BTO’s Syracuse Postgame Report

#27
#27
ColinS said:
We used Knecht to compensate for several players that were plus defenders and minus on offense last year. Some of the same faces but everybody is or has improved to plus players on both ends.
Click to expand...
Yes, Gainey chief among them. He's playing more minutes, shooting better from 2 and 3, and turning the ball over less. And his defense is still really good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: THEONLYTENISEE, Willy14, Lukusw and 7 others
#30
#30
I continue to marvel at how well Lanier is able to get shots off. Such an incredible quickness between receiving and launching. I’m not sure if I’ve even seen a blocked shot against him from 3. I think most of us wondered how his shot would translate on this level. So far, so good. The real proof will be in how his shot plays against the best league competition in the country.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StrangeVol, Houstonvol1, chuckiepoo and 1 other person
#31
#31
On other thing I have noticed is that almost every player can take their opponent to the hole and drive. When a team is getting beat one on one like we have shown they go to a zone and the outside opens up.

The big O needs a skill set around the rim, at this point he is thinking too much about what he is going to do with his put back.

Our success has been our players ability to drive the lane and score.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#32
#32
bleedingTNorange said:
1. Another workmanlike, professional performance from our Vols, leading yet another game wire to wire, never stressful, and just slowly continuing to gradually build that lead. The OOC slate hasn’t been a murderers row but there’s also something to be said for handling their opponents in the way that this team has, very impressive stuff. Best start for Tennessee in 25 years and beating opponents by an average of over 26ppg on their way to this 8-0 start, truly impressive.

2. Watching the first half we were ice cold from 3 and yet still scoring the ball pretty well, obviously picked it up from 3 in the 2nd half but to score 96 and only shoot 35% from 3 for the game isn’t something you’d typically expect, but this team continues to dominate from 2. Coming into tonight they ranked 4th nationally at 62.8% from 2, tonight they went 25/36, 69.4%, so that number is going to rise. A huge part of this is the looks Ziegler is getting for guys like Phillips and Okpara, but guys like Gainey, Milicic, Lanier and even Ziegler continue to finish very well around the rim, it’s also part of that new era of analytical basketball, if you’re taking a 2 it should be at the rim, nothing outside the paint unless it’s a 3, Tennessee’s season shot chart is almost all either paint shots or 3’s and that’s a huge part of why they’ve been so efficient.

3. Continuing on that offensive efficiency, Tennessee is now up to #5 nationally on KenPom in offensive efficiency, obviously that is really good. We know the defense is going to be there and a requirement under Barnes and currently it’s #2 nationally, but we’ve not seen an offense like this except for once under Barnes, and that team couldn’t play defense, the balance this team is playing with on both ends is going to allow them the chance to be a very good team, potentially one of the best Barnes has ever had.

4. Lanier continues to be a bucket for Tennessee, now averaging 18.8ppg through 8 games, better than anyone was expecting from him, he’s obviously shooting well from 3 but he’s also shown a nice ability to get into the lane and either draw a foul or finish around the basket, showing a more well rounded game than many expected him to have, he’s also shown a nice mid range paint pull up at times also, he’s not Knecht, but he’s also about the closest thing you could’ve realistically hoped for imo.

5. I continue to be impressed by the role and knowing their roles that Jordan Gainey & Cade Phillips continue to play. Their minutes will vary game to game but they’re huge parts of this squad, they’re the unquestioned 6th & 7th men on a Top 5 team and know their numbers will be called and relied upon early, and both continue to just play within themselves and bring it. I’ve been very impressed with Gainey’s improved driving ability and finishing around the rim, he seems stronger and not as phased by getting bumped when he drives, those 2 guys will continue to be major pieces going forward, a silver lining on the short bench due to unities has been these guys getting forced consistent minutes, it’s really benefited them and this team imo.

6. The Vols move to 8-0 and make it through the first of 3 games of this “tough stretch” of OOC games, a neutral site game against Miami awaits before the final OOC showdown against Illinois at their place. As mentioned in the beginning this is the best start to a season in 25 years for the Vols, given how strong the SEC is this year I’m not really going to sweat the lack of multiple marquee OOC games. If the Vols can finish 12-1 or 13-0 OOC you absolutely take that and run and don’t look back, you’ll enter SEC play as a Top 3 team in the country and be heading into conference play with a very realistic chance of getting the first 1 seed in program history.




