The Official #8 Tennessee vs. #12 Kentucky Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN

[MoCo_Vol]

Just remember, last year after 21 games we were 16-5

 

[Orange.]

Your presumption doesn’t carry much weight. This is Tennessee’s third loss in a row at home to Kentucky….when the Vols were favored by double digits and Kentucky had starters out with injuries. Coach Barnes needs to reasses how he recruits, but more importantly how he game plans.

For the record (not because I'm feeling it), we have beaten KY 4 of the last 5 games in Lexington, and also the only neutral site game between us in that time frame. It's odd.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Your presumption doesn’t carry much weight. This is Tennessee’s third loss in a row at home to Kentucky….when the Vols were favored by double digits and Kentucky had starters out with injuries. Coach Barnes needs to reasses how he recruits, but more importantly how he game plans.

If we can just land Nate Ament? Recruiting will be going well. Already have Amari Evans and DeWayne Brown in the fold.

 

[gainesvol82]

Well, got off work excited to watch the game and I watch us not be able to buy an outside shot and even a few that we're going in just popped out. Meanwhile, UK was hitting everything from deep and even getting crazy bounces on bad shots going in. Loose balls mostly went in their favor.

I see completely different officiating in the 2 halves. Pretty one-sided in our favor in 1st, but deservedly so. Very one-sided in their favor in the second half, much less deservedly so. Lots of BS non-calls for UK and a few BS calls on UT.

I honestly can't believe that we didn't get blown out with how bad we were on offense. It's time to stop force feeding Lanier unless he has size advantage on his defender and no more ISO. He is a great shooter but not athletic enough to go at SEC defenders and his lack of quickness really limits him. He needs to rely more on kicked out offensive boards, have plays drawn up to get him open on penetration from someone else or get him to a spot on a screen.

More Igor at the top of the key, more Mashack driving to shoot or for contact 2-3 times per half (and dunk it!!), Dubar needs to use his size to get buckets down low and with his push/floater, more feeds to Felix/Cade in the low post. More Gainey coming off screens and pin downs....he isn't as reliable a shooter as Lanier but he can at least get his shot when he wants it and is better at attacking the rim and finishing or kicking out.

Lastly, can the entire freaking team stop all going cold at the same damn time?! I still think we can make a run in March but we need to get healthy and more aggressive so we stop having these mass ice cold shooting nights.

 

[KB5252]

Your presumption doesn’t carry much weight. This is Tennessee’s third loss in a row at home to Kentucky….when the Vols were favored by double digits and Kentucky had starters out with injuries. Coach Barnes needs to reasses how he recruits, but more importantly how he game plans.

At this point there is no reassess, Barnes is who he is. He's much more likely to retire than change the way he does business.

I honestly feel like this may be his last year. He still has that competitive nature but his style of ball requires a very specific kind of guy at guard. Not sure he has another four to five years in him to develop one. He's been lucky with the last two...... He demands a lot more than some are willing to hang in and give.

I think we see an early bounce out of the tourney this year......... unfortunately, and wouldn't be surprised if he hangs it up.

 

[gainesvol82]

That look he had the rest of the first half after ZZ looked seriously hurt makes me agree that he retires after this year. I don't know if he sees himself continuing after ZZ and Jahmai. He loves those guys and I think the moment is just going to make sense for him to end it with them.

I don't think we have an early NCAAT exit, though. I think we get in as a 3/4 seed but get a little lucky with our draw this year. We can play with anyone and it usually takes a record breakingly bad shooting night for us to barely lose (sans UF). I see a run in this team with other SEC teams being the biggest threats.

 

[BradstarVols]

Well, got off work excited to watch the game and I watch us not be able to buy an outside shot and even a few that we're going in just popped out. Meanwhile, UK was hitting everything from deep and even getting crazy bounces on bad shots going in. Loose balls mostly went in their favor.

I see completely different officiating in the 2 halves. Pretty one-sided in our favor in 1st, but deservedly so. Very one-sided in their favor in the second half, much less deservedly so. Lots of BS non-calls for UK and a few BS calls on UT.

I honestly can't believe that we didn't get blown out with how bad we were on offense. It's time to stop force feeding Lanier unless he has size advantage on his defender and no more ISO. He is a great shooter but not athletic enough to go at SEC defenders and his lack of quickness really limits him. He needs to rely more on kicked out offensive boards, have plays drawn up to get him open on penetration from someone else or get him to a spot on a screen.

More Igor at the top of the key, more Mashack driving to shoot or for contact 2-3 times per half (and dunk it!!), Dubar needs to use his size to get buckets down low and with his push/floater, more feeds to Felix/Cade in the low post. More Gainey coming off screens and pin downs....he isn't as reliable a shooter as Lanier but he can at least get his shot when he wants it and is better at attacking the rim and finishing or kicking out.

Lastly, can the entire freaking team stop all going cold at the same damn time?! I still think we can make a run in March but we need to get healthy and more aggressive so we stop having these mass ice cold shooting nights.

