College Hoops Around The Country [TN opponents, RPI, others]

#16,902
#16,902
BisonVol said:
Auburn looks like a good team but not a great team. We should be able to handle them on our home floor. Still very early and a lot can and will change, but right now, my SEC top 5:

1) Tennessee
2) Alabama
3) Auburn
4) South Carolina
5) Kentucky

Think Kentucky will ultimately end up ahead of SC in the standings when it’s all said and done.
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Auburn is better than Bama. Yes, Auburn didn’t pull this one out but they’re the better team IMO. I think it comes down to Tennessee-Auburn. The last 4 games of the season will be a very tough stretch for us.
 
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#16,903
#16,903
BallerVolFan said:
Auburn is better than Bama. Yes, Auburn didn’t pull this one out but they’re the better team IMO. I think it comes down to Tennessee-Auburn. The last 4 games of the season will be a very tough stretch for us.
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Maybe. Still early so hard to say for sure. Auburn and Alabama are both top ten teams according to KenPom so both are good. Auburn’s guards have looked pretty meh when I’ve seen them, though, and nearly twenty games in, they still are without a Q1 win. Regardless, it seems like right now that Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama are on the top tier of the league.
 
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#16,904
#16,904
BisonVol said:
Maybe. Still early so hard to say for sure. Auburn and Alabama are both top ten teams according to KenPom so both are good. Auburn’s guards have looked pretty meh when I’ve seen them, though, and nearly twenty games in, they still are without a Q1 win. Regardless, it seems like right now that Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama are on the top tier of the league.
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Right now I would have 1a. Tennessee & Auburn. 1b. Kentucky & bama with South Carolina trying to pull even. But, we’re not even half way through the league schedule so a lot can change. JMO
 
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#16,905
#16,905
walkenvol said:
Right now I would have 1a. Tennessee & Auburn. 1b. Kentucky & bama with South Carolina trying to pull even. But, we’re not even half way through the league schedule so a lot can change. JMO
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Which of these teams get better as the season moves along? Who hits a wall? Kentucky is a candidate for either one. I don't think we have hit our peak yet. Like you said still very early.
 
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#16,908
#16,908
BreatheUT said:
My only point is it is difficult to win on the road. Alabama is a good team, and so is Auburn. They are a tough match up and we've had problems with Bruce Pearl teams over the last 6 years or so.
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I guess it depends where you set the bar for “good.” They’re certainly not a bad team but they’re also not on the same level as some of the better teams we’ve played this year and their ranking is overinflated by a soft schedule (talking about AU). They could definitely still beat us but I no longer am worried that they’re better than us if that makes sense. They might be in the competition for winning the league but they’re a tier below in my eyes.
 
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#16,909
#16,909
Col_Cathcart said:
I guess it depends where you set the bar for “good.” They’re certainly not a bad team but they’re also not on the same level as some of the better teams we’ve played this year and their ranking is overinflated by a soft schedule (talking about AU). They could definitely still beat us but I no longer am worried that they’re better than us if that makes sense. They might be in the competition for winning the league but they’re a tier below in my eyes.
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Average team that depends too much on 3 point line to score..

Team is soft and doesn't like contact..
 
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#16,910
#16,910
walkenvol said:
They’re reminiscent of a couple years back when they had 2 NBA guys in the post and Pearl allowed his guards to jack perimeter shots at will. Broome is a hand full but KD Johnson and buddies won’t feed him enough. We will have to play close to the level against bama to beat the Tigers, and we can play even better so I think we’ll be favored
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Yeah, makes you wish Wendell Green was still there to team up with KD Johnson to shoot them out of games.
 
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#16,911
#16,911
cncchris33 said:
Yeah, makes you wish Wendell Green was still there to team up with KD Johnson to shoot them out of games.
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Auburns guards and Pearl are not really that smart.Broome was destroying Al last night. Then Auburn started using him as the screener in a high pick and roll . They deserved to loose last night. Terrible decision making by Pearl
 
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#16,912
#16,912
tn4elvis said:
Auburns guards and Pearl are not really that smart.Broome was destroying Al last night. Then Auburn started using him as the screener in a high pick and roll . They deserved to loose last night. Terrible decision making by Pearl
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I do kind of agree, but when Bama is stroking 3s the way they were, especially early on, I can see the temptation of thinking you've got play "keep up" with them. Auburn just didn't shoot it particularly well from distance. Their four best shooters were a combined 2-13 from 3 despite coming into the game all shooting 35% or better from 3.

