bleedingTNorange
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1. That was a great win and in much needed fashion for the Vols who have struggled of late, we will see if it’s exactly what the doctor ordered and gets them going or if it’s just a flash in the pan type deal, but if we are going to get on a roll and find our stride that was a great and much needed first step in doing so.
2. Again the talk is can we get healthy, we got JJJ back but still no Phillips and all of a sudden a mysterious ankle injury to Key that nobody can figure out, this team just can’t catch a break injury/sick wise it seems. By my count this team has had full availability for just 12/29 games to this point, I can’t help but question if that has contributed to some of the inconsistency, add in that JJJ didn’t practice much leading up to the season and you’ve had a lot of different lineup looks.
3. Speaking of getting full strength, what a return for JJJ and we can all only hope that is the JJJ we see for the rest of the season. He gives us versatility to go big or small (as does Phillips) and obviously added depth as well. There’s no argument that can be made that says we are better without him, sure he may have cold nights but Santi just went 1/9, everyone has them, but being at full strength will hopefully increase the chances of a hot hand, help get better looks when we are cold, and give us the depth to play that lock down defense this team is capable of.
4. A potential silver lining with the injuries though is the the emergence of Jahmai Mashack, his last 3 games he’s averaging 31mpg 11ppg 5rbd 3ast 2stl 57%fg 57%3ptfg 43%FT (obviously that’s not good)…those percentages won’t stick but at the very least this stretch should give him some confidence that he can score at this level and compete on the offensive end, we all know he can more than hold his own on the defensive end. If we get back to full strength and you now have the luxury of bringing THAT guy off the bench along with Key that’s all of a sudden some nice guard/wing depth we didn’t realize we had.
5. Let’s look big picture and kinda reset things with 1 week left in the regular season…Vols sit 21-8(10-6) and a projected 3 seed with 2 games remaining. If you look in front of Tennessee you have Texas as a 2 seed with 7 losses and Baylor a 2 seed with 8 losses, behind Tennessee, Iowa State sits at a 4 seed with 11 losses, Indiana a 4 seed with 9 losses, I say that to kind of give some context on potential floor ceiling for Tennessee with 2 games remaining. It would certainly appear that barring 0-3 over their next 3 (2 regular season, opening SECT game) that a 4 seed is very likely the floor for this team. A 2 seed is very much in play if they were to go 2-0 to finish the season, and a 3 seed is probably the most likely seed as of today. Obviously anything can happen in the tournament but getting the best seed possible historically gives you the best chance of advancing, so that’s what you want to do. Tennessee’s last 2 games aren’t easy by any stretch, in fact analytics project a 1-1 finish, you’re playing an Arkansas team that’s playing like a Top 5 team in the country their last 4 games (since Smith returned, it’s true, check the numbers), and then at an Auburn team who’s a projected NCAAT team in their house and a team who feels they should’ve beat us the first time…Tennessee definitely has a tough finish ahead to their season, but a manageable one, and one that a strong finish would give some confidence to folks that maybe as this team gets healthy they’re figuring some things out.
GBO!!!
2. Again the talk is can we get healthy, we got JJJ back but still no Phillips and all of a sudden a mysterious ankle injury to Key that nobody can figure out, this team just can’t catch a break injury/sick wise it seems. By my count this team has had full availability for just 12/29 games to this point, I can’t help but question if that has contributed to some of the inconsistency, add in that JJJ didn’t practice much leading up to the season and you’ve had a lot of different lineup looks.
3. Speaking of getting full strength, what a return for JJJ and we can all only hope that is the JJJ we see for the rest of the season. He gives us versatility to go big or small (as does Phillips) and obviously added depth as well. There’s no argument that can be made that says we are better without him, sure he may have cold nights but Santi just went 1/9, everyone has them, but being at full strength will hopefully increase the chances of a hot hand, help get better looks when we are cold, and give us the depth to play that lock down defense this team is capable of.
4. A potential silver lining with the injuries though is the the emergence of Jahmai Mashack, his last 3 games he’s averaging 31mpg 11ppg 5rbd 3ast 2stl 57%fg 57%3ptfg 43%FT (obviously that’s not good)…those percentages won’t stick but at the very least this stretch should give him some confidence that he can score at this level and compete on the offensive end, we all know he can more than hold his own on the defensive end. If we get back to full strength and you now have the luxury of bringing THAT guy off the bench along with Key that’s all of a sudden some nice guard/wing depth we didn’t realize we had.
5. Let’s look big picture and kinda reset things with 1 week left in the regular season…Vols sit 21-8(10-6) and a projected 3 seed with 2 games remaining. If you look in front of Tennessee you have Texas as a 2 seed with 7 losses and Baylor a 2 seed with 8 losses, behind Tennessee, Iowa State sits at a 4 seed with 11 losses, Indiana a 4 seed with 9 losses, I say that to kind of give some context on potential floor ceiling for Tennessee with 2 games remaining. It would certainly appear that barring 0-3 over their next 3 (2 regular season, opening SECT game) that a 4 seed is very likely the floor for this team. A 2 seed is very much in play if they were to go 2-0 to finish the season, and a 3 seed is probably the most likely seed as of today. Obviously anything can happen in the tournament but getting the best seed possible historically gives you the best chance of advancing, so that’s what you want to do. Tennessee’s last 2 games aren’t easy by any stretch, in fact analytics project a 1-1 finish, you’re playing an Arkansas team that’s playing like a Top 5 team in the country their last 4 games (since Smith returned, it’s true, check the numbers), and then at an Auburn team who’s a projected NCAAT team in their house and a team who feels they should’ve beat us the first time…Tennessee definitely has a tough finish ahead to their season, but a manageable one, and one that a strong finish would give some confidence to folks that maybe as this team gets healthy they’re figuring some things out.
GBO!!!
