The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[omghulkhands]

Honestly, I just felt like A&M made their shots and we didn’t. And the Garcia kid rebounded as well as advertised. He isn’t the best in the country by accident.

It wasn’t a panic inducing loss for me. Just one of the typical losses we have every year. That 99% of teams have every year.

This is around the same time of year we lost 4 out of 5 and two of them to buzzer beaters. And that turned into a sweet 16

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It’s exposed the recipe to beat us. We have no answer for teams that slow the tempo of the game down and beat us on the low block.

Conversely it has made it obvious what UT needs to work on to counter that approach. We have a high level staff so it could be resolved despite the offensive struggles and roster deficiencies.

The freshmen haven’t played a lot of minutes, but that also means that there’s not a lot of video on them for opponents to use to focus on exploiting their shortcomings. But I believe that the biggest reason for their minimal minutes is that there’s a huge gap between them and the rotation regulars. Estella has had enough work to be used situationally and apparently Carr is being worked into being a possible contributor. Dilione, Phillips, and DJ might be limited the rest of the way - but it seems like as soon as I say that about somebody they’re on the floor in the next game. I guess matching up with each opponent’s roster is driving freshman minutes.

 

[cncchris33]

Honestly, I just felt like A&M made their shots and we didn’t.

I think that was definitely the story of the 1st half. aTm hit as many 3s in the 1st half as they had in the previous two games, combined. But then they went back to normal in the 2nd, only hitting 3-12. The problem was they just kept getting runs right to the rim and rebounding their misses. They actually shot better overall in the 2nd half.

Garcia is an animal on the boards, but he had double his season average against us.

I think what makes this more than just a bump in the road is that it further illustrates exactly the kind of game plan that is going to beat us. This was the blueprint. Slow things down, limit possessions, and get your guards going downhill against us. This leads to rimshots or kick-outs to open shooters. Now you have to hit those shots, but we will give an ample supply of open looks.

And we clearly don't like to play from behind. You get us down early, you can just about stick a fork in us. At Georgia might be the only game where we fought back and stole one, and that wasn't even a game where we got down early. UNC, MSU, and now A&M...they all punched us in the mouth early and we didn't do enough to respond early.

 

[ColinS]

What is the definition of spamming? Maybe we define it differently

Is he putting a bunch of adds in your inbox

 

[ColinS]

Honestly, I just felt like A&M made their shots and we didn’t. And the Garcia kid rebounded as well as advertised. He isn’t the best in the country by accident.

It wasn’t a panic inducing loss for me. Just one of the typical losses we have every year. That 99% of teams have every year.

This is around the same time of year we lost 4 out of 5 and two of them to buzzer beaters. And that turned into a sweet 16

The concern was not we lost a road game to a good team. I kinda of expected that to be honest. It's that it followed the same road map to most of our other loses and the poor showing in the second half of the Tarleton St game. Slow it down and get physical with our small lineups and watch us wilt. This has not been the typical physical Coach Barnes team. We used to be the team doing that to the opponent.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

The concern was not we lost a road game to a good team. I kinda of expected that to be honest. It's that it followed the same road map to most of our other loses and the poor showing in the second half of the Tarleton St game. Slow it down and get physical with our small lineups and watch us wilt. This has not been the typical physical Coach Barnes team. We used to be the team doing that to the opponent.

Barnes has spoke about this already…we need to be able to put 80 points a game not be the team we were last year beating teams by only scoring 65.

The team wants to win in march…obviously it didn’t work that night but that happens in basketball

 

[CornbreadVol]

Only dropped two spots in the AP

 

[ColinS]

Barnes has spoke about this already…we need to be able to put 80 points a game not be the team we were last year beating teams by only scoring 65.

The team wants to win in march…obviously it didn’t work that night but that happens in basketball

I don't disagree with this but we need to have an answer for this or we are gonna keep seeing it. We need to get the game going up and down and force them to guard us in space. This just isn't a grind it out team.

 

[IndianapolisVol]

Might be an unpopular opinion, because it doesn’t necessarily help with our size issue against opponents like aTm, but an in-game adjustment I’d like to see more of is sliding Mashack down to the 4. He plays physical and he’s a great defender. We’ve already seen what JJJ gives us defending the 4, I’d like to see Mashack get more opportunities there.

 

[DowntownVol]

Honestly, I just felt like A&M made their shots and we didn’t. And the Garcia kid rebounded as well as advertised. He isn’t the best in the country by accident.

It wasn’t a panic inducing loss for me. Just one of the typical losses we have every year. That 99% of teams have every year.

This is around the same time of year we lost 4 out of 5 and two of them to buzzer beaters. And that turned into a sweet 16

How dare you be reasonable about this!

 

[fear]

 

[cncchris33]

Wow...you won't see Barnes much more explicit than that.

 

[IndianapolisVol]

Wow...you won't see Barnes much more explicit than that.

Great drill, though

 

[CAVPUT]

Dilione, Phillips, and DJ might be limited the rest of the way

The only way those guys could be more "limited" is to not let them dress out. I'm dumbfounded that athletes like DIllione and DJ can't get on the floor. Both are in their second years in the program. Dillione was even being discussed as a NBA first rounder. How long does it take his type of injury to heal? A full year? Does it take 3+ years to get on the floor with Barnes? Were they misses in recruiting? Inconceivable that athletes like that can't give you better minutes than Gainey at least on the defensive end and maybe on the boards.