In hindsight, the plan should have been to stick with Broome and allow him to work for the tough 2s and fouls. He had 16 points at halftime and they were still down 14 points, which didn't help their mindset knowing they had to erase that deficit.
 
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#16,913
#16,913
cncchris33 said:
I do kind of agree, but when Bama is stroking 3s the way they were, especially early on, I can see the temptation of thinking you've got play "keep up" with them. Auburn just didn't shoot it particularly well from distance. Their four best shooters were a combined 2-13 from 3 despite coming into the game all shooting 35% or better from 3.

In hindsight, the plan should have been to stick with Broome and allow him to work for the tough 2s and fouls. He had 16 points at halftime and they were still down 14 points, which didn't help their mindset knowing they had to erase that deficit.
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Our guards will absolutely make AUs guards miserable. If Aidoo can handle Broome without getting in foul trouble. Every time I see Cardwell setting on AUs bench makes me want to choke him. If he was here like he was supposed to be I would like our FF chances a little bit better. I feel like that’s all we are missing
 
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#16,915
#16,915
ColinS said:
Which of these teams get better as the season moves along? Who hits a wall? Kentucky is a candidate for either one. I don't think we have hit our peak yet. Like you said still very early.
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And which players avoid injuries and disappear for other reasons? I’d really hate to see any of them (not just UT players) start trending like football and bailing out of the NCAAT rather than risking injuries that could cost them millions in the NBA.
 
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#16,916
#16,916
Thunder Good-Oil said:
And which players avoid injuries and disappear for other reasons? I’d really hate to see any of them (not just UT players) start trending like football and bailing out of the NCAAT rather than risking injuries that could cost them millions in the NBA.
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I don’t think that is going to be a problem. People are opting out of bowl games because if we’re being honest they are meaningless in the sense that there is no championship or title for winning the Duke Mayo’s bowl.

You aren’t going to see a high-draft pick like Robert Dillingham (just an example) opt out of the NCAAT because if you make the tournament you are still competing to win a championship.

It’s two completely different things. If someone opted out of the NCAA tournament you can argue that it would tank their draft stock because what organization is going to want to expend resources and draft position on a player who cares more about himself than he does the entire point of organized sports…to win championships. It would be a huge red flag for the type of player that person is and I’m pretty confident an organization would view it as such, too.
 
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#16,917
#16,917
TheMookieMonster said:
I don’t think that is going to be a problem. People are opting out of bowl games because if we’re being honest they are meaningless in the sense that there is no championship or title for winning the Duke Mayo’s bowl.

You aren’t going to see a high-draft pick like Robert Dillingham (just an example) opt out of the NCAAT because if you make the tournament you are still competing to win a championship.

It’s two completely different things. If someone opted out of the NCAA tournament you can argue that it would tank their draft stock because what organization is going to want to expend resources and draft position on a player who cares more about himself than he does the entire point of organized sports…to win championships. It would be a huge red flag for the type of player that person is and I’m pretty confident an organization would view it as such, too.
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The biggest difference is that there are far more catastrophic injuries in football versus basketball. But anything could happen with the money that is now involved. The NIL and limitless transfers have kind of exposed that the players care mostly about themselves.

I’ll be surprised if there’s an immediate reversal of football players opting out or not now that there are 12 teams in the championships instead of 4.

Saying all of that, Kennedy Chandler was certainly heart broken when UT lost and his short career ended.
 
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#16,919
#16,919
cncchris33 said:
I do kind of agree, but when Bama is stroking 3s the way they were, especially early on, I can see the temptation of thinking you've got play "keep up" with them. Auburn just didn't shoot it particularly well from distance. Their four best shooters were a combined 2-13 from 3 despite coming into the game all shooting 35% or better from 3.

