in the same vein as KD. No one Barnes has coached at Tennessee holds a candle to his skill on the offensive end.

The guy is just an absolute gift, and we are witnessing greatness at the college level. It's an absolute travesty if he doesn't win SEC POY.

I think Kevin Punter's 1 year under Barnes can't be slept on, 22.2 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 spg and he shot nearly the same amount of shots as DK (just got to the line more). It's kind of overlooked because that was year 1 and we missed the NCAA, but had Punter not missed 8 games might have turned out differently.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

So....Vescovi 1-3 last night. What's your theory as to what's causing him to turtle up offensively? JJJ has always been a box of chocolates, but Vescovi? Hard for me to grasp.

1-2* and that 1 was huge, but Santi's issue this season has been volume. He's fouling too much and sitting more because of it.

We took 55 shots last night, 21 were DK 10 for Aidoo and 9 by ZZ (our 3 leading scorers). That leaves 15 attempts, Santi only played 18 minutes and Gainey is usually his sub so he couldn't take any shots from Gainey (who went 1-6). So of the 9 remaining attempts on the night 3 went to Awaka (not shots Santi will take) and the last 6 were taken by JJJ (1-3), Santi (1-2) and Mashack (1-1). Like Santi himself has said, he just wants to win. He was causing a ton of havoc in the first half with his ball pressure and honestly if he doesn't pickup those dumb fouls we probably win this one more comfortably. He was on the court at the end when we wanted to close it out defensively for a reason.

 

[cncchris33]

I think Kevin Punter's 1 year under Barnes can't be slept on, 22.2 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 spg and he shot nearly the samge amount of shots as DK (just got to the line more). It's kind of overlooked because that was year 1 and we missed the NCAA, but had Punter not missed 8 games might have turned out differently.

That's a fair point, and that season is definitely overlooked (often forgotten) by Tennessee fans. I'd compare his senior season to a better version of Sean East from Missouri. Empty stats on an unimportant team. A lot of good performances get wasted on forgettable teams. But KP definitely had a great season in Barnes's first year.

So for me, it comes down to significance. Punter only scored 30+ in 3 games on a team that didn't really have a ton of scoring punch, and 2 of the 3 came against awful opponents. They had a similar version of JJJ in Armani Moore who was their 2nd best player.

Knecht is doing his best work against our best opponents. He's scored 30+ 6 times (and counting), and it has come against UNC in Chapel Hill, Florida, South Carolina, and Auburn...all NCAAT teams. And we have other scoring options, much more versatile than that team Punter played on, but DK just takes over games and wills this team to wins against great opponents.

I certainly don't want to discount KP's senior season because it was great, but those are the things that separate them for me. And I know you weren't making a case for Punter over DK, but more likely responding to my comment that no one else holds a candle to DK from an offensive standpoint. And to that point, I will concede that Punter is the closest competitor and deserves to be mentioned, so good thought from you.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

It has to be so demoralizing to play as well as Auburn did and watch one man beat you.

According to Kenpom Auburn is still a better offensive team that we are ... even after last nights game.
I do not think some have grasped how well Auburn played...and that TN beat them in every offensive category.

Auburn
27/59 for .458 from the field
9/22 for .409 from 3
21/28 for .750 from the FT line
Offensive Efficiency: 112
TN
28/55 for .509 from the field
9/17 for .529 from 3
27/35 for .771 from the FT line
Offensive Efficiency: 133

Total fouls called: 46
Shout outs to ZZ who played 38 minutes and DK who played 33 minutes ... that who stirs the drink!
And some love and recognition to Aidoo and Awaka who effectively negated the efforts of Broome!

 

[pimo1]

If we beat UScC and Bama, it doesn’t matter about Kentucky game.

sorry youre right for some reason i thought they were 1 game behind not 2

 

[cncchris33]

1-2* and that 1 was huge, but Santi's issue this season has been volume. He's fouling too much and sitting more because of it.

We took 55 shots last night, 21 were DK 10 for Aidoo and 9 by ZZ (our 3 leading scorers). That leaves 15 attempts, Santi only played 18 minutes and Gainey is usually his sub so he couldn't take any shots from Gainey (who went 1-6). So of the 9 remaining attempts on the night 3 went to Awaka (not shots Santi will take) and the last 6 were taken by JJJ (1-3), Santi (1-2) and Mashack (1-1). Like Santi himself has said, he just wants to win. He was causing a ton of havoc in the first half with his ball pressure and honestly if he doesn't pickup those dumb fouls we probably win this one more comfortably. He was on the court at the end when we wanted to close it out defensively for a reason.

It really is this simple. We aren't relying on him to be our go-to guy in danger spots anymore. We aren't forcing him to be the savior of this team in offensive droughts. He gets his handful of shots each game, and as poorly as he has shot it overall, it's really all we want from him unless he gets hot early. We've seen that a couple times this year (Kansas, Illinois, Vandy).

