BTO’s Texas A&M Postgame Report

[Roustabout]

1. A 14pt road win on the road in SEC play, you beat the spread, and yet know we played far from our best game...I’ll gladly take it. A&M shot better than normal from 3 and the FT line, they also got too many ORB’s, and again we won by 14...our defense, especially first shot defense was REALLY good.

2. Anyone thinking Vescovi’s minutes would decline is sorely mistaken, he may play more off ball (more on that coming up), but his outside shooting and as we saw some too his midrange game is elite, he gets his feet set on kick out 3’s and I bet he’s over 50% on the year. So do you slide him off the ball and allow Springer to primarily run point? I do think Springer had phenomenal vision, provides scoring on his drives which also opens the kickoffs or dropoffs, however he had 6to’s today too, so little bit of a double edged sword. I think you continue to run Vescovi & Springer at PG if you’re Barnes and see if Springer can get better in the turnover department, having 6 of the teams 11 total isn’t going to work.

3. Announcers mentioned it, and I’m not sure if Fulky has some injuries going on, but we need offensive production to be better from those 2 guys. They don’t need to force things but Fulk & Pons combined for 8/13 from the field, they need to get a few more looks, I will say A&M is always a tough matchup for Fulk as they run physical guys at him and typically double him.

4. Bailey’s worst all around game as a Vol, missed his kind of shots which only took 5 so not a huge problem, but also got lost defensively a few times which put him right in the bench. It was good to see him still involved in the game and in good spirits afterwards, need him to bounce back and shake that off, continue to improve defensively.

5. Need James to find offensive consistency, coming off probably one of his better games as a Vol he kind of lays a dud...doesn’t have to bring 17 a night but would be nice if we could count on him for about 10 a night. Was great to see Johnson hit a 3 ball, hopefully that’ll give him some confidence and that will only open things up for him on drives which is obviously his strength.

6. Move to 9-1(3-1) hopefully our game against South Carolina upcoming happens, another road game but we would be favored, then heavy favorites at home against Vanderbilt before heading to Florida which should be a good test against a Gators team playing pretty well.


GBO!!!

Fulk is hurt. His wrist is obvious but he also looks to have lost a lot of weight from were he had bulked up in preseason. He’s a step or two slower. My guess is he had Covid and it hit him hard.

Bailey is a scoring machine (off today) but a defensive liability. Weird, because he is athletic enough to to a lock down defender, but he makes bad mistakes.

James has the potential to be a 15 and 8 guy. He is just so passive at times.

Offensively, he his was one of the first times I saw the team searching for someone to take the shot. Granted, A&M plays ugly ball.

 

[screenthis]

Springer looked off all game to me. Not sure what led to that. But agreed that he seems best suited as our point guard. And Bailey does seem to be a step slow on defense. But he sure can be a beast on offense. Now, with Florida getting smacked by Kentucky today, are we worried again about UK?

 

[VolArmy74]

I most worry about rebounding. We are snake bit with getting Olivier, E.J., and Uros and none of them have stepped into a role where they clean up the glass. I'd love to see those guys average even 15 board a game across their minutes.

 

[Namorto1]

Regarding AnosIke, today’s matchup was perfectly suited for him but he only got 6 minutes. I think that may say alot for his playing time the rest of the year, unless Fulky or Pons get in foul trouble. Same for Olivier.....he only got 3. We will be playing more small ball the rest of the year.

 

[golfballs]

SV caught wind of his potential benching and responded. He still gives up what should be make-able midrange shots and opportunities to go to the bucket. Don’t think going to the rim is where he’ll be his best but should be higher percentage shots than just kicking out and resetting. Our guard situation gives a lot of flexibility w multiple ball handlers

 

[golfballs]

Fulky gets beat up. Other teams constantly go at him to wear him down. Like that non-call hook and hold. The refs need to be a little more honest.

EJ still needs more minutes IMO, but this team w JJJ and Pons can play well w a 4 guard lineup.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

He had 0 rebounds

But he needs to improve on his defense. He might be OK playing zone, but we never play zone.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Springer looked off all game to me. Not sure what led to that. But agreed that he seems best suited as our point guard. And Bailey does seem to be a step slow on defense. But he sure can be a beast on offense. Now, with Florida getting smacked by Kentucky today, are we worried again about UK?

Springer’s defense is really good and getting better. He sometimes gets in trouble in the paint, but I think he is the best of the Freshmen at this stage of the season.

 

[cncchris33]

I think is very evident that SV is so much more effective on the wing. He is an excellent shooter and this team is better served by his shooting than his ball-handling or creating off the dribble. Still interesting that he is the preferred option to bring the ball up the floor. I wonder if that is eventually phased out, too.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I think is very evident that SV is so much more effective on the wing. He is an excellent shooter and this team is better served by his shooting than his ball-handling or creating off the dribble. Still interesting that he is the preferred option to bring the ball up the floor. I wonder if that is eventually phased out, too.

