Donovan praises Stokes and Tennessee...

#1
bleedingTNorange

bleedingTNorange

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#1
Billy Donovan: Jarnell Stokes took on leadership role » govolsxtra.com Mobile


Donovan said Stokes is the difference, calling him, "One of the best frontcourt players in the country, without a doubt."


"You look at what Tennessee has returning and then add (Stokes) after one year in the system and they may be the best team in our league and maybe one of the best in the country," Donovan said.
 
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#4
#4
Say what you want about him, but billy donovan has always been a very classy coach especially towards us. I respect him more than any other rival coach in any sport.
 
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#5
#5
Nice comments! I've never hated on Donovan because he's always seemed to have given Tennessee respect in the past.
 
#8
#8
Stokes got back in the US this morning and this was one of his first tweets...

“@JarnellStokes: Ive got a lot of work to do. My number one goal is to get in the best shape of my life!”

If you read the article you see Donovan says the only thing holding him back is to improve his shape, sounds like Jarnells gonna do that. I believe he's going to have a huge year!
 
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#9
#9
Donovan does have class, liked him since Providence was in the final four...dude could shoot
 
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#11
#11
lovavol said:
Donovan does have class, liked him since Providence was in the final four...dude could shoot
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I've always liked him, probably cause my dad always praised him way back. He played ball with Donovan in RI while in the navy and really spoke highly of him as a person.
 
#13
#13
bleedingTNorange said:
I've always liked him, probably cause my dad always praised him way back. He played ball with Donovan in RI while in the navy and really spoke highly of him as a person.
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Donovan and Martin are what college coaches should be like. Great guys and good examples for their players and fans of the respective schools. The UF/UT basketball rivalry is about competition more so than hatred.
 
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#14
#14
Many frequenters here know how I feel about Donovan. I love the guy. Class act all the way. Always complimentary of his opponents. Most importantly, I believe he does things the right way (or as right as college basketball recruiting can be done at the higheat level).

That said, his comments are coach-speak, and there is no reason whatsoever to believe Tennessee is really one of the best in the nation. I think we are definitely top-6 in the conference, and maybe top-3 or 4 depending on some things.
 
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#15
#15
cncchris33 said:
Many frequenters here know how I feel about Donovan. I love the guy. Class act all the way. Always complimentary of his opponents. Most importantly, I believe he does things the right way (or as right as college basketball recruiting can be done at the higheat level).

That said, his comments are coach-speak, and there is no reason whatsoever to believe Tennessee is really one of the best in the nation. I think we are definitely top-6 in the conference, and maybe top-3 or 4 depending on some things.
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I get it's probably coach speak, and not that there's anything wrong with this, but you seem to be more doubtful of this years team than most. I DEFINITELY expect top 4 in conference, not top 6, and i guess it depends on what you're definition of one of the best in the nation is. He says we MAY BE one of the best in the country, I don't think it's all that improbable to think we could be ranke 10-15 heading into the tourney.

I know you're big thing is our wings, but I've got confidence it's going to be an improved area, and trae can only go up IMO. This team was probably top 25 after jarnell joined the team, a whole off season together, plus some talented bodies, and another year for trae and stokes and I see this team being improved.
 
#16
#16
Never had a problem with Billy....probably cause we always beat him!

Glad Jarnell got some more good coaching this summer and got to hear it from another voice.

Will do nothing but help him this year.

Final Four!
 
#18
#18
bleedingTNorange said:
I get it's probably coach speak, and not that there's anything wrong with this, but you seem to be more doubtful of this years team than most. I DEFINITELY expect top 4 in conference, not top 6, and i guess it depends on what you're definition of one of the best in the nation is. He says we MAY BE one of the best in the country, I don't think it's all that improbable to think we could be ranke 10-15 heading into the tourney.

I know you're big thing is our wings, but I've got confidence it's going to be an improved area, and trae can only go up IMO. This team was probably top 25 after jarnell joined the team, a whole off season together, plus some talented bodies, and another year for trae and stokes and I see this team being improved.
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Yeah, I guess I'm in the camp of, "I'll believe it when I see it". I don't think its impossible for it to happen. I just think Jordan McRae has to be the kind of player he has yet to be. That will require marked improvement on his part. I'm just playing the odds that its unlikely to happen, because after two years of blah, I just doubt the switch comes on suddenly. I'm just soured on him because I know he has the kind of natural talent to make it happen. I just doubt that he has the discipline, confidence, and drive to take over games like he can.

At the other wing, its really an enigma because we don't know what Edwards brings and we need to see if JRich has improved his offensive game.

And while I think our forwards will be a strength, I can see us struggling vs teams with big frontcourts due to our overall lack of height. Let's face it, we start a 6-6 PF, and while he is agile and crafty in the paint, he has trouble getting his shot against taller opponents.

I just see some limitations to our strengths and some question marks/unknowns at our perceived weaknesses. Again, its not out of the realm of possibility for us to finish top-3 in conference, but top 10-15 in the nation will be playing above our talent level IMO.
 
#19
#19
cncchris33 said:
Yeah, I guess I'm in the camp of, "I'll believe it when I see it". I don't think its impossible for it to happen. I just think Jordan McRae has to be the kind of player he has yet to be. That will require marked improvement on his part. I'm just playing the odds that its unlikely to happen, because after two years of blah, I just doubt the switch comes on suddenly. I'm just soured on him because I know he has the kind of natural talent to make it happen. I just doubt that he has the discipline, confidence, and drive to take over games like he can.

At the other wing, its really an enigma because we don't know what Edwards brings and we need to see if JRich has improved his offensive game.

And while I think our forwards will be a strength, I can see us struggling vs teams with big frontcourts due to our overall lack of height. Let's face it, we start a 6-6 PF, and while he is agile and crafty in the paint, he has trouble getting his shot against taller opponents.

