Dick Vitale predicts UT not in sweet 16.

#1
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pimo1

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#1
He actually predicts 2 teams that walked off with UT players in portal as making it though (Arkansas and Arizona)

I feel like the loss of those 2 guys along with Knecht, Santi and JJJ is going to mean this team has a lot bigger hill to climb than most think. I think UT fans are underestimating those 2 players' impacts on this team because their contributions/talent were not obvious in the box score. Its kinda how really good DT's get overlooked by most fanbases. Some positions do most of their work in ways that don't always show up in a box score. The one player this UT team missed most last year was not the guards we replaced but Uros Plasvic.
 
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#3
#3
Dick is a "dick".Worked at TPC Prestancia golf course in Sarasota,Fla where he lived,and he was an ass to most people. the only time he would acknowledge you lived was when his basketball magazine came out each fall.The members didn't care for him either. His home was on the twelveth fairway.
 
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#10
#10
This is a fear take IMO. It's the old "next year we're gonna suck" bc of losses of good players. Now, we ended the year in the 5-8 range, so the upside IS pretty thin. But, what people forget are that ALL the returning players will most likely be BETTER!
ZZ will be a better shooter, more healthy, better conditioned, more mature in game flow etc. Cam Carr will probably make a huge leap in every way. I predict JPE takes a huge sophomore leap as well. Mashack improves his offensive game and role. Phillips the same. And Gainey becomes a more important piece etc.
Now, add in the recruiting class and all the talent there. And wow. If we only had a top level coach who knew how to meld them together into a coherent team. 😁👀

A few things cause pause from me though. Obviously, DK was other worldly. But, we need to replace the kind of leadership, on court coaching, and glue play that JJJ and SV brought last year. Barnes realizes their non stat contributions. I expect another awesome season!
 
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#11
#11
livefaith said:
This is a fear take IMO. It's the old "next year we're gonna suck" bc of losses of good players. Now, we ended the year in the 5-8 range, so the upside IS pretty thin. But, what people forget are that ALL the returning players will most likely be BETTER!
ZZ will be a better shooter, more healthy, better conditioned, more mature in game flow etc. Cam Carr will probably make a huge leap in every way. I predict JPE takes a huge sophomore leap as well. Mashack improves his offensive game and role. Phillips the same. And Gainey becomes a more important piece etc.
Now, add in the recruiting class and all the talent there. And wow. If we only had a top level coach who knew how to meld them together into a coherent team. 😁👀

A few things cause pause from me though. Obviously, DK was other worldly. But, we need to replace the kind of leadership, on court coaching, and glue play that JJJ and SV brought last year. Barnes realizes their non stat contributions. I expect another awesome season!
Click to expand...
The trick is the team accepting and reinforcing those new to leadership roles. ZZ, Shack, Cam… we got this!
 
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#12
#12
pimo1 said:
He actually predicts 2 teams that walked off with UT players in portal as making it though (Arkansas and Arizona)

I feel like the loss of those 2 guys along with Knecht, Santi and JJJ is going to mean this team has a lot bigger hill to climb than most think. I think UT fans are underestimating those 2 players' impacts on this team because their contributions/talent were not obvious in the box score. Its kinda how really good DT's get overlooked by most fanbases. Some positions do most of their work in ways that don't always show up in a box score. The one player this UT team missed most last year was not the guards we replaced but Uros Plasvic.
Click to expand...
I was listening to the Swain Event last week and they were talking about how special and the potential for next year. Possible one of Barnes deepest team, I think they will go deeper than sweet 16. GBO!
 
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#13
#13
bigorangekicksazz said:
I was listening to the Swain Event last week and they were talking about how special and the potential for next year. Possible one of Barnes deepest team, I think they will go deeper than sweet 16. GBO!
Click to expand...
Deepest? probably. Most likely deeper than last year.. but also a lot more developing talent than finished products. There is a likely more potential on this roster from top to bottom than last year but the floor is also lower.
 
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#14
#14
pimo1 said:
He actually predicts 2 teams that walked off with UT players in portal as making it though (Arkansas and Arizona)

I feel like the loss of those 2 guys along with Knecht, Santi and JJJ is going to mean this team has a lot bigger hill to climb than most think. I think UT fans are underestimating those 2 players' impacts on this team because their contributions/talent were not obvious in the box score. Its kinda how really good DT's get overlooked by most fanbases. Some positions do most of their work in ways that don't always show up in a box score. The one player this UT team missed most last year was not the guards we replaced but Uros Plasvic.
Click to expand...
This is actually a good take, regardless of what you think of Vitale.

We lost some serious experience, including Aidoo and Awaka.

Bringing in:
- 2 mid major guys with a lot of potential who will need to prove they can play in the SEC
- 1 P5 guy (
 
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#15
#15
- 1 P5 guy (Okpara) who did play at the highest level, but was mainly a defender and rebounder (not a scorer)
- Our best offensive weapon from the portal (Lanier) played at an extremely low level of competition on a team with a losing record.

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to be very intrigued to see what we got this year. But a repeat trip to the Elite 8 (while possible) is not my expectation.
 
#16
#16
Also like the take on Plasvic. Having him and Aidoo playing tag team was a challenge for the bigs on the other team. I would've love to see those two guys teamed up on Edey.
 
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#17
#17
It’d be good to remind everyone that DK played for a losing 12-20 team in the Big Sky conference, and ended up averaging more at UT than he did there. Dalton also didn’t have that first real break out game until UNC. I’d trust in Barnes’ evals of the guys we picked up this off season. Personally I’m the most excited for Igor. Reminds me of a bigger version of DK. I’m sure the haircut has nothing to do with it
 
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#18
#18
swchandler1988 said:
It’d be good to remind everyone that DK played for a losing 12-20 team in the Big Sky conference, and ended up averaging more at UT than he did there. Dalton also didn’t have that first real break out game until UNC. I’d trust in Barnes’ evals of the guys we picked up this off season. Personally I’m the most excited for Igor. Reminds me of a bigger version of DK. I’m sure the haircut has nothing to do with it
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Good point. I'll be like a kid at Christmas waiting for the season to start and see what we got on our roster. Certainly a lot of potential. Great length and offensive efficiency. I'm just tired of the narrative that everybody that left the program is a bum and we've upgraded at every position.

Not you -- you're being very realistic.
 
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#19
#19
Vitale was greatly touched by Barnes' regularly checking in on him during the worst of his illness last season.

I just wonder if Vitale's "going away thank you" was to lower expectations on Barnes team? Seems like the kind of "inside baseball" way of saying thanks that would merit the story being repeated after Vitale's death.

But at this point in the game, I'm 90% sure Vitale would not be doing Barnes a dirty, whatever his reasons for leaving out Tennessee.
 
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#20
#20
The key to UT's team will be how well the new players perform AND, more importantly, the type of team chemistry that they form. IMO, team chemistry is the toughest thing to predict when there is a lot of turnover. It isn't as easy as just adding a new group of talented players. They must learn to function together as a cohesive unit, both on offense and defense.
 
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