Can we please be realistic?

#1
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volsack7

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#1
Let's be honest with ourselves: nobody expected this team to be much of anything at the beginning of the year. I specifically remember posts saying "we'll be lucky to make the NIT." All of a sudden, we win a few games, keep a few close, and are making good progress. Expectations suddenly shoot to unrealistic levels. Now after (in my opinion) the FIRST BAD GAME WE'VE PLAYED SO FAR THIS SEASON, people are saying "we'll never make the NCAA tournament, this sucks, etc." Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Most people were saying that to begin with!

*deep breath*

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let me say that this team's effort level and productivity was clearly not where it has been all season. We had an off shooting night, we looked tired and sloppy, and Oakland shot the ball very well and had a good game plan. To be perfectly honest, we looked like what we've looked like in the half-court offense under Pearl. We settled for bad outside shots, we drove into the lane and forced bad shots, and we didn't play a strong game in the post. With the exception of a few great players (Lofton, senior Chism) this is EXACTLY what we looked like under Pearl in the half-court. That said, Pearl's teams looked much better in transition, and I doubt the Washpun-Maymon missed-dunk fiasco would have happened under Pearl. I do believe, however, that Martin is doing a great job with this team.

They were tired tonight and reverted back to old habits: playing undisciplined basketball. Let's not write them off for one game that we knew was going to be a trap. Go Vols.
 
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#2
#2
volsack7 said:
Let's be honest with ourselves: nobody expected this team to be much of anything at the beginning of the year. I specifically remember posts saying "we'll be lucky to make the NIT." All of a sudden, we win a few games, keep a few close, and are making good progress. Expectations suddenly shoot to unrealistic levels. Now after (in my opinion) the FIRST BAD GAME WE'VE PLAYED SO FAR THIS SEASON, people are saying "we'll never make the NCAA tournament, this sucks, etc." Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Most people were saying that to begin with!

*deep breath*

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let me say that this team's effort level and productivity was clearly not where it has been all season. We had an off shooting night, we looked tired and sloppy, and Oakland shot the ball very well and had a good game plan. To be perfectly honest, we looked like what we've looked like in the half-court offense under Pearl. We settled for bad outside shots, we drove into the lane and forced bad shots, and we didn't play a strong game in the post. With the exception of a few great players (Lofton, senior Chism) this is EXACTLY what we looked like under Pearl in the half-court. That said, Pearl's teams looked much better in transition, and I doubt the Washpun-Maymon missed-dunk fiasco would have happened under Pearl. I do believe, however, that Martin is doing a great job with this team.

They were tired tonight and reverted back to old habits: playing undisciplined basketball. Let's not write them off for one game that we knew was going to be a trap. Go Vols.
Click to expand...

Bus lag.
 
#3
#3
We just get out of control on offense when Golden doesn't lead us. When Golden plays bad we can't win, period. Martin lets guys play. The key to his offense is driving and passing the ball. Go back and look at the Duke game or Memphis game and see how well we passed. Lay ups are easy points, and driving and dishing is what this team does best. McRae has to learn to drive the ball. Same goes for Richardson. We get those two guys driving along with Golden and Maymon we can be dangerous. Rebounding is also key for us. We struggle shooting, and most the time will. Pearl hasn't recruited any shooters since Lofton left and it shows. We have to do small things EVERY GAME to win. We might win a handful of games to poor teams when we aren't leading in assists, FT %, and rebounding after the game. Fundamental basketball guys! We have to out hustle our opponents it's that simple :eek:k:.
 
#4
#4
Tired legs make for bad basketball. They played 3 games in 3 days then basically flew half way around the world to play last night. It's no big deal, they'll be fine.
 
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#7
#7
i don't think anyone thought we would be better than 3-3 right now. i know i didn't. they are exceeding my expectations, by far. i figured 2 big losses in maui and and win. oakland, ifigured was a loss, but i think we win on saturday !!!!
 
#8
#8
sdowell said:
i don't think anyone thought we would be better than 3-3 right now. i know i didn't. they are exceeding my expectations, by far. i figured 2 big losses in maui and and win. oakland, ifigured was a loss, but i think we win on saturday !!!!
Click to expand...