 

[CornbreadVol]

The only way those guys could be more "limited" is to not let them dress out. I'm dumbfounded that athletes like DIllione and DJ can't get on the floor. Both are in their second years in the program. Dillione was even being discussed as a NBA first rounder. How long does it take his type of injury to heal? A full year? Does it take 3+ years to get on the floor with Barnes? Were they misses in recruiting? Inconceivable that athletes like that can't give you better minutes than Gainey at least on the defensive end and maybe on the boards.

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think Dillione was billed as an elite athlete. More of a crafty shot creator who can score. We have seen him exposed on defense numerous times this year however, I am sure the injury definitely played a part in that

 

[SoullessGinger32_]

Honestly, I just felt like A&M made their shots and we didn’t. And the Garcia kid rebounded as well as advertised. He isn’t the best in the country by accident.

It wasn’t a panic inducing loss for me. Just one of the typical losses we have every year. That 99% of teams have every year.

This is around the same time of year we lost 4 out of 5 and two of them to buzzer beaters. And that turned into a sweet 16

Stop making sense. The vol fans out there that haven't watched enough college basketball in their life and freak out over every regular season loss that really has no bearing on the big dance will tell you otherwise. Fahr Barnes!

 

[CAVPUT]

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think Dillione was billed as an elite athlete. More of a crafty shot creator who can score. We have seen him exposed on defense numerous times this year however, I am sure the injury definitely played a part in that

I'd have to assume he's an exceptional athlete if the NBA was looking at him as a first rounder...assuming reports were correct. I do know that Jefferson is likely the best athlete on the roster. The only thing that makes sense....kind of...is that they just aren't mentally able to grasp what's being asked of them. Again, as they're in their second years, that's hard to imagine. Just the sheer number of games, practices, reps....how do you not pick things up by this point? Maybe they don't start over the vets, but with fouls, injuries, fatigue, blowouts....and they still sit? Just don't get it. I have to assume that they've already disconnected and they're out the door at seasons end. Barnes is all about "development", but when you don't play guys and they end up leaving, how does that work? Now he's gonna start over with some freshmen and grab a guy or three from the portal. The cycle starts all over again. Just sad that in the one year we have with Knecht, JJJ and Vescovi decide to turtle up and the youngsters on the bench never got the development to help us in some way. JJJ I never expected to change. Vescovi is a real head scratcher. Really thought he'd go nuts with Knecht drawing so much attention. Just his drives should draw a defender and give tons of kickouts to an open Vescovi. Never dreamed he'd be unable or unwilling to pull the trigger. Season isn't over so I'm not giving up on these guys although some will accuse me of it. Having said that, my Tenn Cup is securely in place. History is a great teacher. Learn from it or repeat it. Just hope we don't walk into a Valentine's Day massacre on Wed. That is not a friendly place for the Vols.

 

[CAVPUT]

Honestly, I just felt like A&M made their shots and we didn’t. And the Garcia kid rebounded as well as advertised. He isn’t the best in the country by accident.

It wasn’t a panic inducing loss for me. Just one of the typical losses we have every year. That 99% of teams have every year.

This is around the same time of year we lost 4 out of 5 and two of them to buzzer beaters. And that turned into a sweet 16

The flipside is that it is "the same time of year". The defensive numbers are slipping and teams are "making shots". The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[walkenvol]

It’s exposed the recipe to beat us. We have no answer for teams that slow the tempo of the game down and beat us on the low block.

Outside of Purdue, I thought we lost to teams with guards who can drive the lane and score at the rim, when we contract our D to defend the drive they kick or to shoot a 3. That’s what beat us vs SC and A&M.

 

[walkenvol]

Glad Barnes finally listened to me! I’ve been calling for it all season.

 

[CAVPUT]

Outside of Purdue, I thought we lost to teams with guards who can drive the lane and score at the rim, when we contract our D to defend the drive they kick or to shoot a 3. That’s what beat us vs SC and A&M.

So we need to avoid teams that have guards we can't stay in front of and teams with big, physical posts? Yikes. Kinda hard to imagine a draw that favorable landing in our laps. Unless we go on a run of runs, with this roster, that kind of consistency seems like wishful thinking.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

So we need to avoid teams that have guards we can't stay in front of and teams with big, physical posts? Yikes. Kinda hard to imagine a draw that favorable landing in our laps. Unless we go on a run of runs, with this roster, that kind of consistency seems like wishful thinking.

It’s truly a miracle we have any quality wins, no clue how we’ve done it.

 

[knoxvol52]

Vols still a #2 seed in Midwest bracket

Starting in Charlotte. Per Joe Lunardi

 

[IndianapolisVol]

Outside of Purdue, I thought we lost to teams with guards who can drive the lane and score at the rim, when we contract our D to defend the drive they kick or to shoot a 3. That’s what beat us vs SC and A&M.

Not necessarily arguing your point here, I think everyone on this board would agree with you. But a big reason why an outside shooter was open during some of those possessions was because they got the offensive rebound and kicked it out. Against SC it seemed like we fell into a trap where Dalton and JJJ were sucked into the paint on defense either to double team because of spacing/motion and a shooter was able to creep back to the corner and get an open look.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Yet, we have a #8 AP ranking and have played one of the most challenging schedules in the country.

The first 22 games without a double digit loss. 5 losses (4, 9, 8, 5, 4) by an average of 6 points plus one debacle in Texas by 16. Fahr Barnes! Bench Santi and JJJ! Put all the freshmen in the games! Don’t bother accepting an NCAAT bid since we’re going 1-1 at best!