The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[DuckInAPen]

Every relationship in life runs its course.

Yikes . . .

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Still, 4 games in regular season and the SECT as well as March Madness left.

This team when fully healthy could make a great run and though I wouldn't expect a Final Four appearance they are capable.

Without JJJ and Phillips and with no one else really being able to consistently step-up every night to help Santi/ZZ out more it's going to be nail biter after nail biter I think.

Didn't really think 2-0 was possible last week...1-1 was "ideal" still frustrating to see the team play such a complete defensive game against Bama and then just fall on their face in the first half against Kentucky.

2-0 this week is a little more possible A&M has a great record in SEC play and is a team good enough to beat us, but they also haven't played Bama and lost at Kentucky and at Arkansas. They did beat Auburn twice, but that seems less and less impressive as the season has played out. Really need Santi, ZZ, Mashack, and someone in the post to have good/great games. Unlike Kentucky who in both matchups has taken advantage of having bigger guards to bully our guys A&M's two guards are 6'0" and 6'2" so I personally like that matchup more...I think on offense it will be less difficult for Key, ZZ, Santi to deal with and on defense I think it also will allow us to bother them more.

Marble is their only true big...double edge sword a bit. He could be too athletic for Aidoo/Uros to stay with but he could also be unable to hold either in check on defense. But it's really a guard driven offense, we have to keep Radford and Taylor in check.

Still A&M doesn't lose games because of their offense dropping the ball...every single team that has beaten them scored 67 or more points and the average PPG scored against them in their 7 losses is 83.4. We've only scored over 70 in 1 loss, against Missouri.

Keep A&M from scoring at will and try to stay out of foul trouble (Santi & ZZ especially) and get the offense rolling a bit and 70 may be all we need to win.

 

[Orange.]

I really hope this isn’t actually what happened and Oscar is just exaggerating. If true….sheesh.

Somebody should put together a highlight reel of the 20 uncalled fouls Tshiebwe committed against us this year. It's its own kind of special.

 

[rdk4121]

Uros has REALLY been a disappointment though and I was so excited for us to finally have a legit big man when we landed him. But to be his size and leave here after 4 seasons with less than 350 total rebounds (sits at 270) is an absolute joke. How at 7' are you that incapable of grabbing some damn rebounds?

Santi has nearly doubled his rebound numbers in a career, and JJJ is well over double his numbers. Baffles me... Aidoo with about half the minutes is within 100 rebounds of Uros' career numbers already too.

Santi will leave top 3 in made 3 pointers, top 8 in steals (potential to reach top 5, needs 18 more), top 10 in steals per game, and his name will be top 10 or close in a lot of other career leaders list. To think he did that while missing the first 9 games of his freshmen year and while having his sophomore year shortened by COVID. Love Santi and will miss him. Just plays with grit and doesn't let poor shooting really effect him. A trait you need as a 3 ball guy, Lofton and Turner both had it as well.

Just on the Uros point, it's because he barely plays. He only played just over a 1000 minutes in 4 years. He rebounds at a pretty good rate overall to be fair. He's no Jarnell stokes or apparently Awaka, but that doesn't mean he was a bad rebounder.

 

[ManchesterVol03]

Any news on Julian and Josiah?

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Just on the Uros point, it's because he barely plays. He only played just over a 1000 minutes in 4 years. He rebounds at a pretty good rate overall to be fair. He's no Jarnell stokes or apparently Awaka, but that doesn't mean he was a bad rebounder.

For his size and time at UT he's a very bad rebounder. Santi: 421 total rebounds, JJJ: 586 total rebounds, Olivier: 381 total rebounds and ZZ, Awaka, Aidoo, Mashack, and Phillips will likely surpass Uros' career numbers if they play at least 3 full seasons here averaging 15 mpg or more.

You know how many games in his 4 years here Uros has had 10 or more rebounds? 1

He's averaged basically 14 mpg these last 2 years and he's getting 4 rebounds a game. Now sure some of it is a lack of minutes, but he's also part of the reason he doesn't get 20+ MPG too. His fouls per game average is higher than his assist per game, steals per game and blocks per game combined for his career. He finished last year with more fouls than offensive rebounds and he's on pace to repeat that this year.

I just don't really know that more minutes = more production either

25 minutes against Kentucky, 3 rebounds
22 minutes against Eastern Kentucky, 7 rebounds (not a single guy that played more than 3 minutes was over 6'8" on that team)
21 minutes at Mississippi State, 2 rebounds
19 minutes at Arizona, 6 rebounds

Awaka has already had as many 10 rebound games in his career as Uros. And Olivier who is constantly harped on for a lack of effort in rebounding has had 5 games with 10 or more and 3 of those games he finished with a double double.

