The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[cncchris33]

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%).

Really uppity? Because I'm defending my position? OK...

Apologies for not laying down and just letting you have your way on this one.

And while you're not going to keep going back and forth, you then write an entire paragraph continuing the back and forth.

Since you seem intent on focusing on stats from our losses, let's tell the whole story across all four of them.

•Vescovi is 9-24 (37.5%), 31 pts, 10 rebs, 9 assts, 7 stls, 0 blks, 13 fouls...and one benching.

•James is 11-29 (37.9%), 30 pts, 21 rebs, 2 assts, 7 stls, 3 blks, 9 fouls

You seem intent on making every excuse under the sun for Santi's poor offensive play in the majority of our games, and that isn't to say they aren't valid.

•Lack of shots? A lot of that is on him.
•Lack of minutes? Again, why is that? Attitude got him benched at UNC. He only played 22 minutes last night and only had 2 fouls. Why? Outside of those 2 games, he's averaging 29 mpg.

On the other hand, you want to cold-shoulder JJJ for having a handful of poor games, ignoring the fact that he's having the best season of his career and essentially just calling him the same ol' JJJ because of those handful of bad games. And I'm sorry if you can't see it, but from the outside, that just looks like you have an ax to grind with him because he hasn't balled out in all 15 of them. Who hasn't had a bad game, this year? Or a handful of bad games?

I'm just saying that I'd bet donuts to dollars that you are in the heavy minority of people who are satisfied with Vescovi's offensive play, or at least understanding (at a minimum), but also disappointed with JJJ's play as a whole.

 

[cncchris33]

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.

To your point on Gainey, I absolutely agree. He shouldn't be seeing the floor, right now. He has completely fallen off.l the wagon. He at least still defends respectively, but his offense has gone AWOL.

On SV and JJJ, I also agree that we can't be our best when those guys are combining to shoot 17%. And I'm fine holding both accountable. What I'm not fine with is excusing one player's poor play and calling the other the same ol' JJJ, which ignores how improved he is on the whole. Think of it this way...what would our record be without Vescovi, this year, and what would our record be without JJJ. Who has been more valuable to our team, this year?

 

[TheMookieMonster]

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.

I think you are always going to have fans that are far more interested in losses than wins. They get enjoyment out of their internal narratives about our program given ammunition.

With that being said, I also think the timing of the MSU game didn’t help. For those negative “fans”, they see us follow up a complete performance with a dud against an unranked opponent who just lost to a mediocre South Carolina team that got beat by 30 the night before. They see 1-1 already in conference play and instead of thinking “This team has 16 games to get better” they’re thinking about how we already have a loss two games into conference play and Kentucky and Auburn don’t.

I’m not saying I agree with it. If this game happened at the end of January instead of the beginning and we played Georgia and Florida first and pick up a few more wins before our first loss, maybe the ire is a little lighter. Although probably not.

I’ve said a few times (like most of you all) the goal should be 6-1 in January. Well, we have 5 very winnable games left on the schedule this month and 4 of them are basically home games (Vandy on the road).

If we win this weekend, 6-1 feels very possible and we’ll be right back near the Top 5 again.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Yep 6-1 and at Mississippi State was the loss (for me at least) when looking at January.

We're a good team, but we're not a great team so digging a double digit hole against any quality team, especially on the road isn't going to win us many games.

 

[cardvolfan]

The offense was frustrating, but im mostly annoyed with our defense. Yes, Hubbard going for 25 on some insane makes will probably not happen again this year. That said, we did not defend well at all for the majority of the game, even outside of Tolu kicking our asses inside. The only time we defended well was in the press. If we defend like we normally do, this is a 10+ point win. This miss state team nearly scoring 80 on our defense is unacceptable.

