The Official #1 Tennessee vs. Western Carolina Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, SEC Network+

#255
#255
Lukusw said:
What I hope to see tonight:
1. Igor & Mashack & ZZ get 3-pt mojo back.
2. Boswell & Dubar play meaningful minutes
3. Okpara claim the paint as his own
4. No injuries
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1. Not really, but Mashack at least was taking 3s again. ZZ at least made some free throws.
2. Dubar played great, Boswell played some and got hurt.
3. Okpara owned the paint for sure.
4. Depends how bad Boswell's injury is
 
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#257
#257
OK, so, got back from TBA with some impressions:

1) The Catamounts bombed in a few threes early but then cooled off. Unfortunately, the Vols had real rebounding issues tonight. In fact the Vols didn't have an offensive rebound (despite clanging threes the whole time) until very late in the 1st half. Most of the big guys in Orange seemed to be standing around watching the shot instead of breaking to the goal.

2) The only exceptions to the general laziness were Okpara and Gainey.

3) For the most part, Tennessee played at what can be called "practice speed." I was reminded of the "lolly-gaggin." scene from Bull Durham. Do that in three weeks and the Pigs will run them out of TBA.

4) However, winning by just two points shy of fiddy is quite the statement. Doing so while not playing to potential is, to me, even more meaningful.

5) Having a relatively easy home game after the dramatic win in Champagne may have been just what the Men in Orange #PMS 151 needed.

GBO! #1 BABY!!!!!

20240224_200041.jpg
 
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#259
#259
OneManGang said:
OK, so, got back from TBA with some impressions:

1) The Catamounts bombed in a few threes early but then cooled off. Unfortunately, the Vols had real rebounding issues tonight. In fact the Vols didn't have an offensive rebound (despite clanging threes the whole time) until very late in the 1st half. Most of the big guys in Orange seemed to be standing around watching the shot instead of breaking to the goal.

2) The only exceptions to the general laziness were Okpara and Gainey.

3) For the most part, Tennessee played at what can be called "practice speed." I was reminded of the "lolly-gaggin." scene from Bull Durham. Do that in three weeks and the Pigs will run them out of TBA.

4) However, winning by just two points shy of fiddy is quite the statement. Doing so while not playing to potential is, to me, even more meaningful.

5) Having a relatively easy home game after the dramatic win in Champagne may have been just what the Men in Orange #PMS 151 needed.

GBO! #1 BABY!!!!!

View attachment 707116
Click to expand...
IMG_5820.jpeg
 
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#260
#260
Needed this type of game tonight. Still early in the season, guys are going to get more comfortable as the season goes. ZZ and Mashack are going to be fine. We should be starting to mesh well as we get into January. Just got to stay focused together and keep playing as a team. This team hasn’t reached it’s top potential yet. GBO
 
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#262
#262
Really sluggish atmosphere in TBA tonight. Despite the lack of emotional intensity, in general, we “figured out” a couple of things tonight.

1. Jordan Gainey is going to be a go-to guy for us all year (one of them when needed).
2. D-Stone is a player who lacks no confidence, but is still able to play within the general framework of our offense without going rogue. Simply put, he’s a baller.
3. Cade Phillips continues to polish his game and his upside is huge…..not huge next year, but huge this year. His vision on that assist last night was “wow” level.
4. Mashack can shoot and has to shoot. Not a Chaz-type guy but has to bust the open looks to continue to open up the court for others.
5. Lanier is who he is at this point. He’s a sharpshooter, no doubt. He is our assassin this year.
 
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#264
#264
walkenvol said:
to date, Gainey is looking to be our best 6th man since Bowden played that role unless I’ve forgotten someone?
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Yes, that sounds right. Bowden had a couple of horrendous shooting stretches but was able to work through those. I’m not sure I see Gainey having that bad a slump this year, but we never know when someone will fall off the cliff.
 
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#268
#268
cardvolfan said:
Really sluggish atmosphere in TBA tonight. Despite the lack of emotional intensity, in general, we “figured out” a couple of things tonight.