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I’d feel a lot better about a 1 seed if we finished 1 game better than AZ. I don’t see them losing more than 1 in the regular season and it seems conference tourneys don’t matter so we likely have to go 4-0 (3-0 now) down the stretch. We’re behind them currently in Kenpom and I swear it almost looks like their lead widened with them beating ASU on the road vs us at home against Auburn. Maybe I’m wrong but I swear I thought we were closer than we are this morning. Win Saturday and surely to goodness we jump them but who knows.

A lot more to it than simply following 1-4 on KP though, us gaining a Q1 win last night when they didn’t was big. I’ve said I feel we need to match them and I think we’ll pass them, I could see it not being enough but that’s my opinion. 3-0 to finish out and I really struggle to not see us as a 1, if both teams go 2-1 I think we pass them as well.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

So....Vescovi 1-3 last night. What's your theory as to what's causing him to turtle up offensively? JJJ has always been a box of chocolates, but Vescovi? Hard for me to grasp.

Leave it to you to find a negative lol…teams are still defending him like he’s a major threat from 3, which helps open things up for Knecht. With Aidoo and Awaka doing what they’re doing in the post, JJJ using his mid range game and then what Zeigler and Knecht are doing from all 3 leaves, you don’t want Vescovi forcing low percentage drives/mid range etc…he’s a threat from 3 and I would venture to guess he’ll have another game or 2 with multiple 3’s and scoring double digits, he’s perfectly fine stepping back offensively while still doing all the other things for the betterment of the team.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

1-2* and that 1 was huge, but Santi's issue this season has been volume. He's fouling too much and sitting more because of it.

We took 55 shots last night, 21 were DK 10 for Aidoo and 9 by ZZ (our 3 leading scorers). That leaves 15 attempts, Santi only played 18 minutes and Gainey is usually his sub so he couldn't take any shots from Gainey (who went 1-6). So of the 9 remaining attempts on the night 3 went to Awaka (not shots Santi will take) and the last 6 were taken by JJJ (1-3), Santi (1-2) and Mashack (1-1). Like Santi himself has said, he just wants to win. He was causing a ton of havoc in the first half with his ball pressure and honestly if he doesn't pickup those dumb fouls we probably win this one more comfortably. He was on the court at the end when we wanted to close it out defensively for a reason.

I think that is a good assessment.
Santi wants to WIN. He is willing to fill whatever role that means.
Also Santi is expending a ton more energy on the defensive end. Some of that aggressiveness is leading to MORE fouls and LESS minutes.
He is also smiling a lot more at the fouls he is picking up (when he totally disagrees with the call) and smiling when he is talking to the referee about fouls that are not being called for him (when he is getting hacked, bumped and knocked around).
The thing I like best is the overall team attitude is more nonplussed by the fouls that they are picking up defensively and the fouls that should be called but are not.
My brothers are mystified by the discrepancy that they think they see in how the foul calls are against us versus for us. (The are convinced it is a conspiracy out of Birmingham.)

 

[gainesvol82]

Well there was the play that Vescovi landed on top of the Auburn three point shooter and nothing was called. That called saved two or three points for us. It's easy to see the ones that go against you and ignore the ones in your favor.

Was correct call. Auburn player had to wait for Vescovi to land in order for him to be close enough for Auburn shooter to initiate the contact on the. That's a correct no-call.

It's too bad the zebras don't understand the rules on a big being completely vertical with their arms up. Broome just had to jump into Aidoo/Awaka's arms extended toward the rafters and a whistle was blown every time.

Used to be that was considered bad offense and no call. Now your star players are taught that weak shite because they get the call more often than not.

 

[gainesvol82]

They can't all score 39 points. Vesco isn't nearly the dynamic scorer DK is, and he isn't forced to be the main threat any longer. That allows him to expend more energy on defense and that has clearly become his primary focus. Any offense we get from him is a bonus, now. We aren't running plays to get him open looks like we have been forced to in the past. We aren't relying on him to be our primary scorer. We were always missing that alpha, and we tried to force him into that role out of necessity. You're likely seeing a version of him that is more true to form.

Probably somewhere more in the middle. SV is a more volume guy who is now expected to be efficient on fewer opportunities. He would benefit greatly from more stop & pop shots since he doesn't have the hops to be more of a threat attacking the rim and leaves his feet to soon on drives.

 

[volpack2]

This is the first year having season tickets since returning to Knoxville area 25 years ago. I have seen a very good Vol team play every game at TBA this year but the last 12 minutes of last night’s game was the first time that the arena was truly electric and also contributed to the outcome of game.

I was at North Carolina State from ‘73 to ‘77 and saw that type electricity from the crowd regularly at most big games but that was also a much smaller arena and more difficult to achieve at a larger modern arena such as TBA.

If we can recreate this next weekend against Kentucky maybe BTO can add it to post game recap for game.

 

[cncchris33]

Probably somewhere more in the middle. SV is a more volume guy who is now expected to be efficient on fewer opportunities. He would benefit greatly from more stop & pop shots since he doesn't have the hops to be more of a threat attacking the rim and leaves his feet to soon on drives.

Right, the problem is the inefficiency over the whole season, and additionally, he's passing on a lot of of the opportunities he does get, which has led to the depressed numbers.

