The Official #7 Tennessee vs. #2 Purdue Game Thread, 8:00 PM ET, ESPN

[Caz]

When do we get Dillione back? Anyone know?

 

[LibertyVol]

Feels like some of y’all are so pissed off about the last 2 weeks of football that you just want to take out some frustration and shat on the basketball team.

We lost a close game to the #2 team in the country!!! We were never going undefeated!!

Actually a loss takes the pressure off a little. Guys gave great effort.

 

[LibertyVol]

This is one of the worst takes I’ve seen in the basketball forum this season. Stop being meek about how dumb this is.

Calm down Willis. Just an observation.

 

[gainesvol82]

Purdue may be the #2 team in the nation, but they aren't even top 25 without Edey. I feel its a bad loss becuase we let that Loyer kid score 27 points. Limit him to 15 we win. Also Purdue with 18 more free throws. Frustrating

He had a bunch of points in the first half due to garbage officiating. I think he had 10 or 12 pts from the line. We gonna be fine but the refs, Purdue and our veterans pissed me off in this game.

 

[pasadenavol]

Watching the MU v KU game. For UT to take the next step to be a consistent top 8 team, we need a big who can dominate like Dickinson or Igadaro...

 

[LibertyVol]

He had a bunch of points in the first half due to garbage officiating. I think he had 10 or 12 pts from the line. We gonna be fine but the refs, Purdue and our veterans pissed me off in this game.

Refs sucked. Two of those fouls called on Eddy were BS. Game was there for the gettin.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

I'm not even upset. UT is one tough team and we could have wilted when Purdue went up by 8 but we came back and tied the game. Given how we played I'm actually encouraged, assuming that our perimeter shooting won't remain this bad. Late we somewhat forgot to go to the rim on offense and settled for 3's. Going to get another big challenge tomorrow.

We shoot 26% from 3-pt and get killed on offensive glass and only lose by 4 to a highly ranked opponent. We need to defensive rebound well in order to push the ball down the court. Our half-court offense was not good and even despite that we must have had at least 6 wide open three's that were missed. I have no idea what happened to Vescovi but he needs to find his game, and it isn't just his shot. He committed some silly fouls which put Purdue on the line and gave Purdue some freebies.

Good & bad:
Aidoo - only had 1 rebound. He has to be tougher than that. Figured he would get alot more looks facing up on pick and pops against Edey, but Barnes didn't run it.
Knecht - 3 turnovers while driving into traffic. He will learn from this. Because our offense was so putrid, he was pressing IMO. Led us in rebounding with 7.
Mashack - missed FTs early in 2nd half were unfortunate but overall he played very well. Probably deserved more minutes than he got.
Vescovi - if he can't hit open perimeter shots, he is going to lose more minutes to Gainey and Mashack. The worst patch of games he has played in his career.
James - disappeared on offensive end. Only took shots from 3 pt land. Could have used his mid-range today.
Zeigler - was a defensive menace but also had 3 TOs. He took 11 shots. When Knecht only shot 13, that is a problem with the PG. He needed to penetrate and kick out more than he did.
Awaka - his hustle made a difference. The last foul called on him was a joke. Still, only had 1 rebound and Purdue won this game on glass.
Gainey - woke up in 2nd half but took a few quick shots late which weren't good looks.
Estrella / Phillips - tried hard and this will be good learning experience for both of them.

Really good synopsis. I’ll add that I think as a team we settled for too many threes over the course of the game. Over half of our shot attempts were threes. Would have liked to have seen us utilize the mid range game a little more.

 

[JCP201]

That last sentence is something a portion of the Tennessee fan base struggles to grasp. You can lose 10~ games in basketball and still end up with a 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Basketball is a marathon, not a sprint. Even the best teams in the country lose a few games.

And there are quality wins and losses. Some basketball teams will rack up the wins with teams like St. Lucy's school for the blind, but Barnes tests his teams and I appreciate it.

 

[Vols All Day]

But the guy who was their superstar looked meh.

