BTO’s Vanderbilt Postgame Report

[bleedingTNorange]

1. You can look at last nights game a few different ways, probably feel like it shouldn’t have been as close as it was or that we shouldn’t handled a team like Vanderbilt at home. Then you consider though the late Wednesday game in Starkville, having to travel back for quick turnaround, playing an instate rivals that is improving, a team you’ve beaten 9x in a row and is trying to break that streak, and a team that just a weeks ago had UK in a 3pt game at Rupp Arena with about 8 minutes remaining before they went on to win by 7(77-70) and suddenly you feel a just a bit happier to have found a way to win. Tennessee had its moments where they got up 13+ and you thought were gonna pull away and maybe they should have, that’s something they can work on, but still found a way to get the W they really couldn’t afford to lose.

2. Tennessee did not shoot the ball well, which considering how they’ve shot the last few games was probably bound to happy at some point. The good news was that they found a way to win still: rebound, defense, limit turnovers, hit free throws. For the most part those things are pretty controllable and if you do them you’ll have a good chance to win even if you’re having a colder shooting night, on nights you’re hitting shots then it makes you really tough to beat. We weren’t awful from 3 and really it was JJJ’s 1-7 that dragged us down, but the way he’s shot lately you live with that and hope he’s hot the next game.

3. Speaking of JJJ, the man could not buy a shot from the field 2-14fg and 1-7 from 3…but he had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and was against huge for our defense. Him staying aggressive offensively was good to see, it’s what this team needs to be it’s best offensively and he was getting good looks, sometimes you just have a cold night but it was good to see him continue to look to score and even drive it to the hoop aggressively.

4. I made a post yesterday asking is ZZ a 6th MOY candidate? He likely doesn’t win it, Tari Eason is a great player and UK has a good candidate as well in Davion Mintz, but ZZ made his case against last night. Ends up with 2nd most minutes on the team, 16pts 5ast 0t, over his last 6 games he’s 15/27 for 56% from 3 after starting the year cold. We heard he’s a phenomenal shooter and early in the year there were some doubts, but maybe it was adjusting to speed or length of game at this level but man is he shooting it of late. Regardless, he’s playing really well obviously and continues to make Vol fans excited about the future.

5. My negative is foul trouble…this team has had a habit of late getting itself into foul trouble, mainly the guards, and that is becoming a trend and in issue. Vescovi does it quite a bit and tonight Chandler joined him, both of those guys are too important to this team to be riding the bench, they’ve gotta play smarter…same for ZZ and JJJ, they were fine last night but have had their recent foul troubles too, those 4 guys have to be better. With Vescovi on the court we were +21 yesterday, without him we were -12, he’s great offensively, another ball handler, great passer, underrated defender and really spaces the floor with his shooting ability, we need him out there along with the other guards. We talk about wanting to play small ball 4+1 and that it’s our best grouping, but that’s hard to do if 1-2 of your guards are in foul trouble nightly.

6. During this stretch they’ve also seemingly picked things up on the offensive end, averaging 79ppg in that span and seeing their offensive rating on KenPom rise from around 55 post Texas to Top 30 as of today. It’s widely considered that to be a balanced and one of the better teams you need to be Top 25 in both categories, and a couple weeks ago that seemed near impossible a goal for this Vols team to reach offensively, but they’ve really picked it up and is a big part of the win streak. The defense needs to stick around because it’s carries on the road and with you game to game, but continue to play with that offensive movement and pace and let it keep flying from 3 when you have those open looks. Would be nice to see the O climb into the Top 20 while defense remains Top 10, would make us among the Top 8-10 on KenPom and indicate we are really playing well.

7. Big picture reset…we entered this 4 game stretch predicted to go 3-1, said that would be solid but if you found a way to go 4-0 it would really build some momentum and possibly change the trajectory of this team. Well they went 4-0 and are building momentum, they’re climbing bracket seed lists and are a fringe 3/4 seed as of this morning, they’ve really positioned themselves well with some big upcoming opportunities, but that also means things get tougher. We are 18-6(9-3) with 6 remaining, you hope 3-3 is the floor and 4-2 would feel good, anything better would be amazing and anything less than 3-3 would really be disappointing finish. We start the first week with 2 Q1 opportunities, home against Kentucky and on the road at Arkansas, both of these are going to be tough games and require great showings, true 50/50 games…splitting these 2 would be considered a good thing. I’m really hoping we see TBA rocking and that we can start out the week with a W against Kentucky, would take some pressure off heading to Arkansas and would make the race for 2nd place a bit more interesting as well, would also get some national recognition…not to mention we owe them one!



