UT vs. KU

#51
#51
JustLikeBB said:
How about some game talk?
I haven’t seen your team play this year. What is your opinion of your starters and who is your best 6th man? What are you strengths and weakness? Who is your toughest player?

Inconsistency (or youth which is probably the same thing) has been our (KU) biggest obstacle this year. We haven’t found our identity yet. It is clear that this team doesn’t know each other nearly as well as last year’s team and miscues have been the cause of some dumb turnovers. We were truly spoiled. We also need to do a better job of rebounding IMO.

Cole Aldrich, our center, at 6’11’’ is definitely our largest banger but he has not had the luxury of NBA talent around him like he did last year. This has allowed teams to focus on him and double up on him with mixed results. He has tended to get fouls and has to sit. He also gets his fair share. He’s an 83% free throw shooter so that is an advantage. Mostly he changes the game when he is in but has his ups and downs learning to be ‘the guy'.

Sherron Collins has tried to do too much this year and it has hurt in some games. He must be very frustrated with the young ‘uns and is trying to trust their abilities more. He’s a blazer but I think he may be a little banged up this game.- nothing announced but lately he has had flu/jammed hand/falls etc that makes me wonder. He’s solid and can drive & score, drive and dish or hit 3 pointers with regularity.

Tyshawn Taylor is a huge surprise. He is extremely athletic and has played beyond freshman status. He can drive and score although he tended to get offensive fouls in the earlier part of the year for it. He’s picking up very fast and seems to get that he needs to feed the post players. He does this pretty well.

I could go on but will wait to see if this is to your liking. Please tell me about your team.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the rundown. I can talk hoops all day, but I'm not one of the more knowledgeable on here in terms of hoops. Hatvol is encylopedic in his knowledge of the game.

Your first paragraph pretty well describes our team, as well, with the exception of rebounding. We have done pretty well on the boards thus far. I would add that our perimeter D is sorely lacking. This is worrisome considering the fact that you have Collins and Taylor at Guard. You will see us rotating the guards early and often. Expect to be pushed the entire 40 minutes, as you coach noted.
We had a scare the other night with one of our big men - Wayne Chism. He is really coming along this year (I think he has recorded 4 double-double's so far). But he took a nasty fall and suffered contusions to his elbow and spine in the last outing Monday night against Louisiana-Lafayette. The outlook on him is day to day but I expect him to see some playing time on Saturday. He will likely be the one that guards Aldrich. We will rotate Brian Williams in that role as well. He is a strong rebounder and not a bad defender, though young still. He has some trouble finishing under the basket on O.
Tyler Smith is good. What you see is what you get - very solid play game in and game out. He is the best player in the SEC in my biased opinion :) Our other big men are the tremendously athletic Emmanuel Negedu, who will be a star in years to come, and Steven Pearl (Bruce's son). If you lean your head out the window when Baby Pearl rotates in you will hear a collective NOOOOOOOOO coming from Volnationals around the country coupled with the sound of remote controls hitting the wall.
Guards, we have. Guards clicking on all cylinders at the same time, we don't. Maze is pretty solid at the point. Tabb, a defensive specialist, rotates in at point. Hopson is a five star recruit that has shown flashes of brilliance, but inconsistency. Inconsistency is a theme among our guards. Hopson, Woolrich, Prince, and Tatum are all players capable of putting up big numbers, yet no one is displaying enough consistency.
Some will say I'm biased again when I speak about our '6th man' JP Prince (he's from Memphis, as well) but to me, he is the player on our team that can make something happen - at will. He may not start, but don't overlook him on either side of the ball.
Like you, we seem to be a team struggling to find ourselves. We can take down giants and we can fall to midgets. We hope for Jekyll, but on occasion Hyde rears his ugly head.
Expect a fast, fast paced game and different looks on D. We will run with you as long as you are willing or able, but come to the game in shape.
 
#56
#56
If Chism is up to full strength and doesn't revert back to playing horribly I say we win in a tough win but by a decent margin in the end 8-12 points.

The problem is... like us... Kansas has been struggling against the zone - Specifically Collins.. so they will be relieved to see man-to-man as will we... so Collins will probably have a pretty huge game to let Kansas have an opportunity to win it late.
 