In hindsight, the plan should have been to stick with Broome and allow him to work for the tough 2s and fouls. He had 16 points at halftime and they were still down 14 points, which didn't help their mindset knowing they had to erase that deficit.
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If Pearl was instructing his guys to jack more 3’s to attempt to match bama hitting 50% in the first half then that was coaching malfeasance. How bout guarding the perimeter more closely like we did? Their offensive game plan shouldn’t be abandoned in the first 20 minutes. Bama doesn’t have a traditional post defender / rim protector. Broome likely would have fouled out bama’s center and could have potentially scored 40 the way he was working in the paint. It would have slowed the pace of the game a bit which isn’t what bama wants. It was one of those situations where every offensive series Broome should touch the ball till bama was forced to double team. Seemed so obvious watching from home but apparently wasn’t obvious to Pearl.

As a side note, can’t Auburn buy Pearl a shirt that’s not too small? Also, what’s the over / under on when Pearl has a heart attack?
 
Last edited:
#16,920
#16,920
walkenvol said:
If Pearl was instructing his guys to jack more 3’s to attempt to match bama hitting 50% in the first half then that was coaching malfeasance. How bout guarding the perimeter more closely like we did? Their offensive game plan shouldn’t be abandoned in the first 20 minutes. Bama doesn’t have a traditional post defender / rim protector. Broome likely would have fouled out bama’s center and could have potentially scored 40 the way he was working in the paint. It would have slowed the pace of the game a bit which isn’t what bama wants. It was one of those situations where every offensive series Broome should touch the ball till bama was forced to double team. Seemed so obvious watching from home but apparently wasn’t obvious to Pearl.

As a side note, can’t Auburn buy Pearl a shirt that not too small? Also, what’s the over / under on when Pearl has a heart attack?
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To be clear, I wasn't saying it was the right decision.

And when has Pearl shown a propensity for harnessing his players, particularly his guards? Wendell Green and KD Johnson shot them out of so many games across the last two years with impunity.

I'm just saying from the player perspective knowing there is likely no punishment for jacking up shots, I can understand the feeling that you need to match Bama shot for shot on the road. It's up to Pearl to rein those guys in. He just rarely does it for whatever reason.
 
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#16,922
#16,922
Thunder Good-Oil said:
The biggest difference is that there are far more catastrophic injuries in football versus basketball. But anything could happen with the money that is now involved. The NIL and limitless transfers have kind of exposed that the players care mostly about themselves.

I’ll be surprised if there’s an immediate reversal of football players opting out or not now that there are 12 teams in the championships instead of 4.

Saying all of that, Kennedy Chandler was certainly heart broken when UT lost and his short career ended.
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I still can't see any player opting out of the 12-team playoff. It's one thing to say that your pro career is more important than a mostly meaningless bowl game, it's an entirely other thing to say that you don't feel like playing in a game with a championship on the line, even if you're the 12-seed and a massive underdog.

I just look at it this way, if you're an NBA GM and you have a lottery pick and are looking for a franchise altering player, are you going to expend your limited resources and picks on a guy that opted out of the NCAA tournament and quit on his team? Feels unlikely. But I also think the instances of a player opting out of a game in the big dance will be exceptionally rare, if not non-existent.
 
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#16,923
#16,923
omghulkhands said:
They are his new age Smith and Lofton


Just not as good lol
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Yep, like a homeless man's version of those guys. Not even in the same zip code.

At Tennessee...
•Lofton shot 42.2% on 1021 3-pt attempts
•Smith shot 37.2% on 681 3-pt attempts

At Auburn...
•Green shot 30.7% on 332 3-pt attempts
•Johnson has shot 30.1% on 319 3-pt attempts
 
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#16,925
#16,925
TheMookieMonster said:
I still can't see any player opting out of the 12-team playoff. It's one thing to say that your pro career is more important than a mostly meaningless bowl game, it's an entirely other thing to say that you don't feel like playing in a game with a championship on the line, even if you're the 12-seed and a massive underdog.

I just look at it this way, if you're an NBA GM and you have a lottery pick and are looking for a franchise altering player, are you going to expend your limited resources and picks on a guy that opted out of the NCAA tournament and quit on his team? Feels unlikely. But I also think the instances of a player opting out of a game in the big dance will be exceptionally rare, if not non-existent.
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It will be very rare for a guy to opt out of the new playoff, especially whenever you factor in there will be home playoff games. Those are going to be some insane environments.
 
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