The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[cncchris33]

Really wish Barnes would get Estrella some runs in games like this. Outside of helping him develop, it would’ve been great if he could’ve gone in, banged for 2-3 mins in the first half, and eaten a couple fouls down low. Keeps from running the risk of losing both bigs late and you may get a surprising defensive burst. There’s virtually zero risk in tossing him a few minutes when Aidoo is playing this bad.

Yep. Even better, get him some run in games you're up by 25 points with 10 minutes to play so that he's prepared for games like tonight.

 

[cncchris33]

Aidoo only had 2 turnovers, but it felt like in the first half every time we passed to him in the post he got his pocket picked. His hands are so soft. The ball was bouncing around like a ping pong ball.

Our post play is a bit concerning in the sense that every team with a great big man has ate our lunch down low. It’s becoming a trend.

Yep, we gotta hope we avoid teams like that in March. Even DJ Burns had a decent game against us in a loss.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Yep, we gotta hope we avoid teams like that in March. Even DJ Burns had a decent game against us in a loss.

Luckily, neither Georgia nor Florida have a dominant big man and are guard focused teams. Need to win these next two games and build some momentum. Florida is currently getting drilled by Ole Miss.

 

[berryvol]

Just realized miss state is 26th in KP with the number 9 ranked defense. We put 50 on them in the second half. The first half was terrible on both ends, but it really does bear repeating how much better the offense is this season. Hopefully we can put it together for 40 mins soon and be fully gelled at the right time for once.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

The officiating didn't help our effort, but our interior defense was abysmal. Aidoo gets pushed off his spot way too easily and Awaka still isn't disciplined enough to defend without fouling. 16 TOs is unacceptable too for a team that is so guard dominant.

As discussed coming out of the Maui tourney - It is what it is and it's not going to change unfortunately when we play top quartile bigs...Aidoo is not going to get stronger so he will continue to be pushed under the rim and Awaka is not going to grow 2 or 3 inches.

The real surprise to me was how our very experienced roster did not seem to be ready for the environment and physical play...we obviously need more from JJJ and SV in games like but SV was extraordinarily disappointing in this game even with the foul trouble - he has got to figure it out whatever it is.

 

[CornbreadVol]

Okay boys so after sleeping on it, here are some thoughts.

-We’re fine. Just look around college basketball, like 6 or 7 top 10 teams have lost to an unranked team the past two nights. Just the nature of the sport, especially on the road. Regarding last night, I really don’t understand why we didn’t dig down with our guards more, when we did we either forced the ball out of smith’s hands or a turnover. He was too good to just let go 1 on 1 with our bigs most of the night. I would also like to see our rotation expand to at least 9 guys just to avoid foul trouble/fatigue and what does it hurt to see if one of the freshmen can spark something off of the bench? Overall, We’ve got an easy rest of January, got to at least go 4-1 to stay in the SEC race.

 

[walkenvol]

Okay boys so after sleeping on it, here are some thoughts.

-We’re fine. Just look around college basketball, like 6 or 7 top 10 teams have lost an unranked team the past two nights. Just the nature of the sport, especially on the road. Regarding last night, I really don’t understand why we didn’t dig down with our guards more, when we did we either forced the ball out of smith’s hands or a turnover. He was too good to just let go 1 on 1 with our bigs most of the night. I would also like to see our rotation expand to at least 9 guys just to avoid foul trouble/fatigue and what does it hurt to see if one of the freshmen can spark something off of the bench. Overall, We’ve got an easy rest of January, got to at least go 4-1 to stay in the SEC race.

Agree 100% on doubling down on a big when they’re dominating opposed to sticking to man D.

 

[ndubvols]

Biggest takeaways I have after the game are 1). We’re going to struggle defending solid post players all year, don’t see that changing 2). Vescovi needs to quit getting in foul trouble in the 1st half every game. He’s a 5th year guy that needs to play smarter and stop taking himself out of games. (Same for Awaka but slightly more understandable) 3). Vescovi and Gainey need to find their outside shot if this team is going to reach its potential. They’re good shooters getting good looks, just need to get in the gym and get the confidence up again.

