bleedingTNorange
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1. Baha Mar Champions, doesn’t satisfy those wanting March hardware I’m sure but any time you can win a “championship” it’s a great thing. The Vols were dominant in their 2 game stretch and really showed well, it’s a shame the games were so late as they likely lost some viewership but even so they’ve gotten a lot of praise and recognition, and deservedly so. The Vols elevated themselves to 5th nationally on KenPom and I would think will be due for a nice bump in the next update to the AP poll as well.
2. Chaz Lanier have yourself a vacation man, over the 2 games in the Bahamas he averaged 25.5ppg and shot 13/22 from deep, good for 59%, which obviously won him tournament MVP. There was lots of questions about how his game would translate and if his one season at UNF was an outlier, so far through 6 games, 3 of which have been against quality competition away from home, he’s averaging nearly 18ppg, that likely exceeds just about anyone’s expectations and hopefully answers those who wondered if his one season was an anomaly. With that said, there will likely be some games he struggles to get some looks as teams make him a focal point, he hasn’t shown the ability to drive and finish like DK could when teams crowd him, so there will almost certainly be some quiet games, but the attention he draws should open things up for others.
3. Chaz and the offense will get a lot of praise for their showing, as they should, but the defense continued to really be surprisingly strong early on to start the year. Obviously Virginia is no juggernaut, but Baylor was the #4 offensive team in the country entering yesterdays game, and we absolutely made their night terrible. You always know Barnes teams will play defense but I thought with all the new faces it would take some time, these guys have adjusted quickly and credit to returning players for bringing new guys along, looks like once again this will be an elite defensive team.
4. Ok enough on the defense, that’s boring stuff (jk), what about this offense? They continue to show up and shoot well, we hoped that losing Knecht wouldn’t lead to a fall off and so far it hasn’t, in fact it’s led to a more balanced attack offensively which has resulted in an even better offense to this point, currently Tennessee has climbed all to #10 offensively, I don’t have the data but this very well might be the first time in KP era Tennessee has possessed both a Top 10 offense and defense, that’s a great recipe for success.
5. Obviously the main guys have been getting love, but wanted to acknowledge Gainey & Phillips starts to the year. Again this isn’t 6 games against low majors in buy games at home, this has been some quality games and away from home, so not an easy start to the year, but both guys have played very well and carved out a nice role. Gainey seemingly as the 6th man is giving us 25mpg 11ppg 49% FG 37% 3ptFG 60% 2ptFG 87%FT, so shooting very well and finishing well from 2, which is a nice addition to his game, looks physically stronger and that’s benefiting him when he gets into the lane. Cade reminds me of what you wish Fulky could’ve been, a role player on a good team rather than a focal point, Cade is bigger and stronger but plays a similar style at this point, have to think he’s surprising some folks where he’s at as a sophomore. Obviously his role is bigger because of Estrella’s injury but you’ll happily take 17mpg 7ppg 4rpg on 74% shooting. I also thought Dubar looked good again, definitely not gonna play any 2 for this team, but he’s definitely going to help us at the 4 and adds some lineup versatility, excited to watch him continue to work his way back into things.
6. A 6-0 start, winning against the best teams by an average of about 20ppg is more than anyone probably could’ve hoped for a start to this year. I’ve mentioned it before but this is one of the easier OOC schedules we’ve had under Barnes, not any real fault of his just some programs being down, but the Vols are primed to take advantage for sure. Of their remaining 7 OOC games Barttorvik has them favored by 9+ in 6 of them, the lone game they aren’t is slight favorites on the road at Illinois, so essentially saying 12-1 OOC projection at this point, which would obviously be incredible. His season projection moved to 25-6 with last nights win which would certainly have us right in the 1/2 seed discussion, but obviously long ways to go, right now the Vols have took care of business and really positioned themselves well, now gotta take care of the business in front of them.
GBO!!!
2. Chaz Lanier have yourself a vacation man, over the 2 games in the Bahamas he averaged 25.5ppg and shot 13/22 from deep, good for 59%, which obviously won him tournament MVP. There was lots of questions about how his game would translate and if his one season at UNF was an outlier, so far through 6 games, 3 of which have been against quality competition away from home, he’s averaging nearly 18ppg, that likely exceeds just about anyone’s expectations and hopefully answers those who wondered if his one season was an anomaly. With that said, there will likely be some games he struggles to get some looks as teams make him a focal point, he hasn’t shown the ability to drive and finish like DK could when teams crowd him, so there will almost certainly be some quiet games, but the attention he draws should open things up for others.
3. Chaz and the offense will get a lot of praise for their showing, as they should, but the defense continued to really be surprisingly strong early on to start the year. Obviously Virginia is no juggernaut, but Baylor was the #4 offensive team in the country entering yesterdays game, and we absolutely made their night terrible. You always know Barnes teams will play defense but I thought with all the new faces it would take some time, these guys have adjusted quickly and credit to returning players for bringing new guys along, looks like once again this will be an elite defensive team.
4. Ok enough on the defense, that’s boring stuff (jk), what about this offense? They continue to show up and shoot well, we hoped that losing Knecht wouldn’t lead to a fall off and so far it hasn’t, in fact it’s led to a more balanced attack offensively which has resulted in an even better offense to this point, currently Tennessee has climbed all to #10 offensively, I don’t have the data but this very well might be the first time in KP era Tennessee has possessed both a Top 10 offense and defense, that’s a great recipe for success.
5. Obviously the main guys have been getting love, but wanted to acknowledge Gainey & Phillips starts to the year. Again this isn’t 6 games against low majors in buy games at home, this has been some quality games and away from home, so not an easy start to the year, but both guys have played very well and carved out a nice role. Gainey seemingly as the 6th man is giving us 25mpg 11ppg 49% FG 37% 3ptFG 60% 2ptFG 87%FT, so shooting very well and finishing well from 2, which is a nice addition to his game, looks physically stronger and that’s benefiting him when he gets into the lane. Cade reminds me of what you wish Fulky could’ve been, a role player on a good team rather than a focal point, Cade is bigger and stronger but plays a similar style at this point, have to think he’s surprising some folks where he’s at as a sophomore. Obviously his role is bigger because of Estrella’s injury but you’ll happily take 17mpg 7ppg 4rpg on 74% shooting. I also thought Dubar looked good again, definitely not gonna play any 2 for this team, but he’s definitely going to help us at the 4 and adds some lineup versatility, excited to watch him continue to work his way back into things.
6. A 6-0 start, winning against the best teams by an average of about 20ppg is more than anyone probably could’ve hoped for a start to this year. I’ve mentioned it before but this is one of the easier OOC schedules we’ve had under Barnes, not any real fault of his just some programs being down, but the Vols are primed to take advantage for sure. Of their remaining 7 OOC games Barttorvik has them favored by 9+ in 6 of them, the lone game they aren’t is slight favorites on the road at Illinois, so essentially saying 12-1 OOC projection at this point, which would obviously be incredible. His season projection moved to 25-6 with last nights win which would certainly have us right in the 1/2 seed discussion, but obviously long ways to go, right now the Vols have took care of business and really positioned themselves well, now gotta take care of the business in front of them.
GBO!!!
