Vescovi and James 3-2 at Rupp

#28
#28
Stoerner Fumbles said:
Basketball is a team sport. It’s also a dynamic game. A good team has to adjust to the realities of a given game on the day it’s played. Neither Santi nor JJJ are perfect, but they are two of the best team players and two of the most adaptable to the situation at hand. I felt very lucky to see the Grant and Admiral era and feel equally lucky to see the careers of Santi and JJJ.
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Think about seeing pre-King-Grunfeld era, King-Grunfeld era and Ellis era, along with early Pearl era. I love my football Vols. Love my basketball Vols even more
 
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#30
#30
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Correct. First game for King at Rupp was a TN loss and a KY fan flipped a lit cigarette into Bernard’s Afro. He vowed to never lose to KY again and beat them the next 5 games.
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No. King won in his in his first trip to RUPP. He lost at Memorial in 75 and won there in 76, including the shot from his back on the floor. Grunfeld had 43 in that game
 
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#33
#33
ColinS said:
Congrats to Vescovi and James. Not only did they play great tonight, they will officially finish their careers with a winning record at Rupp. Not many Tennessee Seniors can make that claim.
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I think they are the only ones with a winning record in Rupp!
 
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#38
#38
BernardKingGOAT said:
No. King won in his in his first trip to RUPP. He lost at Memorial in 75 and won there in 76, including the shot from his back on the floor. Grunfeld had 43 in that game
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Yea, I know that. Since they’ve had Rupp open for over 45 years I have to catch myself from always saying “Rupp” instead of “Lexington”. TN won its last game at Memorial and its first game at Rupp. E&G beat Kentucky 5 in a row which I think is more than any other team. A Ray Mears record that he still owns.

I’m going to see if either the ‘76 or ‘77 games were the last or first wins by everybody. I’m guessing no or else it would be often mentioned.
 
#41
#41
Santi and JJJ have taken a lot of undeserved heat from some of the crazies in our fanbase, but from my perspective, they will go down as some of the best BasketVols in our program’s history.

I’ve loved getting to watch those two play. They’ve done so much to build this program into what it is. My only hope for those two is that this year they can lead us to the F4 and accomplish what no one else in our program has been able to do.

If Grant and Admiral couldn’t do it, it would only be appropriate for Santi and JJJ to have the honor of being the veterans to lead us there. I want it for them so badly, because they deserve it.
 
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#45
#45
ZZ13 said:
And 7-2 against Kentucky overall. Wonder what 77-78 would have been like if Mears was healthy?
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They had some players that year. Reggie Johnson especially.

Imagine what would have happened had King not used the hardship rule and jumped to the NBA. Maybe his little brother Albert would have signed with UT as well. But if Albert was on the roster, Dale Ellis might have played somewhere other than UT.
 
#47
#47
Thunder Good-Oil said:
They had some players that year. Reggie Johnson especially.

Imagine what would have happened had King not used the hardship rule and jumped to the NBA. Maybe his little brother Albert would have signed with UT as well. But if Albert was on the roster, Dale Ellis might have played somewhere other than UT.
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They had James Ratiff as a freshman. Was supposed to be blue chip world class player but was kinda wild on the court all year. Then he went back home to Howard for his last three years. Mears might have turned him into something special and kept him here all four years.
 
#48
#48
ZZ13 said:
They had James Ratiff as a freshman. Was supposed to be blue chip world class player but was kinda wild on the court all year. Then he went back home to Howard for his last three years. Mears might have turned him into something special and kept him here all four years.
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Sounds like he had a little Rupert Breedlove in him.

I’d forgotten all about Ratiff.

Edit: I misread “wild on the court” as wild OFF the court. He doesn’t sound much like Rupert B.

James Ratiff - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
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#49
#49
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Sounds like he had a little Rupert Breedlove in him.

I’d forgotten all about Ratiff.

Edit: I misread “wild on the court” as wild OFF the court. He doesn’t sound much like Rupert B.

James Ratiff - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
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He was a good dude. My parents were living in the DC suburbs at the time so I was familiar with him. He actually kinda recruited himself to Tennessee. Story is the Ernie and Bernie show got him excited about being a Vol. I think he just got homesick. He grew up in DC so he might have felt out of place here. Plus his recruitment coach wasn’t going to be his coach.
 
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#50
#50
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Yea, I know that. Since they’ve had Rupp open for over 45 years I have to catch myself from always saying “Rupp” instead of “Lexington”. TN won its last game at Memorial and its first game at Rupp. E&G beat Kentucky 5 in a row which I think is more than any other team. A Ray Mears record that he still owns.

I’m going to see if either the ‘76 or ‘77 games were the last or first wins by everybody. I’m guessing no or else it would be often mentioned.
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Lum Reeder won 5 in a row at Tennessee in 1917 against Kentucky and then that record was tied by Bernie and Ernie.

Great story on Reeder in today's News Sentinel.
 
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