The Alabama Postgame Report

#26
#26
Tennessee just really doesn't have a advantage anywhere on the floor.. They lack talent....This is another average team in a bad overall league..
 
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#27
#27
Maybe this team finally gets angry enough about losing winnable games and responds with a fantastic performance to knock off UK at Rupp. If that doesn't happen, though, our NCAA tournament chances are just about zero.
 
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#28
#28
DowntownVol said:
Maybe this team finally gets angry enough about losing winnable games and responds with a fantastic performance to knock off UK at Rupp. If that doesn't happen, though, our NCAA tournament chances are just about zero.
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They'll lose Tuesday.

That means they have to 12-3/11-4 to finish the season.

Impossible? No. Unlikely? Very.
 
#29
#29
calban said:
I have no complaints about this loss except that we lost.
Played all 40 but had a lapse beginning of 2nd half where we were out of control.
Those turnovers and a few missed FTs were the difference.
Best offensive effort on the road so far.
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You have no complaints about the atrocious ball handling which led to the turnovers and our horrible FT shooting? That was the difference in the game. I had a huge complaint with that. It's inexcusable for a major Div I team to not have a guard that can bring the damn ball up for the floor. No excuse. That's piss poor recruiting partly on Pearl for putting his hopes in a guy whose grades sucked in Jones and Martin who hasn't recruited a ball handling guard in two years.
 
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#30
#30
Best game they have played on the road yet. Stokes wasn't in because he is a liability at the line and Bama would have applied hack a shaq strategy on him. Mcbee finally hit a couple shots but continues to foul way too much...not the reason we lost. Game was there for the taking until the inexplicable turnover circus show at the end.
 
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#31
#31
zjcvols said:
They'll lose Tuesday.

That means they have to 12-3/11-4 to finish the season.

Impossible? No. Unlikely? Very.
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Still gotta play Ole Miss on the road, Florida twice, and Missouri. That's probably 4 losses right there. Plus UK again in Knoxville, which might be winnable, but by then, I expect UK to be in much better form than what they've shown, given their talent. It's not impossible, but I just don't see it. We'd have to run the table against the bad-to-average teams (including a few road wins), plus pull off at least one significant upset.
 
#32
#32
(which is why this game today was a truly crushing loss. A very winnable game on the road against a mediocre opponent. Gotta have those. We had the talent advantage over Bama, but I'm gonna have to say Grant outcoached CCM today.)
 
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#33
#33
I still think we just aren't a very talented team. Martin certainly deserves blame, but without Maymon this team just seems to have a lot of role players without a true star. Stokes just isn't there yet, Mcrae is playing well but he's playing a position he's not used to playing, and we just don't have another true scorer to take pressure off him. I'm just baffled that we can't hit open shots. (McBee and Golden in particular)
 
#34
#34
DowntownVol said:
(which is why this game today was a truly crushing loss. A very winnable game on the road against a mediocre opponent. Gotta have those. We had the talent advantage over Bama, but I'm gonna have to say Grant outcoached CCM today.)
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Agree completely.

9-5 (1-1) is a hell of a lot better than 8-6(0-2).
 
#35
#35
DowntownVol said:
(which is why this game today was a truly crushing loss. A very winnable game on the road against a mediocre opponent. Gotta have those. We had the talent advantage over Bama, but I'm gonna have to say Grant outcoached CCM today.)
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We got out coached last year when Alabama had the same problem of having their big man out.
 
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#36
#36
I agree on all counts especially with #1, zjcvols. Here's some I'll add.

1. #1 is the reason this team lost the game. When you don't have a guard that can handle the ball at this level then that tells you all you need to know. The game was won in a 3 minute spurt at the end. For McRae to be the PG then that tells you even more. Either Martin was wanting to help out Golden because he has been hurt or he has lost some faith in him. I hope it's the former.

I'm not blaming McRae for the loss and ill advised turnovers. Hell, he played 38 min and was probably dog tired. I'm blaming Martin for putting him in that position. He and Richardson had 10 of the 16 turnovers. I can't say it enough, our guards are average on their best day and suck on their worst day. There is not one guy that can handle the ball in a critical situation. None. That's inexcusable.

2. If we can get that out of Moore every game this team will get better. The best game he has played all year. His defense is still lacking but he was aggressive on the offensive end. I liked what I saw.

3. I'll be glad when Andrew Steele is gone. When I saw he was going to be back I knew UT was in trouble. He's their glue guy. Not a big time scorer but does the little things. Who was the catalyst in those 3 turnovers that put Bama up by 7 at the end and basically won them the game? Steele. Dammit. Where is UT's glue guy? Unfortunately, glued to the bench with a knee injury.

4. Where the hell was Stokes and Yemi? Stokes played 21 minutes and Yemi 5. I know Bama is athletic, but they don't play at a breakneck pace. We had a post advantage and didn't take advantage of it. Again, that is on Martin for not recognizing that. Hall had his typical game where he showed up more. I look for him to be non-existent Tue night. We outrebounded Bama by 15 and still lost. Unreal.

5. Getting on my soapbox, I hate the AAU circuit. It does nothing but promote offense and doesn't do a damn thing to help guys out with the fundamentals of basketball. UT doesn't currently have one guard that can consistently break a press. All people care about are star ratings. Give me a 1 or 2 star guard that can handle the damn ball. We have no one that can on a consistent basis. That's partly on Pearl for leaving Martin nothing and on Martin for not recognizing that weakness and recruiting to that need. Again, inexcusable at this level when you see scores of lower tier and mid-major schools with guards who can handle the ball.

6. Continuing on my soapbox, for those that think Pearl is going to come back, you are completely ignorant. Wade Houston has a better chance at coming back to UT than Bruce Pearl. For those of you too young to remember Houston, look him and his record up. Pearl isn't coming back to UT. Ever. To even bring it up shows what little you know about what happened and how the NCAA works. Bring up any other coach, but Pearl isn't coming back.

