BTO’s LSU Postgame Report

[Orangeslide]

College Station and Fayetteville are not easy places to win at.

No they are not. But the Arkansas game is looking very winnable right now for the Vols. That team is in disarray. College Station will be a tough hill to climb. You got a desperate team that needs a win against a top 10 team to strengthen the resume for the tournament. In addition, the arena will probably be a sell out and the joint will be jumping. With all that said, I think the Vols are mentally and physically tough enough to win this game. DK is the player we have been looking for to get us over the hump in grind it out tough road games. If we hit a portion where we are struggling to score, get him the ball and let him work.

 

[Orangeslide]

If Aidoo and JJJ hit double figures Saturday night, I like our chances to win. Just my opinion.

 

[SGidds]

Barnes mentioned in his post game that the rebounding was completely unacceptable and they have to get it corrected.

Correcting this will be important Saturday because Texas A&M”s offense consists mainly of throwing up bricks and scoring off of offensive rebounds or by the guards driving to the goal and drawing fouls. If Tennessee can play defense without fouling and keep them off the glass, they should win. If Tennessee rebounds as poorly as they did against LSU, they’ll probably lose.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

On #3...love Gainey and what he is bringing. Came into the game and tipped the pass on his first two defensive plays and both were turnovers. I have been surprised at how well Gainey has played defense this year and, while there have been some breakdowns, he always brings intensity and effort which have resulted in some nice plays.

100% on #5...just mind boggling Santi has been such a non-factor on the offensive end of the court so often this season. To put this in perspective, he has scored <10 pts in 13 of our 22 games (and in 8 of those he scored 6 or less). He is averaging only 7.7 pts per game while the often maligned JJJ is averaging more (9.2 pts) and has helped us win many more games. One could also make an argument based on Mashack's development on the offensive and the absolute stud he is on defense that he should take minutes away from Santi which is quite sobering (please note I am not calling for that nor am I advocating it...we all know what Santi is capable of) but it is a sobering thought.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

On #3...love Gainey and what he is bringing. Came into the game and tipped the pass on his first two defensive plays and both were turnovers. I have been surprised at how well Gainey has played defense this year and, while there have been some breakdowns, he always brings intensity and effort which have resulted in some nice plays.

100% on #5...just mind boggling Santi has been such a non-factor on the offensive end of the court so often this season. To put this in perspective, he has scored <10 pts in 13 of our 22 games (and in 8 of those he scored 6 or less). He is averaging only 7.7 pts per game while the often maligned JJJ is averaging more (9.2 pts) and has helped us win many more games. One could also make an argument based on Mashack's development on the offensive and the absolute stud he is on defense that he should take minutes away from Santi which is quite sobering (please note I am not calling for that nor am I advocating it...we all know what Santi is capable of) but it is a sobering thought.

Hard to know what's in his mind. If Gainey is contributing offensively, does Santi need to be a scorer or more of a facilitator, and play tough defense? Vescovi seems to have produced offensively when we have needed him most. He stepped up big time in Rupp. WTF?

 

[aWhiteLoftonChism]

There were a lot of long rebounds off errant threes, but LSU consistently sent their guards underneath. Our guys were boxing out their man but the LSU guards were cutting under the baseline and getting alot of loose balls. TN did a really poor job of securing the loose balls after an LSU shot attempt.

ZZ consistently failed to block out their guards

 

[aWhiteLoftonChism]

Not very often…typically it’s rotational players vs. scout team.

I’m not so sure …
Simply from listening to interviews with coaches and players (plus coaching for 30yrs) Im certain the top 10-12 guys are scrimmaging one another quite a bit. Your team doesn’t get better or stay as sharp playing against the 3rd stringers. They just don’t. Now the 3rd group/scout team usually get a lot of half court reps so they can show opponent’s offensive & defensive sets, individual tendencies, BLOB plays, etc.
Also, Multiple times coaches/players have mentioned (including Shak/Knecht) that Shak/Knecht being matched up all the time has been a big reason why DK’s scoring abilities has made a leap this year. JG has mentioned how guarding and being guarded by Santi or ZZ all the time has helped him improved tremendous.
Iron Sharpens Iron.
Just my two cents…

 

[NighthawkVol]

I really like Gainey and think he’ll be big down the stretch, however I find it hard to believe he’s our best option at backup pg. i feel like santi and mashack are better suited and more comfortable at running it. Idk maybe that was a condition of santi returning this year or something, but as much as he’s looking to facilitate this year seems like he’d be a better option than converting a 2 guard from a lower level into an optio at pg vs a guy that’s played this competition level and been in the system for 4/5 years now

I don’t understand anyone wanting Mashack at PG. He’s a shaky ball handler for a SG, much less a PG. I love Mashack. Might be might favorite player on the team. But he’s not a PG.