The Official #6 Tennessee @ Texas A&M Game Thread, 8:00 PM ET, ESPN

[csheaton]

I think most of us are in agreement that Vescovi needs to come off the bench from here forward, and that Mashack needs to start. Vescovi’s misses aren’t even close. To be blunt, he’s put up more bricks than Butch Jones.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

I think most of us are in agreement that Vescovi needs to come off the bench from here forward, and that Mashack needs to start. Vescovi’s misses aren’t even close. To be blunt, he’s put up more bricks than Butch Jones.

Starting a sentence here with “I think most of us are in agreement” is a bold move.

 

[Cartervol]

Their defense on the perimeter is just not good. Too many times they just drive right by our guards.. Barnes loves some man to man, but he doesn't have the guards to play it against bigger teams. The blueprint is out on how to beat this team.. They're going to drop some games down the stretch. Play their way into a 3 or 4 seed imo..

 

[csheaton]

Starting a sentence here with “I think most of us are in agreement” is a bold move.

It is. Yet it’s very telling that no one has argued with me yet, because that’s how bad he’s been.

 

[turbovol]

I think most of us are in agreement that Vescovi needs to come off the bench from here forward, and that Mashack needs to start. Vescovi’s misses aren’t even close. To be blunt, he’s put up more bricks than Butch Jones.

It's not a bad idea at all given that we are getting very little scoring out of Vescovi. I love the guy but we need to get 20 points out of him and James in big games, and last night we got 9. Ziggy gave us 15--but even then he shot poorly and nobody else on the team had a good night offensively--at all. Aidoo with a measly 6, Vesci 5, James 4. We're not beating anybody with those offensive numbers.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

It is. Yet it’s very telling that no one has argued with me yet, because that’s how bad he’s been.

Maybe people are ignoring you?

I think you have play both Santi and Mashack a lot if you want to win. They are both stellar team defensive players and generous on offense. Each has different offensive strengths and weaknesses right now. Hopefully Santi’s shot will return, and Mashack can get his dribble lower on the drive.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

And you know this how? You have that kind of access?

Of course not. Just the impression I get watching. That’s kinda how this whole fan forum thing works. Opinions may vary.

 

[Caz]

It is. Yet it’s very telling that no one has argued with me yet, because that’s how bad he’s been.

I’m in agreement with you and see SV as a valuable asset, but I think at this point Shack should get the start. This doesn’t mean I’m right, just my opinion.

 

[csheaton]

Maybe people are ignoring you?

I think you have play both Santi and Mashack a lot if you want to win. They are both stellar team defensive players and generous on offense. Each has different offensive strengths and weaknesses right now. Hopefully Santi’s shot will return, and Mashack can get his dribble lower on the drive.

Well, that didn’t last long. Ignoring me? The post above you says otherwise. I agree with your sentiments, but I feel like changing Vescovi’s role in the short term would be better for the team. It may reignite the Vescovi of old which is what we all want. Another dangerous statement there…

 

[TNVOLFN]

This is too dumb of a response to warrant a longer response than this

Sorry your feelings get hurt so easily.

First post I've ever read of a fan complaining about home court advantage for another team, very sawft.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Just to note one huge vulnerability that would’ve never gotten past Schwartz— We can’t handle the high ball screen. Dillingham and Taylor each had the game of their lives by starting the offense with the HBS. ZZ can’t play through it, we switched poorly, and the adjustments came way too late. By the time we moved two guards high, they were ready and drove right past us. Taylor shot lights out, but not having an answer after Dillingham smoked us is inexcusable. Auburn, KY and A&M 2 all obviously have the guards to exploit this if we don’t crack it. ZZ playing everything for the steal won’t work if we want beat that screen.

 

[VOLtaism]

What happened to our vaunted defense? Same guys. The swings are huge with this team, Yesterday, we are a definite 1 seed possible NCAA champion, Next day, this team will finish middle of the pack in the SEC and end up a 6 seed. I am going with the latter. I don't think we will win another road game this season and the AU home game is a toss up. It will be tough for them to win more than 2 games in a row come tournament time SEC or NCAA.

 

[hUTch2002]

Zone would have been the best defense against this team. And you do see see some zone played. And it can be very effective against a team that doen't shoot 3's very well.

They were shooting the 3 well last night though so maybe a good plan coming in but once they get hot a zone wouldn’t have helped against the 3.

 

[hUTch2002]

It is. Yet it’s very telling that no one has argued with me yet, because that’s how bad he’s been.

In 15 minutes?

 

[Redleg68]

They were shooting the 3 well last night though so maybe a good plan coming in but once they get hot a zone wouldn’t have helped against the 3.

Maybe a four man packed zone with a rover on the hot three point shooter?

