The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[gainesvol82]

May have already been said but I really liked how Dillione played against a Bama team with some elite guards. He seems to be buying in on defense, facilitating the offense when needed without trying to hard and contributing just enough offense to help when Barnes rests ZZ. He is creative with getting his shot but nothing has really stood out about his game good or bad. I like that because he can focus on developing instead of fixing problem areas. Turnovers will decrease and assists will increase with experience.

Not sure he is a true PG but can play the position when needed and might develop into one. I really like having him on the court with Knecht and Mashack or Gainey. It takes pressure off him to start the offense, be the primary ball handler, the primary defender or scorer.. He's average athletically but seems like a high IQ player that will continue to improve this year and be ready to really contribute next year. I think he sticks around (probably the JJJ route minus Covid year), takes the hard coaching and becomes a very solid SEC guard with potential for a higher all-SEC ceiling.

I see him most likely thriving in a role similar to Vescovi.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Dreaming of Dalton Knecht getting some Jodie Meeks revenge and dropping 54 points in Rupp on way to a Wildcat beatdown. I remember being at that game and damn did it suck. Been wanting to see a Vol have that type of performance in Rupp for a long time.

 

[CornbreadVol]

Kind of random but while I do understand Barnes’ philosophy on having a player sit for the rest of the 1st half if he picks up 2 fouls, I feel like Vescovi should be the exception. It seems like he always picks up a quick 2 and then finishes with 2 or 3 fouls. I feel like Barnes should trust his veteran. He’s too valuable to have sit that long.

 

[BallerVolFan]

Always love beating Bama. Especially when it’s combined with their misery post-Saban era. Loved the intensity especially on the defensive end, it’s not as easy as we made it look defending a guard-oriented team like Bama but that’s just how well our guys play defensively when they’ve got the intensity maxed out. One thing I would like to see tho is for Awaka to be a little smarter when it comes to fouls. We’re going to end up needing him for longer than 2-3 mins as the season goes on. There will be some games where Aidoo gets in foul trouble or needs a break and we can’t have Awaka picking up 2 fouls as soon as he comes in. I know it’s just a result of him playing extremely hard and physical but we’re gonna need a few more minutes from him in some games to give Jonas a spell.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Kind of random but while I do understand Barnes’ philosophy on having a player sit for the rest of the 1st half if he picks up 2 fouls, I feel like Vescovi should be the exception. It seems like he always picks up a quick 2 and then finishes with 2 or 3 fouls. I feel like Barnes should trust his veteran. He’s too valuable to have sit that long.

I definitely think he could be more open to the idea…on Saturday it’s not as if we struggled in the first half so I get the reason to not risk it, but in a close game I would definitely like to see more of a willingness to trust his guys not to pick up that 3rd.

 

[walkenvol]

Kind of random but while I do understand Barnes’ philosophy on having a player sit for the rest of the 1st half if he picks up 2 fouls, I feel like Vescovi should be the exception. It seems like he always picks up a quick 2 and then finishes with 2 or 3 fouls. I feel like Barnes should trust his veteran. He’s too valuable to have sit that long.

Then why can’t he trust him to not pick up a quick 2 fouls in the first half? If he has to change his style of play to avoid a third foul then his replacement with zero fouls might be the better option in CRB’s view?

 

[omghulkhands]

we are ranked Top 4 in NET, KenPom and TeamRankings

Which should be good for about a 3 seed with the committee

 

[TheMookieMonster]

we are ranked Top 4 in NET, KenPom and TeamRankings

Which should be good for about a 3 seed with the committee

Lol. Yeah, that’s typically how it goes.

But I do think our resume is particularly strong already so as long as we take care of business the rest of the season I can’t see us being lower than a 2-seed.

Huge “if” though. Can’t drop any road games to the bottom of the league.

 

[YankeeVol]

we are ranked Top 4 in NET, KenPom and TeamRankings

Which should be good for about a 3 seed with the committee

3 might be a little high

 

[cncchris33]

Then why can’t he trust him to not pick up a quick 2 fouls in the first half? If he has to change his style of play to avoid a third foul then his replacement with zero fouls might be the better option in CRB’s view?

This! How about your 5th yr senior just stops committing stupid fouls, instead? It isn't like the majority of those fouls are purely hustle plays or situations where he's simply trying to prevent an easy basket. They are dumb, undisciplined fouls (silly reach-ins, mostly) that a sophomore has no business committing, let alone a 5th yr senior. And he just continues to do it game after game.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

This! How about your 5th yr senior just stops committing stupid fouls, instead? It isn't like the majority of those fouls are purely hustle plays or situations where he's simply trying to prevent an easy basket. They are dumb, undisciplined fouls (silly reach-ins, mostly) that a sophomore has no business committing, let alone a 5th yr senior. And he just continues to do it game after game.