SV is really too slow to push the ball and lead fast breaks. JJJ doesn’t have blazing speed either. Might be why Barnes has often been playing Keon and Jaden at the PG. All thru the aTm game I was thinking how good Bone was. SV’s defense looked better today.

 

[i2amavol]

ORN should get more minutes imo he has been productive or am I missing something? Hes got great length and Rebounding has been better. Maybe let him play through some Defensive mistakes

Yeah, at the beginning of the season I was really down on him, but now my perception has reversed. I don't think they are playing him nearly enough. At least offensively, he seems like a totally different person than before.

 

[dono]

Nice write up BTO and solid win for the Vols. Anyone else getting tired of the “Cool stuff in our office” BS from the commentators? Jimmy Dykes was rambling about that crap too long. It was good to see SV bounce back today.

WAY too much yak yak about everything other than the game, At least Bob and Bert call the action and bring in stats.

 

[cncchris33]

Springer looked off all game to me. Not sure what led to that. But agreed that he seems best suited as our point guard. And Bailey does seem to be a step slow on defense. But he sure can be a beast on offense. Now, with Florida getting smacked by Kentucky today, are we worried again about UK?

Not sure where Springer looked off. He was the best passer, the best at getting to the rim, and the best on-ball defensive guard in this game, I thought. He had 6 TOs, but 2 of them were not really his fault. 2 of them were silly freshman mistakes.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

WAY too much yak yak about everything other than the game, At least Bob and Bert call the action and bring in stats.

Bob and Bert did the play-by-play from Knoxville. The radio was synchronized perfectly with the Comcast feed for once. The radio broadcast usually starts out about 15 seconds ahead of the game shown on cable and ends up 2 or 3 seconds ahead as they adjust the timing.

 

[golfballs]

I think is very evident that SV is so much more effective on the wing. He is an excellent shooter and this team is better served by his shooting than his ball-handling or creating off the dribble. Still interesting that he is the preferred option to bring the ball up the floor. I wonder if that is eventually phased out, too.

Is it accurate to say he’s a tweener? But I don’t think it’s bad to have “2 PGs” on the floor at the same time when he and Springer or Keon have such different skill sets. Both capable of being ball handlers but each w their own strengths

 

[golfballs]

Basically like the same concept of being a “wing” where the distinction between SG and SF is unimportant.

 

[Lefteye]

Springer looked off all game to me. Not sure what led to that. But agreed that he seems best suited as our point guard. And Bailey does seem to be a step slow on defense. But he sure can be a beast on offense. Now, with Florida getting smacked by Kentucky today, are we worried again about UK?

Interesting, I thought it was his best game so far. He has the ability to penetrate gaps, draw defenders, find his own shot or find a teammate. And what he lacks in defensive footwork he makes up for in strength and effort. He is and will be a huge part of our offense going forward. Imo

 

[cncchris33]

Is it accurate to say he’s a tweener? But I don’t think it’s bad to have “2 PGs” on the floor at the same time when he and Springer or Keon have such different skill sets. Both capable of being ball handlers but each w their own strengths

Yeah, that's fair. I just think that Vescovi's strength is shooting and he can't create his own shot, so it seems to work against his strength to put the ball in his hands as the lead guard. It makes much more sense to put him on the wing and let Springer draw the defense on drives for kickouts to SV or for him to work off of screens to get open looks from 3.

Conversely, putting the ball in Springer's hands seems to play to his strengths. He is strong enough to get to the paint and finish in traffic and has excellent vision and court awareness to feed the post on drives and kick the ball back out to open shooters. He can also create his own shot.

 

[cncchris33]

Interesting, I thought it was his best game so far. He has the ability to penetrate gaps, draw defenders, find his own shot or find a teammate. And what he lacks in defensive footwork he makes up for in strength and effort. He is and will be a huge part of our offense going forward. Imo

I'm not even sure he lacks defensive footwork. I thought he did the best job of any of the guards at keeping in front of his man on defense. Jimmy Dykes even called it out at one point saying something to the effect of "you can't do it any better than that".

 

[walkenvol]

Interesting, I thought it was his best game so far. He has the ability to penetrate gaps, draw defenders, find his own shot or find a teammate. And what he lacks in defensive footwork he makes up for in strength and effort. He is and will be a huge part of our offense going forward. Imo

Even better than his 21 points against TN Tech?

 

[Namorto1]

I think is very evident that SV is so much more effective on the wing. He is an excellent shooter and this team is better served by his shooting than his ball-handling or creating off the dribble. Still interesting that he is the preferred option to bring the ball up the floor. I wonder if that is eventually phased out, too.

