The Official #11 Tennessee @ #25 Texas A&M Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

But most will agree the officials were dog sh*t in this game.

Blaming the officials is the last thing most will be doing tonight imo. Did some calls go against us? Sure they did. It happens. We made way too many self inflicted mistakes to complain too much about officiating, though.

Much like the Vandy and Missouri games, we were the better team tonight and ultimately found a way to lose. This team is in a tailspin and is running out of time to re-gain altitude. The Alabama game is starting to look very much like an anomaly.

 

[JCP201]

Right or wrong (I lean wrong, given that I think with the roster tonight he deserved more minutes), he routinely drives Barnes crazy before inevitably doing one small thing that serves as the tipping point and rides the pine as punishment.

I couldn't tell what he did this time? I just felt like we needed him tonight for his size alone. Maybe Barnes thought with these particular refs he was a liability. (couldn't be much worse, though)

 

[OrngeJuiceJones]

31 3’s….you gotta drive the ball. This team settles for the outside shot way too often.

Agree yes, but that first 4 mins where it was 7 fouls to1 that game changed

 

[landscapingvol]

He’s literally shooting 40% on threes in conference play and has the other team’s best defender on him at all times. Take a lap for this take, sheesh.

What a load of crap lol and he may have the other team’s best defender on him with James and Phillips out which isn’t saying much. He is shooting 39% from the floor, 35% from the 3, and 78% from the ft line. He is an average shooter no matter how you try to spin it.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

It’s unbelievable that people are crapping on Santi right now, he’s been incredible. Some might call it… stupid… to do so.

Santi is far from our problems.

Dude is constantly being double teamed because he’s a respected shooter.

He plays his a$$ off.

 

[Jxn Vol]

Don’t take it so serious I love for them to win but enjoy watching close games and unfortunately we’ve came up on bad end of our share. O OSU Will remember the season. Now NCAA would love to make a run with all players 100%.

I struggle with it. I know it’s weird but basketball is the only sport that has this affect on me. My daughter plays HS basketball and I stay worked up. Especially during these playoff games.

 

[2EastTnVols]

At this point I'd just sit ON and give his minutes to the other bigs. He can rotate in but he had way too many minutes tonight. Never seen anyone his size with weaker hands.

 

[berryvol]

Key has been the biggest disappointment. He’s pretty much done nothing all year long. 3 points tonight. 3! You can’t win games when your senior transfer backup PG contributes so damn little to the team. I didn’t expect him to be a 12-15 PPG ALL-SEC caliber player, but I was told he’d be better than whatever this is.

We’d likely have 2-3 more wins if he was even averaging 9ish per game and shooting 34-35% from 3 in conference play.

 

[jaguinn5]

This team has numerous problems, but here are the three holding them back the most:
1) no viable post threat on offense.
2) only one true point guard and he’s playing poorly as of late
3) no clutch factor/ untimely mistakes

A big focus this off-season has to be to find a guy in the portal who can get buckets on the low block. Just having that would make a world of difference.

Im convinced at the this point that Barnes and staff just don't know how to develop those skills. Outside of Grant Williams, who has this staff developed into a legit post threat? Fulkerson had one good year, but outside of that year he looked just as inconsistent and dysfunctional as this team does. We've had tons of talent in the post, but none of them have developed the way they were expected to in the last 3 or 4 years, including the guys on the roster now. ON, Aidoo, and Uros were all highly thought of and none of them have developed into consistently competent post players.

 

[JCP201]

This team just doesn’t have that guy and it kills them at winning time. No one has the ability to step up and we can’t close out games.

I agree-- in the last few minutes, nobody but Z seems willing to try to shoot, and then it's a hail mary type thing.

 

[vol94]

Please don’t blame officiating. We’ve lost 5-7 games. At the end of the day, players must adjust to how the game is officiated.

Most of us played sports of some sort as a kid, high school student, and/or college. Many of us coached at some level, too.

At the end of the day, TN can’t shoot, makes poor decisions resulting in turnovers and allowed too many second chance shots.

