BTO’s Miami Postgame Report

[Volfan1000]

1. Another wire to wire win over a P4 team, the Vols move to 4-0 against the ACC this year and remain as just 1/3 P6 teams to still not suffer a loss. Miami shot very well from 3 in the first half to keep the game close, Tennessee’s defense ratcheted up and they also cooled and Tennessee yet again had a workmanlike performance as they methodically just pulled away from the Canes, never really allowing the outcome to ever be a question.

2. 2 of the transfers really continue their excellent play, Lanier & Milicic…As I’ve said repetitively Lanier is not Knecht, but he’s about as close as you could have ideally hoped for. Fun stat, through their first 9 games Knecht had 173 points and 3 20+ point games, Lanier has 172 points and 4 20+ point games. Lanier is 1/3 players nationally making more than 3.5 threes a game at over 48% also, his outside shooting is among the best in the nation, he’s also shown a decent mid range game and an above average ability to finish drives, we were all blessed to be able to watch DK but Lanier is quickly making losing him a bit easier on fans.

3. The other transfer continuing to stand out is Igor Milicic, he’s just so smooth and makes things look so easy for a guy his size. It really feels like his best ball is ahead of him which is impressive, he almost always finishes when he drives and needs to probably do a bit more of that, which hopefully will come with time and experience. Similarly he doesn’t need to hesitate on his outside shot, if it’s there he needs to take it, he’s too good of a shooter to be questioning what’s a good shot. He started a bit slow but over his last 7 games he’s averaging like 14/8 on pretty insane percentages from the field, really love what the staff is getting from him and his ability to legitimately play 3-5 is a nice chess piece.

4. Another early season standout, to nobodies surprise, is Zeigler…he’s 1/2 players nationally averaging 12ps/8a/2s on the year, and obviously is playing that same tenacious defense we all have become accustomed to seeing from him. If he can continue to be that floor general and put up those numbers he very well could find himself on some AA lists at the end of the year as well as a potential Cousy Award winner, enjoy this last go around from ZZ, as much as we all miss Knecht it’s really hard to picture watching the Vols without seeing Zeigler on the court.

5. Tennessee continues to shoot well and defend even better, currently boasting the #1 FG% offense to go along with the #4 overall FG% defense, that’s a heck of a combination. It’s gonna be rare that both your shooting goes cold and defense doesn’t show up, because of this Tennessee should find themselves in just about every ball game they play IMO. It’s also why to this point they’ve not had a single game in question at the 5 minute mark, they’ve won every game by double digits, with last nights 13pt victory being their closest margin so far, and if you watched the game you know Tennessee easily could’ve won by more. Right now they’re really clicking on both ends of the court, which as I’ve said before, is really an impressive job by this staff and teams leaders given how many new faces are playing big minutes.

6. Up next is Illinois and this really is a game I’m looking forward to, not only is likely our marquee OOC game, but it should also answer some questions. Obviously a tough team, on the road is a great test, but I’m also curious to see how we hand a really good big man, to this point that’s not been something this squad has had to deal with and could it be something that maybe is a flaw for this squad? Not saying it is, we simply don’t know and haven’t had that test, this game should provide some answers. Ivisic is a 7’1” 255lb euro big man averaging 15 & 9 and shooting 36.4% from deep on 5 attempts a game, but also 65.5% from 2 on 6 attempts a game, meaning he’s an effective scorer both inside and out, should be a great test as he’s one of the best big men and most versatile in CBB this year.

7. The Vols move to 9-0 to start the year, they’ve got Illinois and then 3 buy games that shouldn’t be close, so worst case this should be a 12-1 finish OOC which every single one of us would’ve signed up for preseason and sets this team up in a great spot heading into conference play. The SEC is clearly going to be a grind this year and every game is likely to be a Q1 or Q2 opportunity, so it looks very likely that Tennessee can also boast a resume with no bad losses come March as well. Obviously beating Illinois would give a little more wiggle room in conference play, but either way Tennessee has done a tremendous job setting themselves up to this point to be in discussion for the programs first ever 1 seed.



GBO!!!

Ivisic against Milicic should be quite a matchup on Saturday afternoon.

That 40 foot lob pass from Milicic to Phillips for a flush was SWEET.

 

[walkenvol]

Okpara has actually been better offensively than I expected, but last night was concerning.......zero points.

What was concerning about Okpara last night was him allowing the Miami post to repeatedly get great low post position to receive the ball. If yesterday reflects FO’s ability to defend a quality low post scorer, then that’s a glaring weakness in our roster and JP’s injury will be a bigger problem than expected. JMO

 

[Orange Navy]

Personally, I will take any points from him and be happy with it because his shot blocking, rebounding, and post defense are more important to the team. He is big and athletic enough to have a consistent baby hook in his arsenal along with the lob dunks from Zeigler.

He looks a lot better when he's got 4-5 inches on the opposing center. I want to see more of him against an elite post player (or two). This is my biggest concern. That he won't score when he goes up against someone his own size and/or he will foul out. Not worried about shot blocking and rebounding, I think that's his strength.

