BTO’s Texas Postgame Report

#51
#51
bleedingTNorange said:
1. What a game from our Vols, and way to show out Vol fans…once again Tennessee had center stage on the national scene with College Gameday here and they didn’t disappoint. This team clearly came out with focus and energy and made it clear from the start that this was gonna be a hard fought game, they weren’t going to be out toughed and good luck to their opponent, one of the better games of a Vol team in recent memory.

2. Tennessee is now the #1 team on KenPom, this has never happened before in the history of KenPom, so take a second and savor it. Obviously in the grand scheme of success this is a great sign, are we the best team in the country, who knows? However analytics think that we are and worst case that means we are one of the very best in the country at this time, and that can’t possibly be seen as a bad thing.

3. Not to make this a review of tooting my horn, but sorry I'm going to a bit…folks wanted Nkamhoua benched, wanted Awaka instead, wanted Plav or Aidoo, give me anybody, just don’t play Nkamhoua, why’s he starting it doesn’t make sense? I routinely said that he has the highest ceiling and Barnes was trying to get the light to come on, does it? Idk. However he just put up a performance that no other player ever has, 27 & 8 on 12/15 shooting, he was an absolute force and looked like a terror. Now the key is what the key has always been, does he vanish or can he do it again? Consistency is the key. But again, he did things only he could do, that’s why he’s starting folks.

4. Might as well keep tooting my horn…I have mentioned small ball and shorter rotations and it’s not been received super well, many have disliked the idea. Well tonight we played 31/40 minutes small ball and we essentially played a 6 man rotation tonight, found some minutes in the first half with some foul trouble but pretty clear who the 6 were. Those are the 5-6 who are going to decide our season, I get that some might not like it but that’s just what it is.

5. Zeigler continues his play, not only pushing for All-SEC honors but this man might be working his way on to the national scene. Yet another double double with assist, 22 & 10 tonight on just 3 turnovers, absolutely incredible! He’s literally the QB out there and not only running things offensively for us he’s also his usual pest defensively, he’s so damn good and it’s so nice to know we’ve got a PG like that for years to come!

6. This game was huge, adds a marquee win to our resume, and as I said 9-2 to finish the year was the target, well you get a tough one out of the way and now you’re talking 8-2 to finish things out. We don’t have an easy upcoming slate but it’s manageable, at Florida, home to Auburn, at Vandy, home to Missouri and then showdown with Bama at home as well? Can the Vols get to 4-0 heading into the Bama game? Probably a tall task, but it’s possible. Again, 8-2 to finish the season and you’re almost certainly looking at a 1 seed, 7-3 and it’s still very much on the table. This team has to bring it, when they do they can beat anyone, but overlook anyone and they can lose, that’s gonna be the trick. But for tonight we enjoy it!



GBO!!!
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ZZ got 2 steals too!
 
#52
#52
Barnes did a great job drawing up an alley oop to Nkamhoua early in the game. That seemed to jumpstart his game and he was playing with supreme confidence. The kid has plenty of talent. It’s all between the ears for him. I think if you want to get the most from him we’ll need to get him good looks early in the game and get him settled in quick
 
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#53
#53
Imo.... you can toot your horn about O when he starts playing like he did last night more than once every 10 games. Nobody doubted his ability. I doubted his "want to" and still have doubts. If he plays consistently well through these next 4.... Ill be more thn happy to toot the horn for you!!!
 
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#54
#54
Texas was kind of the prefect team to go small against, as they just really don't have that much size, and the size they do have (Disu) is more of a finesse player anyway. ON looked like he took it personal yesterday. I don't think there's ever been a question about his talent, just his consistency. I still won't necessarily like going away from Uros and Aidoo, as they've provided us very good moments this year, but I'm all for riding the hot hand.

ON has a way tougher matchup next time out with Castleton. I'll certainly be interested to see what happens there, and if we play a little bigger. Do remember back to the Georgia game, it was a close game until we went big, then we really pulled away as soon as Uros, Aidoo, and Awaka changed the game.
 
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#55
#55
omghulkhands said:
I agree as a Vescovi sub, when ZZ is still in the game. But when ZZ sits we lose pick and roll, point of attack and ball handling on offense and honestly, there is no one that can do that. i think offensive identity has to change when ZZ is out. Maybe.

Against a zone defense we’d be fine. But a good man defense, it’s tough to figure out with our roster what you do without Zakai on the floor.

And I’m exclusively talking about vs good teams. We can beat most of the SEC with our reserve squad.
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Yea if we are just talking about what to do when Zeigler is out I agree, but I think as we’ve seen that’s going to be very rare in tight games, he’s gonna be 35+mpg if not more.
 
