BTO’s Missouri Postgame Report

[walkenvol]

Our current sets/ motion rarely involve our bigs getting position. It showed against Arky

I’m watching the replay right now. BHH got a rebound on the post. Instead of working a post move he instead dribbled out a step, picked up the dribble, looked around a few seconds and then passed it out to beyond the top of the key

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

Saw lots of really good comments ... but there were so many things ... I passed on making this a super long post :^))))))
BTO ... lots of good thoughts there beyond the original post.
Not sure the whole story is the hip pointer ... it is MHO that RB decided to up the post minutes to the guys who need more court time and more development!!! AND THIS was the game to do it!

Not sure that Fulky coming off the bench is totally a player decision. I got the impression that Fulky argued for Uros starting for several reasons: 1) Uros appears to play with more passion when he starts the game. 2) Fulky is fine with coming off the bench. 3) Fulky is still not the Fulky of last year and he knows it.
Fulky is improving and I think ... it is just a matter of time before John starts the game in place of Uros. When? No idea. Read on ... because this may not happen!
Fulky does not have the stamina to go 28-32 minutes and currently, he is the BEST fit for the small guard lineup.
As a couple of you have suggested ... It looks like to me, RB is strategically positioning our TEAM to take advantage of the 4 guard lineup ... and is attempting to get the most out of the TEAM by starting a lineup that is not likely to sprint out of the gate,
This is totally a strategic choice by the coaching staff. We may not like it or understand it, but they totally believe it gives them the best chance to win.

I love SV! His shot just keeps getting better and better. The double fake drive and shoot over his defender was a thing of beauty ... and the curl coming off the screen was up and gone in a flash.
This new driving the ball that he is showing ... while not very polished, is making him harder to guard.

The two freshman big men on the court at the same time ... really good to see.

Kessler ... personally ... I would not specifically try to get Kessler off the floor. I would make a decision to assume the Kessler was going to score points and when he gets the ball in deep - do NOT foul him and give him extra points on the line!!!
Rather the strategy that I would employ would be harass the entry points and make it hard to get the ball into the paint. BUT more importantly ... hound Smith like there is no tomorrow. Do not let him breathe ... make him run to get the ball. NEVER let him touch the ball. KEEP the ball out of his hands. This is what I think we will try to do!

Now having said that ... I am excited to see what the coaching staff decides to do. This is chess! And I frankly think my strategy above is the BEST strategy ... and taking the long view. I would save this strategy for the finals of the SECT ... and use my 2nd best strategy this Saturday.
Realistically, we have a 1% of getting the #1 seed in the SECT. But we want to avoid the 4th slot ... so maybe we use it on Saturday and worry about the finals another day!

 

[chuckiepoo]

Saw lots of really good comments ... but there were so many things ... I passed on making this a super long post :^))))))
BTO ... lots of good thoughts there beyond the original post.
Not sure the whole story is the hip pointer ... it is MHO that RB decided to up the post minutes to the guys who need more court time and more development!!! AND THIS was the game to do it!
View attachment 435501
Not sure that Fulky coming off the bench is totally a player decision. I got the impression that Fulky argued for Uros starting for several reasons: 1) Uros appears to play with more passion when he starts the game. 2) Fulky is fine with coming off the bench. 3) Fulky is still not the Fulky of last year and he knows it.
Fulky is improving and I think ... it is just a matter of time before John starts the game in place of Uros. When? No idea. Read on ... because this may not happen!
Fulky does not have the stamina to go 28-32 minutes and currently, he is the BEST fit for the small guard lineup.
As a couple of you have suggested ... It looks like to me, RB is strategically positioning our TEAM to take advantage of the 4 guard lineup ... and is attempting to get the most out of the TEAM by starting a lineup that is not likely to sprint out of the gate,
This is totally a strategic choice by the coaching staff. We may not like it or understand it, but they totally believe it gives them the best chance to win.

I love SV! His shot just keeps getting better and better. The double fake drive and shoot over his defender was a thing of beauty ... and the curl coming off the screen was up and gone in a flash.
This new driving the ball that he is showing ... while not very polished, is making him harder to guard.

The two freshman big men on the court at the same time ... really good to see.

Kessler ... personally ... I would not specifically try to get Kessler off the floor. I would make a decision to assume the Kessler was going to score points and when he gets the ball in deep - do NOT foul him and give him extra points on the line!!!
Rather the strategy that I would employ would be harass the entry points and make it hard to get the ball into the paint. BUT more importantly ... hound Smith like there is no tomorrow. Do not let him breathe ... make him run to get the ball. NEVER let him touch the ball. KEEP the ball out of his hands. This is what I think we will try to do!

Now having said that ... I am excited to see what the coaching staff decides to do. This is chess! And I frankly think my strategy above is the BEST strategy ... and taking the long view. I would save this strategy for the finals of the SECT ... and use my 2nd best strategy this Saturday.
Realistically, we have a 1% of getting the #1 seed in the SECT. But we want to avoid the 4th slot ... so maybe we use it on Saturday and worry about the finals another day!

Great post!

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I think Barnes knew that Bailey was fresh and could use his speed and size more in this matchup than Powell or ZZ even. The fact he was hot offensively made him the clear hand to ride as well.