GBO!!!

 

[TheMookieMonster]

It’s time for my own comeuppance. I had serious questions about this team’s ability to score after the 2-3 SEC start, and they have completely transformed themselves this past month. I’m bought in.

This team seems to be playing with extreme confidence, they’re in sync and playing with more chemistry than last year’s team ever did, and they’re doing this while maintaining their elite defense.

Foul trouble is concerning. We can’t have that in March. It’s crystal clear just how GREAT this team can be when our best players are able to play.

Rick, please, enough with the Uros/Fulky lineup. It’s not good. Split them up.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of JJJ last night was that he struggled mightily from the field, but he went 9-10 from the Free Throw line. That speaks volumes about the strides he has made.

I’ll just leave it with this article by Will Warren. It’s a great read and really summarizes my thoughts well. I don’t was disconcerted and disappointed with the team early, but this team has turned it around and is in fact very, very good. It’s time to admit it. Win or lose Tuesday night, it doesn’t change the fact that this team has the right balance to go far in March.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I wouldn't even say TN shot the ball badly.

22-60 for 36.7% FG
7-22 for 31.8% 3PT

Remove JJJ's cold night

20-46 for 43.5% FG
6-15 for 40% 3PT

But obviously James had an off night and KC needed 3 buckets late to get his % up. Powell also was cold 0-6 for the night. Something you didn't mention I think you should have touched on was Fulky's contributions, 5-8 for 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks he had one of his best games since getting COVID gotta hope that's the sort of production he can give us moving forward. With Olivier out he's the best +1 in the small ball lineup we have so if he's not putting up some numbers it hurts us running that lineup.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Good points on the shooting and Fulk, his defense/communication is great which is why Barnes continued going to him even after being pulled from starting lineup…if he bring that it’s huge.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Maybe it's "favorite player bias" but what I've been thrilled about is that even when Santi gets in foul trouble he's still giving us quality minutes.

13-28 from 3 for 46.4% in the last 4 games, hitting at least 3 in every game.

 

[omghulkhands]

I do genuinely wonder when it comes down to the NCAA tournament and the season on the line, how many minutes our death lineup will play (the small ball lineup)

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Higher fouls usually follow the shift to smaller lineups. That doesn’t change your point that we need better discipline, but it’s typically an occupational hazard the switch to small.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I do genuinely wonder when it comes down to the NCAA tournament and the season on the line, how many minutes our death lineup will play (the small ball lineup)

I would think most of them. I have to believe that Barnes knows it’s our best lineup, but he just doesn’t want to exhaust them yet. He’s said quite a bit about minutes played the last few games. It feels like he is hoping to make it as far as he can into March with his guards fresh in hopes of having a full strength lineup to make a run.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I do genuinely wonder when it comes down to the NCAA tournament and the season on the line, how many minutes our death lineup will play (the small ball lineup)

I think we are about to find out Tuesday…huge game and talented opponent, if we were to jump out big early maybe it doesn’t happen but if it’s close and no foul trouble I will be curious for sure.

 

[Namorto1]

Next two games will show us a lot. I would be thrilled with a split. If we get run out of our own gym and lose by double digits at Arkansas, it wouldn’t suggest we are a bad team. Just not good enough. We are beating who we should beat and a very solid tournament team, which at that point it is all about matchups and which UT offense shows up.

We defend incredibly well and share the ball well. Adequate rebounding team. If we were consistently 7 pts better on the offensive end each game, we would dangerous, but at times (sometimes extended periods of times we cannot drop it in the bucket). I still think we should push tempo more, extend our defense more and try to speed up our opponents. As others have stated foul problems are evident with Vescovi. Vescovi got jobbed on some but he should know better at times, as we are significantly better when he is on the court. He and Ziegler have become our most important players. Both are tough as nails and make winning plays at both ends.

