The Official #10 Tennessee vs. #1 Alabama Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2

[I4Vols]

Next 2 are on the road. UK and A&M. I'll take a split and be happy.

Good idea, but let the Vols start it with a win and then play the 2nd one

 

[Frozevol]

I hear there's a Roseanne marathon starting at 7pm tonight for those looking for something a bit less painful to watch than UT vs Bama with a hobbled Phillips and no JJJ.

Hope you liked Rosanne!

 

[Kosmalski]

Mashack probably had the most important zero point performance I've ever seen. He made Miller's night incredibly tough.

Team was +9 when he was on the floor. Highest plus minus on team tonight

 

[chuckb1448]

Just had a woman in a mini van drive past me and yell F**** Tennessee because I was wearing a Tennessee hoodie. I hate it here smh....

Trust me, I understand

 

[Volprofch05]

 

[Okie]

Congratulations on a great win.

 

[One Vol One Fam]

As frustrated as I was with Barnes last week, this was a really good coaching job. If JM can develop an offensive skill set he could make a lot of money. UP catches a lot of grief, and rightfully so at times, but I actually like his game. His bank shot from the block has become a nice little go to move.

 

[TrippieRedd]

First, Dillon Mitchell, now Brandon Miller....smh

Should've played for UT.

 

[OllVol]

I'm just a voice for the voiceless. A tribunus legionariorum, if you will.

Has this post got something to do with 'The Roadrunner'? Beep, beep.

 

[feathersax]

Great tribute on the Tennessee bench last night. Gus Manning would approve.

 

[Zues1]

Rick Barnes is now #3 all time on the wins list with 170 just behind Rays Mears (270) and Don DeVoe (204). Depending on how long he coaches I can see him becoming the all-time leader in wins. He's also close to breaking into the top 15 of career wins as a coach and 26 away from 800 wins.

4/5 more years

 

[Zues1]

Are we better without Phillips?

Some have ask the same about JJJ

 

[Zues1]

Unfortunately, we have a lot of posters who only show up after losses.

Then there are some who will congratulate the team on a great win and will call em out when they look like poo.
It's called being a fanatic.

 

[hUTch2002]

It's hard to be consistent when we have so few players who can play well consistently //on offense./// Vescovi and Ziggy are fairly consistent, but after that, bupkis. Nobody. This is why JJJ is crucial to this team--because he can give us some scoring and solid all-around play. I didn't see the game but it sure sounds like we won it with our defense--I think we had 11 steals and bama had 19 turnovers. Offensively, Vescovi and Ziggy were good--and we got unexpectedly good games from Aidoo and Uros. ON had yet another bad shooting night--and Key, emulating ON, followed his best offensive game of the season with brutal 1-9 shooting. We shot 35 percent for the game.

In any case, a win we had to have after the back-to-back freakish losses. We're a team that, because of our offensive struggles, has to play great defense and grind out wins. We have the occasional game when everything is clicking--as every team does--but those games are fairly rare. We've gotta grind.

You say that about JJJ and I agree just from my gut feel but the reality is we whipped Kansas and beat Alabama without him. We definitely need his leadership but he doesn’t have to be on the floor to give that. Our offense was pretty decent tonight. We manufactured pretty good looks against a tough defense, especially for Key who just happened to be off. We attacked the rim well and had only a few stand around possessions where people weren’t moving.

 

[hUTch2002]

Plavsic 4/4 tonight. 10 points, 4 rebounds in 13 minutes of action. Incredible.

If you told me no JJJ, no Phillips and Key would go 1/9 I’d have said they beat us by 15. Incredible effort all the way around last night! It was a great atmosphere too! That was my first game this year and boy did I pick a good one.

 

[volinokc]

You say that about JJJ and I agree just from my gut feel but the reality is we whipped Kansas and beat Alabama without him. We definitely need his leadership but he doesn’t have to be on the floor to give that. Our offense was pretty decent tonight. We manufactured pretty good looks against a tough defense, especially for Key who just happened to be off. We attacked the rim well and had only a few stand around possessions where people weren’t moving.

I thought Key did a great job of finding his shot in the 1st half, but they just weren’t falling tonight.

 

[hUTch2002]

Off subject and yes, wrong thread. But Lunardi has KY first four out. Sat night they said KY’s only chance was winning the SEC tourney championship. I hope TN rolls them in Lexington.

Those statements don’t jive.

 

[hUTch2002]

I thought Key did a great job of finding his shot in the 1st half, but they just weren’t falling tonight.

No question. I really like watching him play. You can tell he has received and listened to good coaching over the years. He got a ton of good looks because he worked for them. What’s even more beautiful is he realized his shot wasn’t falling tonight so he stopped shooting.

 

[hUTch2002]

Let me start off by saying good win.

Santi looks to have his swagger back.

Aidoo was an absolute force out there in every facet of the game.

Zakai put on arguably the most impressive ball-handing clinic I’ve ever seen in a UT uniform.

Mashack is god-awful on offense right now but damn he’s a freak of nature athletically. Guard version of Pons. Can absolutely be a force in this league if he continues to develop his O.

But oddly enough— I didn’t walk away from this game feeling necessarily much better about this team, but hopefully this is a start. A lot of the same offensive issues were still prevalent. We were overwhelmingly the more physical team tonight. Bama didn’t match it, but will they allow us to play like that come March?

I didn’t come away feeling super impressed with Bama either. They’re soft inside. JQ is a magician with the ball but couldn’t create separation for anything tonight. Our 2 best wing defenders were out tonight and Brandon miller was still held in check.

Thought Olivier silently had a solid game. Didn’t try to do too much and played within the game.

I’ll rebut a little on your offensive concerns. We did a much better job of attacking the rim and not settling for bad 3s where the ball never penetrated the arc. We had a few of those but not many. That was encouraging. The question is will they do that again Saturday? I’d love to see our 3-pt percentage when we shoot off of a pass from inside the arc. My gut says it would be well above our average. Then it would be great to see the percentage when the ball never penetrates the arc as I bet that’s really low.

 

[hUTch2002]

Over on Tidefans.com they are blaming the refs! Just like football. Take the L and shut the He!! up!

Refs did well overall tonight. There were missed calls both ways but they were fairly consistent.

 

[turdherder11]

Good win last night. I really think if we can get everyone close to 100% we could make a run.

 

[2EastTnVols]

My wife's bday was yesterday and all she wanted was us to kick bamas a**! Thanks to Rick and the boys for making her night!

 

[VolGee4]

Some have ask the same about JJJ

Our offensive efficiency numbers went way up when he came back full time at the start of the year. I know they dipped again, but his midrange game is very helpful, and he helps in other ways.

 

[EasternVol]

Some have ask the same about JJJ

We're better with them.

 

[gainesvol82]

What a gutsy win. ZZ, Santi, JM, Aidoo and Uros specifically just refused to lose. Shout out to Key as well for playing great defense. Loved seeing determination and toughness prevail over undisciplined superior talent. We whipped that arse.