The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[CornbreadVol]

Still standing by my 13-5 prediction. I know that 3-2 is not ideal but I think we will get it together. I think we go 2-2 in our road games @ms state, @txam, @Auburn, @UK and hold serve at home. If we do that then that leaves us room for 1 more loss which can come at anytime. Everyone needs to take a chill pill, losing at vandy sucks but it’s not the end of the world. One thing that I wish would happen is for Igor to be more aggressive. He can shoot it and when teams start to crowd him, he has a quick first step and can get to the rim. I think he is one of our most complete players that we’ve had in the Barnes era.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Crazy, the LV lose by 1 at Vandy the day after the men lose by 1 at Vandy.

 

[gainesvol82]

Im not there. I think he will get back there.

I don't see him getting back to OOC play form but around 15ppg on efficient shooting is all we need and I do think he can get back to providing that in most games.

 

[OrangeInKy]

I don't see him getting back to OOC play form but around 15ppg on efficient shooting is all we need and I do think he can get back to providing that in most games.

Yeah, I think he’s getting too much flack. His OOC numbers likely wouldn’t continue. He’s not Dalton Knecht and people need to accept it. He also doesn’t need to be.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I haven’t said anywhere we’re going 9-9. I said my opinion has shifted to 11-7 and that I think that’s likely to land us a 3/4 seed. But, I can see that as per usual if my opinion isn’t in lock step with the sunshine and rainbows crew it’s not welcome (not that I think predicting a 3/4 seed is fair to be looped in with the doom and gloom crowd) so I guess I’ll just keep my opinion to myself for now on. Have fun.

No that’s fine, I missed in this thread where you said 11-7, I haven’t lurked around because this place has turned miserable, so if you said that elsewhere apologies. With that said, I don’t think 11-7 lands as as 4 seed, and if were a 3 seed I feel like that’s hard to really b!tch about, but I’m sure folks will.

 

[gainesvol82]

Meaning how we’ve played has changed my personal opinion of this team’s ceiling. I don’t think we’re a 1/2. Probably closer to a ceiling of a 3/4 by end of the season. We still have 4 road games against Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. Not sure we win any of those at this point based on how we’re playing and our lack of consistency from game to game.

That means we’d have to be perfect at home essentially to meet that 12-6 record and beat both LSU and Oklahoma on the road.

Do you feel that this team's best basketball is behind them and the team we've gotten in early conference play is who we will be by the end?

I don't. Milicic is continuing to improve in all facets and is shooting a good percentage from 3 but I think he is steadily going to improve to a consistent 15+ppg and continue rebounding and defending very well. ZZ is shooting better and is the best overall player on the floor in most games. Dubai has flashed and has plenty of room to contribute more. Gainey is finally who we hoped and Felix continues to raise his ceiling. Cade and Jahmai will heal and play better and Chaz will settle in.

We will lose more but I really like our makeup. Outside of foul depth and no backup PG in pressure situations I think we are a high level roster thats's built to be in any game, win many convincingly and have most of our handful of losses be close games we have opportunities to win.

 

[walkenvol]

No that’s fine, I missed in this thread where you said 11-7, I haven’t lurked around because this place has turned miserable, so if you said that elsewhere apologies. With that said, I don’t think 11-7 lands as as 4 seed, and if were a 3 seed I feel like that’s hard to really b!tch about, but I’m sure folks will.

At some point you’re going to accept that the majority of Vol fans are of the Ricky Bobby mentality of “if you ain’t first, you’re last”. It’s not a recent trend as Coach Majors tagged the “Legions of the Miserable”. The BB forum doesn’t have many of them posting in the off season which leads to more reasoned discussion but when the games start the “ L of M” flood in especially after a loss. Is what it is and no amount of reason or stats will change their hyper critical perceptions. JMO, TIFWIW

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

I am still fuming over the Vandy loss because of why we lost...inexcusable to score 70+ and for this team to still lose. Our identity is playing hard nosed defense but we didn't do that against Vandy and that's on both the coaches and players. Having said that, it was a 1 pt loss on the road to a Top 50 KP team so, no, we shouldn't freak out, disparage our coaches or our players, bench Chaz, or any of the other nonsense that is being mentioned. What we need is for this team which consists of 4 first year players (3 of whom start) to continue to grow and develop so that we peak at the right time (which is not Jan btw). GBO

 

[walkenvol]