It's just not a good offensive team. That's really all there is to it. That's why they are cold so consistently.

 

[hUTch2002]

Yeah one guy came here to learn defense and lit up a scoreboard. That is not exactly enough for you to say the other 70+ dudes and 9 years are invalid. My “narrative against Barnes” is simply that the man prioritizes defense first and foremost, which he would readily tell you himself. For you to take that as an attack on him or as an inaccurate statement is pathetic and telling about your lack of intelligence and fortitude.

Quit being such an insufferable bitch all the time. My God, you whine worse than an autistic toddler who just had his bottle taken away.

As a parent of an autistic kid, this doesn’t even make sense. He was by far the kid who cried the least. He almost never did.

 

[Go47]

9-9 or 10-8 is likely. I don’t see this team winning at UK or beating Bama - that’s 6 likely losses.

Florida / Mizzou / Vanderbilt /

 

[vol94]

For the record (not because I'm feeling it), we have beaten KY 4 of the last 5 games in Lexington, and also the only neutral site game between us in that time frame. It's odd.

It wouldn’t surprise me if we win in their arena. But we must find some offense..

 

[vol94]

If we can just land Nate Ament? Recruiting will be going well. Already have Amari Evans and DeWayne Brown in the fold.

Are they pure shooters? Idk anything about the incoming freshmen. Thanks

 

[CAVPUT]

Just remember, last year after 21 games we were 16-5

Last year we had a full roster led by Knecht. Dude could carry a team single handed at times. We have no one like that. Right now I can't find a player on our roster that can successfully attack the rim when shots aren't falling....which seems to be a growing concern. Still think a lot of the offensive woes are due to the energy and effort we expend on defense. The league and schedule is simply grinding our short roster down.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Last year we had a full roster led by Knecht. Dude could carry a team single handed at times. We have no one like that. Right now I can't find a player on our roster that can successfully attack the rim when shots aren't falling....which seems to be a growing concern. Still think a lot of the offensive woes are due to the energy and effort we expend on defense. The league and schedule is simply grinding our short roster down.

I think that's the case as well.. we have 5 games before we get our midweek off then we go play at A&M.

Despite this team playing their butts off, Cade, Felix, Igor, Dubar, Chaz all are really inexperienced in how much of a grind SEC is.

At this point losing at Vandy is the biggest disappointment that and how bad we played at Florida. Oddly enough both games came after we beat teams at home by 24 & 18.


Our last game scoring 80 though was vs MTSU on 12/23...clearly SEC talent is a step up. But it feels like a lot of it has been self inflicted.

Gotta finish 6-4 or better...

 

[KB5252]

That look he had the rest of the first half after ZZ looked seriously hurt makes me agree that he retires after this year. I don't know if he sees himself continuing after ZZ and Jahmai. He loves those guys and I think the moment is just going to make sense for him to end it with them.

I don't think we have an early NCAAT exit, though. I think we get in as a 3/4 seed but get a little lucky with our draw this year. We can play with anyone and it usually takes a record breakingly bad shooting night for us to barely lose (sans UF). I see a run in this team with other SEC teams being the biggest threats.

But that's the issue, the brackets are going to be loaded with them and we will almost assuredly run into one in the second round.

We could go on a run....... But it's starting to look just as likely, if not more, that we will just continue with tired heavy legs, more nagging injuries......... Our margin for success was much narrower than we or anyone else realized this year.

It looks like the rest of the SEC schedule is going to be a murderers row, we knew that going in. And I'm not purposely trying to come off ultra negative but SEC play has really opened our eyes to what this team is, very good to great defensively but just mediocre at best on offense (on a good night) with depth and injury issues. None of that bodes well for tournament play.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

But that's the issue, the brackets are going to be loaded with them and we will almost assuredly run into one in the second round.

We could go on a run....... But it's starting to look just as likely, if not more, that we will just continue with tired heavy legs, more nagging injuries......... Our margin for success was much narrower than we or anyone else realized this year.

It looks like the rest of the SEC schedule is going to be a murderers row, we knew that going in. And I'm not purposely trying to come off ultra negative but SEC play has really opened our eyes to what this team is, very good to great defensively but just mediocre at best on offense (on a good night) with depth and injury issues. None of that bodes well for tournament play.

Has it though? I mean 3 losses came down to final positions basically...and in 2 of those we were on the road with numerous questionable calls by the officials in the last 3 minutes of the game (not an excuse, just a fact).

Other than at Florida where we simply got it handed to us...this team hasn't shown me anything to say they'll lay down in March quite the opposite.

Now...the matchup I don't want to see us draw the first weekend is a length team that actually plays defense. But I think most of those teams will be higher seeds we wouldn't see until the second weekend.

10 games left, need to win at least 6...and only 3 games left seem like they'd be considered upsets (Florida, at Kentucky, vs Bama) right now.