 

[Caz]

Drive by penetration with either a foul, layup, or a kick out to a wide open three is what we are seeing. I actually saw last night on a couple of corner 3’s A&M had a couple of seconds to totally set their feet and shoot wide open. Even a poor shooting team can hit some of those, but A&M really exposed us and no doubt shot a higher percentage than they normally do.
What made matters worse is when they did miss, the offensive rebounds totally destroyed us. No box outs and even saw many times we didn’t even jump to get a rebound.

 

[csheaton]

In 15 minutes?

15 minutes can be an eternity on Volnation.

 

[volsarelife1]

Unconfirmed, but I’ve heard Santi has had a nagging wrist/lower arm issue. His shot is off in practice too, and he doesn’t have an always on green light. I think Barnes is stuck with the impossible choice of sitting him and letting it recover, and keeping him in for his leadership and defense. I thought we were out of the woods when he hit a few scoring spurts, but he seems to be back to “pushing” the ball on threes. His follow through looks very stiff lately. It’s bad news because we need his outside game to be a threat. Having one of our top three point shooters ever, head fake and drive all night is not ideal. His catch and shoot, hunt and shoot and sidestep move are all out of the repertoire. I assume it’s just arm fatigue, but we need it back.

His arm is probably tired from doing so many pump fakes when he has the ball

 

[hUTch2002]

Maybe a four man packed zone with a rover on the hot three point shooter?

The ole box-and-one? Maybe. Anything would’ve been worth a try but the bottom line is they need better effort. One thing that has been consistent throughout Barnes’s tenure is you see wild swings in energy from one game to the next, especially in conference play. Maybe that’s just life on the road in conference as some of my family that follows Auburn says the exact same thing. I don’t closely watch other teams.

 

[hUTch2002]

15 minutes can be an eternity on Volnation.

Everyone VN’s differently but this thread doesn’t seem to be one that’s jumping like a game thread during a game. 15 minutes there, agreed. 15 minutes here just means maybe folks are busy.

 

[csheaton]

Everyone VN’s differently but this thread doesn’t seem to be one that’s jumping like a game thread during a game. 15 minutes there, agreed. 15 minutes here just means maybe folks are busy.

I’d rather not spend Super Bowl Sunday debating time subjectivity. Nevertheless, I still got bites.

 

[volinbama256]

Bench Vescovi and JJJ and see what happens... we've got nothing to lose at this point with the continued erratic play we are used to with Barnes teams... every single season... one game we can beat anyone in the country... the next game the lady vols could whip our arse...

Pretty pathetic at this point and this year when folks still try to defend Barne's teams, when the exact same thing happens throughout the season, every season... for the past 3-4 seasons...

We'll end up being a 3 or 4 seed, you can bookit, maybe win one or two games max, then show up like this team did last night and get run off the court and back to Knoxville... then the same thing will happen next year... I don't want to even think about what's gonna happen next season... sheesh...

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Bench Vescovi and JJJ and see what happens... we've got nothing to lose at this point with the continued erratic play we are used to with Barnes teams... every single season... one game we can beat anyone in the country... the next game the lady vols could whip our arse...

Pretty pathetic at this point and this year when folks still try to defend Barne's teams, when the exact same thing happens throughout the season, every season... for the past 3-4 seasons...

We'll end up being a 3 or 4 seed, you can bookit, maybe win one or two games max, then show up like this team did last night and get run off the court and back to Knoxville... then the same thing will happen next year... I don't want to even think about what's gonna happen next season... sheesh...

You could crochet instead. Less stressful.

 

[BreatheUT]

This is the sad part because only thing missing with him is strength at his height since he didn't really ever develop dependable mid range shot.

I think Aidoo can shoot from mid-range but maybe by develop you mean use it 5-10 times a game. My concern with Aidoo is two fold 1) a lack of strength/girth and 2) limited athleticism. Some will disagree about athleticism but how often do we talk about twitch in football? Quick twitch/slow twitch. For instance, some of those guys for A&M seemed to grab rebounds outside their immediate area because of body/mind quick jerk reactions. Aidoo does not jump/move well. He can't change directions. Awaka can, he did not have a good night either. I hope he didn't make ESPN Top 10 for the wrong reasons but I switched off sports.

 

[Namorto1]

Drive by penetration with either a foul, layup, or a kick out to a wide open three is what we are seeing. I actually saw last night on a couple of corner 3’s A&M had a couple of seconds to totally set their feet and shoot wide open. Even a poor shooting team can hit some of those, but A&M really exposed us and no doubt shot a higher percentage than they normally do.
What made matters worse is when they did miss, the offensive rebounds totally destroyed us. No box outs and even saw many times we didn’t even jump to get a rebound.

Will be interesting to see how we adjust when A&M comes to Knoxville in a few weeks. Frankly I wish we would have doubled Radford/Taylor more often and forced them to kick out. Doubt it would have changed the outcome because the Aggies shot lights out from perimeter in the 1st half, but still would have been nice to see us change something. They say defense "travels" but it sure didn't last night. We need to take care of these next 3 games.