What I feared at the start of the season has become our Achilles heel - no post scoring threat. Losing JP created a hole in our roster we can’t fill. By not having a skilled post player who can consistently score with his back to the basket, we allow our opponents to focus their D on the perimeter which is making it tougher to get clean looks. CRB is attempting to design our offense to our strengths, but it really limits his options and eliminates the inside out game short of guys driving the lane and kicking. It would make things easier to have a post player who demanded a double team allowing us to get our opponents in defensive rotations on the perimeter leading to open 3’s. Will be interesting to follow how CRB continues to tweak the game plan. Sure wish Tobe would have stayed. JMO, TIFWIW

 

[cncchris33]

I guess. Just a frustrating loss. Few teams worse in this league than Vandy. Yeah, it’s a road game, but that’s a very average team. I have no idea how to feel about our squad right now. Zero consistency from game to game in what to expect. Feels like the 2022-2023 squad that ended up a 4-seed and finished 5th in conference in a much worse SEC.

Maybe we can figure it out, but didn’t think we’d get blasted by 30 by Florida and beat by Vandy in the first 5 games of league play. I guess we can kiss repeating as SEC champs goodbye.

I can appreciate a middle-ground view of our team. It's exactly how I feel. This forum has just become nearly unbearable to voice an opinion that isn't either effusive praise and blind faith of our team (players and coaches), or just a rip job/burn it to the ground type viewpoint.

Like you, I don't know what to think of our team. One week, they look like total grinders on defense, the next week they look like they have no interest in defending. Offensively, they are either locked in and executing or they are just totally checked out. We have serious depth concerns. We go into deep offensive holes where we can't score. And now, defense is optional, apparently.

This is a team that can beat anyone on any given night in the SEC, but unfortunately, I think they are also a team that could lose to any SEC team on any given night.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I can appreciate a middle-ground view of our team. It's exactly how I feel. This forum has just become nearly unbearable to voice an opinion that isn't either effusive praise and blind faith of our team (players and coaches), or just a rip job/burn it to the ground type viewpoint.

Like you, I don't know what to think of our team. One week, they look like total grinders on defense, the next week they look like they have no interest in defending. Offensively, they are either locked in and executing or they are just totally checked out. We have serious depth concerns. We go into deep offensive holes where we can't score. And now, defense is optional, apparently.

This is a team that can beat anyone on any given night in the SEC, but unfortunately, I think they are also a team that could lose to any SEC team on any given night.

Outside of Auburn doesn’t that fit every SEC team to this point though, even those projected as 1 or 2 seeds currently? Florida lost to Missouri, Alabama lost to Ole Miss, Ole Miss lost to Mississippi State, Kentucky lost to Georgia etc etc

 

[cncchris33]

Outside of Auburn doesn’t that fit every SEC team to this point though, even those projected as 1 or 2 seeds currently? Florida lost to Missouri, Alabama lost to Ole Miss, Ole Miss lost to Mississippi State, Kentucky lost to Georgia etc etc

Ole Miss, Mississippi St, and Georgia are all ranked teams.

But yeah, there isn't much shame in losing on the road in the SEC.

That wasn't really the point, though. The point was that the games we had penciled in as wins early on don't feel quite as certain anymore. And that has almost everything to do with the jekyll and hyde way we are currently playing more so than anything the rest of the SEC is doing.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Ole Miss, Mississippi St, and Georgia are all ranked teams.

But yeah, there isn't much shame in losing on the road in the SEC.

That wasn't really the point, though. The point was that the games we had penciled in as wins early on don't feel quite as certain anymore. And that has almost everything to do with the jekyll and hyde way we are currently playing more so than anything the rest of the SEC is doing.

TBH, I also thought at Texas would be a loss.

The only shocking thing to me was how bad we played at Florida. Losing to them or at Vandy weren’t terribly surprising. But by 30 on the worst shooting night of a Rick Barnes team was not expected.

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

18 of the Top 25 teams lost this past week

 

[cncchris33]

TBH, I also thought at Texas would be a loss.

The only shocking thing to me was how bad we played at Florida. Losing to them or at Vandy weren’t terribly surprising. But by 30 on the worst shooting night of a Rick Barnes team was not expected.

Yeah, there's not a "bad" team in the SEC. So no loss is going to be considered embarrassing or damaging to your résumé. But like I said, if we had aspirations of a 1-seed, and we started penciling in wins on our schedule, I don't feel as comfortable with several of those games I thought we'd win.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

I can appreciate a middle-ground view of our team. It's exactly how I feel. This forum has just become nearly unbearable to voice an opinion that isn't either effusive praise and blind faith of our team (players and coaches), or just a rip job/burn it to the ground type viewpoint.