#56
#56
jeff1vol said:
Imo.... you can toot your horn about O when he starts playing like he did last night more than once every 10 games. Nobody doubted his ability. I doubted his "want to" and still have doubts. If he plays consistently well through these next 4.... Ill be more thn happy to toot the horn for you!!!
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I’ve never said he will do it consistently, my take was that Barnes felt he had the highest ceiling this year of the posts, many disagreed…last night showed it was my point.
 
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#57
#57
bleedingTNorange said:
I’ve never said he will do it consistently, my take was that Barnes felt he had the highest ceiling this year of the posts, many disagreed…last night showed it was my point.
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I don’t recall any large number of posts disagreeing about ON having the highest ceiling? I do recall lots of posts with folks being ready to move on from a senior that couldn’t seem to consistently bring his best effort and giving younger guys who were bringing effort a chance. IIRC
 
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#59
#59
bleedingTNorange said:
1. What a game from our Vols, and way to show out Vol fans…once again Tennessee had center stage on the national scene with College Gameday here and they didn’t disappoint. This team clearly came out with focus and energy and made it clear from the start that this was gonna be a hard fought game, they weren’t going to be out toughed and good luck to their opponent, one of the better games of a Vol team in recent memory.

2. Tennessee is now the #1 team on KenPom, this has never happened before in the history of KenPom, so take a second and savor it. Obviously in the grand scheme of success this is a great sign, are we the best team in the country, who knows? However analytics think that we are and worst case that means we are one of the very best in the country at this time, and that can’t possibly be seen as a bad thing.

3. Not to make this a review of tooting my horn, but sorry I'm going to a bit…folks wanted Nkamhoua benched, wanted Awaka instead, wanted Plav or Aidoo, give me anybody, just don’t play Nkamhoua, why’s he starting it doesn’t make sense? I routinely said that he has the highest ceiling and Barnes was trying to get the light to come on, does it? Idk. However he just put up a performance that no other player ever has, 27 & 8 on 12/15 shooting, he was an absolute force and looked like a terror. Now the key is what the key has always been, does he vanish or can he do it again? Consistency is the key. But again, he did things only he could do, that’s why he’s starting folks.

4. Might as well keep tooting my horn…I have mentioned small ball and shorter rotations and it’s not been received super well, many have disliked the idea. Well tonight we played 31/40 minutes small ball and we essentially played a 6 man rotation tonight, found some minutes in the first half with some foul trouble but pretty clear who the 6 were. Those are the 5-6 who are going to decide our season, I get that some might not like it but that’s just what it is.

5. Zeigler continues his play, not only pushing for All-SEC honors but this man might be working his way on to the national scene. Yet another double double with assist, 22 & 10 tonight on just 3 turnovers, absolutely incredible! He’s literally the QB out there and not only running things offensively for us he’s also his usual pest defensively, he’s so damn good and it’s so nice to know we’ve got a PG like that for years to come!

6. This game was huge, adds a marquee win to our resume, and as I said 9-2 to finish the year was the target, well you get a tough one out of the way and now you’re talking 8-2 to finish things out. We don’t have an easy upcoming slate but it’s manageable, at Florida, home to Auburn, at Vandy, home to Missouri and then showdown with Bama at home as well? Can the Vols get to 4-0 heading into the Bama game? Probably a tall task, but it’s possible. Again, 8-2 to finish the season and you’re almost certainly looking at a 1 seed, 7-3 and it’s still very much on the table. This team has to bring it, when they do they can beat anyone, but overlook anyone and they can lose, that’s gonna be the trick. But for tonight we enjoy it!



GBO!!!
Click to expand...
As well as we have played the past couple of years away from TBA, I feel that 8-2 is the floor for this team; other than Bama, the Aggies are the only team I'm worried about. Of course you can always have an off night; just look at the UK at TBA. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago; we need to clean up the turnovers and the missed lob passes; well we have done that. I also mentioned about not shortening the bench that much, but after yesterday I feel that Aidoo should sit more. Go Vols. Very excited. With all of the blue bloods being down, I think we have a chance.
 
#60
#60
PEPPERJAX said:
The league for the most part took it on the chin yesterday in the SEC big 12 challenge. I’m really glad the Vols represented the conference securing the victory. I was on the road coming back from ATL and couldn’t watch the game last night. Going to try to find a replay. Go Vols!
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Even though my son and daughter inlaw graduated from Bama, I was glad to see them get knocked down a notch or two. They almost lost two in a row; they are human.
 
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#61
#61
Dr H Lecter said:
I, too, think Key is very valuable to us. I really appreciate those players whose numbers don’t jump out at you but are key to a really good (great?) Tennessee team. Uros for all the abuse he takes is important. This is the first time in quite awhile that we have enough quality help inside that another team will have difficulty dominating inside. The rebound difference against the Big Brown was huge yesterday.
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Yeah, statistically Key is a better three pt. shooter than V or ZZ.
 
#62
#62
We need 60 percent of this ON and we will be good. As someone pointed out, his life was made easier by ZZ, who was the best player on the floor yesterday. ON got a bunch of easy buckets off ZZ drives, passes etc.