James is progressing. He does so many other things well, he has to be on the court, and I actually was encouraged despite shooting horribly, he still kept playing on the offensive end and still hit double figures. Doubt that has ever happened before. Chandler has to raise his level of play (and he has it in him), and we need something consistent offensively from our frontcourt to get to anything beyond a 2nd round tournament team.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Next two games will show us a lot. I would be thrilled with a split. If we get run out of our own gym and lose by double digits at Arkansas, it wouldn’t suggest we are a bad team. Just not good enough. We are beating who we should beat and a very solid tournament team, which at that point it is all about matchups and which UT offense shows up.

We defend incredibly well and share the ball well. Adequate rebounding team. If we were consistently 7 pts better on the offensive end each game, we would dangerous, but at times (sometimes extended periods of times we cannot drop it in the bucket). I still think we should push tempo more, extend our defense more and try to speed up our opponents. As others have stated foul problems are evident with Vescovi. Vescovi got jobbed on some but he should know better at times, as we are significantly better when he is on the court. He and Ziegler have become our most important players. Both are tough as nails and make winning plays at both ends.

James is progressing. He does so many other things well, he has to be on the court, and I actually was encouraged despite shooting horribly, he still kept playing on the offensive end and still hit double figures. Doubt that has ever happened before. Chandler has to raise his level of play (and he has it in him), and we need something consistent offensively from our frontcourt to get to anything beyond a 2nd round tournament team.

That would mean we are a Top 3 offense which paired with Top 6 defense would make us the #1 team in the nation on KenPom…not sure that’s a fair statement.

 

[ColinS]

Vanderbilt has absolutely nothing in the post. In other words they have should have no ability to exploit our weakness. That's the kind of team we should match up well with and pull away from. Reading this board you would think they are suddenly some great team. Improved but still not very good. I think the next step for this team is to separate from these teams. We have been consistently beating teams on their level, so this is not a strong complaint. If we don't start putting teams away it could come back to bite us at the wrong time.

 

[vol94]

I would think most of them. I have to believe that Barnes knows it’s our best lineup, but he just doesn’t want to exhaust them yet. He’s said quite a bit about minutes played the last few games. It feels like he is hoping to make it as far as he can into March with his guards fresh in hopes of having a full strength lineup to make a run.

Exactly. Many if his critics state that Barnes has exhausted and burnt out his star players come tournament time. There are going to be consequences, maybe a loss down the stretch before the tourney due to the substitution patterns.
I’ll take that if our guards are fresh for March.

 

[I4Vols]

Higher fouls usually follow the shift to smaller lineups. That doesn’t change your point that we need better discipline, but it’s typically an occupational hazard the switch to small.

re guard's fouling, but we play tight D... so my main concern are the one or two silly fouls that tend to happen every game and cause the "I've got two in the 1H and need to sit for awhile or three early in the 2H"
My most concerning example was Santi's overly aggressive D that got that 3rd vs Vandy. The risk was simply not worth the reward in that case. (Especially if the Pipster Jr is anywhere near the play)
Also, there are usually one or two calls that are questionable, but it happens, so you gotta plan for it

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Vanderbilt has absolutely nothing in the post. In other words they have should have no ability to exploit our weakness. That's the kind of team we should match up well with and pull away from. Reading this board you would think they are suddenly some great team. Improved but still not very good. I think the next step for this team is to separate from these teams. We have been consistently beating teams on their level, so this is not a strong complaint. If we don't start putting teams away it could come back to bite us at the wrong time.

Don’t see anyone acting like they’re a great team? They just played Kentucky at Rupp in an even closer game and beat LSU right after that, they’re solid and playing better than their record probably suggests. Vols definitely could’ve executed better and pulled away, but to their credit they lock in and still almost won by exactly the number predicted.

 

[i2amavol]

On number 7: All games matter. We can be anywhere from 1st to 7th (I guess) in the SEC. It's a tough stretch, with a lot still to play for.

I looked at Arkansas' game results, and they seem to be about identical to us against similar opponents. How we do against them may be the difference between 4-2 and 2-4, during this stretch. Play them well, and win 1 of UK and Auburn, and I will be extremely happy.