Good points. For me, it was concerning hearing Barnes post game last night saying he believed going into this game that Aidoo and/or Awaka would absolutely be able to handle Tolu defensively. Said he’s surprised they didn’t. Myself and @The Dog have been Aidoo’s biggest fans since the beginning, but he does get pushed around with bigger guys pretty regularly. His strength is length and athleticism, but definitely not so good against strength and girth.

That being said, Smith has absolutely improved his game, as if he wasn’t already a force. He was beast last night. I was just surprised he got the best of us too often. I thought our game plan on him was off a bit.

 

[berryvol]

Good points. For me, it was concerning hearing Barnes post game last night saying he believed going into this game that Aidoo and/or Awaka would absolutely be able to handle Tolu defensively. Said he’s surprised they didn’t. Myself and @The Dog have been Aidoo’s biggest fans since the beginning, but he does get pushed around with bigger guys pretty regularly. His strength is length and athleticism, but definitely not so good against strength and girth.

That being said, Smith has absolutely improved his game, as if he wasn’t already a force. He was beast last night. I was just surprised he got the best of us too often. I thought our game plan on him was off a bit.

Agreed on all points. I do think finding the press as a means to speed them up and keep them out of the paint worked well and could be a strategy to deploy more going forward - smith was DEAD when we pressed for multiple possessions. Every time the game slowed, he caught his breathe and kicked our ass inside.

 

[cardvolfan]

I think you are always going to have fans that are far more interested in losses than wins. They get enjoyment out of their internal narratives about our program given ammunition.

With that being said, I also think the timing of the MSU game didn’t help. For those negative “fans”, they see us follow up a complete performance with a dud against an unranked opponent who just lost to a mediocre South Carolina team that got beat by 30 the night before. They see 1-1 already in conference play and instead of thinking “This team has 16 games to get better” they’re thinking about how we already have a loss two games into conference play and Kentucky and Auburn don’t.

I’m not saying I agree with it. If this game happened at the end of January instead of the beginning and we played Georgia and Florida first and pick up a few more wins before our first loss, maybe the ire is a little lighter. Although probably not.

I’ve said a few times (like most of you all) the goal should be 6-1 in January. Well, we have 5 very winnable games left on the schedule this month and 4 of them are basically home games (Vandy on the road).

If we win this weekend, 6-1 feels very possible and we’ll be right back near the Top 5 again.

The nature of basketball accounts for so much of this. I don’t like it, but I accept the ebb and flow of a basketball season. Then again, when I was born dinosaurs roamed the earth.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Really uppity? Because I'm defending my position? OK...

Apologies for not laying down and just letting you have your way on this one.

And while you're not going to keep going back and forth, you then write an entire paragraph continuing the back and forth.

Since you seem intent on focusing on stats from our losses, let's tell the whole story across all four of them.

•Vescovi is 9-24 (37.5%), 31 pts, 10 rebs, 9 assts, 7 stls, 0 blks, 13 fouls total minutes played: 100...and one benching.

•James is 11-29 (37.9%), 30 pts, 21 rebs, 2 assts, 7 stls, 3 blks, 9 fouls total minutes played: 139

You seem intent on making every excuse under the sun for Santi's poor offensive play in the majority of our games, and that isn't to say they aren't valid.

•Lack of shots? A lot of that is on him.
•Lack of minutes? Again, why is that? Attitude got him benched at UNC. He only played 22 minutes last night and only had 2 fouls. Why? Outside of those 2 games, he's averaging 29 mpg.

On the other hand, you want to cold-shoulder JJJ for having a handful of poor games, ignoring the fact that he's having the best season of his career and essentially just calling him the same ol' JJJ because of those handful of bad games. And I'm sorry if you can't see it, but from the outside, that just looks like you have an ax to grind with him because he hasn't balled out in all 15 of them. Who hasn't had a bad game, this year? Or a handful of bad games?

I'm just saying that I'd bet donuts to dollars that you are in the heavy minority of people who are satisfied with Vescovi's offensive play, or at least understanding (at a minimum), but also disappointed with JJJ's play as a whole.

