Key has been a huge disappointment

[BreatheUT]

He's not a lock on defense and he's not a key to offense.
But he is a Tyreke.

At the beginning of the year we all thought Key could easily get open.

 

[Vols till I fall]

Get out of here with this junk. He is much better than any grad transfer we have had during Barnes era. His stats are better across the board than Bailey, per average, and will pass most of Bailey’s 2 year totals in just one year. Plus he’s a better defender and 3pt shooter (VB- 30% TK-35%). He’s just not consistent at all this year.

Lmao

 

[csheaton]

Anybody know if Barnes and his staff are preparing to offer a scholarship to Jahvin Carter from Alcoa High School who is a high scoring guard prospect in the Class of 2025?

Thanks for any information.

Carter is a nice local player, but he’s not even close to being SEC material. His only P5 offer is from Georgia Tech, and he doesn’t even have an ETSU offer yet.

 

[Jax_Vol]

For the start, I knew the SEC height would cause issues.

He is a streak shooter who may get hot in some key game. He also provides us with a 3rd / 4th option for bringing ball up court against pressure.

A role player with a small role if JJJ / Phillips get healthy.

I think the Bailey comparison is somewhat fair.

 

[hUTch2002]

He is basically a player that lit it up in division 2 and moved up and he just cant handle being guarded by superior athletes. Always picks up his dribble before deciding what to do with it and is probably 1-20 shooting his last two games.

Except Indiana State is the in the Missouri Valley, which is nothing close to D2. MVC ball is good ball. It’s not the SEC but it’s good.

 

[BreatheUT]

Except Indiana State is the in the Missouri Valley, which is nothing close to D2. MVC ball is good ball. It’s not the SEC but it’s good.

I think there was every reason to believe Key would be instant offense. He's just had season long struggles. Some of it appears to be confidence and a hesitation if he has a green light.

 

[hUTch2002]

I think there was every reason to believe Key would be instant offense. He's just had season long struggles. Some of it appears to be confidence and a hesitation if he has a green light.

He has been more aggressive lately and it really helped against Missouri but he was off against Bama and Kentucky.

 

[vavolfan6]

He has provided some nice moments, but clearly struggling at this level. I think his biggest problem is a lack of seperation and tight defense. At the same time, I think its a huge stretch to say he is the worst transfer this team has had after a game we were missing two of our key stsarters;

 

[Caculator]

I see him @ 100% every game. Barnes recruited him and he is a VFL. Thank you TK!

 

[VolGee4]

I heard great things about Key, but his time here has been nothing short of disappointing. I'm sure he's a great player but not at the SEC level

This may be one of the worst transfers I csn remember

It's up there with EJ anosike.

I think even Chris Darrington had more of an impact? Maybe Kasongo too?

No…he’s very comparable with the stats that Victor Bailey had in his first year.

But Key’s contribution is much more than Lew Evans, James Daniel, EJ Anosike, and Chris Darrington. Ray Kasingo is not even worth mentioning. It’s not even close.

 

[utkCREW]

He also looks like a 40yr old man…

 

[CAVPUT]

At the beginning of the year we all thought Key could easily get open.

Guilty. I truly believed he was the answer for teams looking to negate Vescovi.... especially after his early season success. He's easily my choice for most disappointing Vol....and that includes ON. Hell, at this point you know exactly what you have and don't have with him. Same for everyone else on the roster. Key had me believing early. That ship sank right after it launched.

 

[Stoked]

I think expectations of him were ramped up a bit when he dropped 26 points vs the Zags.

 

[WaywardVol]

Guilty. I truly believed he was the answer for teams looking to negate Vescovi.... especially after his early season success. He's easily my choice for most disappointing Vol....and that includes ON. Hell, at this point you know exactly what you have and don't have with him. Same for everyone else on the roster. Key had me believing early. That ship sank right after it launched.

It would only make sense. Vescovi gets a ton of attention. But Barnes doesn’t run a lot of set plays for individuals.

 

[cncchris33]

He's not a power 5 player. Like basically every transfer Barnes has gotten. Bailey, Anosike, Darrington, Powell.

Justin Powell has had success at 2 other P5 schools. He just wasn't a good match with Barnes and Tennessee. He didn't have the desire to be the kind of defender Barnes demanded he be.

 

[hUTch2002]

He has provided some nice moments, but clearly struggling at this level. I think his biggest problem is a lack of seperation and tight defense. At the same time, I think its a huge stretch to say he is the worst transfer this team has had after a game we were missing two of our key stsarters;

The Bama game was the best I have seen Key all year at moving to get open looks, he just missed them.

 

[AlcoVOLic]

Maybe he turns it on in March?? Regardless of any sort of expectations he hasn’t done much of anything outside of a game or two.

 

[iBleedOrangeWhite]

We have really only seen him hot once

And even then he started one of those games off playing like hot garbage but was able to get hot due to his unwavering green light from Barnes. Anybody else on the team would’ve had their a$$es chewed and been told to only shoot wide open looks for the rest of the game.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

And even then he started one of those games off playing like hot garbage but was able to get hot due to his unwavering green light from Barnes. Anybody else on the team would’ve had their a$$es chewed and been told to only shoot wide open looks for the rest of the game.

I don’t know why this fiction keeps getting repeated. Barnes doesn’t chew anybody’s ass as long as they aren’t forcing bad shots or passing up good looks. Uros must not have a green light from the perimeter, he hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer in any of his 4 years on the roster.

 

[iBleedOrangeWhite]

I don’t know why this fiction keeps getting repeated. Barnes doesn’t chew anybody’s ass as long as they aren’t forcing bad shots or passing up good looks. Uros must not have a green light from the perimeter, he hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer in any of his 4 years on the roster.

But he does force up bad shots - on top of not getting his feet set or squaring his shoulders up half of the time, which tends to lead to him over rotating his body and bricking shots. He seems to be cutting corners in an attempt to create separation and an open look, which is problematic. Having a clean look isn’t very beneficial to the team if you’re having to compromise your shot mechanics in order to get it and ultimately miss the shot because of it.

 

[ColinS]

I love how everybody says Key in inconsistent. He has not been good and he has been fairly consistent at it. The only time he has shown some inconsistency was against Missouri and maybe the Vandy game.

 

[Kosmalski]

Key would have done himself a favor going somewhere he could have scored 15 a game and been the hero.

 

[johnfnkelly]

I said from the beginning he wasn't going to move the needle. He's just simply not athletic enough for this conference.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Justin Powell has had success at 2 other P5 schools. He just wasn't a good match with Barnes and Tennessee. He didn't have the desire to be the kind of defender Barnes demanded he be.

But he also couldsn't hit shots, which is his M.O. I can only guess it was a confidence thing.

 

[Adam Sandler]

Time to bench him and start playing BJ. 15% from the floor is horrendous and I’m shocked we keep trotting him out there to take and miss bad shots.