Based on what?
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#10
#10
volsack7 said:
Let's be honest with ourselves: nobody expected this team to be much of anything at the beginning of the year
. . .
Let's not write them off for one game that we knew was going to be a trap. Go Vols.
Click to expand...

I'm confused--do you expect this to be an NCAA tournament team? If not, what does it matter if people are writing them off.
 
#11
#11
Velo Vol said:
I'm confused--do you expect this to be an NCAA tournament team? If not, what does it matter if people are writing them off.
Click to expand...

I honestly didn't know what to expect of this team, but if I had to answer now then I would say they make the NIT. That doesn't mean that I'm writing them off, however. I consider that to be those who are saying "We are so bad; Tennessee sports are a joke; Cuonzo can't coach; our player's are just awful; can't wait til next season, etc." I'm obviously paraphrasing, but I have certainly seen a number of comments of this nature.
 
#12
#12
volsack7 said:
I honestly didn't know what to expect of this team, but if I had to answer now then I would say they make the NIT. That doesn't mean that I'm writing them off, however. I consider that to be those who are saying "We are so bad; Tennessee sports are a joke; Cuonzo can't coach; our player's are just awful; can't wait til next season, etc." I'm obviously paraphrasing, but I have certainly seen a number of comments of this nature.
Click to expand...

Welcome to Volnation. You are likely to see more comments like that than rational discussion of the football and basketball teams and program.
 
#13
#13
BasketvolsFan said:
Welcome to Volnation. You are likely to see more comments like that than rational discussion of the football and basketball teams and program.
Click to expand...

Trust me, I'm aware of that, but it still amazes me every time. Though some of the frustration has bled through from it, the basketball forum is a safe haven when compared to the football forum. I can't handle that. :blink:
 
#14
#14
volsack7 said:
Trust me, I'm aware of that, but it still amazes me every time. Though some of the frustration has bled through from it, the basketball forum is a safe haven when compared to the football forum. I can't handle that. :blink:
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I couldn't agree more. I can hardly even bare to browse the thread titles let alone read pages into them on the football side. The basketball fans seem more grounded than the football fans which tells me something. What that something is, I can't quite define, but its definitely something. lol

I think you will see this team rally together under the leadership of CCM, and we should be a bubble team. We'll be a solid "team" by the years end. Whether or not we can scrape out some quality wins will largely determine our post season position. Keep in mind that we have the toughest schedule in the nation after the Maui field went the way it did, and that could get us in with the least wins out of all the at-large bids IMO.

Go Vols!!!
 
#15
#15
I bet we don't see another substandard performance from the boys for a while after the, ahem, coaching they get this week preceding the Pitt battle.

Win or lose the Pitt game, we will have 6 games to hone our defense and rebounding before Memphis and Florida, our first SEC opponent....
 
#16
#16
volsack7 said:
To be perfectly honest, we looked like what we've looked like in the half-court offense under Pearl. We settled for bad outside shots, we drove into the lane and forced bad shots, and we didn't play a strong game in the post. With the exception of a few great players (Lofton, senior Chism) this is EXACTLY what we looked like under Pearl in the half-court. That said, Pearl's teams looked much better in transition, and I doubt the Washpun-Maymon missed-dunk fiasco would have happened under Pearl. I do believe, however, that Martin is doing a great job with this team.
Click to expand...

I will agree that there were games last year where Tennessee settled for bad outside shots. But need I remind you that Pearl took us to the NCAA every year he was here. I beleive that Pearl could take this team to the NCAA. I hope that Martin is half the coach Pearl was. Pearls teams usually scored around 80 points per game. In most of the games this year we have scored about the same on average. Now if we can just play some D.
 
#17
#17
sdowell said:
i don't think anyone thought we would be better than 3-3 right now. i know i didn't. they are exceeding my expectations, by far. i figured 2 big losses in maui and and win. oakland, ifigured was a loss, but i think we win on saturday !!!!
Click to expand...

You think were going to beat Pitt?
 
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