I feel like you're trying to prove you're right or something...I don't get it.

The stats you shared are exactly why I'm frustrated though, but you excluded the minutes each played. Also I'm not satisfied with Vescovi's offensive play and haven't said that once. The bold = the uppity tone. Like, why are you swinging that extreme? Hell man I'm not attacking you, you think Santi's a shell of his former self and I don't. I am frustrated by JJJ's inconsistency on offense and you're not. That's the end of the debate really.

Because none of your points are changing my thoughts on JJJ (thus far) into the early season, but his play will. And I'm sure none of my points have changed your opinion of Santi so I see no point in dragging it out. To hopefully clear the air I'm not excusing Santi's offensive struggles but I can point to factors that are causing them and that's all I've shared he is as responsible for those factors as anyone.

Both have to play better moving forward.

 

[cardvolfan]

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.

Agreed. I do agree.

 

[Lefteye]

Good points. For me, it was concerning hearing Barnes post game last night saying he believed going into this game that Aidoo and/or Awaka would absolutely be able to handle Tolu defensively. Said he’s surprised they didn’t. Myself and @The Dog have been Aidoo’s biggest fans since the beginning, but he does get pushed around with bigger guys pretty regularly. His strength is length and athleticism, but definitely not so good against strength and girth.

That being said, Smith has absolutely improved his game, as if he wasn’t already a force. He was beast last night. I was just surprised he got the best of us too often. I thought our game plan on him was off a bit.

No doubt about it. He uses his body well and has a knack for getting to the line. Which was cool last year but he appears to have figured things out there too. And is weird cause his form is still horrendous. lol Kept expecting him to return to old form there last night but he just kept knocking them down.

 

[cardvolfan]

No doubt about it. He uses his body well and has a knack for getting to the line. Which was cool last year but he appears to have figured things out there too. And is weird cause his form is still horrendous. lol Kept expecting him to return to old form there last night but he just kept knocking them down.

Yeah, I watched his form the whole game because I was curious. The one thing that stood out was how he finished his tosses completely out of balance, and on his toes so much he was almost over the line too early. But, if that’s how he makes them, kudos to him for figuring it out.

 

[cncchris33]

I feel like you're trying to prove you're right or something...I don't get it.

The stats you shared are exactly why I'm frustrated though, but you excluded the minutes each played. Also I'm not satisfied with Vescovi's offensive play and haven't said that once. The bold = the uppity tone. Like, why are you swinging that extreme? Hell man I'm not attacking you, you think Santi's a shell of his former self and I don't. I am frustrated by JJJ's inconsistency on offense and you're not. That's the end of the debate really.

Because none of your points are changing my thoughts on JJJ (thus far) into the early season, but his play will. And I'm sure none of my points have changed your opinion of Santi so I see no point in dragging it out. To hopefully clear the air I'm not excusing Santi's offensive struggles but I can point to factors that are causing them and that's all I've shared he is as responsible for those factors as anyone.

Both have to play better moving forward.

I feel like I only got "uppity" (more like snippy) after you accused me of it. The comment you bolded was a response to what I felt was a total mischaracterization of my previous reply. You say you aren't attacking me, but that sure as heck felt like one. So that may be where we got off track. The discussion was pretty civil up to that point, even if you disagreed with my assertions.

As for the players in the discussion, I just don't agree that you have much of an actual leg to stand on in regards to your perceived notion that JJJ has been grossly inconsistent, statistically. I think there is a lot of recency bias (last two games) and some preconceived notions from seasons past that are driving your conclusion. Even the Ole Miss game wasn't the abject failure you seem to believe it was. He had 8 pts on 40% shooting, and 8 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls and 0 TOs. I'll take that almost every night from him if I'm being honest. And if Vescovi were carrying his weight, offensively, that stat line is more than enough for this team to win on most nights, right or wrong?

