Thoughts Entering NCAAT

[gainesvol82]

I'm trying to project what I expect my Vols to do in the NCAAT and have been conflicted. Obviously, the last 2 games have sucked and we have historically performed poorly in the tourney.

But the last two games have not been our typical play this year and were preceded by a long run of wins. Some of those wins were high intensity elite wins and some were against teams comparable to lower seed NCAAT teams. Then I think about how most of this roster played deep into the NCAAT last year without a PG due to ZZ's injury and lost due to not having enough offensive firepower. I think about how competitive we were early this year against multiple top programs while learning to play together (same for our competition). We lost a few but also won some good games including beating the teams playing for B10 tournament championship.

We had huge away wins in conference play and were dominant again at home. We lost a few games to unranked but talented, athletic and physical teams that were able to muddy up the game. It's concerning but we also won some games against those type of teams and won the regular season championship of the most physical/athletic conference in the country.

Overall, I feel much better going into the tournament this year than I did last year. We rarely have multiple losses in a row under Barnes and typically go on a run after we do. Knecht can take over and won't be as scouted by non-SEC programs. I think we get farther this year as a 2 seed than we have in program history.....not sure what but I think we break that F4 ceiling this year and who knows from there. We only have a couple of possible games against the type of physical teams that give us trouble. Win those and we have a legit title shot.

 

[volbound1700]

To be fair, Tennessee has been highly inconsistent all year long. A&M being classic example. Hopefully this is the start of a run as the bad losses usually lead to nice runs.

 

[sami]

Why bother projecting or speculating? It serves no purpose, and we don't even know who the hell we're playing yet.

This team has shown it can beat pretty much anyone when they're sharp and focused, which I can't imagine they won't be after that wake up call on Friday. How far will they go? There's no possible way to predict it, so just hope they come out on fire and stay that way.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

We’re on a downward trend guys expect a flame out…in before we get a barrage of these posts

Could very well go that way so not trying to deter that argument just figured I’d say it first

 

[gainesvol82]

To be fair, Tennessee has been highly inconsistent all year long. A&M being classic example. Hopefully this is the start of a run as the bad losses usually lead to nice runs.

Agreed but we have had a couple of good runs and that last 5 games of the season was as difficult as anything we could face in the NCAAT. We lost the last game to UK at their peak but we had some of the best wins in the country during that period.

BVS tells me we have a dud offensive shooting game and get bounced before we should but having Knecht makes me feel different. I think we have a fighting chance against anyone with him and I doubt we see him being doubled nearly as much like happened late in conference play.

 

[ZZ13]

I don’t understand treating the UK loss like it was some sort of dud performance. It was two powerhouse top ten teams going at it hard for 40 minutes and UK shot just well enough to pull out a narrow victory. We put up 81 points.

Mississippi State was USCjr at home all over again. Nobody on the team made any shots (still amazed an entire team can get brick fever all at the same time for an entire game - but we’ve done it twice). We won 7 in a row after that, with three wins in a row over elite 8 caliber teams, two of those on their home court.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I don’t understand treating the UK loss like it was some sort of dud performance. It was two powerhouse top ten teams going at it hard for 40 minutes and UK shot just well enough to pull out a narrow victory. We put up 81 points.

Mississippi State was USCjr at home all over again. Nobody on the team made any shots (still amazed an entire team can get brick fever all at the same time for an entire game - but we’ve done it twice). We won 7 in a row after that, with three wins in a row over elite 8 caliber teams, two of those on their home court.

We were down a lot of the UK game, and came back late. It wasn't neck and neck all game. Also you factor in it was Senior Day at home against our biggest rival and we played flat for a large portion of the game. Given we also had a #1 seed in play, I think it qualifies as a dud.

 

[VOLtaism]

This has been an exceptionally difficult schedule that can't really be compared to any other season. Those nornmal 15 walkover games were missing this year, replaced with many top seeded NCAA teams and the SEC schedule was the overall toughest I can remember. They faired very well. They can beat any team in the NCAA if they hit a few shots early. 4 in a row is doable.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

We were down a lot of the UK game, and came back late. It wasn't neck and neck all game. Also you factor in it was Senior Day at home against our biggest rival and we played flat for a large portion of the game. Given we also had a #1 seed in play, I think it qualifies as a dud.

