Can you believe they did it?

#52
#52
ThatVolGuy said:
I will admit that I tend to be more of a realist (a coward's way of saying "pessimist"), so leading up to the final four games of the regular season I was fully prepared to have the bottom fall out. Not because I thought the team would play poorly, per se, but just because it would be four straight games against extremely stiff competition, including two games on the road in VERY hostile environments against teams also fighting for a league title. That's like a nightmare scenario for any squad looking to finish the season on a strong note. It wouldn't have surprised me in the least if we went 1-3.

But holy sh*t guys, this team beat ALL of my expectations. I am genuinely astounded at the mettle and poise the Vols have shown over the past week. Sometimes it's easy to get lost in the "move on to the next game" mentality, and I understand why that's helpful, but I really want to take a minute to consider just how incredible it is for the Vols to win the SEC outright in this fashion. I can't remember a tougher ending stretch for any basketball season in recent memory, and our guys just refuse to bend to the pressure.

We've got a lot left to play for, but what a massive accomplishment. It speaks volumes about Rick Barnes, his staff, and all of the players. It's a joy to watch this team!
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You just gotta break it down. The last 4 games are a murder's row of a schedule. I only looked at them one at a time so yeah, I thought they could win them all. The SC game was scary because they play like an old Don DeVoe team. Tough zone defense plus a methodical offense. If DeVoe had a 4 point lead late in the game (say 4 minutes left), he was very hard to beat. In the first game they got us just like that. Now with one to go, I like our chances. We need a rowdy crowd for the Kentucky game.
 
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#53
#53
Volnanza said:
You just gotta break it down. The last 4 games are a murder's row of a schedule. I only looked at them one at a time so yeah, I thought they could win them all. The SC game was scary because they play like an old Don DeVoe team. Tough zone defense plus a methodical offense. If DeVoe had a 4 point lead late in the game (say 4 minutes left), he was very hard to beat. In the first game they got us just like that. Now with one to go, I like our chances. We need a rowdy crowd for the Kentucky game.
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It's honestly funny to me that I felt the best about the Kentucky game headed into the final stretch. What a strange world we live in!
 
#55
#55
utvolpj said:
A poster can have an opinion and be clueless at the same time. They definitely aren't mutually exclusive
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"Clueless" ... it was a reasonable take to think we could lose 3 of these last 4 games. If you think 1-3 was a ridiculous possibility, then OP is not the clueless one. Disappointing, yes. Impossible or even improbable, absolutely not.
 
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#56
#56
Lukusw said:
"Clueless" ... it was a reasonable take to think we could lose 3 of these last 4 games. If you think 1-3 was a ridiculous possibility, then OP is not the clueless one. Disappointing, yes. Impossible or even improbable, absolutely not.
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It's not a reasonable take to say it would be unsurprising to lose 3 of 4. Losing 3 out of 4 would have been very surprising to many given this team and what they're capable of. AU and UK at home, already torched Bama by 20 and were unlikely to repeat the miserable performance vs USC. At worst I felt we might drop 1. There's a reason we're top 5 and BVS is real
 
#59
#59
lawgator1 said:
As I said over in the FF, congrats on winning the regular season SEC title. However, it is fraudulent since you did not have to play UF at UF this year. So it doesn't count.

View attachment 625714
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This is like asking for a napkin after dinner is over. It is unnecessary. Just like the gators. Maybe we meet in the tourny?
 
#60
#60
Volnanza said:
This is like asking for a napkin after dinner is over. It is unnecessary. Just like the gators. Maybe we meet in the tourny?
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Hope not, UT is too good.

I will say the Gators have been a pleasant surprise this year. They've won 11 of their last 13 games, and the two they lost were a close one at South Carolina and at Alabama in overtime.
 