Edit- 4). We need to find a way to get zz some more rest. He’s been great obviously, but don’t think he can continue to play as many minutes as he has been all season.

 

[Volprofch05]

Vols at #9 in this morning's rankings from the athletic

Power rankings: Everybody hurts (especially on the road)

UConn was the only top-5 team not to lose to an unranked opponent Tuesday or Wednesday. So guess who tops our power rankings?

theathletic.com

9. Tennessee (11-4)​

Last week: 10

The bad news is the Volunteers lost on the road to an unranked team. The good news is that’s not especially alarming since everybody is doing it these days — and UT did just wreck previously unbeaten Ole Miss by 26 points four days earlier. The best news is Tennessee finally got Dalton Knecht going again — and kept red-hot Zakai Zeigler going — in that loss to Mississippi State on Wednesday night. Knecht and Zeigler combined for 54 points, including 42 in the second half alone. The Bulldogs led by 14 points with 15 minutes to go, then the Vols’ dynamic duo took over. Knecht scored 26 points in the second half, and his dunk with 34 seconds left tied the game.

That was huge, even if Tennessee couldn’t complete the comeback. Knecht had scored in single digits four of the previous five games after dropping 21 in a win over Illinois (and previously 24 in a win at Wisconsin, 37 in a loss at UNC). Rick Barnes needs Knecht to be a reliable scorer alongside Zeigler, whose recent rise to an All-SEC (if not All-America) level of play continued Wednesday with 26 points, seven assists and three steals against Mississippi State. Zeigler is averaging 18.6 points, 6.8 assists, 2.6 steals and shooting 43 percent from 3 the last five games. So no, we haven’t changed our opinion that it’ll be UT, UK and Auburn battling for an SEC championship this season. – Tucker

 

[cncchris33]

As discussed coming out of the Maui tourney - It is what it is and it's not going to change unfortunately when we play top quartile bigs...Aidoo is not going to get stronger so he will continue to be pushed under the rim and Awaka is not going to grow 2 or 3 inches.

The real surprise to me was how our very experienced roster did not seem to be ready for the environment and physical play...we obviously need more from JJJ and SV in games like but SV was extraordinarily disappointing in this game even with the foul trouble - he has got to figure it out whatever it is.

Yeah, I don't think this was what anyone signed up for when he (Santi) returned for another year. It has not gone as planned. I know some things have occurred in his personal life, but we are halfway thru the season at this point. Just a shell of the player we once knew.

 

[cncchris33]

Okay boys so after sleeping on it, here are some thoughts.

-We’re fine. Just look around college basketball, like 6 or 7 top 10 teams have lost to an unranked team the past two nights. Just the nature of the sport, especially on the road. Regarding last night, I really don’t understand why we didn’t dig down with our guards more, when we did we either forced the ball out of smith’s hands or a turnover. He was too good to just let go 1 on 1 with our bigs most of the night. I would also like to see our rotation expand to at least 9 guys just to avoid foul trouble/fatigue and what does it hurt to see if one of the freshmen can spark something off of the bench? Overall, We’ve got an easy rest of January, got to at least go 4-1 to stay in the SEC race.

I think you might have seen more of that if Hubbard wasn't doing a pretty convincing Chris Lofton impression.

 

[SGMVols]

Agree 100% on doubling down on a big when they’re dominating opposed to sticking to man D.

Then y’all will just complain about other teams getting wide open threes.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Yeah, I don't think this was what anyone signed up for when he (Santi) returned for another year. It has not gone as planned. I know some things have occurred in his personal life, but we are halfway thru the season at this point. Just a shell of the player we once knew.

on offense.

I really wish people would just qualify that their biggest complaint with Santi is he's not scoring.

UNC & Mississippi State he has early foul trouble and we can't keep up offensively or defensively in the 1st half (while he's on the bench). In both games him playing the bulk of the 2nd half allows us to score AND play better defensively.

