BTO’s Ole Miss Postgame Report

[cncchris33]

Awaka has learned to shoot FTs. Mashack has learned to shoot FTs and 3s. And Santi may have found his stroke.

Hard to find much to complain about in that game, so I'll be picky.

As mentioned above, JP Estrella should have gotten 8 minutes against some SEC competition.

Aidoo has to stop with the 15' shot. He is so much more effective in the paint, even if he's proven he can hit that shot in the past. He hasn't hit it much in a month, now.

Knecht just doesn't seem to have the confidence he started with. Barnes haters will claim he coached the offense and confidence out of him, but CRB will tell you he wants DK to shoot more. The confidence seems to have been lost in his driving ability as his suspect ball-handling has been exposed a bit.

JJJ, and now DK, have got to dump those black shoes. They look awful with our uniforms (which are beautiful, otherwise).

 

[VolGee4]

I'm fully out on Gainey at this point. He doesn't really bring much on offense or defense. I would far prefer that we give those minutes to Freddie Dilione. He can create for himself and others, and he seems to be a really solid on ball defender from his limited minutes this year, though I think he falls asleep off ball too often.

Too early. Gainey had some good games early. He has shown that he can drive and at times, hit a three. Mashak should keep getting more minutes, but there isn’t any reason to give up on Gainey.

 

[VolGee4]

Awaka has learned to shoot FTs. Mashack has learned to shoot FTs and 3s. And Santi may have found his stroke.

Hard to find much to complain about in that game, so I'll be picky.

As mentioned above, JP Estrella should have gotten 8 minutes against some SEC competition.

Aidoo has to stop with the 15' shot. He is so much more effective in the paint, even if he's proven he can hit that shot in the past. He hasn't hit it much in a month, now.

Knecht just doesn't seem to have the confidence he started with. Barnes haters will claim he coached the offense and confidence out of him, but CRB will tell you he wants DK to shoot more. The confidence seems to have been lost in his driving ability as his suspect ball-handling has been exposed a bit.

JJJ, and now DK, have got to dump those black shoes. They look awful with our uniforms (which are beautiful, otherwise).

Haha…last night, my wife asked why JJJ was wearing black shoes that look like low tops.

 

[cncchris33]

Haha…last night, my wife asked why JJJ was wearing black shoes that look like low tops.

They're hideous

 

[VolGee4]

My only additional wish vs what actually happened last night would have been less than 37 minutes for ZZ/35 for Santi/32 Aidoo/31 JJJ. There was no need for the starters to play the last 4 minutes. Have the bench guys just not been getting it done in practice?

You can argue the last 2 minutes. Our 3/4/5 straight offensive rebounds happened as the game went under 4 minutes. The under 4 timeout occurred at around 2:10. At that point, it was just running out the clock.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Toying with the lineup, and unnecessarily playing your starters 32-37 minutes in a game that was well in hand midway thru the 2nd half are two different things. No reason not to give Estrella some run, at worst. I'm fine with it being a teaching moment to not just hand Dilione PT until his defense reflects that he's earned it. We are deep at guard, and he isn't a necessity, perhaps. And Carr and Phillips are depth pieces. But JP Estrella is the next man up if Aidoo or Awaka go down, and both have been nicked up at times. That's a guy that should have played some yeaterday.

Fair enough, and I was surprised we didn’t see the bench emptied the last 4-5 minutes…even if it’s walk On’s, no reason to risk injury on one of those guys.

 

[berryvol]

Awaka has learned to shoot FTs. Mashack has learned to shoot FTs and 3s. And Santi may have found his stroke.

Hard to find much to complain about in that game, so I'll be picky.

As mentioned above, JP Estrella should have gotten 8 minutes against some SEC competition.

Aidoo has to stop with the 15' shot. He is so much more effective in the paint, even if he's proven he can hit that shot in the past. He hasn't hit it much in a month, now.