Yeah it’s my biggest complaint about Santi. 90% of what he does is great for the team, but it’s dumbfounding how frequently he picks up 2 fouls in the first 10 minutes of the first half.

He’s way too important to keep doing that. Especially on the road. You don’t have to look far to see the consequences of the low IQ fouls he makes. A big part of Georgia’s run took place when we played weird lineups down the stretch of the first half because he was on the bench.

Most of MSU’s success came from his foul trouble as well if I recall correctly. Even when he isn’t scoring he holds this team together. So if he isn’t on the court he’s hurting this team. You would think he would remember that.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

RB bringing him to the bench and refusing to send back in ... will send a message that even a 5th year senior can't miss.
He will get it ... he is just a little slow on the uptake.
I think he is doing dumb stuff ... because he wants it (to win and bring home an NCAAT trophy) so bad and he is trying to do too much. I'm not going to fault him on those two fronts.
However, I believe he will start playing more within himself going forward. I think the team is getting closer to a balanced approach and that will calm his down. :^)

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah it’s my biggest complaint about Santi. 90% of what he does is great for the team, but it’s dumbfounding how frequently he picks up 2 fouls in the first 10 minutes of the first half.

He’s way too important to keep doing that. Especially on the road. You don’t have to look far to see the consequences of the low IQ fouls he makes. A big part of Georgia’s run took place when we played weird lineups down the stretch of the first half because he was on the bench.

Most of MSU’s success came from his foul trouble as well if I recall correctly. Even when he isn’t scoring he holds this team together. So if he isn’t on the court he’s hurting this team. You would think he would remember that.

And the most puzzling thing is that he is such a high IQ player in every other phase of the game. But when it comes to fouls, his IQ is just absent.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Yeah it’s my biggest complaint about Santi. 90% of what he does is great for the team, but it’s dumbfounding how frequently he picks up 2 fouls in the first 10 minutes of the first half.

He’s way too important to keep doing that. Especially on the road. You don’t have to look far to see the consequences of the low IQ fouls he makes. A big part of Georgia’s run took place when we played weird lineups down the stretch of the first half because he was on the bench.

Most of MSU’s success came from his foul trouble as well if I recall correctly. Even when he isn’t scoring he holds this team together. So if he isn’t on the court he’s hurting this team. You would think he would remember that.

You would think Barnes wouldn’t let him forget it… Maybe sit his azz down after the first one?

 

[TheMookieMonster]

You would think Barnes wouldn’t let him forget it… Maybe sit his azz down after the first one?

We’re 18 games into his 5th year in the program. If he hasn’t learned by now, he isn’t going to change. So sitting him earlier to “teach him a lesson” would only hurt the team. Just have to deal with it the rest of the season and at least hope in the bigger games he refrains from taking unnecessary risks.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I could be wrong...but I wonder if Santi's uptick in fouls this year has been because he's typically guarding the other team's best offensive player with ZZ focusing on the PG and JJJ now moved to the 4 with Mashack on the bench.

Cause I've noticed that usually Santi/Mashack get that assignment and the officials normally call things closer (unless you're DK and wearing Orange and White).

It's just more obvious because Santi has always played physical and picks up fouls. Last year it dipped to just 1.9 fouls called a game, it's back up to 2.9 this year (2nd most in his career). And the biggest on court change is that Mashack isn't starting (he started 13 to end last year) and we've seen JJJ moved to the 4 exclusively this year.

Much like you can't ask Barnes to change his style I don't think they're going to ask Santi to change his either...but he does commit some bad fouls and it's annoying that in his 5th year he's not gotten better about avoiding those.

 

[Volprofch05]

 

[berryvol]

I could be wrong...but I wonder if Santi's uptick in fouls this year has been because he's typically guarding the other team's best offensive player with ZZ focusing on the PG and JJJ now moved to the 4 with Mashack on the bench.

Cause I've noticed that usually Santi/Mashack get that assignment and the officials normally call things closer (unless you're DK and wearing Orange and White).

It's just more obvious because Santi has always played physical and picks up fouls. Last year it dipped to just 1.9 fouls called a game, it's back up to 2.9 this year (2nd most in his career). And the biggest on court change is that Mashack isn't starting (he started 13 to end last year) and we've seen JJJ moved to the 4 exclusively this year.