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Admiral was a Tyndall recruit

That is true

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

As a parent of an autistic kid, this doesn’t even make sense. He was by far the kid who cried the least. He almost never did.

Well I guess it’s good that you got one who wasn’t the type to throw ungodly fits

 

[will-you-shut-up-man]

Was not able to watch at all last night, but I did see the scoring synopsis. I'm guessing Lanier is not what the staff thought he was. Oh well, let's move on to the next.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

It wouldn’t surprise me if we win in their arena. But we must find some offense..

It would surprise me if we win any road game the rest of the way. This team’s fragile psyche finally found its’ way inside TBA. We just don’t have players with a “dog” mentality other than Z and Cade. They had it early prior to the SEC start then they lost it at Florida. It is very hard to get back. Too many guys that provide little to no offense and the ones that do are either completely on or completely off.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Hope Ament enjoyed the game last night :/

 

[KB5252]

Has it though? I mean 3 losses came down to final positions basically...and in 2 of those we were on the road with numerous questionable calls by the officials in the last 3 minutes of the game (not an excuse, just a fact).

Other than at Florida where we simply got it handed to us...this team hasn't shown me anything to say they'll lay down in March quite the opposite.

Now...the matchup I don't want to see us draw the first weekend is a length team that actually plays defense. But I think most of those teams will be higher seeds we wouldn't see until the second weekend.

10 games left, need to win at least 6...and only 3 games left seem like they'd be considered upsets (Florida, at Kentucky, vs Bama) right now.

It has for me. The same issues are present in each of our losses. Lack of offensive production, inability to create. We got handled by Florida, that was a bad matchup for us. We've been beaten by two other teams with key pieces missing or limited.

We need 6 wins for what exactly?

I think we get 5 for sure, I can see a solid path to 6 maybe 7 but the way things have broken for us that's probably about it.

And that's my biggest worry about the tournament as well. I worry as well if we draw a team that plays scrappy defense in the first round, particularly at guard........

The goal was to make a deep tournament run and possibly compete like last year........ Unless a lot of luck breaks our way and someone (ideally multiple players) figure out how to create on offense I see us as the Cinderella spark or a second round bounce.

Edit: and injuries....... We are running at the razors edge right now.

 

[Majors]

When you hit 4 of them, nah. Igor was the only thing keeping us in this one.

No doubt he had a nice overall night. We needed his 4 makes to keep the loss close. When we are excited about 4 3’s out of 45 taken shows the game plan of attacking the rim wasn’t discussed. Attack the rim by Igor/team we win with them down a big.

 

[OneManGang]

Well, got off work excited to watch the game and I watch us not be able to buy an outside shot and even a few that we're going in just popped out. Meanwhile, UK was hitting everything from deep and even getting crazy bounces on bad shots going in. Loose balls mostly went in their favor.

I see completely different officiating in the 2 halves. Pretty one-sided in our favor in 1st, but deservedly so. Very one-sided in their favor in the second half, much less deservedly so. Lots of BS non-calls for UK and a few BS calls on UT.

I honestly can't believe that we didn't get blown out with how bad we were on offense. It's time to stop force feeding Lanier unless he has size advantage on his defender and no more ISO. He is a great shooter but not athletic enough to go at SEC defenders and his lack of quickness really limits him. He needs to rely more on kicked out offensive boards, have plays drawn up to get him open on penetration from someone else or get him to a spot on a screen.

More Igor at the top of the key, more Mashack driving to shoot or for contact 2-3 times per half (and dunk it!!), Dubar needs to use his size to get buckets down low and with his push/floater, more feeds to Felix/Cade in the low post. More Gainey coming off screens and pin downs....he isn't as reliable a shooter as Lanier but he can at least get his shot when he wants it and is better at attacking the rim and finishing or kicking out.

Lastly, can the entire freaking team stop all going cold at the same damn time?! I still think we can make a run in March but we need to get healthy and more aggressive so we stop having these mass ice cold shooting nights.

This /\

I was at the game with Younger Son&Heir and was depressingly able to predict what the refs in the 2nd half were going to call (or not call) with about 75% accuracy before the play even happened. I've seen that movie too many times. Had the refs called anything approaching an even game KY would have been out of players before the 10:00 minute mark in the 2nd.

Watching the Vols clang threes all night probably gave Barnes a peptic ulcer. Damned near gave me one.

Kentucky delenda est.

 

[hUTch2002]

Well I guess it’s good that you got one who wasn’t the type to throw ungodly fits

I’ll agree with you there. Honestly, I think a lot of times get thrown in the autism bucket when they don’t know what else to call it.

 

[Mid Tenn Vol]

Barnes needs to recruit better shooters, playing defense is great and all but it’s not gonna win a title you have to be able to score. We are sorely missing a guy like DK this year. Barnes has done great things here, but I don’t see him changing at this point. It is what it is. These are the types of teams he puts on the floor. The shooting slumps and going cold for minutes at a time seem to be characteristics of his teams.