This was a very winnable game as I said all week. Bama is not a good team. Look at who they have lost to this season. UT could've really helped themselves and gave themselves a glimmer of hope towards getting on the bubble at the end of the season if they continued to win. I'm not completely giving up on the season, but if you see more than 8 wins in the SEC (and it's looking like 6-7 really) then I don't know what to tell you. You just might be the most optimistic person in the UT world.

Martin better get this thing turned around. Once it starts heading in another direction, it's hard to turn it the other way. For his vocational sake, if he continues to lose then he is making next season that much tougher on himself.
 
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#37
#37
I don't blame Martin for anything really. McBee is bad, but he's really the only consistent 3pt shooter that can force teams to be honest and spread the floor creating lanes.

Handling the ball isn't on Martin. That just comes down to players knowing the situation. If they're playing full court man, clear the court and let the guy bring the ball up. We started to at the end. However, if you're going to spin or turn your back on the help defense, you have to know Bama was going to trap or double. That's on Golden as anyone else handling the ball not having game awareness. It was awful to watch.

Stokes should have played down the stretch, but he forces things, a lot. When he's out of control, he looks terrible.
 
#38
#38
LynxVol said:
I don't blame Martin for anything really. McBee is bad, but he's really the only consistent 3pt shooter that can force teams to be honest and spread the floor creating lanes.

Handling the ball isn't on Martin. That just comes down to players knowing the situation. If they're playing full court man, clear the court and let the guy bring the ball up. We started to at the end. However, if you're going to spin or turn your back on the help defense, you have to know Bama was going to trap or double. That's on Golden as anyone else handling the ball not having game awareness. It was awful to watch.

Stokes should have played down the stretch, but he forces things, a lot. When he's out of control, he looks terrible.
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No, that is 100% on Martin and some on Pearl. When you don't recruit a true PG for the last 3 years then you get what you get today. Guards that can't handle the ball against a press. Either recruit a guy who has experience or coach a guy to do it. Right now, we aren't doing either.
 
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#39
#39
Also, no s*** this isn't a tourney team. As soon as I found out Maymon was redshirting, I knew it was probably over. The team has no great shooters, is not athletic enough, and lacks depth.

Seeing what Martin inherited, it's hard to be successful immediately when you don't recruit like Duke and KY.
 
#40
#40
OrangeBalls said:
No, that is 100% on Martin and some on Pearl. When you don't recruit a true PG for the last 3 years then you get what you get today. Guards that can't handle the ball against a press. Either recruit a guy who has experience or coach a guy to do it. Right now, we aren't doing either.
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Golden can handle the ball. He made terrible decisions.
 
#41
#41
Also, UT's defense was good in the 1st half. They held Bama to 24 points. Bama scored 44 points in the 2nd half. The D let down yet again. A lot of that had to do with turnovers that led to easy layups, but one plays off the other.
 
#44
#44
And I will say this, Golden is our only true ball handler. He can do an OK job and is usually fairly competent. He just doesn't have any help and that is where UT gets in trouble. Richardson's handle was just horrible at times today.

Also, I like Reese's aggressiveness but sometimes it's bordering on careless/reckless. You have to know what is a good shot.
 
#45
#45
DowntownVol said:
(which is why this game today was a truly crushing loss. A very winnable game on the road against a mediocre opponent. Gotta have those. We had the talent advantage over Bama, but I'm gonna have to say Grant outcoached CCM today.)
Click to expand...

Rember when we were afraid coach would pull a kiff on us, not long ago.:eek:hmy:
 
#48
#48
zjcvols said:
1. Turnovers and free throws cost UT this game. If UT goes 12-16 from the line, they win.

2. I want a proper explanation why Jarnell didn't play for the last seven minutes in the second half. Because honestly, I can't find one.

3. Armani Moore needs to play. He brings energy on offense and attacks the basket. His D is suspect, but you saw him make two big hustle plays at the end.

4. Bernard King Player of the Game: Jordan McRae was the only player to score in double digits, and had the unfair task having to play point guard and did admirably till the last three minutes, where the coaching failed him in not preparing for it.

5. If Tennessee wants to make the tourney, Cuonzo better figure out what the hell to do on about the point guard position because it's costing them, just like last year.

6. Again, those three turnovers are on Martin. You can't just say "go dribble" and expect good results, especially with this team.

7. Skylar McBee should not play. Anymore. Any more playing time for him is a mark against Cuonzo, especially with better players in Moore, Reese, and Lopez. How the hell does McBee get 17 minutes while Lopez sits on the bench? I don't care about practice, let's go off 50 games worth of evidence here.

8. The defense was much better today actually. Alabama only shot 42.5% from the field, and only shot 19 free throws. But I wish UT was more aggressive on defense to get turnovers. Look at that run Bama had.

9. I don't know why Martin doesn't realize when he has an advantage in the post, but Bama couldn't stop Stokes or Hall inside. Stokes' presence alone opens up the floor and driving lanes. I know he didn't shoot the ball well, but Bama was so worried about him UT got open looks.

10. This isn't a tourney team. They don't do the little things well enough (like they did last year) to win close games. They had a grand opportunity for them, and they let it go because of two things that continues to haunt them: Free Throws and Turnovers. That's inexcusable. It's been an issue since November 9th. We are two months in the season and they haven't been corrected. That's on Cuonzo. It's weak. They are going to start off the SEC year 0-3, and if they don't get together won't win 10 games in the SEC.
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Announcers said Stokes not playing hard enough on defense and Martin was making a poit by having him on bench. If true, it was the wrong time to pull your authority.
 
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