*****The Official Tennessee vs Lithuania U21 (Game 2) 1 p.m. (Florence, Italy)

#52
#52
Volprofch05 said:
Awaka was 5-5 FG and 6-6 FT

Stats As Tennessee Basketball Defeats The Lithuanian U21 Team On Consecutive Days | Rocky Top Insider
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Vescovi: 5/7 from 3. Lol.
Awaka: 16 pts on 5 shots (4/4 fts). 8 rbds.
Knecht: 19pts on 10 shots (4/7 from 3)
Aidoo: 16pts on 8 shots. 10 rbds.
Dilione: not a great shooting game (4/12; 1/4 from 3) but 9 assists to 3 TO

One more note: Dilione doesn't have the flat out speed of Bone or Kennedy, but he has more lateral shiftiness & changes of speed. He's like the pitcher who doesn't have the 100mph fastball, but does have a nasty slider and changeup. Plus he has size on both Bone & Kennedy. I like.
 
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#53
#53
We had a couple really big lineups with Aidoo/Awaka/Knecht going 3-5. Add in that dillione is big for a pg and it’s imposing
 
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#54
#54
Looking solid without Zeigler. Love that Knecht and Vescovi are hitting the mark from deep. For us to push through in March and make a run though, Josiah needs to find the stroke and be consistent. I’d settle 2-6 from 3 every game from him. Can’t have him doing 4-7 then 0-6. He’s the key to getting us over the hump in the dance. Well, that and Barnes being able to adjust the offense with the season on the line.

Have to respect the culture and regular seasons we’ve had. Doesn’t happen for most fan bases, and I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it. At this point though it’s time for Rick and our older guys to put it together and make the final 4 we’ve been capable of for years.
 
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#55
#55
Lukusw said:
Vescovi: 5/7 from 3. Lol.
Awaka: 16 pts on 5 shots (4/4 fts). 8 rbds.
Knecht: 19pts on 10 shots (4/7 from 3)
Aidoo: 16pts on 8 shots. 10 rbds.
Dilione: not a great shooting game (4/12; 1/4 from 3) but 9 assists to 3 TO

One more note: Dilione doesn't have the flat out speed of Bone or Kennedy, but he has more lateral shiftiness & changes of speed. He's like the pitcher who doesn't have the 100mph fastball, but does have a nasty slider and changeup. Plus he has size on both Bone & Kennedy. I like.
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Dilione is a master of changing speeds and angles to get anywhere he wants, on the floor. Which seems to lead to good shots for Freddie and his teammates. Very high basketball IQ, imo
 
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#56
#56
Lukusw said:
Vescovi: 5/7 from 3. Lol.
Awaka: 16 pts on 5 shots (4/4 fts). 8 rbds.
Knecht: 19pts on 10 shots (4/7 from 3)
Aidoo: 16pts on 8 shots. 10 rbds.
Dilione: not a great shooting game (4/12; 1/4 from 3) but 9 assists to 3 TO

One more note: Dilione doesn't have the flat out speed of Bone or Kennedy, but he has more lateral shiftiness & changes of speed. He's like the pitcher who doesn't have the 100mph fastball, but does have a nasty slider and changeup. Plus he has size on both Bone & Kennedy. I like.
Click to expand...

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#57
#57
Knecht has a better build than I was thinking from his previous highlights. I was worried he was not going to be strong enough to play PF in the SEC, but I think he'll spend a lot of time there given our lack of depth there. He was either bigger than I thought or added good weight this offseason in our workouts. I think he'll be very important for us.
 
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#58
#58
volsarelife1 said:
I'm excited to see Awaka keep progressing. Massive star potential there for him
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After 2 meaningless pre-season games it is becoming obvious that Awaka very well may be our most important player this year. We have no one who can replace him. 3+ months to go before the season starts and we have to like what we have right now. They will improve before the season starts with a heavy emphasis on protecting the ball and playing solid defense without the silly reach in fouls. Key will be figuring out who plays better with each other on rotation and that will take awhile especially with Zeigler out of the mix at the moment. I'm still convinced we can play 11 in the rotation, each averaging double figure minutes. Estrella, Jefferson and Gainey may be on lower end of double figure minutes per game but think it can be consistent. No one, not even Vescovi needs to be over 28 minutes per game given this amount of depth. When they are on the floor the offense should run through Vescovi and Knecht but we have a ton of complementary players who can also score. When James gets a defensive rebound, he can initiate a break himself which could be a staple of our style of play.
 
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#59
#59
therickbol said:
That is my biggest concern with Aidoo. He has put on some good weight. But he is still not physical. For him it will take more than improved physical strength to get him to play with physicality. It's going to take a mental overhaul. And it just hasn't happened for him yet. He has elite height and length. He has good skill and IQ. But when he tries to score around the rim it is always soft. He needs to experiment with the "dunk everything" philosophy until his mindset adjusts to how to score around the rim.
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I would think battling Awaka every practice would make him more physical by osmosis.
 
