DK is the best Tennessee player of the 3 point line era

[BernardKingGOAT]

He is the best player we have had since Houston imo. That puts him in good company too. Houston had a terrific pro career and won a gold medal as well.

It's not just your opinion

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

He has a superhero quality that really makes the game fun. I haven’t felt that about any athlete at Tennessee since Eric Berry. In my opinion he’s in the tier with Houston, but Houston was never this explosive or this aggressive. Knecht is a click below Bernard, who I believe was our best ever, and was great out of the gate at eighteen.

 

[ru4real-really?]

DK did exactly what I thought he would do. When down 8 points he decided I’ll just do it myself! Wow! Did he ever!

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I love DK but there's a lot of recency bias at play and it's easy to get caught up after a game like tonight.

We've had some great players since BK left.

Tony White was absolutely amazing. He averaged 24.5ppg his senior season and did it on better percentages from the field and ft line than DK. White was 49% from the field, 41.2 from 3, and 90% from the ft line that season. He was explosive as heck and could drop 50 in a game. His junior year was actually better than his senior year but he averaged two less ppg because he didn't have the 3pt line that year.

Houston averaged more for his career than DK is this season. He did so with absolutely no threat from his teammates and as the one guy everyone focused on every game.

Dale Ellis was a monster. 60 percent from the field for his career. He ended up as the all time NBA 3 point leader. He may have averaged 30 a game here with the 3.

Then you have Grant, Slay, Lofton etc who all won SEC POY or even multiple P.O.Y awards.

Not sure how much recency bias is going on verse just demographic, no offense but you’re older lol. Loved Grant & Lofton, but in a 1 year scope what Knecht is doing to this point is more impressive, you’re then asking folks to rewind to Houston & White, that is 35+ years ago, so you’re likely eliminating the majority of everyone that’s under the age of about 45. That is going to be a large portion of the fan base, and an even larger portion of the fan base that is using online message boards.

Also fair or not I think some folks consider that injury stretch for Knecht as well, clearly that stretch now looks like an outlier…if he just scores his average in those game rather than single digits he’s up around 25ppg on the year. This is like doing the whole MJ/Lebron thing, when you get into different eras it’s very hard to do fairly, or unbiased. Personally in a 1 year scope he’s the best offensive player I’ve ever seen wear the orange in my ~25 years of watching Tennessee basketball.

 

[Godfatha]

My time of watching Tennessee basketball started at the late Devoe era. So I've seen Allan Houston and Chris Lofton. DK is more athletic than Houston. Lofton had a stone cold killer aspect to his game, but he couldn't do everything that Knecht can do . Love both of those guys and the memories they gave, especially Lofton. But Knecht is hands down the better of those three, imo.

Ask yourself this, what do Houston and Lofton have in the college game (not talking about Houston's pro career), that DK does not have?

 

[LordBolton]

I submit that the UT hoops player with the most titles to his name is Kevin Nash.

 

[WhenUrVolUrVFL]

And I don’t think it’s even close. No disrespect to Houston, Lofton, or G-will. Dalton Knecht is head and shoulders above them.

I’ll one up it: he’s the most elite player we’ve had in any sport since I started at Tennessee in 2006.

Hooker would be a close 2nd.

Obviously Peyton is our all time #1 but Knecht has the potential to be a super star on the next level. His game is made for the NBA too.

 

[Orangeslide]

If he’s not 1st team All-American they need to do away with the award. In addition, I think he’s SEC player of the year regardless what happens these last 3 games. He has performed at an elite level in conference play. He’s better than Sears and Reaves. I hope he stays healthy and performs at a high level down the stretch. Barnes stated before last nights game, that we are playing NCAA tournament games during this final stretch because of the quality of the opponents.

 

[Orangeslide]

Guess everybody forgot Bernard.

I agree, not taking anything away from DK, but Bernard is the best player to ever wear a Tennessee uniform. His quick release made his shot very hard to defend. But I’m very thankful we got DK from the portal. Remember he chose UT, because he knew Barnes would challenge him defensively and place an emphasis on rebounding.

 

[Orangeslide]

I love DK. Amazing! However…Bernard King averaged 26 pts 13 boards as a true freshman with no 3-pt Shot. 3 time SEC player of the year, 2 time first team all American. He is a top 5 all-time SEC player, along with Maravich, Shaq, Dan Issell. DK is great but has a ways to go to get into that conversation.