Julian Phillips has played just 624 minutes and has 3 10 rebound games already in his career...that's in 24 games with 15 or more minutes, Uros has played in 32 games with 15 or more minutes.

Just disappointing, we land the first legit 7'0 big guy since Steve Hamer and he's not really great anywhere...

Hell Kyle barely had played basketball and he developed into a damn good rebounder while here, but even before then he was always a great shot blocker.

Uros' career totals. 270 total rebounds, 18 blocks and 142 fouls. (1026 total minutes played in 4 years)
Kyle's last year. 247 total rebounds, 64 blocks and 99 fouls (that was playing just 881 minutes)

Hamer wasn't even the shot blocker that Kyle was, but he had 24 or more blocks in every single season he played.

Could Uros have better numbers with more minutes, of course. But did he ever real earn more minutes, not at all.

 

[berryvol]

I’m very much a believer that the regular season matters immensely in CBB because, well…. it does and it’s not really arguable. That said, I’m in full postseason mode with this group right now. I don’t really care what happens in the final few games as long as we lock up a 4 seed or higher. Get everyone healthy and make it to the tourney as a full group. I’m not expecting it by any means, but much worse teams have made deep March runs in much better seasons.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I’m very much a believer that the regular season matters immensely in CBB because, well…. it does and it’s not really arguable. That said, I’m in full postseason mode with this group right now. I don’t really care what happens in the final few games as long as we lock up a 4 seed or higher. Get everyone healthy and make it to the tourney as a full group. I’m not expecting it by any means, but much worse teams have made deep March runs in much better seasons.

Regular season = can win SEC title and get better seeding

At this point I want 4-0 to end it to build momentum into the postseason and hopefully get the team out of the funk they've had this month, plus 24-7 will without question have us no lower than a 4 seed with an outside shot at a 2 seed.

 

[Volprofch05]

Vols check in at #11 in the AP poll, for those who haven't bailed

NCAA College Basketball Rankings: AP Top 25 Basketball Poll | AP News

Edit: A&M makes the cut at #25, could be an important note seeing as we beat the ranked teams, right?

 

[berryvol]

Regular season = can win SEC title and get better seeding

At this point I want 4-0 to end it to build momentum into the postseason and hopefully get the team out of the funk they've had this month, plus 24-7 will without question have us no lower than a 4 seed with an outside shot at a 2 seed.

I totally agree - the way to make consistently deep runs in March is to get the 1 or 2 seed. Like I said, I’m a full believer in regular season being, maybe, the most important key to long term success in CBB. I’m just saying with this group, the inconsistency of the regular season has worn me down. I’m more concerned about us getting to the tourney in one piece and give ourselves a chance to make a run.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I totally agree - the way to make consistently deep runs in March is to get the 1 or 2 seed. Like I said, I’m a full believer in regular season being, maybe, the most important key to long term success in CBB. I’m just saying with this group, the inconsistency of the regular season has worn me down. I’m more concerned about us getting to the tourney in one piece and give ourselves a chance to make a run.

Absolutely. Past Final Fours have shown higher seeding is the best shot.

2011 was the last Final Four that didn't have a 1 or 2 seed in it, did have a 3 and 4 seed though.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Picked a good weekend to getaway and go see some family, didn’t even watch the game lol…

Losing to Kentucky twice sucks, they’re a bad matchup for us and we are as inconsistent as it gets. As I’ve been saying we absolutely need to get healthy and hope that it grinds some consistency with it. Beating the #1 overall team shouldn’t be ignored this week, if anything this week is a snapshot of this team, can literally beat anyone (even short handed) but can also throw out a stinker at anytime and lose to just about anyone.

As I’ve been saying get to the finish line and get healthy, ideally lock up a 2-4 seed (2/3 sounds better) and take your chances in the tourney. Obviously anything can happen, but should win your first, hopefully motivation of a 2nd round exit last year has them focused and a S16 should quiet some folks. At that point they’re in territory they’ve done well at, playing good teams, for whatever reason they’ve been better against good teams than mediocre, who knows, I sure don’t

 

[rdk4121]

For his size and time at UT he's a very bad rebounder. Santi: 421 total rebounds, JJJ: 586 total rebounds, Olivier: 381 total rebounds and ZZ, Awaka, Aidoo, Mashack, and Phillips will likely surpass Uros' career numbers if they play at least 3 full seasons here averaging 15 mpg or more.

