Tony B Show: Do the Vols feel top 5?

[fear]

yes.

 

[TrumpedUpVol]

After this performance and the results of other games this week, I think anyone who doesn’t have Tennessee ranked #7 at bare minimum is insane (looking at you, David Borges of the New Haven Register).

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Played like it tonight

 

[NighthawkVol]

Played like it tonight

Tonight was the first time I thought this team feels like a legitimate Final 4 possibility. And the inside game has the most to do with that. It’s been my biggest concern, but Aidoo and Awaka were men tonight.

 

[All Vol!]

Tonight was the first time I thought this team feels like a legitimate Final 4 possibility. And the inside game has the most to do with that. It’s been my biggest concern, but Aidoo and Awaka were men tonight.

They felt FF good to me @ Wisconsin. Getting the impressive double digit win in that atmosphere and the composure they showed, were a statement imo.

 

[StarRaider]

We are very fortunate to have CRB at the helm

 

[The Shooter McGavin]

Honestly, imo, this is our best chance we’ve ever had to make a run. You’ve gotta have leadership and this team has it in spades. We have 6 guys who could drop a 20+ if needed. Barring major foul trouble we have the defense and intensity to stop any team in the country. This team is built for March.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Tonight was the first time I thought this team feels like a legitimate Final 4 possibility. And the inside game has the most to do with that. It’s been my biggest concern, but Aidoo and Awaka were men tonight.

…wit yoots in waiting..

 

[orangemadam]

By the time the Ky game arrives, it could be a 2 vs 3 matchup.

 

[beamerman]

Winning the SEC regular season and getting a 1or 2 seed matters a great deal. The better the seed, the better the chance to advance in the the one and done crapshoot, that really doesn't identify the best team. Not usually anyway.

It's all that matters to casual fans

Great point. I may be old fashioned but I want a regular season SEC title and that should indeed be good enough for a 1 or 2 seed. The SEC tourney title was nice but as we have seen the seeding is pretty much done before the games are done. Win the regular season crown, get a bye for the SEC tournament and win a game then rest up for the big tourney as a 1 seed.

 

[NighthawkVol]

By the time the Ky game arrives, it could be a 2 vs 3 matchup.

If we handle Alabama on 1/20 (I REALLY wanna sweep them this year), we shouldn’t lose another game before playing Kentucky in Rupp.

 

[cardvolfan]

Officially at #4 in KenPom this morning.

 

[RockyTopRiot]

By the time the Ky game arrives, it could be a 2 vs 3 matchup.

Kentucky will probably drop at least one game before then. They didn’t look very good at all against Florida.

 

[wmcovol]

My major concern is the offense had struggled all year to get Vescovi open shots & now it can’t get Knecht good looks either. Those are the two best consistent scorers along with JJJ. I understand Aidoo, ZZ, Shack had great games but you can’t depend on that regularly against legit Top 20 teams and certainly not in March

 

[kckempf]

My major concern is the offense had struggled all year to get Vescovi open shots & now it can’t get Knecht good looks either. Those are the two best consistent scorers along with JJJ. I understand Aidoo, ZZ, Shack had great games but you can’t depend on that regularly against legit Top 20 teams and certainly not in March

If any other team wants to pull up their post defenders to take away Knecht's drives Aidoo will be happy to punish them too.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

My major concern is the offense had struggled all year to get Vescovi open shots & now it can’t get Knecht good looks either. Those are the two best consistent scorers along with JJJ. I understand Aidoo, ZZ, Shack had great games but you can’t depend on that regularly against legit Top 20 teams and certainly not in March

I think Aidoo and Mashack having good games is a function of teams concentrating on SV and DK.
Furthermore, we are not running either of them around multiple picks, which they did to get SV open last year.

In part, this is playing the long game, trying to preserve energy, health of players, and trying to avoid injuries over a long season. (Tired players write checks and their bodies pay the price.)
Think about this, we did not run pick and roll last year! The offense has changed and is still evolving.
Also SV, JJ and DK had open 3s, but they did make them at a high percentage.

