BTO’s Florida Postgame Report

[bleedingTNorange]

1. Great all around showing, Florida isn’t a bad team by any stretch, probably a fringe NCAAT team and you absolutely owned them for the majority of 40 minutes, very impressive stuff. Would’ve been easy with the early start time to not come out ready to play but kudos to the players, they were ready, and shout out to the fans who made the visit to TBA…there was a lot more folks there than I expected there to be and they were into the game, great atmosphere considering the conditions.

2. Dalton Knecht continues his charge towards SEC POY along with consideration for All-American honors and putting himself into national player of the year conversations at this time. He is really playing at an elite offensive level right now and he’s picked his defense up to his credit to the point that Barnes feels ok playing him 35+ minutes. His teammates around him are doing a better and better job of looking for him and “learning” to play alongside him and it’s showing. He may never have as efficient of a 35+ point performance as last night, but having that offensive weapon on your roster can be a difference maker come March, and that’s not something we’ve had on the wing in a very long time.

3. In conference play Jonas Aidoo is currently averaging: 27mpg 15.5ppg 10rpg 2bpg 56%FG 73%FT…you will not find many P5 big men with those numbers, you have to look at the nations best like Zach Edey, Ryan Kalkbrenner, PJ Hall, Daron Holmet, Armando Bacot etc to find big men with similar numbers. Now obviously with that said I narrowed it down to conference play for Aidoo, but I’m just highlighting his strong recent play for us and how well he’s playing, if he can keep it up he will/should continue to gain more recognition both on a SEC level and national level. The other thing is he’s taking 12 shots a game, he’s giving us an inside presence which is something we’ve really lacked at times, and is benefiting us as a team from an offensive standpoint.

4. Jordan Gainey has played season low minutes now in 3 straight games, it would appear that the staff is starting to look at some other options. We saw Dillione get in first off the bench last night and we saw Estrella get some run as well, those look like the 2 candidates so pickup some of those minutes and Barnes hoping 1 of them steps forward. Your starting 5 plus Mashack and Awaka off the bench is a solid 7 and trusted by the staff, but you’re an injury away (even minor) from needing something from someone else, it will be worth watching how Gainey stays locked in and then how Dilione and Estrella continue to perform if/when given the opportunities.

5. Holding serve at home is going to be a huge aspect of how this regular season goes overall, as we’ve seen through 2 weeks of conference play around the country no win on the road is to be taken for granted. We talked before the start of SEC play how 7-2 would be a good start for the first 9 games, the Vols sit at 3-1 with 5 remaining, Bama/SC/LSU at home and Vandy/UK on the road finish out the first half of the state. Bama at home this Saturday is probably the 2nd toughest game of those remaining and so for that reason it’s a big one, if you can get a win then getting to that 7-2 mark set as a goal becomes much more attainable. Also worth mentioning that there’s a good chance we will be fighting with Alabama for seeding in both SECT & NCAAT, so having a head to head win against them would be nice to have as a feather in the cap.


GBO!!!

 

[VOLtaism]

What happened to the sky-hook that agile big men like Jonas used in the 80's and 90's? Unstoppable.

I don't think anyone in the conference can beat this team at home.

 

[esarmstrong]

Aidoo is crucial to Knecht's continued development and Tennessee's continuing success as a team. He was scoring early and often before Knecht went off in the last 7 minutes of the first half. That second scoring option is important for this team's continuing success, IMHO

 

[omghulkhands]

Aidoo is crucial to Knecht's continued development and Tennessee's continuing success as a team. He was scoring early and often before Knecht went off in the last 7 minutes of the first half. That second scoring option is important for this team's continuing success, IMHO

He was killing it with the 10-15 foot jumpers. When those are falling, we are impossible to stop on offense

 

[ReadCT]

TY for the write up BTO

Second most-complete game of the season, after the Ole Miss game

Except for the turnovers. Need to get those tightened up

And Vescovi is just lost right now on offense

GBO

 

[TNBV]

How about Mashack's defense against a much taller post!