Like you, I don't know what to think of our team. One week, they look like total grinders on defense, the next week they look like they have no interest in defending. Offensively, they are either locked in and executing or they are just totally checked out. We have serious depth concerns. We go into deep offensive holes where we can't score. And now, defense is optional, apparently.

This is a team that can beat anyone on any given night in the SEC, but unfortunately, I think they are also a team that could lose to any SEC team on any given night.

No one should be happy with how we started SEC play but, at the same time, we only have 2 losses and we have room to gel and get better.

 

[JelloPuddinPup]

Looks like we stayed at #6.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Ole Miss, Mississippi St, and Georgia are all ranked teams.

But yeah, there isn't much shame in losing on the road in the SEC.

That wasn't really the point, though. The point was that the games we had penciled in as wins early on don't feel quite as certain anymore. And that has almost everything to do with the jekyll and hyde way we are currently playing more so than anything the rest of the SEC is doing.

Maybe that’s where I vary, I said pre league play that there weren’t really any gimmies on the schedule (games I’d pencil in), to me it felt like going 8-1/9-0 at home and stealing 3-4 on the road along the way would be the most likely outcome and strategy, I haven’t really seen anything to move off that thought process.

 

[VolCalls]

Looks like we stayed at #6.

Sure did, and only dropped to #7 in the coaches poll. Just as the rational ones on this board predicted.

 

[cncchris33]

Maybe that’s where I vary, I said pre league play that there weren’t really any gimmies on the schedule (games I’d pencil in), to me it felt like going 8-1/9-0 at home and stealing 3-4 on the road along the way would be the most likely outcome and strategy, I haven’t really seen anything to move off that thought process.

If we are being honest, I think when we both went down the schedule predicting wins and losses, we both probably counted @_Vandy as a win as one of those 3 or 4 you steal on the road. Road games at Vandy, Oklahoma, LSU, and Ole Miss were probably the best chances. So losing at Vandy spoils winning at Texas. Or maybe the glass-half-full view is that winning at Texas helps cancel the loss at Vandy.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

If we are being honest, I think when we both went down the schedule predicting wins and losses, we both probably counted @_Vandy as a win as one of those 3 or 4 you steal on the road. Road games at Vandy, Oklahoma, LSU, and Ole Miss were probably the best chances. So losing at Vandy spoils winning at Texas. Or maybe the glass-half-full view is that winning at Texas helps cancel the loss at Vandy.

I’ve been around long enough to know that things rarely go to plan to where you can correctly predict 31 outcomes, or all 18 in league play. Yes at Vandy would’ve likely been on the top half of more likely wins, but at Texas probably lower half, so yes a wash to me. As I’ve said winning at Vandy would’ve been nice early season boost to probably give us more wiggle room, I get that’s what adds to the frustration was it was there to be taken, but for now they’re still right on the projections that most had preseason.

 

[Vol49er]

If we are being honest, I think when we both went down the schedule predicting wins and losses, we both probably counted @_Vandy as a win as one of those 3 or 4 you steal on the road. Road games at Vandy, Oklahoma, LSU, and Ole Miss were probably the best chances. So losing at Vandy spoils winning at Texas. Or maybe the glass-half-full view is that winning at Texas helps cancel the loss at Vandy.

Yeah idk that that’s a good approach. Zeroing in on an individual game here or there at the exclusion of the larger picture doesn’t make a lot of sense. I realize we only have five conference games to go off of rn, but we do have road wins over two currently ranked teams in the non conference as well

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah idk that that’s a good approach. Zeroing in on an individual game here or there at the exclusion of the larger picture doesn’t make a lot of sense. I realize we only have five conference games to go off of rn, but we do have road wins over two currently ranked teams in the non conference as well

We do, and I don't want to discount those wins, and they are cases to point at where we can see what we are capable of doing.

 

[knoxvol52]

After losing to Vanderbilt


"Totally unacceptable"
"Lanier is killing us"
"No better than a#5 seed"
"Wont make it thru first weekend of Tournament "
"Ranking will drop"




VolNation ~prolly

 

[Orange.]

18 of the Top 25 teams lost this past week

“Inexcusable,” whatever that means.