1. Jordan Gainey is going to be a go-to guy for us all year (one of them when needed).
2. D-Stone is a player who lacks no confidence, but is still able to play within the general framework of our offense without going rogue. Simply put, he’s a baller.
3. Cade Phillips continues to polish his game and his upside is huge…..not huge next year, but huge this year. His vision on that assist last night was “wow” level.
4. Mashack can shoot and has to shoot. Not a Chaz-type guy but has to bust the open looks to continue to open up the court for others.
5. Lanier is who he is at this point. He’s a sharpshooter, no doubt. He is our assassin this year.
Click to expand...
I love how confident Gainey looks now and his ability to drive to the rim is huge. D-stone looks like he's way more comfortable now which helps depth at 4 spot.

ZZ and Igor's shots aren't falling right now. Both you just have to live with because how much other things they do. ZZ obviously he never looks fatigued but I sometimes wonder if with how much energy and effort he expends on defense does that effect his shot. Obviously he's reigning defensive player of the year so 10/10 take the slight inefficiencies on offense for his elite defense and floor managing.
 
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#269
#269
Chaz-Vol said:
I love how confident Gainey looks now and his ability to drive to the rim is huge. D-stone looks like he's way more comfortable now which helps depth at 4 spot.

ZZ and Igor's shots aren't falling right now. Both you just have to live with because how much other things they do. ZZ obviously he never looks fatigued but I sometimes wonder if with how much energy and effort he expends on defense does that effect his shot. Obviously he's reigning defensive player of the year so 10/10 take the slight inefficiencies on offense for his elite defense and floor managing.
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Yes, all great points! I kept telling the spouse last night that we’re beginning to see the second coming of Michael Jordan. I was saying that tongue-in-cheek, but his total game is extremely good now, and his confidence is off-the-charts.
 
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#270
#270
Chaz-Vol said:
I love how confident Gainey looks now and his ability to drive to the rim is huge. D-stone looks like he's way more comfortable now which helps depth at 4 spot.

ZZ and Igor's shots aren't falling right now. Both you just have to live with because how much other things they do. ZZ obviously he never looks fatigued but I sometimes wonder if with how much energy and effort he expends on defense does that effect his shot. Obviously he's reigning defensive player of the year so 10/10 take the slight inefficiencies on offense for his elite defense and floor managing.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Zz shot just don’t look right for the time being , but be honest he don’t have to score a lot for him be effective . Play solid d and break down the opposing defenses on the other end.
 
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#271
#271
I'm not too concerned about last night's "performance"

Quick turn around from what has been our toughest game to date and it was on the road.

Held them to 36 total points, they shot 21.9% from the field and 15.4% from deep. They had 20 turnovers and we as a team had 17 steals.

Not sure what the "lack of rebounding" comment is about, we ended up with 45 on the game 2nd highest in a game all year (UT-Martin was 46).

We shot 46.4% FG despite ZZ's awful night. Felix finished with 9 rebounds, Cade had 7 and Igor grabbed 5 himself, considering all 3 played 23 or less minutes that's pretty good production.

My only "complaint" really is we unfortunately don't have enough depth at the guard spot right now with Carr being hurt and Bishop getting banged up. ZZ, Chaz and Mashack all played 30 minutes or more.

Need a few more "easy" nights like that to help get everyone ready for SEC play. We have a pretty firm 7 man rotation right now (all 7 have played in 11 games). Dubar is working himself into the mix which is great to see we're going to need him and Bishop this year. Carr needs to focus on being 100% so when he returns he's good to go.

Seems like Felix is still more athlete than player, but hopefully him playing with Igor and Cade helps bring along his progress. He has all the physical gifts just gotta pickup some of the things they do better than him.

Chaz is clearly a stud but I've personally been very impressed with Igor being such a legit stretch 4. His 3 point shooting will take off eventually
 
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#275
#275
BernardKingGOAT said:
Did Turner replace him in the starting lineup?
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In 2018-19

Turner started 19 of 28 games he appeared in
Bowden started 5 of 36 games he appeared in
Pons started 13 of 35 games he appeared in

The 4 regular starters (all played in 37 games with 37 starts) were Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield, Jordan Bone, Kyle Alexander

Bowden however saw 27.8 mpg that season, which was 5th on the team
 
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