 

[kckempf]

Aidoo is crucial to Knecht's continued development and Tennessee's continuing success as a team. He was scoring early and often before Knecht went off in the last 7 minutes of the first half. That second scoring option is important for this team's continuing success, IMHO

It stood out to me that Knecht had that 20 point outburst when Aidoo was on the bench with 2 fouls. When they're on the floor together Aidoo takes advantage of gaps teams leave to cover Knecht. That two-man game is really tough.

Something else about Aidoo is that his defense was a big part of the Georgia game turning around. We started switching on the perimeter and his ability to play on the outside and recover quickly to the post is great. Plus he used his quick hands to keep Georgia from using the post players on the perimeter for hand-off screens. He's still got to work on initiating defense against post players further out (he can let them set up close to the basket where post moves can be almost an automatic bucket) and he's somewhat vulnerable on drives but he's now at the point where he has some huge defensive strengths to lean on.

 

[macrovol]

What happened to the sky-hook that agile big men like Jonas used in the 80's and 90's? Unstoppable.

I don't think anyone in the conference can beat this team at home.

Kareem has retired.

 

[omghulkhands]

And Vescovi is just lost right now on offense

GBO

He is lost on scoring. I’d argue he has been pretty valuable as a passer, ball handler and creating shots for others. Pay attention to his pick and roll game with Aidoo or his probing of the defense that makes the defense have to move and collapse.

 

[BruisedOrange]

It stood out to me that Knecht had that 20 point outburst when Aidoo was on the bench with 2 fouls. When they're on the floor together Aidoo takes advantage of gaps teams leave to cover Knecht. That two-man game is really tough.

Something else about Aidoo is that his defense was a big part of the Georgia game turning around. We started switching on the perimeter and his ability to play on the outside and recover quickly to the post is great. Plus he used his quick hands to keep Georgia from using the post players on the perimeter for hand-off screens. He's still got to work on initiating defense against post players further out (he can let them set up close to the basket where post moves can be almost an automatic bucket) and he's somewhat vulnerable on drives but he's now at the point where he has some huge defensive strengths to lean on.

In fairness to future expectations, Georgia's post players were notoriously slow on pick and roll movement. Still, credit Aidoo for playing the scouting report with excellent timing.

 

[volsack7]

He is lost on scoring. I’d argue he has been pretty valuable as a passer, ball handler and creating shots for others. Pay attention to his pick and roll game with Aidoo or his probing of the defense that makes the defense have to move and collapse.

I have full confidence that by the end of conference play, Santi will get in the groove. He is going to be valuable down the stretch.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Don't forget Estrella's coming on in this game. With Aidoo and Awaka foul prone sometimes, Estrella hopefully can be counted on to give minuets to help them out.

 

[BruisedOrange]

What happened to the sky-hook that agile big men like Jonas used in the 80's and 90's? Unstoppable.

I don't think anyone in the conference can beat this team at home.

Other than maybe the release point, is there a difference between Kareem's "sky hook" and what Aidoo does at 01:00 in the highlight video below?

 

[Sea Ray]

Don't forget Estrella's coming on in this game. With Aidoo and Awaka foul prone sometimes, Estrella hopefully can be counted on to give minuets to help them out.

I love how he's not hesitant about going to the basket when he's in the paint. I've seen far too many Vols not even look at the basket and kick it out when they get an offensive rebound in the paint. Uros Plavsic is exhibit A

 

[BruisedOrange]

Don't forget Estrella's coming on in this game. With Aidoo and Awaka foul prone sometimes, Estrella hopefully can be counted on to give minuets to help them out.

I can see Estrella's court brain is thinking the college game now. He puts himself in the correct position more often, relative to the play of his teammates. That's a huge improvement in a short time.

But like many young big men (because of the length and rapid growth of nerves and muscles, I presume) his hands are still slow to handle short, quick passes cleanly and move the ball into an appropriate shooting release position. (Aka, fumble-fingers.)