I think there are 4 games, out of 15, where you can genuinely say JJJ laid an egg, offensively.
•Purdue (1-4 FGs, 3 pts/5 rbs)
•Kansas (1-6 FGs, 4 pts/5 rbs/4 stls)
•Georgia So. (1-5 FGs, 3 pts/8 rbs, 4 TOs)
•Miss. St. (1-8 FGs, 3 pts/6 rbs/2 stls)

In the other 11 games, he's averaged 13.2 pts on 48-103 FGs (46.6%), 7.4 rbs, 2.8 assts., and 1.3 TOs. We probably have 4 more losses without him (Wisconsin, Syracuse, Illinois, NC St.) and his offensive production. Conversely, Illinois is the only game that we won that we would have lost without Vescovi's contributions.

I realize that I'm trying to change your mind and you seem pretty dug in at this point, so it may be a futile effort. But I do feel like I've used an inordinate amount of statistical data to create a profile of my belief while your opinion to this point seems mostly based in your perception and a much more limited statistical viewpoint that helps to foster your perceived narrative.

If you still disagree, then we'll just agree to disagree.

 

[Lefteye]

Yeah, I watched his form the whole game because I was curious. The one thing that stood out was how he finished his tosses completely out of balance, and on his toes so much he was almost over the line too early. But, if that’s how he makes them, kudos to him for figuring it out.

Agreed. I don't care if they Bill Cartwright it over their head backwards as longs as they make em

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I feel like I only got "uppity" (more like snippy) after you accused me of it. The comment you bolded was a response to what I felt was a total mischaracterization of my previous reply. You say you aren't attacking me, but that sure as heck felt like one. So that may be where we got off track. The discussion was pretty civil up to that point, even if you disagreed with my assertions.

As for the players in the discussion, I just don't agree that you have much of an actual leg to stand on in regards to your perceived notion that JJJ has been grossly inconsistent, statistically. I think there is a lot of recency bias (last two games) and some preconceived notions from seasons past that are driving your conclusion. Even the Ole Miss game wasn't the abject failure you seem to believe it was. He had 8 pts on 40% shooting, and 8 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls and 0 TOs. I'll take that almost every night from him if I'm being honest. And if Vescovi were carrying his weight, offensively, that stat line is more than enough for this team to win on most nights, right or wrong?

I think there are 4 games, out of 15, where you can genuinely say JJJ laid an egg, offensively.
•Purdue (1-4 FGs, 3 pts/5 rbs)
•Kansas (1-6 FGs, 4 pts/5 rbs/4 stls)
•Georgia So. (1-5 FGs, 3 pts/8 rbs, 4 TOs)
•Miss. St. (1-8 FGs, 3 pts/6 rbs/2 stls)

In the other 11 games, he's averaged 13.2 pts on 48-103 FGs (46.6%), 7.4 rbs, 2.8 assts., and 1.3 TOs. We probably have 4 more losses without him (Wisconsin, Syracuse, Illinois, NC St.) and his offensive production. Conversely, Illinois is the only game that we won that we would have lost without Vescovi's contributions.

I realize that I'm trying to change your mind and you seem pretty dug in at this point, so it may be a futile effort. But I do feel like I've used an inordinate amount of statistical data to create a profile of my belief while your opinion to this point seems mostly based in your perception and a much more limited statistical viewpoint that helps to foster your perceived narrative.

If you still disagree, then we'll just agree to disagree.

See this is what is bugging me with your replies. You keep ADDING things I've not said. But I'll chalk that up to the fact that a lot of folks in game threads are very critical of JJJ and maybe you're assigning their over the top assertions to me as well.

JJJ has always been inconsistent offensively and it continues to be frustrating for me. That's all I'm saying. Last year his performance against Ole Miss in the Conference tournament is why we beat them and his game at the Hump is why we beat them. Neither of those teams have had a ton of player changes so I guess I expected he would score better against them.

