When you have only 6 scholarship players available and 2 of your seniors spend a considerable amount of time on the bench in foul trouble, and yet you drop the #1 team in the nation with perhaps the best PG and best Center on their roster, it takes a total team effort, in which case it is a shame to single out anyone first, but I'd say Maze pretty much earned that top spot tonight:
1. Bobby Maze played an unbelievable game. He made clutch shots, he played stingy defense down the stretch, but for one bad pass he made good decisions most of the night, he was 2nd on the team in rebounding and dished out 8 assists while scoring 16 points. He was almost perfect from the FT line and that last miss was the difference in him tying Hopson for top scoring honors for the Vols. He gave UT what we have been missing and what has been obviously the difference between a top 10 team and a 2 and done tournament team -- leadership at the PG position.
2. Who knew that Tyler Smith would be the guy who finally was able to get Scotty Hopson out of his shell. If you dropped a handful of NBA scouts into that place without knowing anything about any of the players, I'd wager that every one of them would leave with Hopson as one of their top 2 guys on the court. He was unstoppable and his cross-over on Collins with 5 minutes to go in the 1st half was sick. His dunk in Aldridge's face in the 2nd half was a reminder that Kansas wasn't the only team with a McDonald's AA on their roster.
3. I can't say enough about Wayne Chism. Looks like Tyler Smith was standing in the way of this team's true leader also. Chism has taken over this team. He started it out with a cold-blooded three point shot and his 2nd half three pointer was a dagger. His defense on Aldridge was fabulous, when the refs didn't have Chism sitting on the bench. This team is Wayne Chism's team every bit as much as the team 3 year's ago was Chris Lofton's team. Tyler Smith's mistake may end up making Chism a lot of money. I have a feeling he is going to showcase his talents even more the next 2 months. Chism was Pearl's first big catch and he is the only guy left from that recruiting class. He is a special, special Volunteer.
4. Woolridge worked his tail off in the low post against guys who were physically much stronger than he. And then he showed them how to stroke the three. I was really impressed with his decision-making, except for that dumb bank-shot three and handing the ball to JP late when Maze was standing next to him. Never give JP the ball when FT shooting is the order of the moment.
5. McBeeeeee for Threeeee. What a walk-on. The quote of the day belongs to Lundquist after Skyler hit that buzzer-beating three: "And he's a walk-on -- at least for the rest of the afternoon." JP Prince fouling out turned out to be a great thing for us. McBee plays hard-nosed defense, if he is fouled, the chances of him knocking down the shots are good, and he pulled out a 5 foot dagger and shoved it into the Jayhawks on that last three.
6. Kenny Hall is going to be special. Hall has to play 23 minutes because of Chism's foul trouble and he absolutely gave Aldrich fits. Someone ought to thank Hall's HS coach. The kid knows how to play basketball. You give him 25-30 more pounds of muscle and he is going to be an absolute beast in this league. I think with Tobias Harris and Kenny Hall (and Woolridge), the Vols will be just fine at the 4 and 5 spots next season.
7. Coach Pearl really has done a remarkable job with this group. At one 4-5 minute stretch in the 2nd half, we had Bone, McBee, Pearl, Hall, and Woolridge (then Maze) on the floor in the 2nd half and didn't give up anything in the lead to Kansas. Every player on the team contributed in their own way and Bruce owned Kansas on the defensive end of the court. This is a team that has stud players all over its roster from Collins to Aldridge to Henry, to the Morris twins. But Bruce had heart and motivated his guys who left their guts on the court. Watching SPearl is like watching a player on one of those 16 seeds in the first round of the NCAA tourney. You just think, "this kid has no business on the court with these players for the 1 seed." But he scrapped and contributed just like everyone else.
8. JP Prince frustrates me to no end with his decision-making on offense, but he has to be one of my favorite defenders. I haven't seen steals like he had of those entry passes attempted over his head since high school. Kansas really underestimated his length. He may not have scored many points, but his defense made a huge difference in the game and his two assists to Maze and Hopson (for the dunk) in the 2nd half were as big as any passes in the game.
9. As much as I enjoyed this and are happy for these guys, I can't wait to get Goins and Tatum (and maybe Williams) back. If Pearl can dismiss Tyler before the legal proceedings are over because Tyler admitted the guns are his, then he should be able to reinstate Tatum for sure and probably Goins before the legal proceedings are over. We can use them with SEC play starting and they deserve to be back on the team. WRT Williams, I really don't care that much. I think we can live happily without him. We can't continue to beat teams with this "chip" on our shoulder. We need to get back to having enough players to let Steven Pearl and Bone watch from the bench.