If that improves as quickly as the rest of his game has, he should be a quality bench factor by tourney time.

 

[Rememberthelate90s]

Dillione looks slow. But his def stance was to stand straight up while guarding a guy. I have not been impressed so far. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[VolGee4]

Dillione looks slow. But his def stance was to stand straight up while guarding a guy. I have not been impressed so far. Maybe I'm wrong.

He wasn’t known as an elite athlete when recruited. He was a shot maker. Just continue to develop.

 

[VOLtaism]

Other than maybe the release point, is there a difference between Kareem's "sky hook" and what Aidoo does at 01:00 in the highlight video below?

Thats 3/4 of it and certainly good enough but he does not use it often enough. Most of the time he tries to get closer to the basket and loses the handle, for a variety of reasons, and does not utilize his reach advantage. I wish he would accept where ever he receives the entry pass is where he needs to shoot from, that little hook or a even a jump shot, and stop driving. His field goal percentage would go way up. He is much improved over last season in any case, showing some agressivness lately.

 

[Vol49er]

He is lost on scoring. I’d argue he has been pretty valuable as a passer, ball handler and creating shots for others. Pay attention to his pick and roll game with Aidoo or his probing of the defense that makes the defense have to move and collapse.

Agree. I thought that him and Josiah both played really well yesterday other than scoring, and they didn’t force the issue by jacking up a ton of shots like especially Josiah is sometimes prone to do. I don’t think we expected it to go this way but maybe their roles just aren’t as big time scorers for us this year but as complimentary scorers to Knecht, Aidoo, and Z.

I will say, JJJ is getting in the habit of fouling really aggressively. He’s already gotten one flagrant for it and if he doesn’t dial it back it won’t be the last

 

[walkenvol]

Agree. I thought that him and Josiah both played really well yesterday other than scoring, and they didn’t force the issue by jacking up a ton of shots like especially Josiah is sometimes prone to do. I don’t think we expected it to go this way but maybe their roles just aren’t as big time scorers for us this year but as complimentary scorers to Knecht, Aidoo, and Z.

I will say, JJJ is getting in the habit of fouling really aggressively. He’s already gotten one flagrant for it and if he doesn’t dial it back it won’t be the last

Gets your monies worth on those fouls at the rim. Don’t be giving up an “and1”.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

Fifth point is the big one. Wanna win a league title? Gotta protect home court, no matter the opponent

 

[JohnWardForever]

Don't forget Estrella's coming on in this game. With Aidoo and Awaka foul prone sometimes, Estrella hopefully can be counted on to give minuets to help them out.

Well Played! LOL

 

[Orangeburst]

BTOs post game write ups are so good. They eclipse anything we get from local or national media.

 

[JohnWardForever]

Agree. I thought that him and Josiah both played really well yesterday other than scoring, and they didn’t force the issue by jacking up a ton of shots like especially Josiah is sometimes prone to do. I don’t think we expected it to go this way but maybe their roles just aren’t as big time scorers for us this year but as complimentary scorers to Knecht, Aidoo, and Z.

I will say, JJJ is getting in the habit of fouling really aggressively. He’s already gotten one flagrant for it and if he doesn’t dial it back it won’t be the last

BOTH need to be compliments to the guys that are doing the heavy lifting. Knecht, Zeigler, & Aidoo. They will get their points in the long run.

 

[IndianapolisVol]

Beet, do you think the decision to decrease Gainey’s minutes is a result of his FG % or more based on what the staff thinks the other guys bring to the table? He’s shooting at a very low clip right now but that’s somewhat to be expected from a volume shooter on the perimeter.

In years past, we struggled on offense at times because we kept making the extra pass and nobody had the killer instinct we needed down the stretch. Dalton has solved that for this team, but personally I enjoyed seeing Gainey putting up shots earlier in the season. It was a nice departure from prior seasons when we would waste possessions by passing the ball around.