When the coaches came up with the gameplan they likely assumed the team could limit him to at most 12. You can't let someone who has scored 12, 2, 11, and 2 points have 27.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

Purdue may be the #2 team in the nation, but they aren't even top 25 without Edey. I feel its a bad loss becuase we let that Loyer kid score 27 points. Limit him to 15 we win. Also Purdue with 18 more free throws. Frustrating

Well, he is the best player in the country so I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.

 

[berryvol]

Calm down Willis. Just an observation.

Nothing for me to calm down about. You can make dumb observations all you want. Nothing stopping you.

 

[therealitytheory]

We may be playing #1 tomorrow..

 

[ColinS]

One factor that's not been discussed. We let a bad Syracuse team challenge us deep into the game and take a lot out of us. We were given an advantage playing Syracuse while Purdue played Gonzaga and didn't take advantage.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

Nobody talking about Knecht’s loose handle? I was holding my breath every time he got the ball in the second half.

 

[volfan__18]

Nobody talking about Knecht’s loose handle? I was holding my breath every time he got the ball in the second half.

I think he was just pressing to get the offense going. I wouldn’t look to much into that.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

Gainey is starting to remind me of Key.

Five games into the season is way too small of a sample size to make a comparison like that. Give it a couple of weeks and we will have a better idea of what kind of player he is. FWIW, I think he’s a significant improvement over Key.

 

[TheFlash1971]

Just being honest, don’t expect much tomorrow. We are gonna be dead after that slugfest.

Ditto, playing the next day vs Marquette or Kansas who don’t expend all their energy on defense so their shooters legs are not dead in the second half.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

I think he was just pressing to get the offense going. I wouldn’t look to much into that.

I hope so. He dribbles pretty high (tall guy) and was just trying to force his way through traffic. Recipe for disaster

 

[TheMookieMonster]

What an absolutely pathetic and embarassing tweet from the President of Purdue. What a LOSER university they are. Randy Boyd would never.

 

[gainesvol82]

Since every armchair coach is giving their opinion, I think that what cost us the game is the fact that we were in the double bonus with 12+ mins left, but did not attack the basket. You have to draw up screens that allow our guards to take it to the hoop and draw fouls. Use the refs to your advantage by forcing them to call fouls.
Love the technical on Barnes...showed he was bought in for his team. Wish Heupel would learn to do the same...

I realize that Knecht was not playing well, got in Barnes doghouse and sat until around the 9 minute mark in the second half but he and JJJ (and Mashack) should have been slashing to the rim when we had the double bonus around the 10 minute mark. Also, should have played more two man game with ZZ and Aidooo or Awaka while Edey was sitting.

 

[Delmar]

Knecht struggles with physical guards and going in the gaps. He has to get better. Edey is a beast and Purdue is elite. A healthy Santi and Zeigler and I haven't seen a team better than Tennessee. If we stay healthy, we make our first final four

Looked like Knecht was forcing his drives a bit too much. Helluva talent though and man can he jump.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

What an absolutely pathetic and embarassing tweet from the President of Purdue. What a LOSER university they are. Randy Boyd would never.

One of the few good things about social media: imbeciles can rat themselves out like this fella just did.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Watching the MU v KU game. For UT to take the next step to be a consistent top 8 team, we need a big who can dominate like Dickinson or Igadaro...

Look at last year’s Final Four to prove yourself wrong.

 

[Delmar]

What an absolutely pathetic and embarassing tweet from the President of Purdue. What a LOSER university they are. Randy Boyd would never.

Who is Dr. Wang Chung and why should I care. I saw it in person and it was physical both ways. The refs these days seem to struggle with the physicality in today’s college game. Lots of make up calls tonight both ways. If Wang doesn’t think Purdue was just as physical, he’s blind and knows zip about what he was watching.

 

[I Love Lamp]

What an absolutely pathetic and embarassing tweet from the President of Purdue. What a LOSER university they are. Randy Boyd would never.

Total beta move to restrict replies. He knows who he is messing with and what bear he is poking.