That's about the best you can ask for off the bench in Bailey, just 18 minutes and 11 points that was a HUGE night honestly.

KC also playing as hot as he was is another reason ZZ saw less minutes. Love ZZ he's clearly our 6th man this year but his minutes fluctuate based mostly on KC. If KC is in foul trouble or turning it over you see more of ZZ.


Looks like we have our 7 man defined

KC
Santi
JJJ
ZZ
Fulky (if healthy)
Aidoo
Uros / BHH

Our headache at the moment is that the 5-7 guys aren't always consistent. Really need to see Fulky/Aidoo/BHH/Uros all give something on a regular basis. Then depending on how they are playing you get the 8th guy from Powell, Bailey, or Mashack and right now it seems like Bailey is top of that pecking order since Powell/Mashack aren't offering anything offensively.

 

[BACKDOC]

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!!!!

If I were 6'9" I could dunk also; BHH did look better, but I still have no confidence in him hitting a shot other than a dunk. Powell does shoot two's sometimes, he just never makes them. Fulkerson along with James are the X factors. Hopefully Fulky can come back strong after the hip pointer. We definitely will need him in March with no ORN. I guess I stated the obvious.

 

[BACKDOC]

That’s a horrible strategy, they lead the nation in blocks, they’d eat our big guys lunch. They give up the 3 ball and that will be a big part of what we do if we are going to have success.

I totally agree; that would be wasted opportunities. Luckily Auburn has proved lately that they are beatable on the road; we have a chance.

 

[BACKDOC]

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

I've heard this also, but hopefully NIL will keep Santi around; we need him.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Yes. If Cuonzo stays another year, that could put English more in play at Missouri. They probably don’t hire him with a single year if they fire Cuonzo this year.

Mizzou is a dead end job. English obviously has ties there, but he also has smart people around him. I don’t see him going there unless they change how they run that program.

 

[Dr H Lecter]

Mizzou is a dead end job. English obviously has ties there, but he also has smart people around him. I don’t see him going there unless they change how they run that program.

Every place Cuonzo goes is a dead end job-until he leaves!

 

[wmcovol]

Why did Fulkerson only play 6 minutes?

smart play. Let him rest. Absolutely no need to play him in 2nd half

 

[SGMVols]

I've heard this also, but hopefully NIL will keep Santi around; we need him.

He’s not eligible for NIL as someone on an international student visa.

 

[Caculator]

He’s not eligible for NIL as someone on an international student visa.

There is a work around or loophole for international students according to KY

 

[gainesvol82]

I’m with you on your general premise, but it’s a tough deal…to me it really looks like Barnes knows small ball is his best lineup most nights, it’s what he uses to close games and of late he’s gone to it just about like clockwork at the 10min mark of the 1st half if we aren’t in foul trouble, but that is the issue, we’ve had lots of foul trouble. To go small you really need the guards to stay out of foul trouble, especially Vescovi and James, you can maybe get away with one of ZZ/KC but to be at your best neither of those guys are in foul trouble either.

Right now ZZ is the spark off the bench and Barnes absolutely loves having that and it’s a great luxury to have, if you move him to the starting lineup what happens if we start sluggish and now you don’t have that spark to bring in? Dane mentioned it last night, he enters the game and is just an immediate jolt, so you risk losing that?

Last night Barnes went small at the 10min mark of the first half in a 17-17 game and went went into halftime up 37-26. In the second half he went small at 15min mark in a 44-34 game, won it 80-61.

So +18 from small ball in a 19 point win, that means your 2 big lineups were essentially net 0. That also means that the small ball group put up 57 points in roughly 25 minutes, which translates to 90 points over an entire 40 minute game. That also means defensively small ball group held Missouri to 36 points in 25 minutes, which translates to 58 points over an entire 40 minute game…so had that held for 40 minutes you were looking at a 90-58 game?!

Now 2 things…1-that probably wouldn’t have been sustainable 2-BHH/Aidoo played together some late with the game in hand and I didn’t exclude that, so if you want to remove that it would impact it some. Jury can be out on that 2 man post group but they didn’t play together at all earlier, so doesn’t change that any 2 post combo of BHH or Aidoo with Fulk or Plav (or those 2 together) wasn’t good.

All that to say…I think Barnes knows it’s his best, and I think it’s probably even his preferred grouping, but I think avoiding early foul trouble and ruining that lineup for the whole game is why he doesn’t make the move. He likes being able to have it for 25 of 30 minutes to close out a game, now maybe come tourney time he goes to it even sooner, that could be something to watch, but I get the move.

This is an impressive breakdown I think that you hit the reason for the substitution pattern right on the mark.

I'll also add that ZZ is most effective when the other team is a little tired, especially teams with shorter rotations. He is like a shock trooper who comes in and rips through opponents who aren't ready for his speed and tenacity. Bringing him off the bench definitely maximizes his impact right now and he ends up playing plenty of minutes.

I also think Barnes is aware that his teams have worn down in previous years and is trying to keep the guys as fresh as possible unless they have the hot hand on a particular night.

His use of Bailey is also interesting to me. Bailey's biggest contributions this year have come in games that had some type of emotional/psychological meaning...Texas and Mizzou being 2 examples. That's impressive coaching to know when a guy that is struggling is most likely to provide a spark.