This was Big Boy Basketball in the win over the Fighting Illini

#1
H

HotVol

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#1
Neither team played any freshmen in this one, which is why Dilione, Estrella, Phillips, etc., didn't see the floor. The veterans showed they knew how to play well together & shut down the Illinois offense, holding them to 35% shooting for the game. Big win on the national CBS TV stage with Bill Raftery as the color commentator in Knoxville. Road to the Final Four started in Food City Center today.
 
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#2
#2
Once everyone is up to speed and the veterans start to mesh with the new arrivals as a unit, this team will be Smokin'.
Smokin.gif
 
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#4
#4
HotVol said:
Neither team played any freshmen in this one, which is why Dilione, Estrella, Phillips, etc., didn't see the floor. The veterans showed they knew how to play well together & shut down the Illinois offense, holding them to 35% shooting for the game. Big win on the national CBS TV stage with Bill Raftery as the color commentator in Knoxville. Road to the Final Four started in Food City Center today.
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The reason (per Barnes himself) some of the freshmen didn’t see the floor for Tennessee was practice habits leading up to this specific game. He mentioned Phillips could have played, but not the others. He said there’s a standard the freshmen have to follow and no one is given minutes they didn’t earn in practice. Some didn’t earn their minutes for this game.
 
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#8
#8
Butch s said:
I did until 14.7 seconds to go when channel 5 here went to weather. It has since been explained that they had to, but still sucks
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They don’t know how to put the game in a corner box on screen.
 
#9
#9
Hbg said:
How about also stop giving up layups.
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Fouling stops the clock, free throws, and gives time to set up trap or another defensive call for other team. Giving up a layup at least keeps the clock running and allows you to immediately get in transition and likely makes the other team where they have to foul. The worst case scenario is you foul on the layup and it's an and 1 situation with the clock stopped and they can strategize on defense.

I say play great d, but if they break for an open layup get out of the way and don't foul and be prepared to inbound and hit your own free throws.

All of this is of course situational. If you are only up 1 possession with seconds left, you have to play it out aggressively and let the chips fall. If you have a couple possession lead, the running the clock is your best defense.....
 
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#10
#10
OllVol said:
Very hard for me to watch the game. My one piece of advice? Quit fouling at the end of the game with a lead. Stopping the clock and giving them free throws. Infuriating.
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I was beginning to feel like they were about to give the game away in the last 60 seconds. Tennessee inbounds pass after Illinois had just scored a basket, stolen from JJJ and a quick basket, then violation of the 10 second clock on the next possession, I was wondering if they were gonna lose it after all.
 
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#11
#11
cardvolfan said:
The reason (per Barnes himself) some of the freshmen didn’t see the floor for Tennessee was practice habits leading up to this specific game. He mentioned Phillips could have played, but not the others. He said there’s a standard the freshmen have to follow and no one is given minutes they didn’t earn in practice. Some didn’t earn their minutes for this game.
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He’s not for every kid but Barnes is tough, consistent and seems to be a good man. He would hold out Knecht if Knecht didn’t practice hard. He doesn’t care who you are, you don’t practice right you don’t play. I could’ve used a coach like him when I played as I certainly didn’t take practice seriously.
 
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#12
#12
I think this team has a tremendous upside and hopefully they peak in March. Take care of business these next 4 games and let some of the frosh get some time. If we have injuries (which seemingly we always do), we may need them this year, especially in the post. I still think we consistently need Dilione in the rotation at some point (ie: 12 min per game), but his defense and decision making have to improve. But we need him to be confident and another scoring option in the backcourt especially when teams scheme to stop Knecht. Gainey's shooting woes may allow Dilione to earn some minutes as his FG % since Maui is around 28% and 25% from 3 pt line.
 
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#13
#13
cardvolfan said:
The reason (per Barnes himself) some of the freshmen didn’t see the floor for Tennessee was practice habits leading up to this specific game. He mentioned Phillips could have played, but not the others. He said there’s a standard the freshmen have to follow and no one is given minutes they didn’t earn in practice. Some didn’t earn their minutes for this game.
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Barnes many times uses the media to telegraph comments to players who he's trying to motivate in an old school way. That includes Dilione & Estrella, who haven't yet learned what it takes to compete in the SEC, though Dilione was on the bench thru the entire SEC schedule last season. He is the one with the tremendous upside that Rick is trying to motivate to reach his highest potential. He did that with Bone when he was here as a PG. Freddie can be a great ball handler & scorer, & we need him to do both if injuries crop up & for depth & to rest the veterans if we're gonna make the Final 4 as many still believe we can, including me.
 