JJJ is the bigger complaint, unlike Santi he didn't miss time away from the team and didn't have a rougher semester academically. He also leads the team in minutes played, but as always the case with him he will score 3 points and shoot under 30% one game and then 23 the next. So far he's been a no-show in SEC play despite playing 32 mpg in both.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

It's partly his fault because he's forcing the issue a bit much in help defense.

But we've only lost 1 game where Santi played 28 or more minutes and that was Kansas when he scored 21 points and that game ZZ, JJJ, & Mashack were 1-14 for 4 points.

When you play a smaller rotation just cannot have guys offering 0-X from the field and not scoring something.

 

[cncchris33]

on offense.

I really wish people would just qualify that their biggest complaint with Santi is he's not scoring.

UNC & Mississippi State he has early foul trouble and we can't keep up offensively or defensively in the 1st half (while he's on the bench). In both games him playing the bulk of the 2nd half allows us to score AND play better defensively.

JJJ is the bigger complaint, unlike Santi he didn't miss time away from the team and didn't have a rougher semester academically. He also leads the team in minutes played, but as always the case with him he will score 3 points and shoot under 30% one game and then 23 the next. So far he's been a no-show in SEC play despite playing 32 mpg in both.

Well of course I'm speaking of Vescovi's offensive woes, particularly scoring. Didn't think that really needed to be qualified. I didn't say he was playing poorly on defense, so I would have thought it reasonable to assume that there was no issue with the defense other than his penchant for fouling too often.

I'm not sure how you put more blame on JJJ, though. He's having, statistically, the best season of his 5-year career. He's actually driving to the basket, his FG% is at a career high, his 3-pt % is better than his career average, points/rebounds/steals...all career highs, he's turning the ball over at the lowest rate of his career, fouling less, and still playing great defense.

14 against Wisconsin
15 against Syracuse
20 against UNC
12 against Illinois
23 against NC St

What player have you been watching? My goodness...you sound like you're attempting to define his entire season, so far, based on two games played in the last 96 hours.

 

[OrangeInKy]

View attachment 607979

Imagine thinking that predicting Aidoo having a breakout year is some hot take nobody else saw coming. The guy Duke was trying to pull from Knoxville last spring was really a Diamond in the rough. We got ourselves a Sonny Vaccarro on our hands on this board.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Well of course I'm speaking of Vescovi's offensive woes, particularly scoring. Didn't think that really needed to be qualified. I didn't say he was playing poorly on defense, so I would have thought it reasonable to assume that there was no issue with the defense other than his penchant for fouling too often.

I'm not sure how you put more blame on JJJ, though. He's having, statistically, the best season of his 5-year career. He's actually driving to the basket, his FG% is at a career high, his 3-pt % is better than his career average, points/rebounds/steals...all career highs, he's turning the ball over at the lowest rate of his career, fouling less, and still playing great defense.

14 against Wisconsin
15 against Syracuse
20 against UNC
12 against Illinois
23 against NC St

What player have you been watching? My goodness...you sound like you're attempting to define his entire season, so far, based on two games played in the last 96 hours.

Cherry picking JJJ's best games is a bit misleading though don't you think?

He scored 3 against Purdue, played 34 minutes
He scored 4 against Kansas, played 34 minutes
He scored 3 against Miss State, played 33 minutes

My point is, that can't happen with the amount of floor time he's getting. He's played 23 or more minutes in all but 1 game. He's 3rd on the team in FGAs, Santi is struggling but Santi is 6th in FGAs he just isn't taking as many shots (part of that is Gainey and Dalton both being offensive first guys).

So really we need Santi to be getting 3 more shots a night because every seasons he's been a 10+ ppg guy he's taken 9 shots a game. His foul trouble and his early season off the court problems have limited his minutes. But we have to figure that out.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

This forum is just full of misery...we smoke Ole Miss and have basically a complete game.

36 pages to that thread, but bad 1st half and a tough road loss (which most regular bball fans thought could happen) and that thread is at 69 pages and counting....

I don't get it man, why do our fans only wanna show up to bitch & moan and complain about our team/coaches? Frustrates me to no end.

