BTO’s Missouri Postgame Report

#27
#27
TrippieRedd said:
I only mentioned Powell because we bring back ZZ, Santi, and JJ, etc. and we also bring in BJ. I figured he would get around the same play next year. But heck, you never know, he could definitely kill it next year. Like you said, Santi and JJJ potentially leaving could make things interesting this off season.
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Are people thinking Santi and 3J are leaving after this year? Where are they going?
 
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#28
#28
TMvol10 said:
Are people thinking Santi and 3J are leaving after this year? Where are they going?
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I've heard a few posters mention this. Do people actually believe JJJ is leaving for the NBA or any pro league? 😅

Santi could go pro overseas, but I don't see him leaving early
 
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#30
#30
bleedingTNorange said:
1. Great bounce back game from our Vols, Arkansas loss at their house wasn’t gonna hurt you unless you let it, Vols did a great job of avoiding that by picking up a near 20 point win in Columbia. No Missouri isn’t a great team, and yes this was their 3rd game in 5 days, but they’re a team that has played some teams tough at their place and Tennessee did exactly what they needed to, build a lead and never let them back in to it.

2. That quite arguably was Chandler’s best game as a Vol, he was more dominant closing that Colorado game but for a full 40 minute game that one may take the cake. 37mins 23p 8r 6a 2s 0to 9-12fg 2-4 from 3…the one negative would be free throws still as he was just 3-7 from the line. His pace was excellent and his movement without the ball, cutting to the basket was so impressive tonight. He struggled with with very questionable charge calls last game against Arkansas so it was great to see this rebound from him, when he plays like that it obviously makes us better.

3. Really thought BHH showed something in that 2nd half, had some dunks tonight’s we haven’t seen all year and same on some of those rebounds, really showed a different level of aggression. Maybe it’s Aidoo going past him for more minutes or maybe it’s just starting to figure things out, but there’s no doubt that the light coming on for him would be a good thing for us. Aidoo struggled a bit scoring, but liked his aggressiveness, he was really good defensively and his rim protection continues to be something no one else brings, same as BHH obviously, the more he can come on the better for us. I really like Aidoo as our 5 in that small ball lineup, can run with our guards in that uptempo page the shot blocking ability is great.

4. Raise your hand if you had Bailey as having a coming out game tonight….nobody? Me either 🤷🏻‍♂️. I have zero confidence that it’s the start of something, but if we had to endure a 26 game cold stretch for him to give us a 10+ game heater then I’ll absolutely take it. Justin Powell didn’t even get off the bench tonight, and of late he’s just really not brought anything, he doesn’t look to score and outside of spot up 3’s doesn’t look to even shoot, his defense is on par with Bailey so if Bailey can give you what he did tonight that’s more than Powell is going to. Again I don’t have great confidence in that happening but I totally get trying it again and seeing what happens.

5. Somewhat of a continuation off #4 but I continue to be worried about lack of consistent rotation…outside of Zeigler, Chandler, Vescovi & James who your 5th is changes, same for 6/7/8. Tonight it was Aidoo/BHH/Bailey, that hasn’t been your 5/6/7 all year. You just don’t know what you’re going to get and that worries me, by this point in the season you’d really like to have a carved out 7/8 man rotation and know what you’re going to get, maybe it gets there by tourney time but time is ticking. And maybe it doesn’t matter, but I don’t recall too many successful teams that have those question marks. I will say that counter is what we’ve been saying, those 4 you believe in you role with in small ball, and then just rotate 5 men…maybe that’s what Barnes does down the stretch, it was definitely your best move tonight going small ball with JJJ at the 4, that’s almost entirely where our + tonight came from, 2 post lineups were just about a net 0.

6. Ok so big picture reset, that game was big for obvious reasons, a win doesn’t make much noise but a loss sure would’ve. From a resume standpoint that win now means that if you beat Georgia next Tuesday on the road it’s almost a certainty that Tennessee won’t have a single loss that isn’t Q1 on the season, that pays off on selection Sunday. We sit at 20-7(11-4), 3 games remaining, 2-1 the most likely outcome and what we all would have gladly taken weeks ago, but a huge opportunity Saturday against Auburn to try and turn that tide a little bit and possibly hope for more. With 3 games left before SECT the seed possibilities continue to narrow down, anything from 2-5 is on the table still with 3/4 seeming most likely, 2-1 close probably keeps 3/4 as most likely, find a way to go 3-0 and suddenly 3/2 seed seem most likely.


GBO!!!!
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It's time to get a win against Pearl and Auburn. They have not played all that well on the road recently and we have been great at home. No excuses.
 
#31
#31
cncchris33 said:
I'd almost argue that VBjr is ahead of Powell in the defense department as of late. VBjr used to be a major liability on that end, but he's stepped up, recently. Part of me wonders if that loafing incident vs Villanova lit a fire under his rear end, along with the realization that his career could be coming to a close.
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I’d definitely make that argument. Powell is awful on D. VBJr is at least average now.
 
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#33
#33
vols 30 said:
I've heard a few posters mention this. Do people actually believe JJJ is leaving for the NBA or any pro league? 😅

Santi could go pro overseas, but I don't see him leaving early
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There was a question if Santi was coming back this year or not. Supposed he was leaning towards pursuing a pro contract overseas but his family convinced him to come back. He has probably played himself into having more pro options following this season.
And JJJ could come back for another year and I think he will, but he has played four years, will presumably be graduating, and may look to make some money overseas as well.
 