We scored 90 points! We can beat almost every team we play if we scored like that consistently.

 

[Lankykong]

My major concern is the offense had struggled all year to get Vescovi open shots & now it can’t get Knecht good looks either. Those are the two best consistent scorers along with JJJ. I understand Aidoo, ZZ, Shack had great games but you can’t depend on that regularly against legit Top 20 teams and certainly not in March

Vescovi was pretty open on his 3s yesterday

 

[wmcovol]

Vescovi was pretty open on his 3s yesterday

He hit 3-8. Knecht hit 1-3. Together they took 15 shots. Total. All game. Obviously OM schemed to defend them but I just think they need more shots than 15.

OM is a tough team but they’ll struggle to make the tournament even starting 13-0.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

If we can get Aidoo scoring 20+ points every game. We will win a ton of games!

 

[walkenvol]

He hit 3-8. Knecht hit 1-3. Together they took 15 shots. Total. All game. Obviously OM schemed to defend them but I just think they need more shots than 15.

OM is a tough team but they’ll struggle to make the tournament even starting 13-0.

To me, Knecht gets all the looks from 3 he wants. What’s disappeared of late is his ability to put his head down and drive the lane without turning the ball over. I’m not clear on what exactly has changed there other than teams getting film and collapsing to the lane when he drives? Should be setting our shooters up for open looks from 3?

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

To me, Knecht gets all the looks from 3 he wants. What’s disappeared of late is his ability to put his head down and drive the lane without turning the ball over. I’m not clear on what exactly has changed there other than teams getting film and collapsing to the lane when he drives? Should be setting our shooters up for open looks from 3?

I will make a couple of generic remarks on DK.
He did not put enough 'good' effort in on defense last night and that limited his minutes on the floor. Second his 3 fouls put him in a 'mental' box he was not able to escape.
Also, it appeared to me like he was getting some insight being handed to him by one of the coaches.
He is going to be fine!
This is nothing more than the transfer learning curve. He is bumping into the same wall that Vescovi does from time to time when he picks up two quick fouls and then adds that third.
DK showed early promise ... that is still there, it is being hidden by a few flaws in his game that he is working on.
Patience is a friend.

 

[Lukusw]

I will make a couple of generic remarks on DK.
He did not put enough 'good' effort in on defense last night and that limited his minutes on the floor. Second his 3 fouls put him in a 'mental' box he was not able to escape.
Also, it appeared to me like he was getting some insight being handed to him by one of the coaches.
He is going to be fine!
This is nothing more than the transfer learning curve. He is bumping into the same wall that Vescovi does from time to time when he picks up two quick fouls and then adds that third.
DK showed early promise ... that is still there, it is being hidden by a few flaws in his game that he is working on.
Patience is a friend.

I felt last night was the best defensive showing Knecht has had so far. Not to say it was a great showing, but solid-- definitely better than the start of the year.

 

[The Dog]

If we handle Alabama on 1/20 (I REALLY wanna sweep them this year), we shouldn’t lose another game before playing Kentucky in Rupp.

Right, 17-3 and 7-0 in the SEC, when we go to Rupp, imo. We go to MSU, Georgia and Vandy, should be favorites in all 3. We get Florida, Bama and USC at home, probably 8+ point favorites in all 3

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

I felt last night was the best defensive showing Knecht has had so far. Not to say it was a great showing, but solid-- definitely better than the start of the year.

You are right! You could see he was putting in the effort!!! And I think that is the most aggressive effort I has seen from him on the defensive end.
But he picked up fouls, have to be careful ... good effort and no fouls is great defense.
Fantastic defense and fouls, regardless of reason ... will take you off the floor = not great defense!
This is an area you cannot fix in two months ... his defense will improve over time - he is still learning what defense looks like at this high of a level!