FAIRWEATHER FANS

I was thinking we'd probably be a 7 or 8 loss team this year...and last night's game was the 6th toughest on the schedule in SRS. I feel like we really need to go undefeated going into the game at Rupp. Bama will be a tough out, but we play them here at TBA and they don't have a big that's really dominate like we seem to struggle with.

 

[ndubvols]

Think a part of santi’s struggles this year have been foul trouble early in games. Feels like he’s had 2 first half fouls a lot this year and it really prevents him from getting into any sort of a rythm.

 

[sportsnut624]

Then y’all will just complain about other teams getting wide open threes.

Yep 100%. If we had started doubling the post we would’ve gotten blown out of the gym. The only chance we had to get back into that game was by doing exactly what we were doing. It damn near worked and if we had 3-4 more minutes we probably win. We just dug too big of a hole in the first half.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

This forum is just full of misery...we smoke Ole Miss and have basically a complete game.

36 pages to that thread, but bad 1st half and a tough road loss (which most regular bball fans thought could happen) and that thread is at 69 pages and counting....

I don't get it man, why do our fans only wanna show up to bitch & moan and complain about our team/coaches? Frustrates me to no end.

FAIRWEATHER FANS

I was thinking we'd probably be a 7 or 8 loss team this year...and last night's game was the 6th toughest on the schedule in SRS. I feel like we really need to go undefeated going into the game at Rupp. Bama will be a tough out, but we play them here at TBA and they don't have a big that's really dominate like we seem to struggle with.

The Legion of the Miserables is real.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Loss sucked but some positives, one being everyone and their brother was getting upset this week. Two it's always true, winning on the road in the SEC is a crapshoot and usually tough. And we played like absolute crap in the first half and still almost completed the comeback. We still don't have a bad loss and that's 2 games now (UNC the other) that it looked like we might get run out of the gym and we made a game of it. So we don't give up.

 

[cncchris33]

Cherry picking JJJ's best games is a bit misleading though don't you think?

He scored 3 against Purdue, played 34 minutes
He scored 4 against Kansas, played 34 minutes
He scored 3 against Miss State, played 33 minutes

My point is, that can't happen with the amount of floor time he's getting. He's played 23 or more minutes in all but 1 game. He's 3rd on the team in FGAs, Santi is struggling but Santi is 6th in FGAs he just isn't taking as many shots (part of that is Gainey and Dalton both being offensive first guys).

So really we need Santi to be getting 3 more shots a night because every seasons he's been a 10+ ppg guy he's taken 9 shots a game. His foul trouble and his early season off the court problems have limited his minutes. But we have to figure that out.

Cherry picking his best games? You just tried to define his season based on the two games played in the past week. And I'm being misleading??? Come on, man. I gave almost 3x as many examples as you did AND noted how his averages across the board are at career highs. I could have given more examples but chose to focus on his best games against legit competition. You really want me to go cherry pick Vescovi's worst games to prove my point?

Your entire premise was that I allegedly slighted Santi for not scoring and ignored his great defense, but you're doing the exact same thing with JJJ. Do you think he's been a liability, defensively? He's playing 32 mpg, and he's playing great defense, too. So what if he has an offensive clunker here and there. That's basketball and your argument that it's somehow unique to him is as nonsensical as those who complain about Tennessee going thru 4 and 5-minute scoring droughts as if it were unique to them. JJJ has been as equally effective defensively as SV and much more effective offensively across the entire season. I just don't understand how you could possibly view him as more of a liability thru 15 games. It really feels like your on tilt because he hasn't lit it up in the past two games, one of which we lost, and you're letting that cloud your vision of the reality of the situation.

Santi not getting shots is part of his problem, and a lot of it is self-inflicted as he's passed up a lot open looks. Maybe it's confidence, but you're right...it does need to get figured out.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Cherry picking his best games? You just tried to define his season based on the two games played in the past week. And I'm being misleading??? Come on, man. I gave almost 3x as many examples as you did AND noted how his averages across the board are at career highs. I could have given more examples but chose to focus on his best games against legit competition. You really want me to go cherry pick Vescovi's worst games to prove my point?