Much like you can't ask Barnes to change his style I don't think they're going to ask Santi to change his either...but he does commit some bad fouls and it's annoying that in his 5th year he's not gotten better about avoiding those.

I don’t have the data to back this up, but even last year it seemed Santi would pick up 2 fouls in the first half every other game. He seems to have an uncanny ability to not foul at all in the second half, which I think drives his overall foul average down. I’d love to see his foul per half average over his career.

 

[Volprofch05]

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I'll also say that last year's team was better overall defensively and at playing team defense.

Cause we only averaged 16.6 fouls called a game, it's at 17.4 right now. Part of that is having played more blue bloods.

The good news is that it's forcing guys like Gainey & Freddie to get more minutes. We also have the luxury that Mashack can come in and play just as well as Santi has been (since Santi's being asked to score less).

Now...Awaka that's gotta be something you're trying to coach out of him. He's leading the team in fouls per minute played. Still young in his career so hopefully an area we see him get better at.


Call me glass half full...if we're winning I'm not sure Santi playing 26 mpg is a bad thing if Mashack and Gainey can continue to improve and play well with the extra PT it's giving them.

 

[chuckiepoo]

I'll also say that last year's team was better overall defensively and at playing team defense.

Cause we only averaged 16.6 fouls called a game, it's at 17.4 right now. Part of that is having played more blue bloods.

The good news is that it's forcing guys like Gainey & Freddie to get more minutes. We also have the luxury that Mashack can come in and play just as well as Santi has been (since Santi's being asked to score less).

Now...Awaka that's gotta be something you're trying to coach out of him. He's leading the team in fouls per minute played. Still young in his career so hopefully an area we see him get better at.


Call me glass half full...if we're winning I'm not sure Santi playing 26 mpg is a bad thing if Mashack and Gainey can continue to improve and play well with the extra PT it's giving them.

I think yer narrowing in on CRBs thinking.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I don’t have the data to back this up, but even last year it seemed Santi would pick up 2 fouls in the first half every other game. He seems to have an uncanny ability to not foul at all in the second half, which I think drives his overall foul average down. I’d love to see his foul per half average over his career.

I don't have that data either, but last year he only had 2 games where he reached 4 fouls. It's already at 6 this year.

I think he's doing a bit too much, with ZZ being hurt and DK not being an elite defender you can see Santi forcing the issue and over playing more. Last year with a healthy ZZ/JP/Mashack/JJJ playing so much it didn't seem to be the case.

 

[BallerVolFan]

I don't have that data either, but last year he only had 2 games where he reached 4 fouls. It's already at 6 this year.

I think he's doing a bit too much, with ZZ being hurt and DK not being an elite defender you can see Santi forcing the issue and over playing more. Last year with a healthy ZZ/JP/Mashack/JJJ playing so much it didn't seem to be the case.

Our guys are so locked in on trying to play great defense and they’ve been coached so much on playing physical and I think it sometimes gets the best of them when it comes to fouls. Personally, I’m not going to complain one bit about the way we play defense even though it results in a few more fouls some games. But I do think SOMETIMES it’s better off just letting them score the basket and live to fight another day. Especially for the guys we need on the floor instead of them picking up a stupid foul when you could’ve just given up the 2 points or the extra pass and then got it back on the other end.

 

[The Dog]

I think Vescovi is so competitive and works so hard on the defensive (and offensive) side that he takes it personally when he gets beat and/or scored on. Plus, I think Santi undercover has a little bit of a temper with that Dog in him , he will make a hard foul and/or sneaky contact to set the tone for the game. Like, I'm going to be in your a$$ all night and I'm going to be physical. Some people may call this blasphemy, but Santi Isn't afraid to take a borderline kinda cheap shot, maybe not on purpose. Still, he has that reputation in the SEC and the refs know it . Point being, refs are watching him and quick with the whistle

 

[chuckiepoo]

I think Vescovi is so competitive and works so hard on the defensive (and offensive) side that he takes it personally when he gets beat and/or scored on. Plus, I think Santi undercover has a little bit of a temper with that Dog in him , he will make a hard foul and/or sneaky contact to set the tone for the game. Like, I'm going to be in your a$$ all night and I'm going to be physical. Some people may call this blasphemy, but Santi Isn't afraid to take a borderline kinda cheap shot, maybe not on purpose. Still, he has that reputation in the SEC and the refs know it . Point being, refs are watching him and quick with the whistle

…sneaky Uruguayan…