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

#2,180
#2,180
djohnnyg said:
I don't see any evidence espn or any major media "hates us" as so many posters claim. We were ranked #1 in football last year at one point and we were nowhere near deserving of that. Now...ranked highly in basketball and again losing a big game...looking nowhere near the #7 ranking we have/had. I think we're continually ranked higher than what we should be....in every sport. Lady Vols same thing. Vols are decent team I guess...but no way top 10. The media always hypes us up.
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Is this post serious? The CFP committee had us ranked #1 last year because of our resume at the time and deservedly so. We beat a top ranked Bama team at home, waxed LSU on the road and dominated everyone else to that point except a close "neutral site" win against Pitt in Heinz Field. Nobody had close to our resume at that point.

As for UT BB, we have been impressive since the beginning of the year and are the pre-season favorite to win the SEC. We just went toe to toe with the #2 team in the country and had a chance to win on n off night for most of our scorers and a huge disparity in FT's. In what world are we overrated in BB? If anything, I think we are underrated. Big difference in the top 5-7 teams and everyone else.
 
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#2,183
#2,183
Could have been worse: Purdue missed 19 FTs. So in a way all those FTs they got ended up being an advantage to us.

Could have been better: Out rebounded 44-31 and they got 17 offensive boards. That’s where I think the game was lost.
 
#2,192
#2,192
The only thing I saw was Edey appears to get a favorable whistle. He is so big and strong, not sure if he gets away with fouls or is just a bully and can get himself to the basket. Would have love to had Uros in there for about 5 minutes (he would have fouled out in that time). I liked the game plan but Loyer just made the shots. I bet he couldn't do that again.
Either way, I bet Purdue does not want to see TN again this year!
Go Vols!!
 
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#2,193
#2,193
We were tied 64-64 with 2:24 remaining in the 2nd half against the #2 team in the country with sub-optimal shooting, refs calling 1-2 fouls per possession, on a neutral site floor that is weirdly designed… we’ll be fine. We got 26 more games in the regular season to help hit a stride.
 
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#2,194
#2,194
therealitytheory said:
A question: probably as good a defensive effort from a UT team as you'll ever see.
Also a frustratingly bad shooting game.

Does the grinding on defense set us up for uneven offensive performances?
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This is an easy yes answer. There is definately some trade off there that you have to live with in this system.
 
#2,195
#2,195
Unfortunately like every game with dominant big men it will just come down to who is called for fouls. Big man called for fewer fouls pretty much equals a win right now because he got away with stuff
 
#2,198
#2,198
Thoughts: have a feeling Gainey is going to shoot us out of some games this year, but think he keeps us in some games this year too. Dalton and Gainey both play offense like Bruce Pearl is their coach and I’m not against it - especially when Vescovi is a non-factor as a scorer. Nobody wanted to step up in big moments last year and neither of those guys are going to be hesitant to do it.

Zakai is slowly getting back in his groove. He had #4 in hell all night.

Awaka had some moments where he looked like an All SEC big - only a matter of time before he puts it all together. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s starting by Feb. He’s about as automatic as you can get when he has position on the block.

It was an ugly game but we allowed 45 FT’s and still nearly won against the #2 team. I actually feel better about this team oddly enough.

Edey is such an anomaly of a player that I almost view this game as a wash. We’ll never see a player like him again. If he was 7ft then UT wins by 10+. We were more talented everywhere else on the court and it wasn’t close.
 
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