#57
#57
( Let me note that I'm suffering from the crud... Pretty mean head cold. My throat is extremely sore and I'm in and out of my head a little bit. I think working out in the cold the past couple days has made it worse... Said that just to say I may not be up to getting into all the details at this time. )

Haven't watched a lot of KU this year. I did watch pretty much the entire game when Coach Self pulled all the freshmen out, (in Kansas City).
I'd say Collins can get off on us if he comes to play.
Aldrich probably will get some easy buckets if he gets the ball in good position due to either our bigs (mostly Chism) playing not to foul, or already in foul trouble and playing less aggressively.
I am not worried in the least about Taylor doing anything against us. Just kiddin' ! See the thing is, your main guys will probably get their averages or more if they can handle our aggression and pressure. We have not been able to take away anybody's main contributors. It hurts me to say that. What kills us is when we let a role player come in and get 20 pts. when he normally averages 6-7 a game. This to me is always a key to the game that we don't talk about that much around here.
MphsBlues said it right. Inconsistency. We really can't tell you what you're gonna get out of us, our teams are very much alike. We're a little banged up right now with JP Prince just coming back from an ankle injury, and we just don't know how effective Chism will be after his fall.
You can expect us to be willing to run despite some miscues at times. We pressure during most under the basket inbounds situations, I'd say we might not give y'all that look as much because Collins should be able to break the press, but then again we're not always playing for a steal, just getting the ball out of the PG's hands to disrupt your offense a little bit. I think the refs may have an effect on the way this game is played. Our defense isn't great, but it has improved some. If we're allowed to get up on you guys without getting cheap foul calls I think we can stay in the game. If our guys can't touch your guys we get run out of the building.
They will not be intimidated by the crowd, maybe in awe of the tradition, and beauty of the place. But it ain't in us to play scared. The big men will fumble some possessions away down low, Scotty Hopson may shoot an air ball, we'll have unforced turnovers, ill-advised alley-oop passes, Renaldo Woolridge will take at least 2 'why in the world did he shoot that?' 3 pointers. Expect our big men to have a little piece of that action as well. If you play us in a 2-3 zone Tyler Smith in the middle can have you scratching your head at some of the shots he gets to go down. I could go on, and maybe will a little later, but that's how we play. It's the Bruce Pearl chaos theory. We may come in and execute beautifully, control the pace, knock down shots, play some defense and beat KU by 10. That's not likely, we're so inconsistent it's not funny, but in this game between these two teams anything can happen. Nobody knows. That's why I'm making the trip tomorrow !
 
#58
#58
joeydupree said:
( Let me note that I'm suffering from the crud... Pretty mean head cold. My throat is extremely sore and I'm in and out of my head a little bit. I think working out in the cold the past couple days has made it worse... Said that just to say I may not be up to getting into all the details at this time. )

Haven't watched a lot of KU this year. I did watch pretty much the entire game when Coach Self pulled all the freshmen out, (in Kansas City).
I'd say Collins can get off on us if he comes to play.
Aldrich probably will get some easy buckets if he gets the ball in good position due to either our bigs (mostly Chism) playing not to foul, or already in foul trouble and playing less aggressively.
I am not worried in the least about Taylor doing anything against us. Just kiddin' ! See the thing is, your main guys will probably get their averages or more if they can handle our aggression and pressure. We have not been able to take away anybody's main contributors. It hurts me to say that. What kills us is when we let a role player come in and get 20 pts. when he normally averages 6-7 a game. This to me is always a key to the game that we don't talk about that much around here.
MphsBlues said it right. Inconsistency. We really can't tell you what you're gonna get out of us, our teams are very much alike. We're a little banged up right now with JP Prince just coming back from an ankle injury, and we just don't know how effective Chism will be after his fall.
You can expect us to be willing to run despite some miscues at times. We pressure during most under the basket inbounds situations, I'd say we might not give y'all that look as much because Collins should be able to break the press, but then again we're not always playing for a steal, just getting the ball out of the PG's hands to disrupt your offense a little bit. I think the refs may have an effect on the way this game is played. Our defense isn't great, but it has improved some. If we're allowed to get up on you guys without getting cheap foul calls I think we can stay in the game. If our guys can't touch your guys we get run out of the building.
They will not be intimidated by the crowd, maybe in awe of the tradition, and beauty of the place. But it ain't in us to play scared. The big men will fumble some possessions away down low, Scotty Hopson may shoot an air ball, we'll have unforced turnovers, ill-advised alley-oop passes, Renaldo Woolridge will take at least 2 'why in the world did he shoot that?' 3 pointers. Expect our big men to have a little piece of that action as well. If you play us in a 2-3 zone Tyler Smith in the middle can have you scratching your head at some of the shots he gets to go down. I could go on, and maybe will a little later, but that's how we play. It's the Bruce Pearl chaos theory. We may come in and execute beautifully, control the pace, knock down shots, play some defense and beat KU by 10. That's not likely, we're so inconsistent it's not funny, but in this game between these two teams anything can happen. Nobody knows. That's why I'm making the trip tomorrow !
Click to expand...

Well said. I like your synopsis better than mine. The last paragraph rings so true that it's funny - even if some of it hurts.
 
