Tennessee clamps on D, smothers Mississippi State-west

[JohnWardForever]

westwords Mississippi State didn’t. It came to town averaging 82 points per game. It settled for 16 in the first half. It tried but couldn’t run favorite plays. It endured a maddening search for open shots. Everywhere Bulldogs looked, Vols were in the way.

Chaz Lanier #2 scored 14 points during the first half of Tennessee’s January 21, 2025, game versus Mississippi State, while State scored 16. The Vols earned the win, 68-56. (Photo By Andrew Ferguson/ Tennessee Athletics

 

[Doctrippin]

It was a good win but we left a lot of points on the court and didn't crack 70. Missing 4 layups was maddening. We can't do that against AU. Our offensive stats are just bad right now.

 

[joshwa]

There's no inside game to speak of. We rebound decent but nobody can go hard to the rim. We have a 7 foot white dude that lives outside the 3 point line

 

[JohnWardForever]

If you didn’t see it, you might not believe what stopped the trend. Jordan Gainey saved a loose ball. He threw it to Felix Okpara. The center was 29 feet from the goal and the shot clock was running down. He shocked everybody with his first three-point attempt of the season, the second of his career.
“Bottom!” as John Ward used to say.
I can still hear John Ward saying that. "Bottom"! "Sir, You walked"! Goodah! and so many more. The best to ever put the headphones on. And Marvin West is right up there as the best to relate the story.

 

[GoVols9800]

There's no inside game to speak of. We rebound decent but nobody can go hard to the rim. We have a 7 foot white dude that lives outside the 3 point line

Are you talking about our 6'10" "white dude" who averages 10 pts a game and almost 9 rebounds a game? I believe you are referring to Igor Milicic. We would be in a mess without him........dude.

 

[Orangeslide]

Our defense is good and gives us a chance, but scoring droughts of 4 or 5 minutes will get us the exit ticket come March. NCAA tournament games are different, neutral floor, referees whistle, match-ups are big. We need another 20 point scorer besides Chaz come tournament time IMO. Go Vols! Find some string music on offense!

 

[JohnWardForever]

Our defense is good and gives us a chance, but scoring droughts of 4 or 5 minutes will get us the exit ticket come March. NCAA tournament games are different, neutral floor, referees whistle, match-ups are big. We need another 20 point scorer besides Chaz come tournament time IMO. Go Vols! Find some string music on offense!

"String Music" Ah yes I remember that guy on SEC Basketball broadcasts. A former Lsu player, and Coach, AD or something. JP games. LOL. So long ago.

 

[JohnWardForever]

Tennessee, upset loser at Vanderbilt on Saturday, got its act back together on Tuesday evening, clamped the defense on high-scoring Mississippi State and smothered the Bulldogs, 68-56, at Food City Center.

"In the background was a four-hour video review of effort and execution and the difference in right and wrong. The transformation was startling. Call that coaching." IOW, a good old fashioned butt chewing....Mr. West.

Rick Barnes didn’t repeat all the things he said Sunday night but he shared a short version.

“Details. Paying attention to the scouting report. Too many miscommunications last game. And just details, really. And then offensively, details again. We didn’t rebound, we didn’t run like we need to run. A lot of things. I don’t want to take away from any team that beats us. Vanderbilt beat us."

 

[TartanTurff]

"String Music" Ah yes I remember that guy on SEC Basketball broadcasts. A former Lsu player, and Coach, AD or something. JP games. LOL. So long ago.

String Music was Joe Dean, who stepped away from his broadcast gig to become the athletic director at LSU, once the dunk came back it was "stufferino". He enjoyed college basketball and was an early element that helped propel the Saturday afternoon game of the week to what is now every game on television and wall to wall SEC coverage if you have time to watch.

 

[chuckiepoo]

String Music was Joe Dean, who stepped away from his broadcast gig to become the athletic director at LSU, once the dunk came back it was "stufferino". He enjoyed college basketball and was an early element that helped propel the Saturday afternoon game of the week to what is now every game on television and wall to wall SEC coverage if you have time to watch.

Nice recall!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

String Music was Joe Dean, who stepped away from his broadcast gig to become the athletic director at LSU, once the dunk came back it was "stufferino". He enjoyed college basketball and was an early element that helped propel the Saturday afternoon game of the week to what is now every game on television and wall to wall SEC coverage if you have time to watch.

He was Dick Vitale before Dick Vitale was Dick Vitale.

 

[walkenvol]

He was Dick Vitale before Dick Vitale was Dick Vitale.

Boo!

Joe Dean was way better than blabber head Vitale. Dean stayed focused on the game - opposite of Vitale.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Boo!

Joe Dean was way better than blabber head Vitale. Dean stayed focused on the game - opposite of Vitale.

Sure. He didn’t make it more about himself. But “Stuffarino” and “String Music” are very Vitale-esque.

Different eras. Different TV exposure. Regional v national. One of very few televised games every week (Saturdays) versus dozens of games on multiple networks.

Vitale is high energy while Joe was more toned down. Both were/are pretty nerdy.

I’m surprised that there is very little Joe Dean on YouTube. Really just a couple of interviews. I wonder if anybody saved the tapes or recorded over them like UT’s short sighted media people did with most of the video from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Video tape was expensive back in the day. Now failed coaches walk away with millions.

 

[TartanTurff]

If you didn’t see it, you might not believe what stopped the trend. Jordan Gainey saved a loose ball. He threw it to Felix Okpara. The center was 29 feet from the goal and the shot clock was running down. He shocked everybody with his first three-point attempt of the season, the second of his career.
“Bottom!” as John Ward used to say.
I can still hear John Ward saying that. "Bottom"! "Sir, You walked"! Goodah! and so many more. The best to ever put the headphones on. And Marvin West is right up there as the best to relate the story.

The fans actually used to carry transistor radios and headsets into Stokely to listen to John Ward's call of the game they were watching. He was that good and that in the game. He painted mental visual pictures of the happening in a jam packed cracker box of a basketball venue with the crowd noise providing the background and addional excitement to the broadcast. How many times did you hear "Here is Woods in front court, guarded by Flynn, looks for a feed, top of the key, shovels it right over to Grunfeld, Grunfeld comes to the lane, reverses to the baseline, spinning 10 footer ...BOTTOM! Ernie G from Tennessee! Grunfeld has 16, Tennessee expands the lead to 12. A W, I don't think Kentucky can guard him."