10. And a final thank you to Bruce Pearl for taking this program to the point where there are really only 2 options for serious sports fans on a Sunday in January -- either the NFL wild card or watching UT play the #1 team in the nation. Makes me want to jump in the car and drive the 3 hours north to see Ole Miss/UT a week from now.
1. Bobby Maze played an unbelievable game. He made clutch shots, he played stingy defense down the stretch, but for one bad pass he made good decisions most of the night, he was 2nd on the team in rebounding and dished out 8 assists while scoring 16 points. He was almost perfect from the FT line and that last miss was the difference in him tying Hopson for top scoring honors for the Vols. He gave UT what we have been missing and what has been obviously the difference between a top 10 team and a 2 and done tournament team -- leadership at the PG position.
2. Who knew that Tyler Smith would be the guy who finally was able to get Scotty Hopson out of his shell. If you dropped a handful of NBA scouts into that place without knowing anything about any of the players, I'd wager that every one of them would leave with Hopson as one of their top 2 guys on the court. He was unstoppable and his cross-over on Collins with 5 minutes to go in the 1st half was sick. His dunk in Aldridge's face in the 2nd half was a reminder that Kansas wasn't the only team with a McDonald's AA on their roster.
3. I can't say enough about Wayne Chism. Looks like Tyler Smith was standing in the way of this team's true leader also. Chism has taken over this team. He started it out with a cold-blooded three point shot and his 2nd half three pointer was a dagger. His defense on Aldridge was fabulous, when the refs didn't have Chism sitting on the bench. This team is Wayne Chism's team every bit as much as the team 3 year's ago was Chris Lofton's team. Tyler Smith's mistake may end up making Chism a lot of money. I have a feeling he is going to showcase his talents even more the next 2 months. Chism was Pearl's first big catch and he is the only guy left from that recruiting class. He is a special, special Volunteer.
4. Woolridge worked his tail off in the low post against guys who were physically much stronger than he. And then he showed them how to stroke the three. I was really impressed with his decision-making, except for that dumb bank-shot three and handing the ball to JP late when Maze was standing next to him. Never give JP the ball when FT shooting is the order of the moment.
5. McBeeeeee for Threeeee. What a walk-on. The quote of the day belongs to Lundquist after Skyler hit that buzzer-beating three: "And he's a walk-on -- at least for the rest of the afternoon." JP Prince fouling out turned out to be a great thing for us. McBee plays hard-nosed defense, if he is fouled, the chances of him knocking down the shots are good, and he pulled out a 5 foot dagger and shoved it into the Jayhawks on that last three.
6. Kenny Hall is going to be special. Hall has to play 23 minutes because of Chism's foul trouble and he absolutely gave Aldrich fits. Someone ought to thank Hall's HS coach. The kid knows how to play basketball. You give him 25-30 more pounds of muscle and he is going to be an absolute beast in this league. I think with Tobias Harris and Kenny Hall (and Woolridge), the Vols will be just fine at the 4 and 5 spots next season.
7. Coach Pearl really has done a remarkable job with this group. At one 4-5 minute stretch in the 2nd half, we had Bone, McBee, Pearl, Hall, and Woolridge (then Maze) on the floor in the 2nd half and didn't give up anything in the lead to Kansas. Every player on the team contributed in their own way and Bruce owned Kansas on the defensive end of the court. This is a team that has stud players all over its roster from Collins to Aldridge to Henry, to the Morris twins. But Bruce had heart and motivated his guys who left their guts on the court. Watching SPearl is like watching a player on one of those 16 seeds in the first round of the NCAA tourney. You just think, "this kid has no business on the court with these players for the 1 seed." But he scrapped and contributed just like everyone else.
8. JP Prince frustrates me to no end with his decision-making on offense, but he has to be one of my favorite defenders. I haven't seen steals like he had of those entry passes attempted over his head since high school. Kansas really underestimated his length. He may not have scored many points, but his defense made a huge difference in the game and his two assists to Maze and Hopson (for the dunk) in the 2nd half were as big as any passes in the game.
9. As much as I enjoyed this and are happy for these guys, I can't wait to get Goins and Tatum (and maybe Williams) back. If Pearl can dismiss Tyler before the legal proceedings are over because Tyler admitted the guns are his, then he should be able to reinstate Tatum for sure and probably Goins before the legal proceedings are over. We can use them with SEC play starting and they deserve to be back on the team. WRT Williams, I really don't care that much. I think we can live happily without him. We can't continue to beat teams with this "chip" on our shoulder. We need to get back to having enough players to let Steven Pearl and Bone watch from the bench.
10. And a final thank you to Bruce Pearl for taking this program to the point where there are really only 2 options for serious sports fans on a Sunday in January -- either the NFL wild card or watching UT play the #1 team in the nation. Makes me want to jump in the car and drive the 3 hours north to see Ole Miss/UT a week from now.
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