For people worried about bench scoring. We are currently starting the two best bench scorers we have had all season in ZZ and JJJ. When they start and play so many minutes, there's not a big role for the bench.
 
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#63
#63
VonVol2 said:
I couldn't wait to read this thread today. What a game and spot on post. There was a point late in the game where the guard for Texas kept backing up to create some space and Zeigler kept closing on him. Zeigler had him out to the halfcourt stripe with 10 on the shot clock. That had me as close to jumping up and down as a guy my age can. Lol. I love the way that kid plays the game.
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Ironically, the play you describe occurred against Tyrese Hunter. He, of course, was the ballyhoed transfer prospect considered one of the best that spurned Tennessee and signed with Texas. I think Zeigler was definitely making a personal statement with that exchange.
 
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#64
#64
Volprofch05 said:
ON said after the USCjr game that he was glad he would never have to play in their stadium again (he was injured there last year). Since we play there every year, he seems to have tipped his hand that he is not returning. Very unlikely to happen, but just imagine if SV, JJJ, and ON were to all came back…
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Explain how it's guaranteed that we play at Columbia next year; we only play UGA and Fla. one time this season.
 
#67
#67
CAVPUT said:
I think this concern is shared by any Vol fan who's shown more than a passing interest in this team. We've seen it over and over. What's hard and maddening is that this team really can make a deep run if everyone is performing up to their abilities.
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But expecting everyone to be firing on all cylinders at the same time is a very lofty expectation. It rarely happens, especially for a stretch of games. That’s why it’s so hard to win the tourney and very few teams are capable in a given season. You have to have the talent, coaching and be firing on all cylinders over a 3 week period. If one of those is off, you’re not going to win. It’s ok to be disappointed when we don’t advance far into the tourney but realize that it takes a special run to get there at the same time. Coaches can do everything right, but if one or 2 of the guys has an off game, you’re gonna go home.
 
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#69
#69
omghulkhands said:
I don’t think it can be understated how good ZZ was in this game. Not taking anything away from Olivier, but nearly a dozen of his point were from ZZ’s playmaking.

That pick and roll was just… unstoppable
Click to expand...

ZZ continues to amaze me. Kudos to Barnes for seeing his potential and taking a gamble on him. When he first got here, I thought he’d be a solid bench reserve. Now the offense flows through him. He can direct, assist, drive, and shoot. He’s so fun to watch. Glad he’s wearing the orange.
 
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#70
#70
ON continues his remarkable play against smaller opponents. He seems mediocre when facing players his size or taller, thus the inconsistency.

This is a concern against teams like Ky, with their duo of Tippin and Tsheib.

Teams that have twin towers, or a huge post player that plays 30-35 min. will give us fits. Edey, Robinson, Tsheib, Toppin, etc.
 
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#71
#71
DC_Vol said:
ZZ continues to amaze me. Kudos to Barnes for seeing his potential and taking a gamble on him. When he first got here, I thought he’d be a solid bench reserve. Now the offense flows through him. He can direct, assist, drive, and shoot. He’s so fun to watch. Glad he’s wearing the orange.
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And that’s just considering his offense. He’s the total disrupter and antagonist defensively.
 
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#73
#73
BACKDOC said:
Even though my son and daughter inlaw graduated from Bama, I was glad to see them get knocked down a notch or two. They almost lost two in a row; they are human.
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Better that is was a non conference game. SEC title is the goal for them as it is for Tennessee.
 
#74
#74
TMvol10 said:
But expecting everyone to be firing on all cylinders at the same time is a very lofty expectation. It rarely happens, especially for a stretch of games. That’s why it’s so hard to win the tourney and very few teams are capable in a given season. You have to have the talent, coaching and be firing on all cylinders over a 3 week period. If one of those is off, you’re not going to win. It’s ok to be disappointed when we don’t advance far into the tourney but realize that it takes a special run to get there at the same time. Coaches can do everything right, but if one or 2 of the guys has an off game, you’re gonna go home.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%.

We have the coaching / coach to make a run. And we have the talent (some may be more talented / some less / ZZ is great . . . But we do not, in my opinion, have dominant PG play).

The question is how the team is doing on offense / do they get hot shooting the ball at the right time and for long enough in the tournament. Also, matchups are key.
 
#75
#75
Go47 said:
I agree 100%.

We have the coaching / coach to make a run. And we have the talent (some may be more talented / some less / ZZ is great . . . But we do not, in my opinion, have dominant PG play).

The question is how the team is doing on offense / do they get hot shooting the ball at the right time and for long enough in the tournament. Also, matchups are key.
Click to expand...
What ZZ has accomplished the last 6-8 games has been pretty amazing. I guess it depends on YOUR meaning of dominance. He’s been quite incredible.
 
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