I just see some limitations to our strengths and some question marks/unknowns at our perceived weaknesses. Again, its not out of the realm of possibility for us to finish top-3 in conference, but top 10-15 in the nation will be playing above our talent level IMO.
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I hope Hall finally steps up and helps solidify the teams strength in the post.

I don't know if it is total talent level as much as having talent at every position. UT has 6 players that were ranked 4 star and higher out of high school, 4 of them should/would like to play PF (Stokes, Maymon, Miller and Hall) and the other 2 (Golden and McRae) are both really SG's that like to have the ball in their hands to create off the dribble. All the talent is basically concentrated in 2 positions, and CCM is forced to try to balance his talented guys with positional needs.
 
#20
#20
Billy D. has always been a class act to every opponent he has coached against. Billy doesn't just hand out compliments that high unless he really believes it. Billy may be on to something about next years Vols. Coach D. saw something with last years team with the addition of Jarnell and also the addition of new players, recruits, and the development of current players. Coach Martin has definitely implemented his system well and focuses on player development.
 
#21
#21
zansdad said:
I hope Hall finally steps up and helps solidify the teams strength in the post.

I don't know if it is total talent level as much as having talent at every position. UT has 6 players that were ranked 4 star and higher out of high school, 4 of them should/would like to play PF (Stokes, Maymon, Miller and Hall) and the other 2 (Golden and McRae) are both really SG's that like to have the ball in their hands to create off the dribble. All the talent is basically concentrated in 2 positions, and CCM is forced to try to balance his talented guys with positional needs.
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Miller wasn't a 4* guy out of HS, at least on Rivals, and while he has shown flashes, he has never put much together consistently. Hall was a 4*, but has never come near reaching the status of such ranking. So, we are back to Stokes and Maymon.

I do agree that our talent is loaded down in two positions. I will disagree about your assessment of McRae's desire to make plays off the dribble. The next time he creates anything off the dribble will be the first. He has no confidence in his ball-handling, and settles for shooting ill-advised outside shots too often. While a decent shooter, he is streaky and shoots the ball flat..

I agree Golden is a SG playing PG, but he is more than serviceable there, especially in light of the options behind him. He does like to create off the dribble and is fairly good at it. He tends to force some things at times though rather than trusting his teammates to make a play.
 
#22
#22
cncchris33 said:
Yeah, I guess I'm in the camp of, "I'll believe it when I see it". I don't think its impossible for it to happen. I just think Jordan McRae has to be the kind of player he has yet to be. That will require marked improvement on his part. I'm just playing the odds that its unlikely to happen, because after two years of blah, I just doubt the switch comes on suddenly. I'm just soured on him because I know he has the kind of natural talent to make it happen. I just doubt that he has the discipline, confidence, and drive to take over games like he can.

At the other wing, its really an enigma because we don't know what Edwards brings and we need to see if JRich has improved his offensive game.

And while I think our forwards will be a strength, I can see us struggling vs teams with big frontcourts due to our overall lack of height. Let's face it, we start a 6-6 PF, and while he is agile and crafty in the paint, he has trouble getting his shot against taller opponents.

I just see some limitations to our strengths and some question marks/unknowns at our perceived weaknesses. Again, its not out of the realm of possibility for us to finish top-3 in conference, but top 10-15 in the nation will be playing above our talent level IMO.
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Our big guys did just fine against the much bigger uconn and Florida front lines, so I'm not particularly worried about the post. At point, trae IMO will Atleast progress some, which he was already good so thats even better.

As you eluded to, the question is the 2/3. If Richardson and Mcbee are seeing major minutes I think we won't be much better than last year. However, if McRae just plays hard, Q continues his work, and dmontre plays like himself, well be better on the wing than last year. Now if jordy plays like we all know he can, and just not serviceable, then I definitely see us being a top 10-15 team.
 
#23
#23
bleedingTNorange said:
Our big guys did just fine against the much bigger uconn and Florida front lines, so I'm not particularly worried about the post. At point, trae IMO will Atleast progress some, which he was already good so thats even better.

As you eluded to, the question is the 2/3. If Richardson and Mcbee are seeing major minutes I think we won't be much better than last year. However, if McRae just plays hard, Q continues his work, and dmontre plays like himself, well be better on the wing than last year. Now if jordy plays like we all know he can, and just not serviceable, then I definitely see us being a top 10-15 team.
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Florida's lineup wasn't one I would consider to be big. Outside of Patric Young at 6-9, Will Yegoute is 6-7 and hurt half the year, Erik Murphy is 6-10 but plays out of the paint quite a bit, and Cody Larson at 6-10 rarely played.
 
#24
#24
cncchris33 said:
Miller wasn't a 4* guy out of HS, at least on Rivals, and while he has shown flashes, he has never put much together consistently. Hall was a 4*, but has never come near reaching the status of such ranking. So, we are back to Stokes and Maymon.

I do agree that our talent is loaded down in two positions. I will disagree about your assessment of McRae's desire to make plays off the dribble. The next time he creates anything off the dribble will be the first. He has no confidence in his ball-handling, and settles for shooting ill-advised outside shots too often. While a decent shooter, he is streaky and shoots the ball flat..

I agree Golden is a SG playing PG, but he is more than serviceable there, especially in light of the options behind him. He does like to create off the dribble and is fairly good at it. He tends to force some things at times though rather than trusting his teammates to make a play.
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You know I wasn't going to put Miller but I talked myself into thinking he was a 4 star. As far as McRae goes, his dribbling is to try to make plays for himself. He like the ball in his hands, that's my only point. As for Golden I was saying he wasn't performing well at PG, only that in a perfect world he could focus on scoring and not running the offense.
 
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