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#14
#14
It's already apparent that there are at least 12 very good teams in the country--one of which is us. We've played four of them
already--Kansas, Purdue, Illinois, UNC---and while I've not seen them play, clearly UConn, Arizona, Marquette are also good (UConn beat UNC, Marquette beat Illinois), and there are probably 4 others at least--pick your favorities--which would make 12. Not to mention the various underdogs that rise up every tourney and play well. This means, comes tourney time, that any of these schools would probably have to win four straight games of a quality like our win yesterday to win the national title--those four coming IF and when you get the Sweet 16, after winning, perhaps, two easier first- and second-round games. In other words, it's going to be hard. It always is. You need to play well and play tough, play strong defense (a must), get some breaks maybe with your draw, and certainly shoot well consistently (a must). Let's get it on!

One thing that's encouraging for us is that Aidoo is becoming an offensive weapon. The guy has got some offensive game--and it's certainly possible that he will grow in confidence as this season goes along. He had a very good game yesterday. The more players you've got who can score, obviously the better.
 
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#16
#16
HotVol said:
Neither team played any freshmen in this one, which is why Dilione, Estrella, Phillips, etc., didn't see the floor. The veterans showed they knew how to play well together & shut down the Illinois offense, holding them to 35% shooting for the game. Big win on the national CBS TV stage with Bill Raftery as the color commentator in Knoxville. Road to the Final Four started in Food City Center today.
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Definitely big boy ball! I wonder how long it’s been since a game with top 20 teams had no minutes logged by a freshman? Seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve done that…. If ever? Pre-Grant era?
 
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#18
#18
turbovol said:
It's already apparent that there are at least 12 very good teams in the country--one of which is us. We've played four of them
already--Kansas, Purdue, Illinois, UNC---and while I've not seen them play, clearly UConn, Arizona, Marquette are also good (UConn beat UNC, Marquette beat Illinois), and there are probably 4 others at least--pick your favorities--which would make 12. Not to mention the various underdogs that rise up every tourney and play well. This means, comes tourney time, that any of these schools would probably have to win four straight games of a quality like our win yesterday to win the national title--those four coming IF and when you get the Sweet 16, after winning, perhaps, two easier first- and second-round games. In other words, it's going to be hard. It always is. You need to play well and play tough, play strong defense (a must), get some breaks maybe with your draw, and certainly shoot well consistently (a must). Let's get it on!

One thing that's encouraging for us is that Aidoo is becoming an offensive weapon. The guy has got some offensive game--and it's certainly possible that he will grow in confidence as this season goes along. He had a very good game yesterday. The more players you've got who can score, obviously the better.
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Love for the 🦒, always gets a "Like" from me
 
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#20
#20
hUTch2002 said:
He’s not for every kid but Barnes is tough, consistent and seems to be a good man. He would hold out Knecht if Knecht didn’t practice hard. He doesn’t care who you are, you don’t practice right you don’t play. I could’ve used a coach like him when I played as I certainly didn’t take practice seriously.
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Ha, he auntie holding Knecht out for anything.. There's obviously limits to that whole philosophy, & this would be one of them considering our entire offense is basically 100% dependent on him to get us going. Without Knecht, this is a really, really average team. Still fine defensively, but, the offense would be really hard to come by. Rick HAS to start recruiting more pure scorers after our one year rental of this kid is over with. I love hustle/rebound/glue guys like Mashack, James, Santi, Awaka, etc.. but, pure scorers have to be combined with those types..
 
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#21
#21
kirbysmartsbowlcut12 said:
Ha, he auntie holding Knecht out for anything.. There's obviously limits to that whole philosophy, & this would be one of them considering our entire offense is basically 100% dependent on him to get us going. Without Knecht, this is a really, really average team. Still fine defensively, but, the offense would be really hard to come by. Rick HAS to start recruiting more pure scorers after our one year rental of this kid is over with. I love hustle/rebound/glue guys like Mashack, James, Santi, Awaka, etc.. but, pure scorers have to be combined with those types..
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Barnes would hold Knecht out in a heartbeat if Knecht wasn’t practicing hard.
 
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#22
#22
hUTch2002 said:
Barnes would hold Knecht out in a heartbeat if Knecht wasn’t practicing hard.
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Yea, until the team undoubtedly went on one of its' patented scoring droughts, & he quickly realizes the answer to said drought is sitting on the bench. No one else on the roster can/will consistently put the ball in the basket, or create their own offense. And, until Barnes starts recruiting guys like that, it ain't gonna change.
 
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#24
#24
kirbysmartsbowlcut12 said:
Yea, until the team undoubtedly went on one of its' patented scoring droughts, & he quickly realizes the answer to said drought is sitting on the bench. No one else on the roster can/will consistently put the ball in the basket, or create their own offense. And, until Barnes starts recruiting guys like that, it ain't gonna change.
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If you play favorites you lose the rest of the team. Barnes and anyone else who coaches or manages know this.
 
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#25
#25
Rewatched a lot of the game last night and it was interesting to hear what I would consider one of the better network commentating teams talk about our team. Both Wright and Raftery spoke highly of the Vols calling specific strengths, weaknesses and things to look out for. You could tell they actually scouted the Vols. Most promising was hearing them confidently say that this team is a legit final four contender based on what they've seen.
 
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