 

[goldvol]

A metric for me, while watching the game: did Tennessee look like the #1 team in the country last night? Each can answer this question on their own.
For me, in the game last night, the answer was clearly no.

We definitely are the #1 team by almost every metric, and deservedly from the body of work in the season so far. Last night's performance against Miami just wasn't indicative of #1 in my mind.

edit: didnt think of this, but just looked at the NET rankings. Auburn is now #1 with Tennessee dropping 1 spot. That also seems to confirm that we underperformed last night, since Auburn didnt play

 

[Vols410]

A metric for me, while watching the game: did Tennessee look like the #1 team in the country last night? Each can answer this question on their own.
For me, in the game last night, the answer was clearly no.

We definitely are the #1 team by almost every metric, and deservedly from the body of work in the season so far. Last night's performance against Miami just wasn't indicative of #1 in my mind.

Our off-nights are 13 point wins against P4 schools. Sounds like a #1 kinda thing to me.

 

[goldvol]

Our off-nights are 13 point wins against P4 schools. Sounds like a #1 kinda thing to me.

didnt think of this, but just looked at the NET rankings. Auburn is now #1 with Tennessee dropping 1 spot. That also seems to confirm that we underperformed last night, since Auburn didnt play. so not #1 level of play. it is nice that the off-game is a 13 point win, but we lost ATS

 

[GBO18]

didnt think of this, but just looked at the NET rankings. Auburn is now #1 with Tennessee dropping 1 spot. That also seems to confirm that we underperformed last night, since Auburn didnt play. so not #1 level of play. it is nice that the off-game is a 13 point win, but we lost ATS

Is @CAVPUT related to you?

 

[Brentwoodvolfan]

Good write up BTO!! Thanks,

 

[KTrain]

I personally wouldn't describe it as a "wire to wire" victory. We won the 7 minutes before half-time, and maintained that lead through the second half.
It was an ok win over a quad 3 team who likely isn't dancing in March. We've beaten better teams by more this year. Got the job done, keep it rolling, and go Vols

Yes, could have been a wider margin wire to wire if we didn't have the first, I noticed this year a 3+ minute scoreless span which happened often 2 years ago.

 

[BallsVolls1]

Good write up. Very hard to find anything to complain about so far this year. This team has exceeded my expectations in every way to date. Truly, I’m very happy so far and excited about the potential of this team and how well-rounded we seem to be.

I guess for the sake of having something to discuss, my two biggest concerns outside of depth are:

1) Non-Conference Schedule: This isn’t something we can control. We clearly tried to schedule some notable programs, but most of them have turned out to be under-achieving this year. Baylor, in particular, was supposed to be a marquee win. Doesn’t look like they are their normal “elite” this year. Because of that, I’m still not sure how good we are as weird as that sounds. Are we really a Top 5 team? Are we just smoke and mirrors like our opposing fanbases on Twitter are accusing us of being? Will we be battle tested like Auburn, Alabama, and Kentucky have been when we head to conference play? To be clear, I’m not saying we aren’t good. I just really don’t know how to feel about us yet. We lack a signature win like those 3 teams have.

2) Felix Okpara - We don’t need him to be an offensive force, but I do have some concerns. His defense has been mostly fine, but he has had some flashes where opposing bigs bully him in the post. He also hasn’t offered really any offense so far, which I know we don’t need, but in games where the perimeter shot isn’t falling, I do wonder if we’ll have the necessary post play to pick up the slack. I’m not drawing any conclusions on him last night, but he seemed to be struggling more so than usual.

My opinion on Felix is he is not going to be a go-to post guy, specifically on the offensive end! We as fans, have to be okay with that role!

I think Barnes is okay with his performance (although, this Miami game wasn’t his strong suit defensively), however, I think Barnes trust Felix relationship with ZZ… I think their relationship will be the key to Felix really scoring and making himself somewhat of an offensive threat. He’s a lob guy, or ZZ create ways to get him a bucket.
Felix however, can improve on his rebounding! I would love to see him attack offensive boards like Cade!
Overall, I do think Felix will be just fine! He seems coachable, and responds well to coach criticism.

 

[Lefteye]

Our off-nights are 13 point wins against P4 schools. Sounds like a #1 kinda thing to me.

1 more time for the people in the back!

 

[goldvol]

Is @CAVPUT related to you?

he's my wife's father-in-law

 

[walkenvol]

My opinion on Felix is he is not going to be a go-to post guy, specifically on the offensive end! We as fans, have to be okay with that role!

I think Barnes is okay with his performance (although, this Miami game wasn’t his strong suit defensively), however, I think Barnes trust Felix relationship with ZZ… I think their relationship will be the key to Felix really scoring and making himself somewhat of an offensive threat. He’s a lob guy, or ZZ create ways to get him a bucket.
Felix however, can improve on his rebounding! I would love to see him attack offensive boards like Cade!
Overall, I do think Felix will be just fine! He seems coachable, and responds well to coach criticism.

We seem to have plenty of options to get a bucket. Felix is our largest post defender. If what we saw last night against a 6’-10” somewhat slimmer post player is how Felix defends the post, then Broome and any other good post scorers in the SEC will be a problem. Surely CRB will address those shortcomings in practice.