He is absolutely having his best season as a Vol, give me some credit as a numbers guy... I know that, but I also know in SEC play his offense drives our success more than Santi's. We're 24-4 when JJJ scores 14 or more points in his career.

For whatever reason though we seem to lose more when Santi is scoring 14 or more, in 44 games we're 31-13.

Ideally both can score 10+ and we let DK/ZZ be our leading scorers (they to me at least are our two best offensive players).

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Also @cncchris33 I guess really all I'm saying is that JJJ is an amazing player and dude. When he's on he can take over a game on offense and on defense, I just want him to be on. I want it because I've met him and he's put in the work and he deserves to have the type of games DK is having.

So maybe I'm more frustrated because I simply cannot understand WHY JJJ hasn't dropped 25 in a game yet despite having played 123 games for us...It frustrates me that he's got more games as a Vol scoring less than 10 than he does scoring more.

So you're right, I'm carrying previous performances into these last two games a bit. But it's not that I think he should be benched or anything, I'm just frustrated because I want the success for him that he deserves and has earned.

But if your ultimate point is JJJ is playing better offensively than Santi so far, know that I 110% agree with that statement.

 

[cncchris33]

See this is what is bugging me with your replies. You keep ADDING things I've not said. But I'll chalk that up to the fact that a lot of folks in game threads are very critical of JJJ and maybe you're assigning their over the top assertions to me as well.

JJJ has always been inconsistent offensively and it continues to be frustrating for me. That's all I'm saying. Last year his performance against Ole Miss in the Conference tournament is why we beat them and his game at the Hump is why we beat them. Neither of those teams have had a ton of player changes so I guess I expected he would score better against them.

He is absolutely having his best season as a Vol, give me some credit as a numbers guy... I know that, but I also know in SEC play his offense drives our success more than Santi's. We're 24-4 when JJJ scores 14 or more points in his career.

For whatever reason though we seem to lose more when Santi is scoring 14 or more, in 44 games we're 31-13.

Ideally both can score 10+ and we let DK/ZZ be our leading scorers (they to me at least are our two best offensive players).

You previously noted that he scored 8 or less points in 7 of our 8 games as if it were a measure of inconsistency. In the general viewpoint that you perceive him to be inconsistent (your words), I can only draw a conclusion that you find those 7 games to be disappointing due to inconsistency. Since that is nearly half of our games, I would define that as you feeling he was grossly inconsistent. That isn't really me ADDING anything as much as it is me attempting to draw a conclusion from what you are saying. That is what I hear you saying. Perhaps it isn't what you're attempting to say, though.

And in the end, using that word/phrasing is hardly redefining what seems to be your overall belief, is it? At worst, I may be guilty of unintentionally overstating your position, perhaps. Aside from that, though, where do you believe that have I put words in your mouth?

I agree that JJJ has always been inconsistent prior to this season. But just like you can point to reasons for Vescovi, though, I can point to things that have hindered JJJ in previous years, primarily nagging injuries, or his family home burning down. I just think in terms of the entire season, this year, that inconsistency seems to be MUCH less of a concern (I'd call it 4 games). However, from my viewpoint, you seem to be attributing a similar level of frustration from those previous seasons to what amounts to a much lower occurrence of inconsistent performances, this season. And again, that's what I'm hearing you say. I'm not trying to put words in your mouth.

I guess I'm just choosing to be satisfied that he seems to have really cut down on those inconsistent performances. I provided the Ole Miss game from Saturday as an example. You seem to see that as an inconsistent performance, but I don't. He's not a star, he's a role player. I'll take 8 pts, 8 rbs, 4 assts, 2 stls, and 0 TOs from a role player in 31 minutes. And like you, I'm happy with DK and ZZ (and Aidoo) being our primary offensive players on any given night.