Why was Kentucky not trending upward in the sec tournament? Seems like handling Tenn in that fashion would have propelled them right?

 

[gainesvol82]

I don’t understand treating the UK loss like it was some sort of dud performance. It was two powerhouse top ten teams going at it hard for 40 minutes and UK shot just well enough to pull out a narrow victory. We put up 81 points.

Mississippi State was USCjr at home all over again. Nobody on the team made any shots (still amazed an entire team can get brick fever all at the same time for an entire game - but we’ve done it twice). We won 7 in a row after that, with three wins in a row over elite 8 caliber teams, two of those on their home court.

There was a very high level of play from both teams in that game. UT just started slower. UK was playing at their best by that point. No shame in that loss and we dominated them in their house earlier in the season. Not a blowout but never in doubt.

 

[HighWaterVol]

Thanks for your post. This is a great team most of the time and my hope for success in the tourney is high. I will have them in the final four in all my brackets. Go Vols!

I'm trying to project what I expect my Vols to do in the NCAAT and have been conflicted. Obviously, the last 2 games have sucked and we have historically performed poorly in the tourney.

But the last two games have not been our typical play this year and were preceded by a long run of wins. Some of those wins were high intensity elite wins and some were against teams comparable to lower seed NCAAT teams. Then I think about how most of this roster played deep into the NCAAT last year without a PG due to ZZ's injury and lost due to not having enough offensive firepower. I think about how competitive we were early this year against multiple top programs while learning to play together (same for our competition). We lost a few but also won some good games including beating the teams playing for B10 tournament championship.

We had huge away wins in conference play and were dominant again at home. We lost a few games to unranked but talented, athletic and physical teams that were able to muddy up the game. It's concerning but we also won some games against those type of teams and won the regular season championship of the most physical/athletic conference in the country.

Overall, I feel much better going into the tournament this year than I did last year. We rarely have multiple losses in a row under Barnes and typically go on a run after we do. Knecht can take over and won't be as scouted by non-SEC programs. I think we get farther this year as a 2 seed than we have in program history.....not sure what but I think we break that F4 ceiling this year and who knows from there. We only have a couple of possible games against the type of physical teams that give us trouble. Win those and we have a legit title shot.

 

[njvols]

Why bother projecting or speculating? It serves no purpose, and we don't even know who the hell we're playing yet.

This team has shown it can beat pretty much anyone when they're sharp and focused, which I can't imagine they won't be after that wake up call on Friday. How far will they go? There's no possible way to predict it, so just hope they come out on fire and stay that way.

Don’t like the trend line stat I saw though. Need to get our mojo back quickly.

 

[TennEddie]

The tournament will be determined by matchups.
We do not play well vs teams with big athletic C/F types.
Miss St was a good example. I wish we still had Uros. He
was not an all-star, but he was NEVER intimidated. We have
as good a chance as anyone to win it all. We just need some
breaks to go our way.

 

[OrangeInKy]

fans of most teams in the tournament don’t know what to expect. It’s all part of the fun.

 

[Tnphil]

We were down a lot of the UK game, and came back late. It wasn't neck and neck all game. Also you factor in it was Senior Day at home against our biggest rival and we played flat for a large portion of the game. Given we also had a #1 seed in play, I think it qualifies as a dud.

Agree....KY pretty much manhandled us at home. We made a nice late run to make it look much better. IMO...the game was never in doubt for KY.

 

[Special Ed]

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed, but not expecting anything unprecedented out of this year's version of the BasketVols at the Big Dance.

 

[DarkVolder]

Praying for the elite 8 or final four , but it wouldn’t shock me at all if we get bounced out in the first round

 

[VolBricks]

this team has peaked too soon. I do not expect anything past the sweet 16.

 

[SonOfGodVolforlife]

I'm trying to project what I expect my Vols to do in the NCAAT and have been conflicted. Obviously, the last 2 games have sucked and we have historically performed poorly in the tourney.