#60
#60
MphsBlues said:
The last paragraph rings so true that it's funny - even if some of it hurts.
Click to expand...

And I said all of that to make one point. I'm not sure if it will be clear to a non-Vol.
The crowd may think they are affecting us, the announcers may say it will be a factor. We are going to play erratic no matter what, it won't be because of them. The only thing I worry about their crowd affecting is the refs, and the said role player who's confidence may ride high...
Hopefully my throat will be better to where I can make a little noise of my own... We like ending home winning streaks ! Oh yeah, I'm thinking about making an Eric Berry for Heisman poster... Yea or Nay ? How about this...
Eric BErry
DoeSn't need
ThorPe, deserves
HeismaN
 
#61
#61
This is gonna be a crazy good game....i'd like to see position match-ups....give me starters and then give me bench players. Is UT's depth better than Kansas??? In all honesty I think we have a very deep roster...maybe the best in America along with North Carolina...we go ten deep baby at THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
 
#62
#62
joeydupree said:
And I said all of that to make one point. I'm not sure if it will be clear to a non-Vol.
The crowd may think they are affecting us, the announcers may say it will be a factor. We are going to play erratic no matter what, it won't be because of them. The only thing I worry about their crowd affecting is the refs, and the said role player who's confidence may ride high...
Hopefully my throat will be better to where I can make a little noise of my own... We like ending home winning streaks ! Oh yeah, I'm thinking about making an Eric Berry for Heisman poster... Yea or Nay ? How about this...
Eric BErry
DoeSn't need
ThorPe, deserves
HeismaN
Click to expand...
The only UK football game I've attended was in 84, the last time we lost to them. The people sitting behind me were looking at bball stuff, but of course UK is a bball school. Me personally I wouldn't take football para. to a bball game.
 
#63
#63
JustLikeBB said:
How about some game talk?
I haven’t seen your team play this year. What is your opinion of your starters and who is your best 6th man? What are you strengths and weakness? Who is your toughest player?
Click to expand...

I meant to answer these the first time...
Our starting rotation could be any combination of 8 or 9 guys at any given time.
Lately Wayne Chism has seperated himself as the starting center, Brian Williams has started this year at center. From there on down, except at point, the positions aren't as clear. The only guy on our team that I would call a power forward would be Negedu, he hasn't started this year, but I think he could at some point if there was the right match up.
So you end up with Tyler Smith or Renaldo Woolridge in the so called 4 spot, but they both are 3's, although somebody has yet to inform Woolridge that he isn't a shooting guard. Either way, both start at the 3 or 4.
Scotty Hopson at the 2.
Bobby Maze at point.
JP Prince would be the designated 6th man, but we often sub in a couple players within the first minute or two of the game. Cam Tatum- shooting guard. Josh Tabb-back up point, but has started along side Maze also, for his defensive presence. So the question about our starters is a little tricky, but you're not gonna get me today. We have 2 guys that have to be in the starting line-up in Maze and Tyler Smith. The rest are completely interchangeable. We are truly 10 deep...
I think some of our strenghts and weaknesses have been discussed.
Our toughest player? Well, just toughness, you wouldn't want to get into a fight with Emmanuel Negedu, but he only plays 10-15 minutes a game.
Basketball toughness? Tyler Smith is our heart and soul, most rounded and consistent player, and has the best feel for the game out of what we have. I guess if you want to call it toughness, you could. He has some old school game to him, too. Those guys are tough to guard, southpaw, he can shoot with either hand within 15 feet. He's been thru a stretch of games where he has been under his average in scoring but we will be looking to him to break out of that Saturday, definitely.
 
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#64
#64
BACKDOC said:
The only UK football game I've attended was in 84, the last time we lost to them. The people sitting behind me were looking at bball stuff, but of course UK is a bball school. Me personally I wouldn't take football para. to a bball game.
Click to expand...

Me either. I was just being silly. I got excited for a minute or two...
 
#65
#65
joeydupree said:
And I said all of that to make one point. I'm not sure if it will be clear to a non-Vol.
The crowd may think they are affecting us, the announcers may say it will be a factor. We are going to play erratic no matter what, it won't be because of them. The only thing I worry about their crowd affecting is the refs, and the said role player who's confidence may ride high...
Hopefully my throat will be better to where I can make a little noise of my own... We like ending home winning streaks ! Oh yeah, I'm thinking about making an Eric Berry for Heisman poster... Yea or Nay ? How about this...
Eric BErry
DoeSn't need
ThorPe, deserves
HeismaN
Click to expand...

Sometimes I think we actually feed off the opposing crowd noise.
As for the poster - I like it. :)
 
#66
#66
MphsBlues said:
Thanks for the rundown. I can talk hoops all day, but I'm not one of the more knowledgeable on here in terms of hoops. Hatvol is encylopedic in his knowledge of the game.