Knecht just doesn't seem to have the confidence he started with. Barnes haters will claim he coached the offense and confidence out of him, but CRB will tell you he wants DK to shoot more. The confidence seems to have been lost in his driving ability as his suspect ball-handling has been exposed a bit.

JJJ, and now DK, have got to dump those black shoes. They look awful with our uniforms (which are beautiful, otherwise).

You know it was a good night when the VN fashion police have to come out to find something negative!

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Awaka has learned to shoot FTs. Mashack has learned to shoot FTs and 3s. And Santi may have found his stroke.

Hard to find much to complain about in that game, so I'll be picky.

As mentioned above, JP Estrella should have gotten 8 minutes against some SEC competition.

Aidoo has to stop with the 15' shot. He is so much more effective in the paint, even if he's proven he can hit that shot in the past. He hasn't hit it much in a month, now.

Knecht just doesn't seem to have the confidence he started with. Barnes haters will claim he coached the offense and confidence out of him, but CRB will tell you he wants DK to shoot more. The confidence seems to have been lost in his driving ability as his suspect ball-handling has been exposed a bit.

JJJ, and now DK, have got to dump those black shoes. They look awful with our uniforms (which are beautiful, otherwise).

The “Barnes killed his confidence” thing by the haters is funny because that ignores the fact that Mashack is a much improved offensive player this year, Aidoo has grown into a post beast partly because of Barnes publicly saying Aidoo needs to realize how good he is, and Awaka has a much more polished offensive game this year.

Knecht needs to listen to ZZ when he said after Norfolk State “You need to shoot more. I’m passing to you for a reason.” If Knecht feels like he can’t drive, then he needs to pull up or take the 3. I’ve seen him turn down some good looks on the perimeter. He has a nice 3-point stroke. Just shoot!

 

[cncchris33]

Fair enough, and I was surprised we didn’t see the bench emptied the last 4-5 minutes…even if it’s walk On’s, no reason to risk injury on one of those guys.

Right, that's really the bigger concern, probably. Imagine Aidoo blowing a knee out in a game with 2 minutes left and you're up 30 points. Barnes would never hear the end of it, and deservedly so. Not only is he now hurt, but you did nothing to help further prepare his backup.

 

[cncchris33]

You know it was a good night when the VN fashion police have to come out to find something negative!

Yep, I said I was gonna be picky...lol

 

[ndubvols]

I feel sure Gainey's falloff in shooting has been because they challenged him to improve some other aspects of his game. I'd certainly say we've seem him playing a much more versatile game than he displayed at the start of the season when he was draining 3s out of his hip pocket.

I think as the rest of his game reaches the levels the coaches are demanding, his shooting confidence (really, focus) will return as well. Hopefully it happens this season, maybe by SEC tourney time.

Sometimes it just "clicks" into place for a player. Look at Mashack... from defensive specialist to outside/inside offensive threat with no drop off in defense.

Agree with this, feel like the coaches are asking him to do some things he’s not best suited for (running some backup pg), and he’s still finding his role in the offense. Think he’ll be fine long term, but a confidence hit at this point along with a big step up in competition from what he’s used to. Think he’ll get his feet under him as conference play goes on and he gets more comfortable.

 

[Volfan1000]

1. Couldn’t have asked for a better start to SEC play than that, a dominating win against a ranked opponent, TBA continues to be a tough place for teams to come into. We knew Ole Miss likely was a bit overhyped because of their schedule but still an impressive win that got some nice recognition nationally due to them being ranked.

2. Last game Aidoo struggled and Awaka was really good, this game Aidoo shined. I said it then that having both guys allows Barnes to just kind of ride the hot hand/best matchup and yesterday that was obviously Aidoo. I don’t expect him to give us 24 a night, but the aggression from him was nice to see and is something he needs to continue. Still don’t think he’s hitting enough of the 15’+ footers to be shooting as many of them as he is, but the presence around the rim offensively from him helps us go.