 

[JRVOL11]

Was a real great win last night, that game was phenomenal. Like the way Tennessee battled back when down 8 & shows Knecht could lead them back if we ever get down in the tourney. Saturday will be tough, but if Tennessee limits their 3s made I think they will be in it at the end to win.

 

[therickbol]

In the 1st half the refs let them play, suddenly in the 2nd half every touch became a foul. Poor ole Aidoo would just be standing flat footed with his arms straight over his head, Broome would jump into him and another foul on Aidoo. I guess in the refs mind the defender should back away while he shoots. It wasn't an unfairly called game but it was poorly officiated. Define what is going to be a foul at the beginning of the game and stay consistent. They clearly changed what they whistled a foul, from 1st half to 2nd half. Was it because of coach criticisms? Does the league office call them at half and critique them? Do they just drink some Jack D at halftime and say "hump it, let's a little fun"? Hmmm? Good win nevertheless

Agree with the fact that it was very poorly officiated. No game flow. No consistency. I am not sure who it even favored. It probably hurt Auburn just as much as it did UT. But with Aidoo specifically, it was so bad. When he picked up his 5th foul I told my wife "he just fouled out of the game and I do not think he had more than 1, maybe 2, legit fouls. It's not unusual to foul out and have 1 or 2 questionable calls that went against you that now cause you to have to sit the rest of the game. Aidoo fouled out and legit only had 1 or 2 fouls. That is very frustrating.

 

[CAVPUT]

Leave it to you to find a negative lol…teams are still defending him like he’s a major threat from 3, which helps open things up for Knecht. With Aidoo and Awaka doing what they’re doing in the post, JJJ using his mid range game and then what Zeigler and Knecht are doing from all 3 leaves, you don’t want Vescovi forcing low percentage drives/mid range etc…he’s a threat from 3 and I would venture to guess he’ll have another game or 2 with multiple 3’s and scoring double digits, he’s perfectly fine stepping back offensively while still doing all the other things for the betterment of the team.

First job as a kid was as a grocery store bag boy. Got pretty good at restocking shelves.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Was correct call. Auburn player had to wait for Vescovi to land in order for him to be close enough for Auburn shooter to initiate the contact on the. That's a correct no-call.

It's too bad the zebras don't understand the rules on a big being completely vertical with their arms up. Broome just had to jump into Aidoo/Awaka's arms extended toward the rafters and a whistle was blown every time.

Used to be that was considered bad offense and no call. Now your star players are taught that weak shite because they get the call more often than not.

Nothing makes me more angry watching college basketball than when offensive players jump into the defender with their arms straight up and they all a defensive foul. It's so lazy and this was after supposedly they were going to crack down on it.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

Leave it to you to find a negative lol…teams are still defending him like he’s a major threat from 3, which helps open things up for Knecht. With Aidoo and Awaka doing what they’re doing in the post, JJJ using his mid range game and then what Zeigler and Knecht are doing from all 3 leaves, you don’t want Vescovi forcing low percentage drives/mid range etc…he’s a threat from 3 and I would venture to guess he’ll have another game or 2 with multiple 3’s and scoring double digits, he’s perfectly fine stepping back offensively while still doing all the other things for the betterment of the team.

Agreed! Remember last night, they doubled DK and he through the ball to Santi. Who did not even bother to come down with it. He catches it and while still in the air throws it to Aidoo for a 2 pt layin.
Auburn ran a man at him leaving Aidoo wide open because they did NOT want him to shoot.

 

[spyfish007]

Agreed! Remember last night, they doubled DK and he through the ball to Santi. Who did not even bother to come down with it. He catches it and while still in the air throws it to Aidoo for a 2 pt layin.
Auburn ran a man at him leaving Aidoo wide open because they did NOT want him to shoot.

At the end of the game they were running 3 guys at DK!

 

[TMvol10]

Auburn’s games always seem to go over 2 hours. With the way they play defense and physical mode they bring they are going to foul and foul a lot. Bruce works the officials and he’s saying this is the way we play, and you cant call every foul. Although I loved the T he got last night. Gave us some momentum. Their players take on Bruce’s personality, they are easy not to like. They play with a chip on their shoulder and a strong competitive drive. We answered the bell last night big time!

Good point. Pearl does teach his teams to play like that. Slap, hold, check. He did it here too. And this season, more than ever, it’s very effective for Pearl cause they legit play 10 guys and it works. There’s no scrubs being thrown in. So while the opposing team loses players to fouls and their depth can’t hold up, it just plays into auburns strength which is their depth. They can hack away and it doesn’t hurt them like most teams.

 

[vol94]

Yeah, great point. First of all the talent is unlimited and you have to want it. Doesn't matter who is coaching if the player doesn't want it.

The young man “wants it,” as Dykes said he put up 200 shots pregame. I think he also stated Knecht shoots over 2500 (or was it 5k?) per week though he shoots 30 per game. Crazy.

Not many players put up that many shots in a week. Plus he works on his ball handling and defensive skills.