Not a lot of great options honestly. It is easily arguable that Springer, Keon, James and Bailey are also better playing wing. Against full court man pressure it would seemingly be beneficial if another teammate could come down the floor and provide a pick for Vescovi. Seems like an easy enough solution but we don’t do it. A&M went full court 1-2-2 zone press and we beat it reason well by passing. We really don’t have that one guy who you can give it too and let them beat pressure by themselves. And as Barnes said in the press conference, they may be expecting to much from Vescovi and need to find ways to help him more. Vescovi stated he felt more rested so perhaps they aren’t pushing as hard in practice this past week.

Honestly if you made me pick one guy to bring the ball up the court by himself it would be James. Just seems like it is a better match up with him against a SF and he has improved his decision making. Keon is loose with the ball at times, and while Springer is strong with the ball and made 6 nice assists today, he also had 6 turnovers and being a PG just isn’t natural for him either. And to Vescovi’s credit he has cut his turnover’s in half compared to last year.

Let’s put it this way, Vescovi has played 82 more minutes than Springer after 10 games. That is equivalent to 2 complete games and yet he has 16 turnovers this year compared to Springer’s 17. Springer is a better player, clearly more talented and has a large upside that Vescovi will never have, but putting Springer exclusively at PG in my opinion would be a big mistake. We don’t have time for a learning curve. Barnes has a bunch of decent ball handlers and may have to adjust to however each respective game plays out.

 

[cncchris33]

Even better than his 21 points against TN Tech?

Ehh, hard to say. Maybe TTU game was better, but the competition, today, was infinitely better and it was on the road.

 

[Lefteye]

Even better than his 21 points against TN Tech?

I think so. His contributions on offense may not always translate to scoring numbers, but he showed skills tonight that this team desperately needs. Hopefully he gains confidence from tonight and it continues moving forward.

 

[therickbol]

Yeah, that's fair. I just think that Vescovi's strength is shooting and he can't create his own shot, so it seems to work against his strength to put the ball in his hands as the lead guard. It makes much more sense to put him on the wing and let Springer draw the defense on drives for kickouts to SV or for him to work off of screens to get open looks from 3.

Conversely, putting the ball in Springer's hands seems to play to his strengths. He is strong enough to get to the paint and finish in traffic and has excellent vision and court awareness to feed the post on drives and kick the ball back out to open shooters. He can also create his own shot.

Completely agree

 

[cncchris33]

Not a lot of great options honestly. It is easily arguable that Springer, Keon, James and Bailey are also better playing wing. Against full court man pressure it would seemingly be beneficial if another teammate could come down the floor and provide a pick for Vescovi. Seems like an easy enough solution but we don’t do it. A&M went full court 1-2-2 zone press and we beat it reason well by passing. We really don’t have that one guy who you can give it too and let them beat pressure by themselves. And as Barnes said in the press conference, they may be expecting to much from Vescovi and need to find ways to help him more. Vescovi stated he felt more rested so perhaps they aren’t pushing as hard in practice this past week.

Honestly if you made me pick one guy to bring the ball up the court by himself it would be James. Just seems like it is a better match up with him against a SF and he has improved his decision making. Keon is loose with the ball at times, and while Springer is strong with the ball and made 6 nice assists today, he also had 6 turnovers and being a PG just isn’t natural for him either. And to Vescovi’s credit he has cut his turnover’s in half compared to last year.

Let’s put it this way, Vescovi has played 82 more minutes than Springer after 10 games. That is equivalent to 2 complete games and yet he has 16 turnovers this year compared to Springer’s 17. Springer is a better player, clearly more talented and has a large upside that Vescovi will never have, but putting Springer exclusively at PG in my opinion would be a big mistake. We don’t have time for a learning curve. Barnes has a bunch of decent ball handlers and may have to adjust to however each respective game plays out.

Good stuff. I strongly disagree with a couple points, though.

We set numerous picks for SV as he brought the ball up the floor today. At one point, Fulky got leveled and no foul was called. Keon set a pick at one point, and Pons did, as well.

Springer isn't a natural PG in the way Jordan Bone was, or in the way that Kennedy Chandler will be, next year, but he has more PG qualities than SV does, IMO, and their respective skills dictate that SV is better served on the wing to utilize his strength and Springer is better served with the ball in his hands. Hard to argue otherwise after Vescovi set a career high in points playing exclusively on the wing in halfcourt sets and Springer set a career high in assists acting as the pseudo-point guard. Yeah, he had 6 TOs, but 2 of them were not really any fault of his (ie, the one were Vescovi gave up the ball to him on an inbound beneath the basket), and 2 of them were just silly freshman mistakes (ie, picking his dribble up in the backcourt). Regardless, he can't turn the ball over 6 times with regularity, but I don't think that is indicative of how he would normally play. Not saying he should play there exclusively, but I'd play him there predominantly and I believe the TOs will come back to earth. SV had 9 in his first game running point, if you remember.