The Official #12 Tennessee vs. North Carolina State Game Thread, 10:00 PM ET, ESPN2

#1,152
#1,152
Family obligations kept me from watching this one. What was happening with knecht? Still down with the flu?
 
#1,153
#1,153
The best thing, to me, about this win is that now we absolutely know ZZ is back and is an experienced stud of a point guard. JJJ was calmly putting the team on his shoulders, and Mashack and Awaka were instrumental at various points in the game.

I checked into the basketball forum briefly to take a look at all the twisted thread titles, and woe is me, there weren’t any. The drive-by folks really do have scheduled days off after a win.
 
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#1,154
#1,154
When Ole Miss (who we play soon) played NCST, Burns had 27 minutes with 5 points... Last night he had 33 minutes with 15 points... big difference... was it the refs or Ole Miss ability to shut him down I wonder? They beat NCST by 20... would be a good game to break down to see ... Ole Miss undefeated but not ranked, haven't played too many descent teams... this game will be interesting for us, thank goodness it's at home!
 
#1,155
#1,155
CAVPUT said:
Family obligations kept me from watching this one. What was happening with knecht? Still down with the flu?
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He was a liability on both ends of the court but on offense he only had ~2 points with at least 4 turnovers mostly from trying to drive through double-team help as he drove the lane and he shot very few 3's. The box score is not up but he had to be negative on the +/-...really hurt us.
 
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#1,156
#1,156
MinisterofDef#92 said:
He was a liability on both ends of the court but on offense he only had ~2 points with at least 4 turnovers mostly from trying to drive through double-team help as he drove the lane and he shot very few 3's. The box score is not up but he had to be negative on the +/-...really hurt us.
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Saw the box score and it surprised me to see so little production. Figured he was still sick or wondered if NC St schemed him and took him out of the game. Bright side appears to be JJJ. Might signal to other teams that you have to play us honest on defense. A bit disappointed to see only 9 from vescovi tho.
 
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#1,157
#1,157
volinbama256 said:
When Ole Miss (who we play soon) played NCST, Burns had 27 minutes with 5 points... Last night he had 33 minutes with 15 points... big difference... was it the refs or Ole Miss ability to shut him down I wonder? They beat NCST by 20... would be a good game to break down to see ... Ole Miss undefeated but not ranked, haven't played too many descent teams... this game will be interesting for us, thank goodness it's at home!
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Aidoo is not strong enough to stop Burns and doesn’t seem to have the athleticism to front him to deny him the ball.
 
#1,158
#1,158
CAVPUT said:
Saw the box score and it surprised me to see so little production. Figured he was still sick or wondered if NC St schemed him and took him out of the game. Bright side appears to be JJJ. Might signal to other teams that you have to play us honest on defense. A bit disappointed to see only 9 from vescovi tho.
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He was completely out of sorts. Other teams have doubled him but he was able split them or beat them to the basket. Last night he would just plow into them. Yes he may have been fouled, but wasn’t getting the calls, and may have charged a time or two. He hasn’t really been as effective since the UNC game. Gotta think his injury is still bothering him.
 
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#1,159
#1,159
CAVPUT said:
Saw the box score and it surprised me to see so little production. Figured he was still sick or wondered if NC St schemed him and took him out of the game. Bright side appears to be JJJ. Might signal to other teams that you have to play us honest on defense. A bit disappointed to see only 9 from vescovi tho.
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Vescovi was good in this game regardless what the box score shows.
 
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#1,160
#1,160
I knew Aidoo would get pushed around by Burns but I had hoped his extra length would bother Burns...it did not. Glad CRB finally opted to go with Tobe on Burns...this was a perfect match up for Tobe and he really defended Burns well to close out the game.

Love Knecht but he really, really hurt us on both ends of the floor. Wish we had ran some off-ball screens for him in the paint and some post-ups to try and get him going vs. him repeatedly trying to drive the lane only to turn it over.

SV and JJJ picking up their 3rd fouls really hurt us and allowed NC St. to climb back into the game.

Too many turnovers in general but also way too many that looked stupid frankly.

Thank goodness JJJ and ZZ were able to dominate and a shout-out to Mashack for his contributions on both ends of the floor.
 
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#1,161
#1,161
volinbama256 said:
When Ole Miss (who we play soon) played NCST, Burns had 27 minutes with 5 points... Last night he had 33 minutes with 15 points... big difference... was it the refs or Ole Miss ability to shut him down I wonder? They beat NCST by 20... would be a good game to break down to see ... Ole Miss undefeated but not ranked, haven't played too many descent teams... this game will be interesting for us, thank goodness it's at home!
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Aidoo is simply not a good match up with Burns...Aidoo gives up way too much ground to physical bigs so he gets buried under the rim. This game would have been different had SV and JJJ not gotten into foul trouble at the same time in a game where Knecht was a no show (we had pushed the lead to 9 around the time they both had to sit for a prolonged period early in the 2nd half) but give NC St. credit there for getting the whistles.
 
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#1,162
#1,162
omghulkhands said:
I’m rarely negative. But this game had no business being so close down the stretch. We are a lot more talented than this team.
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I think State has the talent to be a tournament team. Have several fast driving guards who can shoot the 3. Burns is effective very effective in the post and impressed me passing to the open shooter when doubled. They were scrappy on D and played with energy. Solid squad IMHO,
 
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#1,164
#1,164
TheMookieMonster said:
Tobe Awaka the unsung hero tonight. Some HUGE minutes down the stretch.
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12 boards in 18 minutes is super impressive! He was strong enough to hold his position against Burns and force Burns farther away from the basket than Aidoo which made Burns less effective. Takes a super big dude like Edey to bully Awaka.
 
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#1,170
#1,170
MinisterofDef#92 said:
Aidoo is simply not a good match up with Burns...Aidoo gives up way too much ground to physical bigs so he gets buried under the rim. This game would have been different had SV and JJJ not gotten into foul trouble at the same time in a game where Knecht was a no show (we had pushed the lead to 9 around the time they both had to sit for a prolonged period early in the 2nd half) but give NC St. credit there for getting the whistles.
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To be fair, there's not a lot of 350 pound centers out there. Aidoo has a high center of gravity, so a guy like that is always going to be a hard matchup. That's why I was very happy that we put Awaka on him late in the 2nd half. Awaka is physically stronger and has a low center of gravity, so it just makes sense for him to guard him. Estrella would've also been a better option against Burns.

I wish Aidoo would've been able to expose him more on the offense end. He should've done a lot of face ups, and pick and pops. He could've rolled harder to the rim as well and had more lob opportunities. Our guards outside of Zeigler were having a hard time getting around the burns in the pick and roll.
 
#1,171
#1,171
LSG410EC83 said:
The whole family (2 households) have this junk. Attempted to run a 5k this weekend and although far from the fastest, still slowed down by 10 minutes due to no breath and just plain yucky feeling. Hopefully the players will have this crud run through its course before SEC play.
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Hope you and yours feel better soon
 
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#1,174
#1,174
walkenvol said:
Can you name 15?
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I’m not sure there are even 10 teams definitively better than us right now. I think there are 4 clear elite teams right now, and then about 6-10 teams all of equal ability trying to climb into Tier 1. We are firmly in that 2nd tier. Anyone claiming we aren’t a Top 25 team is just crazy and looking for a reason to be upset.
 
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