Why did ON and ZZ shoot the last three balls? There at elite questions than answers rt now and I don’t think Phillips and JJJ can change the trajectory of this team. They lack confidence and find a way to lose a close game every night.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

We need to stuff a few guys on this team in the portal, too.

A few of the problems will be gone. Olivier will be gone. Uros and Key also will be gone. I like JJJ, but injuries have kept him from helping much this season. He too will be gone. We will miss Vescovi more than many might be willing to admit, but the opportunity is still there for us to be just fine next season without some of the seniors on this team.

 

[jaguinn5]

It's already happened LOL

Yup. They can't see the forest for the trees.

 

[vol94]

I agree-- in the last few minutes, nobody but Z seems willing to try to shoot, and then it's a hail mary type thing.

They don’t know what to do. A&M played pressure man defense and nobody wanted the ball.

 

[Ernest T. Vol]

I would have took my chances with SV.

Even if he missed, it would have been a better play than ZZ playing iso ball.

I don't think a&m was going to let vescovi get one off. Then you're down to zz or key. Probably thought zz's chances were a little better.

 

[berryvol]

What a load of crap lol and he may have the other team’s best defender on him with James and Phillips out which isn’t saying much. He is shooting 39% from the floor, 35% from the 3, and 78% from the ft line. He is an average shooter no matter how you try to spin it.

He is literally shooting 40% from 3 in conference play. It’s not arguable, it is a fact. You must be a troll, he’s probably the second greatest shooter in the history of this program. Unreal takes from you tonight, boss man.

 

[SmokeyLives]

I don't understand why there wasn't a screen or anything.

Absolutely agree. And saved the timeout for down 3 with 3 seconds to play and AM inbounding. You use the timeout for the previous play where zz came down and launched an errant 3 pt attempt.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

We’re gonna be 5 seed that loses to a 12 in the first round.

 

[sportsnut624]

At this point I'd just sit ON and give his minutes to the other bigs. He can rotate in but he had way too many minutes tonight. Never seen anyone his size with weaker hands.

I’ve been saying that since December. You can tell within 4 minutes what kind of game he’s going to have

 

[D3Athlete]

Since JJJ and Phillips have been out, 2 of the 3 games Tennessee have played have bigger guards. Bama the only exception. Bradley and Sears for bama don’t have the size like Kentucky and A&M guards too. That why so much harder to drive and kick it out for an open shot. JJJ and Phillips healthy is this teams hope for some success in March. It’s a small amount, but it is some.

 

[VolGee4]

It’s not due to injuries. He is just not a smart player and is an average shooter at best

No he’s not…just stop.

 

[Vol423]

Back to back -20 FTA deficit. Let's go officiating crew. A&M didn't drive more than we did to the tune of that deficit.

That A&M team is trash and looks like the worst of our losses minus Florida.

Teams that actively attack the basket get to the free throw line. Teams that fire three point shots all night and don't attack the basket don't get to the free throw line. There is no big mystery here, and there is no conspiracy either. Tennessee is playing some lazy ball on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[OrangeBoro]

Please don’t blame officiating. We’ve lost 5-7 games. At the end of the day, players must adjust to how the game is officiated.

Most of us played sports of some sort as a kid, high school student, and/or college. Many of us coached at some level, too.

At the end of the day, TN can’t shoot, makes poor decisions resulting in turnovers and allowed too many second chance shots.

Why did ON and ZZ shoot the last three balls? There at elite questions than answers rt now and I don’t think Phillips and JJJ can change the trajectory of this team. They lack confidence and find a way to lose a close game every night.

Refs aren’t to blame. When a bad shooting team throws up 31 threes and the other continues to drive the ball to the rim this is the result you get

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Just need to get healthy and hope all these tough games are helping some of these players grow and get better.

 

[Cartervol]

True. And a better option than ON, Plavi.

Yeah. It's not a very talented roster in a lot of ways. A bunch of role players and no alpha..