 

[cardvolfan]

KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency for all Tennessee opponents combined is number 4. That’s significant as one factor in our less than stellar shooting, which of late has gotten better. No excuses, but the Texas Techs, LSU’s, and other great defenses we’ve played against do have a large effect on shooting. That same KenPom number for Kentucky is 41.

 

[gainesvol82]

JJJ's game last night was very encouraging. I was curious to see how he would handle an off night shooting. He handled it like a pro, was great in every other area of the game and stayed aggressive on offense. His game went a long way towards showing me that the proverbial switch truly has flipped on for him.

The rest of this year and his senior year could be really special....and I have no doubts that he comes back next year. It would greatly improve his draft stock and just seems like it's in his DNA to come back to lead the team with Santi for their senior seasons.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency for all Tennessee opponents combined is number 4. That’s significant as one factor in our less than stellar shooting, which of late has gotten better. No excuses, but the Texas Techs, LSU’s, and other great defenses we’ve played against do have a large effect on shooting. That same KenPom number for Kentucky is 41.

Remaining opponents defensive ranking per KenPom…
Auburn #9
Kentucky #12
Arkansas #20 x2
Missouri #148
Georgia #282

 

[walkenvol]

In spite of the shooting troubles of 2/5’s of our starting lineup, we would have spanked them by 20+ if the game was called fairly concerning Pippen then we wouldn’t have had our guards in foul trouble and they would have have 10 fewer points. Unfortunately, it once again shows if we play well we’ll advance as far as the officials allow just like with the Purdue game a few years bay.

 

[ColinS]

re guard's fouling, but we play tight D... so my main concern are the one or two silly fouls that tend to happen every game and cause the "I've got two in the 1H and need to sit for awhile or three early in the 2H"
My most concerning example was Santi's overly aggressive D that got that 3rd vs Vandy. The risk was simply not worth the reward in that case. (Especially if the Pipster Jr is anywhere near the play)
Also, there are usually one or two calls that are questionable, but it happens, so you gotta plan for it

Correct about the risk vs reward. Your just not likely to pick Pippens pockets. If you do the refs is gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. Force the ball out of his hands and try to take it away from the next guy.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

re guard's fouling, but we play tight D... so my main concern are the one or two silly fouls that tend to happen every game and cause the "I've got two in the 1H and need to sit for awhile or three early in the 2H"
My most concerning example was Santi's overly aggressive D that got that 3rd vs Vandy. The risk was simply not worth the reward in that case. (Especially if the Pipster Jr is anywhere near the play)
Also, there are usually one or two calls that are questionable, but it happens, so you gotta plan for it

All true. Vandy definitely pulled us into some street fouls last night too as the game got more aggressive. Stackhouse actually subbed a guard for two possessions just to slap Santi. Then he put Stute in, but played him high and let him push Santi twice. Santi followed with a foul, and Stute got away with two more pushes after the whistle. They played dirty smart, and we didn’t stay calm. It’s interesting because teams have stopped trying to cheap shot Josiah because he just gets calm and takes the ball or blocks it. We need more of that.

 

[ColinS]

Don’t see anyone acting like they’re a great team? They just played Kentucky at Rupp in an even closer game and beat LSU right after that, they’re solid and playing better than their record probably suggests. Vols definitely could’ve executed better and pulled away, but to their credit they lock in and still almost won by exactly the number predicted.

They are not what I would call solid yet. If they just had one legit threat inside I might give you that. They have definitely upgraded on the perimeter. I would call that part of there team solid.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

They are not what I would call solid yet. If they just had one legit threat inside I might give you that. They have definitely upgraded on the perimeter. I would call that part of there team solid.

Regardless of their roster makeup they had just beaten LSU who’s a tourney team and played UK really tight on the road…they’re decent/solid whatever word you wanna use.

 

[ColinS]

Regardless of their roster makeup they had just beaten LSU who’s a tourney team and played UK really tight on the road…they’re decent/solid whatever word you wanna use.

I mean your just not gonna automatically blow out average SEC rosters but when you get an inferior opponent on the mat in your home arena don't let them up. I guess that's more the point I'm making instead of trying to point out how good or how bad Vandy is.