 

[cncchris33]

Also @cncchris33 I guess really all I'm saying is that JJJ is an amazing player and dude. When he's on he can take over a game on offense and on defense, I just want him to be on. I want it because I've met him and he's put in the work and he deserves to have the type of games DK is having.

So maybe I'm more frustrated because I simply cannot understand WHY JJJ hasn't dropped 25 in a game yet despite having played 123 games for us...It frustrates me that he's got more games as a Vol scoring less than 10 than he does scoring more.

So you're right, I'm carrying previous performances into these last two games a bit. But it's not that I think he should be benched or anything, I'm just frustrated because I want the success for him that he deserves and has earned.

But if your ultimate point is JJJ is playing better offensively than Santi so far, know that I 110% agree with that statement.

I'm with you. Saw this post after my last reply, so don't think I'm simply continuing to attempt to drive home the point after your last post.

We want the same thing and my apologies if I came across as snarky in earlier replies.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I guess I'm just choosing to be satisfied that he seems to have really cut down on those inconsistent performances. I provided the Ole Miss game from Saturday as an example. You seem to see that as an inconsistent performance, but I don't. He's not a star, he's a role player. I'll take 8 pts, 8 rbs, 4 assts, 2 stls, and 0 TOs from a role player in 31 minutes. And like you, I'm happy with DK and ZZ (and Aidoo) being our primary offensive players on any given night.

Yeah I think we both agree with this ultimately, I felt like JJJ would do more once SEC play started (granted still got 16 games to do that) and his performances against NC State and UNC specifically had me expecting more. So I guess really that's on me and not that he's been inconsistent like in previous seasons, I'll own that.

My expectations based on how much better he's played this season were higher and have been (so far) unmet in SEC play. That goes for Santi as well, but he's had a slightly better result.

I was hopeful Santi/JJJ both would be hitting SEC play with the same spark ZZ has...we need both to do better than a combined total of 24 points in 2 games they've offered.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

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.

I love Santi but stats and what we see on the court don't lie...so far, Santi is having the worst season of his career so far while JJJ is having the best season of his career.

JJJ has exceeded expectations on offense with higher 3-pt shooting %, more points, more rebounds, more assists, more blocks, etc... while still playing a very high level on defense. I can point to some games we won where JJJ's play was a key factor...can't say the same for Santi yet.

And, of course, Santi is getting complaints about his play on offense because he has to score like an All SEC player if we are going to have a great season. Otherwise, we would just play Mashack who would give us more on offense AND defense based on per 40 stats.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

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.

I should have read further before posting my reply...lol

 

[cncchris33]

I should have read further before posting my reply...lol

Yeah, we came to an understanding.

 

[UTvol1fn]

Does anyone know if the Alabama home game time has been confirmed? UTsports.com still showing 12pm or 2pm. ESPN is showing 12pm.

Thanks for any info. I'm trying to decide to book a hotel for Friday night or drive up on Saturday morning from Nashville.

 

[oldaaucoach]

This is an interesting take on the Vols' offensive woes from Last Word On sports. The author points at a lack of scoring at the rim which prevents us from getting to the free throw line.

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[TheMookieMonster]

This is an interesting take on the Vols' offensive woes from Last Word On sports. The author points at a lack of scoring at the rim which prevents us from getting to the free throw line.

MSN

www.msn.com

I wouldn’t say we have “offensive woes”. We played a bad first half but we scored 50 in the 2nd half against a Top 10 KenPom defense and this year our offense is #23 in AdjO which is the highest it’s been since the 2018-2019 squad. And we’re improving each week.

Our defense is directly responsible for 2 of our 4 losses.

 

[cardvolfan]

Does anyone know if the Alabama home game time has been confirmed? UTsports.com still showing 12pm or 2pm. ESPN is showing 12pm.

Thanks for any info. I'm trying to decide to book a hotel for Friday night or drive up on Saturday morning from Nashville.

My understanding is that the Alabama time is still TBD. I‘ve needed to know the same question, but still not sure, apparently.