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#61
#61
utvolpj said:
It's not a reasonable take to say it would be unsurprising to lose 3 of 4. Losing 3 out of 4 would have been very surprising to many given this team and what they're capable of. AU and UK at home, already torched Bama by 20 and were unlikely to repeat the miserable performance vs USC. At worst I felt we might drop 1. There's a reason we're top 5 and BVS is real
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Just asking but didn't we lose three in a row just earlier this season? Purdue, Kansas, UNC.....I realize a couple of those were tourney games. I didn't expect that but to say I was shocked or surprised would also be a stretch. When playing three good/ranked teams sometimes things like that happen.
 
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#62
#62
VolunteerCowboy said:
Just asking but didn't we lose three in a row just earlier this season? Purdue, Kansas, UNC.....I realize a couple of those were tourney games. I didn't expect that but to say I was shocked or surprised would also be a stretch. When playing three good/ranked teams sometimes things like that happen.
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We hadn't lost 2 in a row since November and none in conf. Knecht also became a focus for the offense
 
#63
#63
utvolpj said:
It's not a reasonable take to say it would be unsurprising to lose 3 of 4. Losing 3 out of 4 would have been very surprising to many given this team and what they're capable of.
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Man, like a dog with a bone. No team performs to its capabilities 100% of the time, and we've seen evidence this year that the Vols are not invincible ... including against much worse teams than the three we just played, and with much lower stakes.

Y'all are seriously acting like I was expecting (or even rooting for) the team to lose 3 of 4.
 
#64
#64
utvolpj said:
We hadn't lost 2 in a row since November and none in conf. Knecht also became a focus for the offense
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That's applying filters to the subject at hand but regardless I just think it goes to show that it can happen, even to good teams. I think we're all getting caught up in semantics now but I can understand why the OP thought losing 3 out of 4 was feasible. Yes, it would be somewhat disappointing if it had happened again. I would not be "shocked" and losing my mind over it though had it happened. Mostly frustrated and thinking a great opportunity was wasted...
 
#65
#65
VolunteerCowboy said:
That's applying filters to the subject at hand but regardless I just think it goes to show that it can happen, even to good teams. I think we're all getting caught up in semantics now but I can understand why the OP thought losing 3 out of 4 was feasible. Yes, it would be somewhat disappointing if it had happened again. I would not be "shocked" and losing my mind over it though had it happened. Mostly frustrated and thinking a great opportunity was wasted...
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It didn't say feasible it said they wouldn't have been "surprised in the least" to watch UT lose 3 out of their last 4 games
 
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#66
#66
It was not unreasonable to think we could've lost 3 in a row right now. We had two games on the road vs teams that are 27-3 on their home floor outside of our wins there this week. One of them already beat us on our home floor and plays a style we struggle with at times. Plus Auburn was a top 3 defense in the nation.

As I mentioned yesterday in another thread, this is a near unprecedented stretch of tough basketball games. It's only the second time in 56 years a team had to play 4 top 20 opponents in a row in SEC play.

To me, knowing we could've lost them all, and it wouldn't have been a huge shock, is a big compliment to the team. We now have more road wins this year than Houston, UConn or Purdue. We have more road wins right now than anyone from the ACC, Big 12. Big East, Big 10 or PAC 10. All because we won in two super hostile environments vs two great teams this week.
 
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#68
#68
VolunteerCowboy said:
Personally I'm not usually "surprised" by something that is feasible....all good though. Hopefully everyone, including our Vols, has a great weekend!
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Possible != feasible

It's entirely possible I get on a car accident today. I'd still be surprised
 
#71
#71
utvolpj said:
It's not a reasonable take to say it would be unsurprising to lose 3 of 4. Losing 3 out of 4 would have been very surprising to many given this team and what they're capable of. AU and UK at home, already torched Bama by 20 and were unlikely to repeat the miserable performance vs USC. At worst I felt we might drop 1. There's a reason we're top 5 and BVS is real
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The only other comparable stretch of the season was at the end of Nov / beginning of Dec when we played 3 ranked teams in a row. We went 0-3.
 
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