BTO’s Illinois Postgame Report

[cncchris33]

JJJ is going to mess around and get a triple-double this year! He’s playing phenomenal!

 

[Redheads]

Great write-up, and a great win.

Being picky here, but one area we seem to struggle in that I don’t understand is when we’re faced with full court pressure, especially with a guy like ZZ on the floor.

I don’t pretend to know anything about basketball, but why don’t we clear everyone out except for ZZ and let him get it up the floor??

Seems all we’re doing is bringing extra defenders into the backcourt.

Anybody see what some teams are doing against the press where they put all 5 players out of bounds and they take off like wide receivers in a football game? Indefensible. I’d like to see us try that.

 

[GoVols1998Yeah!]

I just wanted to say thanks for doing these! I look forward to them each game, as well as the solid discussion that they provoke.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Anybody see what some teams are doing against the press where they put all 5 players out of bounds and they take off like wide receivers in a football game? Indefensible. I’d like to see us try that.

You can bet the house Barnes intensely worked on press inbounds/offense at the next practice. Probably Sunday afternoon

 

[OSVolFan]

Don't overlook that our free-throw shooting was quite good as a team.
That was a big factor at the end.

Agree. Don't overlook the fact we actually had a game where we got to shoot FT's........... lol I feel like our reputation as a football team playing basketball is causing big discrepancies in the total fouls called. Was nice to see a game with an fairly even number of fouls called on both teams, especially when it didn't start out that way.

Was also big time to see ZZ calmly knocking down FT after FT the last few minutes. He's been clutch in those situations and I'm glad he's showing us he's still that guy.

Obviously can't control the foul calls, but the charge on Knecht was terrible and IMO not even close to the correct call. As soon as that happened I remembered thinking I hope we can continue to move the ball well and get someone to knock down a few shots.

Overall, a great team win. Was good to see Santi smiling and having fun. We are going to need him as we get into league play.

 

[twigsxx2]

Tennessee dominated in the paint yesterday and kept driving the ball to the basket instead of settling for three point looks and the defense was outstanding in the second half.

Good take! Loved that we attacked the rim more than we normally do. Fast break runouts produced points in fast transition. We got to the rim and the free throw line more. Nice to see this adjustment made instead of settling for the 3 ball. Keep playing this style and up the defensive intensity!

 

[cardvolfan]

Good take! Loved that we attacked the rim more than we normally do. Fast break runouts produced points in fast transition. We got to the rim and the free throw line more. Nice to see this adjustment made instead of settling for the 3 ball. Keep playing this style and up the defensive intensity!

Aidoo getting more proficient in the paint. JJJ driving more. Santi more comfortable. Knecht a bully down low. All adds up.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Aidoo getting more proficient in the paint. JJJ driving more. Santi more comfortable. Knecht a bully down low. All adds up.

Yeah, Aidoo adds role playing offense. Nice touch on his shot

 

[cardvolfan]

Yeah, Aidoo adds role playing offense. Nice touch on his shot

He can go with the left or right hand down low, has nice touch mid-range, and can hit the 3. Also starting to play with some physicality.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

He can go with the left or right hand down low, has nice touch mid-range, and can hit the 3. Also starting to play with some physicality.

I got chastised in another thread about a week ago for saying he could shoot the mid-range shot. I laughed at the responses

 

[cardvolfan]

I got chastised in another thread about a week ago for saying he could shoot the mid-range shot. I laughed at the responses

People have no clue. He’s been able to do that in the past, but hasn’t had the full green light and the confidence until this year. His shooting is only going to get better.

 

[orangemadam]

These next 5-6 games are gonna be a tremendous help.
Aidoo and Awaka continue to progress,
Estrella, Philips, Dilione getting good experience against similar opposition
ZZ, Santi get time to zone in
Mashack, Gainey, and JJJ continue to define their roles.

Knecht able to ........well, you fill in the blanks. Best UT player since Tobias, IMO

 

[walkenvol]

These next 5-6 games are gonna be a tremendous help.
Aidoo and Awaka continue to progress,
Estrella, Philips, Dilione getting good experience against similar opposition
ZZ, Santi get time to zone in
Mashack, Gainey, and JJJ continue to define their roles.

Knecht able to ........well, you fill in the blanks. Best UT player since Tobias, IMO

Knecht is a great scorer, but Grant was a better college player and 2 time SEC POY. Grant was a guy we could throw the ball and he could go get a basket similar to Knecht. Defense, rebounding, and blocking shots - Grant was far better than Knecht at this point.