#61
#61
Namorto1 said:
After 2 meaningless pre-season games it is becoming obvious that Awaka very well may be our most important player this year. We have no one who can replace him. 3+ months to go before the season starts and we have to like what we have right now. They will improve before the season starts with a heavy emphasis on protecting the ball and playing solid defense without the silly reach in fouls. Key will be figuring out who plays better with each other on rotation and that will take awhile especially with Zeigler out of the mix at the moment. I'm still convinced we can play 11 in the rotation, each averaging double figure minutes. Estrella, Jefferson and Gainey may be on lower end of double figure minutes per game but think it can be consistent. No one, not even Vescovi needs to be over 28 minutes per game given this amount of depth. When they are on the floor the offense should run through Vescovi and Knecht but we have a ton of complementary players who can also score. When James gets a defensive rebound, he can initiate a break himself which could be a staple of our style of play.
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I don’t think that Jefferson will be much of a factor for us this year after conference play starts. Seems like he’s still a year away (plus there’s just so much depth in front of him this year). I’m hoping he breaks out next year when he gets a better opportunity after JJJ leaves.
 
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#67
#67
BigBabyWilliams said:
Looking solid without Zeigler. Love that Knecht and Vescovi are hitting the mark from deep. For us to push through in March and make a run though, Josiah needs to find the stroke and be consistent. I’d settle 2-6 from 3 every game from him. Can’t have him doing 4-7 then 0-6. He’s the key to getting us over the hump in the dance. Well, that and Barnes being able to adjust the offense with the season on the line.

Have to respect the culture and regular seasons we’ve had. Doesn’t happen for most fan bases, and I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it. At this point though it’s time for Rick and our older guys to put it together and make the final 4 we’ve been capable of for years.
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If JJJ is the key then that's horrible news. We already know how it's gonna end. I'm hoping he isn't the key to anything but just a veteran role player. If he's anything more we are in trouble.
 
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#68
#68
ColinS said:
If JJJ is the key then that's horrible news. We already know how it's gonna end. I'm hoping he isn't the key to anything but just a veteran role player. If he's anything more we are in trouble.
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Agree completely…he’s a great team player but limited athleticly. I do see his role changing this year to more of a role player.We just have so much more athleticism with this years team.Dilione,Knecht and Awaka are all going to play more meaningful minutes in my opinion.Really excited to see this group come together.
 
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#69
#69
FeelVol said:
Agree completely…he’s a great team player but limited athleticly. I do see his role changing this year to more of a role player.We just have so much more athleticism with this years team.Dilione,Knecht and Awaka are all going to play more meaningful minutes in my opinion.Really excited to see this group come together.
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I just have a feeling Barnes will just continue to start JJJ the whole season.

Really hoping he only averages like 15 mins a game, if that.
 
#70
#70
Special Ed said:
The announcers kept saying the Vols will take a train over to Rome for the Monday game.
They don't seem to know that Rome is 170 miles south of Florence.
The Vols will take the trip down to Rome.
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Great, this whole trip is completely ruined now. May as well pack their bags and head back up to the States.
 
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#71
#71
TrippieRedd said:
I just have a feeling Barnes will just continue to start JJJ the whole season.

Really hoping he only averages like 15 mins a game, if that.
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Why wouldn’t he start? He’s one of our 5 best players. He plays great defense, provides great leadership, can defend multiple positions, and can play multiple positions on offense. He will and should play starter minutes.

The thing with JJJ is his inconsistency as a shooter/scorer. He’s historically had a great shooting game, followed by a couple of really off shooting games. And, as his shooting is off, the team’s offense tends to follow. I understand not wanting a repeat of that this season.

But here’s the difference: we won’t dependent on JJJ to shoot well in order to score this year because there should be other options. We didn’t have Dillione last year. We didn’t have Knecht and Gainey last year. All three of those guys can hit from outside, along with ZZ and SV. Additionally, Awaka is developing as an inside scorer and Aidoo should be improved as well. Mashack has the chance to be a better scoring threat. And of course, we were without ZZ in March.

Point is, we’re more rounded offensively, with better shooters/scorers, so you shouldn’t see 0-6 nights from JJJ because we don’t need him to score like before. If he’s off, he can just let one of the others have a higher volume shooting night, while doing the things he does best…play defense, rebound, and facilitate.
 
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#72
#72
NighthawkVol said:
Why wouldn’t he start? He’s one of our 5 best players. He plays great defense, provides great leadership, can defend multiple positions, and can play multiple positions on offense. He will and should play starter minutes.

The thing with JJJ is his inconsistency as a shooter/scorer. He’s historically had a great shooting game, followed by a couple of really off shooting games. And, as his shooting is off, the team’s offense tends to follow. I understand not wanting a repeat of that this season.

But here’s the difference: we won’t dependent on JJJ to shoot well in order to score this year because there should be other options. We didn’t have Dillione last year. We didn’t have Knecht and Gainey last year. All three of those guys can hit from outside, along with ZZ and SV. Additionally, Awaka is developing as an inside scorer and Aidoo should be improved as well. Mashack has the chance to be a better scoring threat. And of course, we were without ZZ in March.

Point is, we’re more rounded offensively, with better shooters/scorers, so you shouldn’t see 0-6 nights from JJJ because we don’t need him to score like before. If he’s off, he can just let one of the others have a higher volume shooting night, while doing the things he does best…play defense, rebound, and facilitate.
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Debatable
 
#74
#74
NighthawkVol said:
Not really. There is more to basketball than being the guy who scores. A lot more.
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Yeah, guess that’s why we exit the tourney early every year.

Love JJJ, but he isn’t one of the top 5 players on the team. Needs to come off the bench. Period.

You’re essentially saying Robert Hubbs is our best player
 
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