Ready or not, this is JJJ's team from here on out

#1
PulaskiVolFan

PulaskiVolFan

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#1
I hate it for Turner and I tip my cap, what a great player he's been for Coach Barnes and the Vol program, he'll be missed. Without LT JJJ is now the face of the program. I'm excited to see what he does now that the offense is going to run through him the majority of the time. I'm also curious as to who is going to guard the smaller quicker type point guards we'll face down the way.
 
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#3
#3
PulaskiVolFan said:
I hate it for Turner and I tip my cap, what a great player he's been for Coach Barnes and the Vol program, he'll be missed. Without LT JJJ is now the face of the program. I'm excited to see what he does now that the offense is going to run through him the majority of the time. I'm also curious as to who is going to guard the smaller quicker type point guards we'll face down the way.
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Bowden guards the smallest guard. JJJ, JJ, and DV will be on the bigger guard.
 
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#4
#4
If I coach for anyone on schedule, I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation of full court pressure vs UT. This will be interesting to see how CRB handles the changes necessary here. Tough season just got tougher. Time for Johnson, James, and Ticket to step into the spotlight IMO.
 
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#5
#5
All hands on deck IMO. Whether Bowden likes it or not, this is his team and its time for the freshman to grow up quick. This will pay off later down the road.

I wonder what Barnes strategy will be moving forward.
 
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#8
#8
tmack50 said:
All hands on deck IMO. Whether Bowden likes it or not, this is his team and its time for the freshman to grow up quick. This will pay off later down the road.

I wonder what Barnes strategy will be moving forward.
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I think we'll see a lot of dribble/drive by JJJ when he has the ball. Defenses are gonna pack the paint on us, put their best defender on Bowden, they'll start trapping down on both Pons and Fulkerson and will force JJJ/Gaines/Johnson to make open shots. I think JJJ will be fine but I think Fulkerson may struggle some now that he'll be viewed as one of our top scoring threats. I like Gaines to step up and start producing 10/gm maybe with 3-4 rebounds and a couple of assists and a steal or 2. If that happens and Big O can step it up a bit I believe that a JJJ/Bowden/Pons lead team can be effective in league play. It won't be easy by any means and Barnes will likely have to perform a coaching miracle this year. I think Pember can be a 6 pt 3 rebound guy this year, he's got length and I think could be a good shooter before it's over.
 
#9
#9
PulaskiVolFan said:
I think we'll see a lot of dribble/drive by JJJ when he has the ball. Defenses are gonna pack the paint on us, put their best defender on Bowden, they'll start trapping down on both Pons and Fulkerson and will force JJJ/Gaines/Johnson to make open shots. I think JJJ will be fine but I think Fulkerson may struggle some now that he'll be viewed as one of our top scoring threats. I like Gaines to step up and start producing 10/gm maybe with 3-4 rebounds and a couple of assists and a steal or 2. If that happens and Big O can step it up a bit I believe that a JJJ/Bowden/Pons lead team can be effective in league play. It won't be easy by any means and Barnes will likely have to perform a coaching miracle this year. I think Pember can be a 6 pt 3 rebound guy this year, he's got length and I think could be a good shooter before it's over.
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This may be a blessing in disguise of sorts. Now that LT is out of the lineup, everyone will have to hunt for their shot instead of waiting for LT to bail them out. Pons and Fulk are a bit undersized but that can't be helped. They can use the gifts that God gave them by being aggressive and outworking/outrunning the opposing bigs down the floor which should work to their advantage. Someone needs to tell ON to take his time and gather himself before rushing his shot. I think the game will slow down for him as well as it did for Pons but sooner. Gaines is the X-factor. Playing lead guard at Hargrave was probably the best thing to prepare him for the road ahead. Jalen is another story. I hope the coaches sit down with him and explain to him that its now or never if he wants a spot for next year.
 
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#10
#10
For those of you that keep calling for Gaines, I don't see how he helps with the already struggling ball handling issues. As a matter of fact he doesn't. If we struggled with Turner it won't be any better. I think Bowden is dreading this outlook.

It is time for the walk-on's to help. This is where we are. They might even be able to make an open shot.
 