3. We continue to see Gainey’s minutes decreasing as his cold shooting continues, hopefully he stays locked in the engaged and is ready to provide a spark off the bench when his number is called. His decreased role though has also coincided with Mashack’s increased minutes and he’s really shining, and definitely making a case for more minutes. He obviously brings great defense but his ability to drive and create from the lane while also finishing now around the basket is a nice addition, add in that he’s now shooting confidently from outside (over 40% on the year), and his role will only continue to grow.

4. Time will only tell if that was a one off, or a start of improved play, but that was the most complete game we’ve seen so far this year from Tennessee. The rotation got trimmed down to 8 and it looks probable that those 8 will be the guys each and every night. Minutes I’m sure will fluctuate, but identifying your 8 and those guys knowing their role and playing more together should benefit them. You want to continue to improve and play your best ball heading into February and March, imo a big part of that is settling on a rotation and really focusing on those guys, it looks like that’s started happening.

5. I think we can officially declare Zeigler back, and potentially as good if not better than ever. His last 8 games he’s averaging: 31.5mpg 12.4ppg 6.4apg 39.6%3pt 1.6topg 2.1spg That is absolutely elite type PG play from him. He continues to look better and better each time out, and obviously at some point that has to plateau, but any worries or doubts about his recovery and return I think can be dismissed, ZZZ is back.

6. We talked about needing to start conference play out strong given the soft start to the SEC slate, 1-0 was needed. We now head on the road for back to back games that we should absolutely be favored in both, however I take this time to remind everyone that winning on the road in conference play is never easy and should never be taken for granted. Again both upcoming games are very winnable, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we dropped 1, however winning both would set us up in great shape early on.


GBO!!!

Athens has long been a house of horrors for Tennessee.

 

[livefaith]

JJJ, and now DK, have got to dump those black shoes. They look awful with our uniforms (which are beautiful, otherwise).

Yeeeeeesss. Please let's start a petition. JJJ looks sluggish in those horrible things all year, but now DK!

Now back to reality ... there was @ 5 minute stretch at @ the 15min Mark of the 2nd Q last night where I almost felt sorry for Ole Miss. That was the most suffocating D I believe I've ever seen at UT. Ole Miss could hardly advance the ball to the 3 point arc, much less get off a shot. Barnes teams usually play good D, but that was incredible.

 

[tennrich1]

We just sapped their will to compete. They gave up on even trying to rebound. If I were Beard, I'd be pretty livid; that was NOT a good look.

I agree. Rebels AND Hogs both quit yesterday. Most casual observers don’t recognize it but CLEARLY those two teams did. And that’s a hard thing to eradicate because it’s a disease of the heart. As long as things are ginning along teams will compete with their talent…but adversity and a pop in the mouth comes along and “ makes cowards of lesser men”. Just an observation.

 

[The Dog]

I agree. Rebels AND Hogs both quit yesterday. Most casual observers don’t recognize it but CLEARLY those two teams did. And that’s a hard thing to eradicate because it’s a disease of the heart. As long as things are ginning along teams will compete with their talent…but adversity and a pop in the mouth comes along and “ makes cowards of lesser men”. Just an observation.

Agree. UNC took it to us, but the Vols never quit. Still had a chance at the end of the game

 

[Col_Cathcart]

Fair enough, and I was surprised we didn’t see the bench emptied the last 4-5 minutes…even if it’s walk On’s, no reason to risk injury on one of those guys.

I wonder if there’s something with Beard and not wanting them to have any positives to walk away with. I could see what Beard did really bothering a stand-up guy like Barnes.

 

[EasternVol]

I'm fully out on Gainey at this point. He doesn't really bring much on offense or defense. I would far prefer that we give those minutes to Freddie Dilione. He can create for himself and others, and he seems to be a really solid on ball defender from his limited minutes this year, though I think he falls asleep off ball too often.