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

Knecht is a great scorer, but Grant was a better college player and 2 time SEC POY. Grant was a guy we could throw the ball and he could go get a basket similar to Knecht. Defense, rebounding, and blocking shots - Grant was far better than Knecht at this point.

Not as a NBA prospect.

 

[white65]

If Maschack can find a way to shoot 35% from three he becomes an NBA player with his defense. His offensive game just seems rushed and he needs someone to break down his shot and rebuild it this off season.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

If Maschack can find a way to shoot 35% from three he becomes an NBA player with his defense. His offensive game just seems rushed and he needs someone to break down his shot and rebuild it this off season.

Easy

 

[walkenvol]

Not as a NBA prospect.

If you are saying Knecht is a better nba prospect than Grant, then I guess we’ll see. Hard to do much better than a first round pick and a $54 million contract. Hope your right cause if so DK will likely have to have a really special year for us.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

These next 5-6 games are gonna be a tremendous help.
Aidoo and Awaka continue to progress,
Estrella, Philips, Dilione getting good experience against similar opposition
ZZ, Santi get time to zone in
Mashack, Gainey, and JJJ continue to define their roles.

Knecht able to ........well, you fill in the blanks. Best UT player since Tobias, IMO

Since Tobias? You've got to be kidding. Schofield was a better player HERE than Tobias. Grant was much better than Tobias

 

[SGMVols]

Since Tobias? You've got to be kidding. Schofield was a better player HERE than Tobias. Grant was much better than Tobias

Tobias wasn’t even the best player on the team the year we had him. Scotty Hopson was our leading scorer. Tobias was good here but didn’t really become great until he was several years into his NBA career.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Tobias wasn’t even the best player on the team the year we had him. Scotty Hopson was our leading scorer. Tobias was good here but didn’t really become great until he was several years into his NBA career.

Maybe the poster meant “best NBA prospect” since Tobias. If so, hard not to agree. Knecht is a much more well-rounded scorer than anyone else since then. He has the size, athleticism, and finishing at the run ability to go with a nice perimeter shot. Sure, his defense needs work, but I doubt that is going to deter anyone from drafting him highly. Not like the NBA is known for elite defense.

 

[SGMVols]

If you are saying Knecht is a better nba prospect than Grant, then I guess we’ll see. Hard to do much better than a first round pick and a $54 million contract. Hope your right cause if so DK will likely have to have a really special year for us.

DK will have to vastly improve defensively before the end of his first NBA deal to get a second contract as big as Grant’s. His length and athleticism play great at the college level but will just be average for the NBA at his position. He will have to work much harder to score.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

DK will have to vastly improve defensively before the end of his first NBA deal to get a second contract as big as Grant’s. His length and athleticism play great at the college level but will just be average for the NBA at his position. He will have to work much harder to score.

Can you not say the exact same thing about Grant? He was drafted as an undersized post player with average athleticism. He was a great defender and an elite college player, but he had no perimeter game to speak of and was going to need to shift to more of a hybrid 3/4 than a 4/5. Which he did.

 

[coachJOTHheupel]

If you are saying Knecht is a better nba prospect than Grant, then I guess we’ll see. Hard to do much better than a first round pick and a $54 million contract. Hope your right cause if so DK will likely have to have a really special year for us.

First of all he said prospect, not how good they are when the second contract comes around. Kudos to Grant, he did everything the right way and earned that contract and was also probably a better/more valuable college player. But entering the draft, DK is a better prospect than Grant was in 2019.

 

[omghulkhands]

DK will have to vastly improve defensively before the end of his first NBA deal to get a second contract as big as Grant’s. His length and athleticism play great at the college level but will just be average for the NBA at his position. He will have to work much harder to score.

He is as bad an off-ball defender we’ve seen get major minutes in the Barnes era.

If you pay attention, he ball watches a lot. There will be rebounds he should get, but doesn’t cause he just seems to lack the instincts or defensive focus. Loose balls, stuff like that.

Here is the good news. He is very athletic. So I think he is capable of being a better defender.

The question is how long will it take.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

First of all he said prospect, not how good they are when the second contract comes around. Kudos to Grant, he did everything the right way and earned that contract and was also probably a better/more valuable college player. But entering the draft, DK is a better prospect than Grant was in 2019.

By draft position, Keon was a better prospect than Grant, but he was a worse college player and is on track to have a worse NBA career. No shade on Keon, but I could see either one of those trajectories for Dalton and we’ll only learn which in time.