Agree 100%. Bernard was in another league compared to other great UT players. If he hadn’t hurt his knee, he would had a good chance to be the all time leading scorer in the NBA

 

[Post4Vols]

How did Knecht…a possible NBA lottery pick not get more attention in High School…..oh he’s from North Dakota

 

[kckempf]

How did Knecht…a possible NBA lottery pick not get more attention in High School…..oh he’s from North Dakota

He's from the Denver suburbs. He didn't get attention because he was a 6-1 gunner with bad grades.

 

[posivol]

top 10 pick....period

 

[OrangeTsar]

Wish we would have had him last year. Would have made all the difference during those infamous scoring droughts. We might have had a final four trip

 

[NighthawkVol]

He has a superhero quality that really makes the game fun. I haven’t felt that about any athlete at Tennessee since Eric Berry. In my opinion he’s in the tier with Houston, but Houston was never this explosive or this aggressive. Knecht is a click below Bernard, who I believe was our best ever, and was great out of the gate at eighteen.

Agree with this. Houston was a better FT shooter, but Dalton has him beat in the areas you mentioned.

 

[walkenvol]

Lol, I have multiple diehard Vol friends who all grew up in the 80s and 90s with me, who all have the same "but I root for Duke in basketball" thing going on.

What really shocked me about some of them though was - even after Pearl brought UT to life, they still stuck with Duke. Oh, they'd watch Tennessee's games, but they cared about Duke more. Even now, with Barnes and UT being a serious name in the game, most of them are still "but I root for Duke in basketball." The weirdest thing. I can't understand it. I know how lean those years were, but it never occurred to me to just switch to another school like that.

Best advice I ever received - choose your friends wisely! You might need some new friends?

 

[PEPPERJAX]

It's not just your opinion

Whale groovie mane

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Tennessee's best pros have been Dale Ellis, Bernard King, Tobias Harris and C.J. Watson and Allan Houston.

Kevin Nash was our best professional wrestler too.

 

[VolCalls]

I agree he was in bad teams but it’s hard to pad your stats when every coach, player, and probably the kids that wipe the floor are game planning to stop you imho. I guess Barkley, Person, Wilkins, etc we’re padding theirs as well?

Bingo. Houston was one of the best players in the country. He had a few solid role players around him in Wiseman, Price, Groves, & Allen, but he would’ve been the go-to guy on any team in America. He was a McDonald’s All-American, first-team All-SEC four years in a row, and had a 12-year NBA career where he was a two-time All-Star and scored nearly 15,000 points.

For anyone to insinuate he was just padding his stats in college is garbage. His teams were bad because they were very poorly coached.

 

[BearBryant]

You’re right it’s not close. Sorry but DK isn’t even close. Only one season does not make you the best player ever at any program. Same reason guys like Tobias, Chandler, Keon, can’t be on the list. One of, if not the best, seasons in school history for sure but not best player in Vols last 40years. Just not enough at bats.

Really?

 

[TomcatVolFan]

DK may not be the best player in Vols Basketball History but he's definitely in the top 5 of best players for TN. That performance last night was just simply incredible. He is so fun to watch. In my opinion, if he is not SEC player of the year, then there is no justice in this world.

 

[volfanhill]

 

[Raiford62]

I am going to give away my age now but I played with Larry Kenon at Memphis State in 1973. I thought he was the best player I had ever seen at Memphis State. Obviously, Bill Walton beat us in the finals and he was phenomenal. Many great college players have come and gone since. I am telling you Dalton Knecht is a wonderful player. He has made himself into a GREAT college player. I believe he should be a lottery pick, but even if he isn't for whatever reason(age, etc) he is some kind of special. He can flat out shoot, jump out of the gym, run, rebound, and actually play some defense.

WHAT A JOY TO WATCH. I just hope that a few of his teammates show up sometimes, because the team is going to get knocked out of the tournament by somebody if the complimentary players don't play at little more consistent.

 

[TNVOLNAVY]

And I don’t think it’s even close. No disrespect to Houston, Lofton, or G-will. Dalton Knecht is head and shoulders above them.

I’ve been watching Tennessee basketball since “String Music” and in all that time I have concluded that Knecht and Bernard King are the only two so far that have the “it factor” as Tennessee players. You can’t teach it or develop it as it’s in their DNA.

 

[TNVOLNAVY]

And I don’t think it’s even close. No disrespect to Houston, Lofton, or G-will. Dalton Knecht is head and shoulders above them.

I’ve been watching Tennessee basketball since “String Music” and in all that time I have concluded that Knecht and Bernard King are the only two so far that have the “it factor” as Tennessee players. You can’t teach it or develop it as it’s in their DNA.