But the last two games have not been our typical play this year and were preceded by a long run of wins. Some of those wins were high intensity elite wins and some were against teams comparable to lower seed NCAAT teams. Then I think about how most of this roster played deep into the NCAAT last year without a PG due to ZZ's injury and lost due to not having enough offensive firepower. I think about how competitive we were early this year against multiple top programs while learning to play together (same for our competition). We lost a few but also won some good games including beating the teams playing for B10 tournament championship.

We had huge away wins in conference play and were dominant again at home. We lost a few games to unranked but talented, athletic and physical teams that were able to muddy up the game. It's concerning but we also won some games against those type of teams and won the regular season championship of the most physical/athletic conference in the country.

Overall, I feel much better going into the tournament this year than I did last year. We rarely have multiple losses in a row under Barnes and typically go on a run after we do. Knecht can take over and won't be as scouted by non-SEC programs. I think we get farther this year as a 2 seed than we have in program history.....not sure what but I think we break that F4 ceiling this year and who knows from there. We only have a couple of possible games against the type of physical teams that give us trouble. Win those and we have a legit title shot.

I’m excited, I was pretty pissed after that miss state loss, but after UK and ALA lost.. maaaan you can’t tell me the sec said it don’t help anyway and the top 3 got rest while the teams on the bubble get a chance to make it to the ncaa dance since every team the sec gets into the dance benefits us.

 

[Hank Bukowski]

I'm trying to project what I expect my Vols to do in the NCAAT and have been conflicted. Obviously, the last 2 games have sucked and we have historically performed poorly in the tourney.

But the last two games have not been our typical play this year and were preceded by a long run of wins. Some of those wins were high intensity elite wins and some were against teams comparable to lower seed NCAAT teams. Then I think about how most of this roster played deep into the NCAAT last year without a PG due to ZZ's injury and lost due to not having enough offensive firepower. I think about how competitive we were early this year against multiple top programs while learning to play together (same for our competition). We lost a few but also won some good games including beating the teams playing for B10 tournament championship.

We had huge away wins in conference play and were dominant again at home. We lost a few games to unranked but talented, athletic and physical teams that were able to muddy up the game. It's concerning but we also won some games against those type of teams and won the regular season championship of the most physical/athletic conference in the country.

Overall, I feel much better going into the tournament this year than I did last year. We rarely have multiple losses in a row under Barnes and typically go on a run after we do. Knecht can take over and won't be as scouted by non-SEC programs. I think we get farther this year as a 2 seed than we have in program history.....not sure what but I think we break that F4 ceiling this year and who knows from there. We only have a couple of possible games against the type of physical teams that give us trouble. Win those and we have a legit title shot.

Good post. But I would be very surprised and delighted if we make it past the second round.

 

[cgrish]

Agreed but we have had a couple of good runs and that last 5 games of the season was as difficult as anything we could face in the NCAAT. We lost the last game to UK at their peak but we had some of the best wins in the country during that period.

BVS tells me we have a dud offensive shooting game and get bounced before we should but having Knecht makes me feel different. I think we have a fighting chance against anyone with him and I doubt we see him being doubled nearly as much like happened late in conference play.

If they watch any game film at all dk will be doubled

 

[Lankykong]

Agreed but we have had a couple of good runs and that last 5 games of the season was as difficult as anything we could face in the NCAAT. We lost the last game to UK at their peak but we had some of the best wins in the country during that period.

BVS tells me we have a dud offensive shooting game and get bounced before we should but having Knecht makes me feel different. I think we have a fighting chance against anyone with him and I doubt we see him being doubled nearly as much like happened late in conference play.

I think we see it and Aidoo just plays better because the bigs we’re playing against aren’t able to push him without fouling like Edey or Tolu or Dickinson or Bacot

 

[EZE]

I’m cautiously optimistic. Not overly confident by any stretch, but we’re due to play well in the tournament. And I think we have the horses to do it.

Only pause is that one bad game can get you eliminated, and we’ve seen that this team is certainly capable of putting up a stinker.

But equally capable of winning it all.

 

[hUTch2002]

Don’t like the trend line stat I saw though. Need to get our mojo back quickly.
View attachment 627662

Settling for too many 3s without moving the ball for a good shot.

 

[hUTch2002]

Praying for the elite 8 or final four , but it wouldn’t shock me at all if we get bounced out in the first round

Or are you really praying we get bounced first round so you can claim to have been right?