You know how many games in his 4 years here Uros has had 10 or more rebounds? 1

He's averaged basically 14 mpg these last 2 years and he's getting 4 rebounds a game. Now sure some of it is a lack of minutes, but he's also part of the reason he doesn't get 20+ MPG too. His fouls per game average is higher than his assist per game, steals per game and blocks per game combined for his career. He finished last year with more fouls than offensive rebounds and he's on pace to repeat that this year.

I just don't really know that more minutes = more production either

25 minutes against Kentucky, 3 rebounds
22 minutes against Eastern Kentucky, 7 rebounds (not a single guy that played more than 3 minutes was over 6'8" on that team)
21 minutes at Mississippi State, 2 rebounds
19 minutes at Arizona, 6 rebounds

Awaka has already had as many 10 rebound games in his career as Uros. And Olivier who is constantly harped on for a lack of effort in rebounding has had 5 games with 10 or more and 3 of those games he finished with a double double.

Julian Phillips has played just 624 minutes and has 3 10 rebound games already in his career...that's in 24 games with 15 or more minutes, Uros has played in 32 games with 15 or more minutes.

Just disappointing, we land the first legit 7'0 big guy since Steve Hamer and he's not really great anywhere...

Hell Kyle barely had played basketball and he developed into a damn good rebounder while here, but even before then he was always a great shot blocker.

Uros' career totals. 270 total rebounds, 18 blocks and 142 fouls. (1026 total minutes played in 4 years)
Kyle's last year. 247 total rebounds, 64 blocks and 99 fouls (that was playing just 881 minutes)

Hamer wasn't even the shot blocker that Kyle was, but he had 24 or more blocks in every single season he played.

Could Uros have better numbers with more minutes, of course. But did he ever real earn more minutes, not at all.

You're just cherry picking stats to fit a narrative. Of course all of those guys you mentioned have more rebounds than Uros, they've played significantly more minutes than Uros in every year they've been here.

They have this thing called per 40 minutes stats, which quantifies the impact of a player on a per minute basis for an entire game. This year Uros is at 11.4 rebounds per 40, which is 3rd behind Awaka and Aidoo. Last year he was at 11.3, which was 2nd behind Aidoo (who was at 11.4). He was tied for first the year before that at 9.6 with Josiah.

You mentioned Kyle, who was a good rebounder for us. He averaged 11.2 per 40, which is worse than Uros's last two years. That's kind of my point. His rebounding effort has been solid. Could he certainly be better? Yes. He's an high energy role player that plays his role pretty well for the most part. I'm not worried about any of the fouls or anything like that. Advanced stats suggest Uros has been a good player for us, as he has one of the better net ratings on the team and a good box plus/minus. He's 9th in mpg, I'm not sure what the reason is even focusing on him that much.

 

[YankeeVol]

I've got to say, I won't be sad to see any of the current seniors leave like I was with Houston, Slay, Lofton, JRich, Schofield, etc.

Santi is maybe the only player to fit that mold, so maybe I'll miss him and his ability to knock down shots. JJJ is a great guy, but just never reached his fullest potential due to consistent nagging injuries.

Nkamhoua and Plavsic, both have had impressive moments, but both were far more maddeningly inconsistent and borderline intolerable for different reasons. Thanks for the contributions, but good riddance. And Key was just a 1-yr rental who never made much of a difference. Glad he got to live out his dream for one season, but he's not going to be missed.

I agree. Santi is the only player I can say I wish we still had (from this class).

 

[YankeeVol]

This team has been disliked by our fanbase all year. Fair or not fair, it just is what it is. I think people expect them to fizzle out in March. I am rooting for them to figure it out and make a run. I think the guys on this team have been treated unfairly. The “best team ever” narrative that materialized online set them up for failure sadly. Once that started to circulate, people got upset with every single loss.

Where did this come from? (Barnes best team here was back in 18-19).

The preseason win over Gonzaga? I don't recall anyone saying this was the best team ever.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

You're just cherry picking stats to fit a narrative. Of course all of those guys you mentioned have more rebounds than Uros, they've played significantly more minutes than Uros in every year they've been here.

They have this thing called per 40 minutes stats, which quantifies the impact of a player on a per minute basis for an entire game. This year Uros is at 11.4 rebounds per 40, which is 3rd behind Awaka and Aidoo. Last year he was at 11.3, which was 2nd behind Aidoo (who was at 11.4). He was tied for first the year before that at 9.6 with Josiah.