That kind of thinking assumes that Gainey won’t continue to learn and develop, which he almost certainly will. He’s a very talented player with some of the best coaching in the country. He’ll become a better player as the season progresses and will continue to contribute to the team’s success.

 

[mcnabbvolunteer]

I really like Mashack's approach to the game. He has absolutely put in tons of work and is much more than a defensive specialist. He could have hit the transfer portal not being happy with his playing minutes.

 

[walkenvol]

Toying with the lineup, and unnecessarily playing your starters 32-37 minutes in a game that was well in hand midway thru the 2nd half are two different things. No reason not to give Estrella some run, at worst. I'm fine with it being a teaching moment to not just hand Dilione PT until his defense reflects that he's earned it. We are deep at guard, and he isn't a necessity, perhaps. And Carr and Phillips are depth pieces. But JP Estrella is the next man up if Aidoo or Awaka go down, and both have been nicked up at times. That's a guy that should have played some yeaterday.

Dang Chris, I’ve read on here that you’re a Barnes cheerleader who thinks everything he does is right? What’s up with this questioning his substitutions?

 

[walkenvol]

That kind of thinking assumes that Gainey won’t continue to learn and develop, which he almost certainly will. He’s a very talented player with some of the best coaching in the country. He’ll become a better player as the season progresses and will continue to contribute to the team’s success.

Unfortunately, the last 3 transfer guards we’ve had seemed to underperform and might be viewed as regressed. Hopefully Knecht and Gainey buck that trend

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Toying with the lineup, and unnecessarily playing your starters 32-37 minutes in a game that was well in hand midway thru the 2nd half are two different things. No reason not to give Estrella some run, at worst. I'm fine with it being a teaching moment to not just hand Dilione PT until his defense reflects that he's earned it. We are deep at guard, and he isn't a necessity, perhaps. And Carr and Phillips are depth pieces. But JP Estrella is the next man up if Aidoo or Awaka go down, and both have been nicked up at times. That's a guy that should have played some yeaterday.

Barnes was up to something. Only the 8x non-freshmen played a single minute while all 5x freshmen played zero. That almost has to be on purpose. Maybe he didn’t want to indicate that any one of the 5 is ahead of any other and is attempting to ramp up all of their efforts to earn playing time. Maybe he wanted to emphasize that the competition in the SEC is at a higher level and he’s not content that any of the 5 has worked hard enough to earn PT. Maybe he wanted to show that players that don’t leave will get playing time. It’s possible that somehow the flow of the game dictated the rotation, but it sure seems like messages were being delivered to the young guys. I’d guess that it has something to do with all of them needing to work harder because playing time won’t automatically be handed out.

 

[ColinS]

Barnes was up to something. Only the 8x non-freshmen played a single minute while all 5x freshmen played zero. That almost has to be on purpose. Maybe he didn’t want to indicate that any one of the 5 is ahead of any other and is attempting to ramp up all of their efforts to earn playing time. Maybe he wanted to emphasize that the competition in the SEC is at a higher level and he’s not content that any of the 5 has worked hard enough to earn PT. Maybe he wanted to show that players that don’t leave will get playing time. It’s possible that somehow the flow of the game dictated the rotation, but it sure seems like messages were being delivered to the young guys. I’d guess that it has something to do with all of them needing to work harder because playing time won’t automatically be handed out.

Two players actually in the rotation got sent messages as well. They barely saw the floor in the second half and when they did the drop off was glaring.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Two players actually in the rotation got sent messages as well. They barely saw the floor in the second half and when they did the drop off was glaring.

It looks like he’s also saying these 6 are the clear leaders and nobody gets a free pass to more playing time. Gainey is clearly in a funk and Awaka must be fouling WAY too often and it offsets his rebounding production.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

.

 

[cncchris33]

Dang Chris, I’ve read on here that you’re a Barnes cheerleader who thinks everything he does is right? What’s up with this questioning his substitutions?