Your first paragraph pretty well describes our team, as well, with the exception of rebounding. We have done pretty well on the boards thus far. I would add that our perimeter D is sorely lacking. This is worrisome considering the fact that you have Collins and Taylor at Guard. You will see us rotating the guards early and often. Expect to be pushed the entire 40 minutes, as you coach noted.
We had a scare the other night with one of our big men - Wayne Chism. He is really coming along this year (I think he has recorded 4 double-double's so far). But he took a nasty fall and suffered contusions to his elbow and spine in the last outing Monday night against Louisiana-Lafayette. The outlook on him is day to day but I expect him to see some playing time on Saturday. He will likely be the one that guards Aldrich. We will rotate Brian Williams in that role as well. He is a strong rebounder and not a bad defender, though young still. He has some trouble finishing under the basket on O.
Tyler Smith is good. What you see is what you get - very solid play game in and game out. He is the best player in the SEC in my biased opinion :) Our other big men are the tremendously athletic Emmanuel Negedu, who will be a star in years to come, and Steven Pearl (Bruce's son). If you lean your head out the window when Baby Pearl rotates in you will hear a collective NOOOOOOOOO coming from Volnationals around the country coupled with the sound of remote controls hitting the wall.
Guards, we have. Guards clicking on all cylinders at the same time, we don't. Maze is pretty solid at the point. Tabb, a defensive specialist, rotates in at point. Hopson is a five star recruit that has shown flashes of brilliance, but inconsistency. Inconsistency is a theme among our guards. Hopson, Woolrich, Prince, and Tatum are all players capable of putting up big numbers, yet no one is displaying enough consistency.
Some will say I'm biased again when I speak about our '6th man' JP Prince (he's from Memphis, as well) but to me, he is the player on our team that can make something happen - at will. He may not start, but don't overlook him on either side of the ball.
Like you, we seem to be a team struggling to find ourselves. We can take down giants and we can fall to midgets. We hope for Jekyll, but on occasion Hyde rears his ugly head.
Expect a fast, fast paced game and different looks on D. We will run with you as long as you are willing or able, but come to the game in shape.
Click to expand...

Blues, I like your write-up. Don't forget Brian Williams in the post. He's our biggest body and certainly will commit his share of fouls on Big Aldrich.

I think what most UT fans are waiting for, and probably now realize it might not happen, is for Scotty Hopson to go crazy and put up 25+ pts in a game. He has the talent to get "in the zone" and score in multiple ways, but he just hasn't taken that big step yet - it looks like he's being passive, but who knows.

If he does go off, then we'll have another legit scoring threat to open oppys for the other guys.
 
#67
#67
MphsBlues said:
Sometimes I think we actually feed off the opposing crowd noise.
Click to expand...

We've had very solid road wins the past couple of seasons at Xavier, in Seattle against Gonzaga, and I'd even consider winning at Middle Tenn this year a respectable road win.

But we also got clearly rattled at Temple. This will be another test to see how well Bruce motivates the boys. Shouldn't be beyond his reach seeing as they're playing in the cradle of College BBall.

Fantastic scheduling job by Bruce and Co. Should be a great game to watch!
 
#73
#73
TennNC said:
Blues, I like your write-up. Don't forget Brian Williams in the post. He's our biggest body and certainly will commit his share of fouls on Big Aldrich.

I think what most UT fans are waiting for, and probably now realize it might not happen, is for Scotty Hopson to go crazy and put up 25+ pts in a game. He has the talent to get "in the zone" and score in multiple ways, but he just hasn't taken that big step yet - it looks like he's being passive, but who knows.

If he does go off, then we'll have another legit scoring threat to open oppys for the other guys.
Click to expand...

I think I actually did mention BWill in the paragraph about the Chism scare. When I was writing about the guards I had a couple of sentences already typed out that we were wating for someone to step up and become the outside go-to guy, especially Hopson, but decided not to. I think he'll eventually get there. The sooner the better :)
 
#74
#74
TennNC said:
We've had very solid road wins the past couple of seasons at Xavier, in Seattle against Gonzaga, and I'd even consider winning at Middle Tenn this year a respectable road win.

But we also got clearly rattled at Temple. This will be another test to see how well Bruce motivates the boys. Shouldn't be beyond his reach seeing as they're playing in the cradle of College BBall.

Fantastic scheduling job by Bruce and Co. Should be a great game to watch!
Click to expand...

Good points, all. I LOVE this game on the schedule. If we aren't ready for conf play after battles with Marquette, Kansas and Zaga we have problems. I think the KU folks like it on their schedule, as well. They even have a healthy dose of respect for our program.
 
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