Your entire premise was that I allegedly slighted Santi for not scoring and ignored his great defense, but you're doing the exact same thing with JJJ. Do you think he's been a liability, defensively? He's playing 32 mpg, and he's playing great defense, too. So what if he has an offensive clunker here and there. That's basketball and your argument that it's somehow unique to him is as nonsensical as those who complain about Tennessee going thru 4 and 5-minute scoring droughts as if it were unique to them. JJJ has been as equally effective defensively as SV and much more effective offensively across the entire season. I just don't understand how you could possibly view him as more of a liability thru 15 games. It really feels like your on tilt because he hasn't lit it up in the past two games, one of which we lost, and you're letting that cloud your vision of the reality of the situation.

Santi not getting shots is part of his problem, and a lot of it is self-inflicted as he's passed up a lot open looks. Maybe it's confidence, but you're right...it does need to get figured out.

I said "So far he's been a no-show in SEC play despite playing 32 mpg in both." Not defining his season at all and we've only had 2 SEC games so can't really help that.

You're really uppity though, so I'm not going to keep the back and forth going.

Everything about Santi's offensive struggles there's at least some things I can clearly look at for causing it. Lack of attempts, Lack of minutes, off the court issues, missing time early... for JJJ I just don't have those same sort of things to point to and thus his inconsistent play (yet again) is more frustrating to me. We've played 15 games he went for 10 or more in 8 of those games and he scored 8 or less in 7 of them, 3 of our losses happened in those 7 games and all 3 he still played 33 minutes or more and went 3 of 18 (.167%).

Also to the bold points I didn't say you slighted Santi at all, I said I wish people (you included) would qualify that they are frustrated with his offense. Stating he's a " shell of the player we once knew" is far more damning than me saying I'm frustrated with JJJ who even though I expressed frustration with never did I say he was a liability. You're sensationalizing my comments for some reason and I don't get that at all. I'm not doing that to you, why do it to me?

 

[Willy14]

Cherry picking his best games? You just tried to define his season based on the two games played in the past week. And I'm being misleading??? Come on, man. I gave almost 3x as many examples as you did AND noted how his averages across the board are at career highs. I could have given more examples but chose to focus on his best games against legit competition. You really want me to go cherry pick Vescovi's worst games to prove my point?

Your entire premise was that I allegedly slighted Santi for not scoring and ignored his great defense, but you're doing the exact same thing with JJJ. Do you think he's been a liability, defensively? He's playing 32 mpg, and he's playing great defense, too. So what if he has an offensive clunker here and there. That's basketball and your argument that it's somehow unique to him is as nonsensical as those who complain about Tennessee going thru 4 and 5-minute scoring droughts as if it were unique to them. JJJ has been as equally effective defensively as SV and much more effective offensively across the entire season. I just don't understand how you could possibly view him as more of a liability thru 15 games. It really feels like your on tilt because he hasn't lit it up in the past two games, one of which we lost, and you're letting that cloud your vision of the reality of the situation.

Santi not getting shots is part of his problem, and a lot of it is self-inflicted as he's passed up a lot open looks. Maybe it's confidence, but you're right...it does need to get figured out.

I think one of the biggest problem a lot of people are having is that they expect that your 2 5th year seniors that have been in the program for 5 years should not go a combined 2-12 FG and 0-6 3PT. Yes they both played great defensively but if either one of them shoot 30% then we win.

I don’t necessarily hold that philosophy and think that our loss was solely on JJJ and Vescovi, but I can definitely see why people are feeling that way.

My bigger complaint is Gainey playing 9 mins, 0-5 FG, 0-4 3PT (one being an air ball), with a turnover. That is just awful play. I wouldn’t be too critical if this was a one time thing this season (like JJJ last night), but man Gainey has just been bad recently. He makes one of those 3s we win the game.

That being said, there is a lot of instances in the game of “if this happened, then we would have won”, but man it’s hard not to point out Gainey play recently.