 

[Lefteye]

he's my wife's father-in-law

 

[Lefteye]

We seem to have plenty of options to get a bucket. Felix is our largest post defender. If what we saw last night against a 6’-10” somewhat slimmer post player is how Felix defends the post, then Broome and any other good post scorers in the SEC will be a problem. Surely CRB will address those shortcomings in practice.

Why are you digging in so hard off one game? Defensively he’s been the best rim protector we’ve had in ?. We all knew, or should have, he isn’t skilled in the offensive area other than throw downs. But we should also know CRB saw what you’re talking about. And if it happens again, where he gets flat beat to position spots, then dig. Jmo not meaning to come off a d!ck

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Another good win, and another good summary. I’ve thought for awhile that Illinois will be a good measuring stick. They have to big guards who can score and an athletic big that will force us to spend fouls down low. I think we’re the better team, but they will test us and can beat us if we don’t play well. Felix is getting cautious in using his lower body to gain leverage with physical players, and has shut down his attempts at drop step moves and hook shots. He has to come up with a couple of reliable offensive moves, that don’t require dribbling or bringing the ball down. Cade is such a pleasant surprise. Hard to overstate how important he is with JP down. I get the feeling we’ll see him foul out in games that require him to take on athletic bigs, but we’ll see. His offensive game is progressing and he’s all in on defense and rebounding in and out of area. Our guards are A+, and that is everything in the modern game. I think we can go far, but this year’s SEC is going to be brutal. Protecting a one or two seed is attainable and I feel like a one isn’t impossible. There’s a lot of basketball to play and it is an era to relish. Like BTO, I’m already getting sappy about ZZ and Mashack. This is the last year of a great era. Let’s go out big.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

What bothered me the most was that our defense was giving up points quickly after we scored in the first half. We had a bunch of 3-pointers cancelled out just a few seconds later.

Overall it was a good outing. Miami was on fire in the first 10 +/- minutes. Most of the time that won’t be the case.

 

[walkenvol]

Why are you digging in so hard off one game? Defensively he’s been the best rim protector we’ve had in ?. We all knew, or should have, he isn’t skilled in the offensive area other than throw downs. But we should also know CRB saw what you’re talking about. And if it happens again, where he gets flat beat to position spots, then dig. Jmo not meaning to come off a d!ck

No problem here. Guess I’m just shocked a 7’ college junior who plays for CRB would be so fundamentally unsound defending the post but I won’t mention it again. Sorry

 

[Lefteye]

Another good win, and another good summary. I’ve thought for awhile that Illinois will be a good measuring stick. They have to big guards who can score and an athletic big that will force us to spend fouls down low. I think we’re the better team, but they will test us and can beat us if we don’t play well. Felix is getting cautious in using his lower body to gain leverage with physical players, and has shut down his attempts at drop step moves and hook shots. He has to come up with a couple of reliable offensive moves, that don’t require dribbling or bringing the ball down. Cade is such a pleasant surprise. Hard to overstate how important he is with JP down. I get the feeling we’ll see him foul out in games that require him to take on athletic bigs, but we’ll see. His offensive game is progressing and he’s all in on defense and rebounding in and out of area. Our guards are A+, and that is everything in the modern game. I think we can go far, but this year’s SEC is going to be brutal. Protecting a one or two seed is attainable and I feel like a one isn’t impossible. There’s a lot of basketball to play and it is an era to relish. Like BTO, I’m already getting sappy about ZZ and Mashack. This is the last year of a great era. Let’s go out big.

Good stuff.


Boob

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

What bothered me the most was that our defense was giving up points quickly after we scored in the first half. We had a bunch of 3-pointers cancelled out just a few seconds later.

Overall it was a good outing. Miami was on fire in the first 10 +/- minutes. Most of the time that won’t be the case.

The unconsciousness always disappears

 

[Lefteye]

No problem here. Guess I’m just shocked a 7’ college junior who plays for CRB would be so fundamentally unsound defending the post but I won’t mention it again. Sorry

He definitely had a rough game. Don’t be sorry.. just conversing brotha . I feel like I come off like a know it all tool bag sometimes. Turns out we’re just all Boobs. lol

 

[chuckiepoo]

He definitely had a rough game. Don’t be sorry.. just conversing brotha . I feel like I come off like a know it all tool bag sometimes. Turns out we’re just all Boobs. lol

Bewbz?

 

[ThatVolGuy]

A metric for me, while watching the game: did Tennessee look like the #1 team in the country last night? Each can answer this question on their own.
For me, in the game last night, the answer was clearly no.

We definitely are the #1 team by almost every metric, and deservedly from the body of work in the season so far. Last night's performance against Miami just wasn't indicative of #1 in my mind.

edit: didnt think of this, but just looked at the NET rankings. Auburn is now #1 with Tennessee dropping 1 spot. That also seems to confirm that we underperformed last night, since Auburn didnt play

A subjective hot take isn't a metric.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Good stuff.


Boob

That’s big boob to you.

 

[goldvol]

A subjective hot take isn't a metric.

Sure. Just tell that to the CFP