#34
#34
RockyTop140 said:
I’m not sure it’d be the worst. I would test Kessler early and let aidoo go at him a few times. Might as well see if we can get him in foul trouble. If aidoo hasn’t scored or drawn a foul in the first 2-3 tries, maybe stop trying it. But trying to get kessler in foul trouble early wouldn’t be bad at all.
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You’ve got a better chance drawing fouls on him catching him in switches and our guards driving him or hitting the boards hard around him and frustrating him, follow ups from our bigs etc…those are better strategies than dumping it down to Aidoo and hoping for a miracle, Aidoo ain’t Grant.
 
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#36
#36
TrippieRedd said:
I only mentioned Powell because we bring back ZZ, Santi, and JJ, etc. and we also bring in BJ. I figured he would get around the same play next year. But heck, you never know, he could definitely kill it next year. Like you said, Santi and JJJ potentially leaving could make things interesting this off season.
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Even just Chandler leaving opens up 35 minutes?
 
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#37
#37
ColinS said:
It's time to get a win against Pearl and Auburn. They have not played all that well on the road recently and we have been great at home. No excuses.
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The excuse is they’re a Top 5 team and a likely 1 seed, it will be a toss up game…we absolutely can win it, definitely winnable, but no way you can sit there and say there’s no excuse/way they lose this game. As your post specifically names, it’s because of Pearl, not the team that people feel that way.
 
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#39
#39
cncchris33 said:
Yeah, this. If we beat AU, I'll be shocked if it comes at the rim.
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It might be a worthwhile experiment to have our posts take it strong to the hole until waived off. You never know how the game will be called and getting their bigs in foul trouble might be a plan. I mean take it all the way to the rim strong looking for contact. The young guys have shown pretty good hands and handles so you never know, especially in transition as KC and ZZ are getting the ball up court so quick the defense is still in transition too. Kessler is a special player but it might be worth risking some player possession fouls to test him. JJJ and Fulky could give it a go too. Sometimes they follow the play really hard and a jump stop instead of an immediate shot might get them some cheapies. Late in the half court might not work out though. Will be interesting to see how the staff deals with these guys down low.
 
#42
#42
LeannaVol said:
There was a question if Santi was coming back this year or not. Supposed he was leaning towards pursuing a pro contract overseas but his family convinced him to come back. He has probably played himself into having more pro options following this season.
And JJJ could come back for another year and I think he will, but he has played four years, will presumably be graduating, and may look to make some money overseas as well.
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3J has only been here 3 years. He's a true junior. And Santi leaving would be a huge blow. Lets hope his new gf will keep him around for another year.
 
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#43
#43
JCP201 said:
I think so, too. Also, he handled Kentucky's superstar pretty well-- so his ceiling seems to be very high. Auburn game is going to be interesting.
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If he can become more explosive finishing around the rim he can be special for us
 
#46
#46
RockyTop140 said:
I’m not sure it’d be the worst. I would test Kessler early and let aidoo go at him a few times. Might as well see if we can get him in foul trouble. If aidoo hasn’t scored or drawn a foul in the first 2-3 tries, maybe stop trying it. But trying to get kessler in foul trouble early wouldn’t be bad at all.
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What has Aidoo done to make you think he could go at Kessler? Aidoo’s work in the post has been his worst thing to date. He looks comfortable shooting facing up from the free throw line but unsure with his back to the basket.
 
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#49
#49
LeannaVol said:
There was a question if Santi was coming back this year or not. Supposed he was leaning towards pursuing a pro contract overseas but his family convinced him to come back. He has probably played himself into having more pro options following this season.
And JJJ could come back for another year and I think he will, but he has played four years, will presumably be graduating, and may look to make some money overseas as well.
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I think JJJ is a true junior this season?
 
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#50
#50
I was able to watch sporadically last night, most of the second half and a the first 3 minutes of the first half, and it was a solid, comfortable performance.

It felt like you got your best minutes from BHH in the Orange & White, and while the hope is it turns into something down the stretch just in time for the NCAAT, at the very least we got flashes of why Barnes recruited him. He has talent. A lot of talent. He just needs some polishing.

Chandler was an absolute monster. His free throws are still concerning, because in March those are going to be critical points you'd like to have, but really very few things to nitpick when he leads you in points, rebounds, AND assists on the night.

I've had my moment of being hard on Bailey in the past, but damn if I didn't get a bit teary-eyed seeing him perform like that. He has turned into a great teammate and hard worker. He has drastically improved defensively and he seems to play far less selfishly and only hunts good shots. Just so, SO happy to see that from him. I don't trust he'll continue it, but if he does find some gas to cook with down the stretch, it could be a game changer with Powell not being any real asset.

Finally, I don't mean this to sound harsh, but it's time to change the starting rotation. We struggle mightily to get a hot start with the current 5 we begin a game with. I find myself just waiting for the first TV timeout when rotations change, because Uros just provides nothing offensively. Teams aren't even guarding him, and how can you blame them when he can't finish inside 3-4 feet. We get off to some really slow starts before the U16.

I know that "it's not how you start, it's how you finish" but it sure would be nice to find a spark in the first 4:00 minutes of a game before the U16 instead of waiting for Ziegler/Aidoo/Fulky to rotate in. I don't think Barnes will change anything this late, but I'd really like to see us play with the lineup a bit and try and get some extra juice out of those first four minutes.
 
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