You mentioned Kyle, who was a good rebounder for us. He averaged 11.2 per 40, which is worse than Uros's last two years. That's kind of my point. His rebounding effort has been solid. Could he certainly be better? Yes. He's an high energy role player that plays his role pretty well for the most part. I'm not worried about any of the fouls or anything like that. Advanced stats suggest Uros has been a good player for us, as he has one of the better net ratings on the team and a good box plus/minus. He's 9th in mpg, I'm not sure what the reason is even focusing on him that much.

You tell me I'm cherry picking with actual stats and totals, but then you want to bring up the per 40 with projected stats to fit YOUR narrative? If we go by per 40 Colin Coyne would be at 20 blocks a game, 20 points a game and 10 rebounds a game while shooting 100% from the field...

I think Uros is a ****** rebounder based on his size. I gave you the numbers that lead me to this opinion, if you don't want to agree then that's fine but I'm not going back and forth any further.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

Atp I'm ready for a new era of UT basketball. I appreciate what the upperclassmen have done here but I'm ready to see what this upcoming crop of players are going to look like.

Same. I will forever appreciate SV’s and JJJ’s contributions (can’t say the same for Uros and ON), but it’s time for a changing of the guard.

 

[Volprofch05]

Where did this come from? (Barnes best team here was back in 18-19).

The preseason win over Gonzaga? I don't recall anyone saying this was the best team ever.

Blame it on Rucker

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Where did this come from? (Barnes best team here was back in 18-19).

The preseason win over Gonzaga? I don't recall anyone saying this was the best team ever.

There were several media members writing articles about how special this team was during their January run. Wes Rucker and Will Warren did a lot of analytics breakdowns of the team. Mike Wilson of the Sentinel kind of piggy-backed off them as well. It wasn’t a fan thing it was a media thing and the vocal fans got unnecessarily mad about the whole thing because they are defensive of the Grant team.

We reached KenPom’s #1 ranking for the first time in program history, had a defense putting up stupid efficiency numbers, and we were trending for a 1-seed. So at the time it wasn’t an unreasonable take. We just didn’t know we’d kind of spiral like we have.

 

[YankeeVol]

There were several media members writing articles about how special this team was during their January run. Wes Rucker and Will Warren did a lot of analytics breakdowns of the team. Mike Wilson of the Sentinel kind of piggy-backed off them as well. It wasn’t a fan thing it was a media thing and the vocal fans got unnecessarily mad about the whole thing because they are defensive of the Grant team.

We reached KenPom’s #1 ranking for the first time in program history, had a defense putting up stupid efficiency numbers, and we were trending for a 1-seed. So at the time it wasn’t an unreasonable take. We just didn’t know we’d kind of spiral like we have.

Thankfully I don't follow Knoxville media at all. Plus anyone who listens to that cuck Rucker should get their head examined.

 

[Orange.]

Where did this come from? (Barnes best team here was back in 18-19).

The preseason win over Gonzaga? I don't recall anyone saying this was the best team ever.

Because people weren't saying it. It was something stupid that Rucker started for clicks. Rucker finally got even Grant to respond. That was horrible for the team. I hope Rucker will make better decisions going forward. Sounds like something to undermine our team that would be a KNS mainstay, but I quit reading anything they write, so I don't know.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Where did this come from? (Barnes best team here was back in 18-19).

The preseason win over Gonzaga? I don't recall anyone saying this was the best team ever.

A month ago on Twitter both Will Warren and Wes Rucker were saying this was possibly the best UT team ever; may have been more than those 2. Now you can say they prefaced it with "possibly" but Warren sent so far as to say it was the best UT team he had ever covered (and has since deleted the tweet).

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Because people weren't saying it. It was something stupid that Rucker started for clicks. Rucker finally got even Grant to respond. That was horrible for the team. I hope Rucker will make better decisions going forward. Sounds like something to undermine our team that would be a KNS mainstay, but I quit reading anything they write, so I don't know.

Will Warren definitely said it.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I mean that 2018-19 team was pretty damn stacked...no real argument when someone says "best Barnes team at TN"

They didn't win a single thing though. No regular season title, no SECT title and didn't make it out of the Sweet 16. But that's also the only Sweet 16 team Barnes has had in his time here thus far.

But if we're doing what Grant suggest and going player vs player...2007-08 is a team full of talent that Pearl had here and they at least won the SEC regular season title before losing badly in the Sweet 16 to Louisville.

 

[Orange.]

Thankfully I don't follow Knoxville media at all. Plus anyone who listens to that cuck Rucker should get their head examined.

I think Rucker has improved overall, but this was a terrible lapse in judgement. Rucker is also the one (to my knowledge) who started the negative story that our student section wasn't up to snuff. But he tweeted that during Winter vacation when the students were out of town! I'm really hoping that he will think things through better going forward.