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#11
#11
BreatheUT said:
For those of you that keep calling for Gaines, I don't see how he helps with the already struggling ball handling issues. As a matter of fact he doesn't. If we struggled with Turner it won't be any better. I think Bowden is dreading this outlook.

It is time for the walk-on's to help. This is where we are. They might even be able to make an open shot.
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Gaines can pass competently, but his dribble is way too high. JJJ keeps his dribble low.

One thing in TN's favor is that every player up and down the roster is a very good passer. Pons might be the weakest and he's not a bad passer at all. When pressed I expect to see much passing rather than much dribbling... unless they discard Vescovi's redshirt.
 
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#12
#12
JJJ has the 5 star rating but he doesn’t have the 5 star ego. He is a team guy all the way. He is going to have to be a primary ball handler by default, but it is going to be more interesting who Barnes inserts into the starting five. I hope he goes with Gaines at SF. I really like that kid and he has shown ability to be a playmaker. Right after the Memphis game it seemed they needed to change roles on this team and Turner’s decision is going to force this now. I think we need to play through Fulkerson and Pons, inside/out, and try to score in transition a lot more. We are going to miss Turner more defensively than we are offensively. Will be something to watch because if we don’t defend well, we are toast, because this squad will never score at a high level. Our margin of error is tiny with only 8 scholarship players available. This may be Barnes best coaching ever if we simply make the tournament.
 
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#13
#13
Regarding the redshirts...

Fleschman shoots pretty well (overlooking today's air ball), but he may not bring much as a ball handler at this level. Really to contribute anybody almost has to do at least 2 things well. Shoot, rebound, distribute, play defense, advance the ball with the dribble, drive into the paint. If the only high level skill is shooting, it won't be difficult for opposing schemes to exploit that player as a liability. Hopefully JF has better handles than the small sample size of his TO rate indicates.

I haven't seen Mays play at all. Don't know if he's a better shooter or ball handler. Hopefully he has some of what his big brother had. In hindsight, maybe Barnes anticipated what was eventually going to happen with Turner and that is why Mays was put on the roster so late in the year.
 
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#16
#16
Well we have about 3 players who won't play this year Turner, Plavsic and Vescovi. So the bench will be small and all players will get plenty of minutes.

I still expect them to be studs come tournament time!
 
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#22
#22
HuntlandVolinColo said:
Well we have about 3 players who won't play this year Turner, Plavsic and Vescovi. So the bench will be small and all players will get plenty of minutes.

I still expect them to be studs come tournament time!
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If Plavsic and Vescovi don't play I don't see this team making the tournament. I did a quick glance at the sec schedule and it is hard to find 8-10 wins.
 
#23
#23
Vols All Day said:
If Plavsic and Vescovi don't play I don't see this team making the tournament. I did a quick glance at the sec schedule and it is hard to find 8-10 wins.
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Well it’s certainly not going to be what we thought.....even a week ago.

All of the away games will probably be tough and I think there are 10 of them coming.

Then you got: Wisconsin, LSU, Ark, Aub, KY, and Florida at home.

If Tennessee can get 17 or more wins I’ll be very impressed.

Hey.....I’m hoping for 20, but Tennessee is going to have to win some road games and have to beat some good teams at home.....it isn’t looking great....but it can happen, this team isn’t dead.

The Wisconsin game should let us know a lot. There not a great team, but they’re always decent......we’ll see how Tennessee “now” stacks up.
 
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#25
#25
JoAllan said:
Well it’s certainly not going to be what we thought.....even a week ago.

All of the away games will probably be tough and I think there are 10 of them coming.

Then you got: Wisconsin, LSU, Ark, Aub, KY, and Florida at home.

If Tennessee can get 17 or more wins I’ll be very impressed.

Hey.....I’m hoping for 20, but Tennessee is going to have to win some road games and have to beat some good teams at home.....it isn’t looking great....but it can happen, this team isn’t dead.

The Wisconsin game should let us know a lot. There not a great team, but they’re always decent......we’ll see how Tennessee “now” stacks up.
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I agree, the Wisconsin game is huge, imo. A loss would hurt, but a win, once again, imo, would make UT a NCAA lock if we finish 9-9, in the conference. That's counting the Kansas game as a loss
 
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