GBO!!!
Click to expand...
point number 2. - should opponets be running a 2-3 on us, and forcing us to shot mid range jumpers?
 
#33
#33
Watching the replay, UT is much better on the backline and harder to guard than the past 2 seasons. Igor is much better than James in rebounding/scoring/3pt, Cade brings a lot of energy and handles the ball inside better than Awaka without the fouling, Felix blocks/rebounds better and handles the ball inside more effectively than Aido. The team overall looks better but they don't have that guy like Dalton who you can turn to when the shots aren't falling.
 
#35
#35
you said:
point number 2. - should opponets be running a 2-3 on us, and forcing us to shot mid range jumpers?
Click to expand...
A 2-3 zone is susceptible to good outside shooting teams, which Tennessee is certainly one. It would help neutralize the lobs by clogging things up in the paint a bit, but it won't work against a team that can hit from deep.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BernardKingGOAT
#36
#36
VOLtaism said:
Watching the replay, UT is much better on the backline and harder to guard than the past 2 seasons. Igor is much better than James in rebounding/scoring/3pt, Cade brings a lot of energy and handles the ball inside better than Awaka without the fouling, Felix blocks/rebounds better and handles the ball inside more effectively than Aido. The team overall looks better but they don't have that guy like Dalton who you can turn to when the shots aren't falling.
Click to expand...
34.1% James’ senior season 3 point completion whereas Igor is at 31.8%, the lowest of his career. Hopefully, he’ll shoot himself to his career mean of 37% through out the course of this season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#37
#37
Another reason we're now top ten in offensive efficiency is offensive rebounding. Bart Torvik ranks us 3rd in the category. Much better than last year. We killed Syracuse on the offensive boards last night 13-5. 40-26 overall.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo and Lefteye
#40
#40
Ghost of Archvol said:
Defense wasn’t bad - they seemed to hit everything they threw up. The fact that their FG% was nearly double digits better than ours in the 1st, but we had a double digit lead at the half is a testament to our pressure, forcing TOs, pts offf of TOs, etc. That and of course CL shooting lights out again. 😜
Click to expand...
They were getting plenty of open looks. Plus we put them on the line 10 times. It just happened that they only made 3-10 from there. It was the most points we've given up in a half all season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BernardKingGOAT and chuckiepoo
#41
#41
Houstonvol1 said:
Another reason we're now top ten in offensive efficiency is offensive rebounding. Bart Torvik ranks us 3rd in the category. Much better than last year. We killed Syracuse on the offensive boards last night 13-5. 40-26 overall.
Click to expand...
Good pt. We’ll miss JP, make no mistake, but Cade and Felix are glass cleaners. And when they’re in a game together during spurts, good luck to opposing teams. Igor also seems to take pride in it, or at least pretends well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#43
#43
chuckiepoo said:
…his dog is gettin’ there. Definitely up and off the porch. Ain’t quite charging the fence yet but he’ll get there.
Click to expand...
But w his size, half an effort has been be effective. I was kidding with the pretend thing too. Hopefully he keeps getting better at finding and fighting for position and hungrier when if comes to huntin.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong and chuckiepoo
#44
#44
orangemadam said:
Impressed by Cade's performance and aggressiveness. Hoping for more
improvement from Boswell on defense. He looked a little slow on defense.
This was a game where Lanier had one of those "quiet" 20+ games from all 3 levels.

Illinois will tell us where we really stand. Will be a tough road game.

SEC regular season will be a major grind. Winner may come in at 9-10 conference wins
Click to expand...

Someone feel free to check my math on this one, but if everyone plays 18 conference games, and the conference winner has only 9 wins, wouldn‘t that mean that there would be a 16-way tie for first (or last) at 9-9?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong
#46
#46
SGidds said:
Someone feel free to check my math on this one, but if everyone plays 18 conference games, and the conference winner has only 9 wins, wouldn‘t that mean that there would be a 16-way tie for first (or last) at 9-9?
Click to expand...
Lol, ok just got the chaos factor I'm willing for this to happen with 1 adjustment: we have 10 SEC wins. Everyone else have 8-9.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top