Vols 4 seed vs Louisiana - Thursday 9:40 ET CBS

#252
#252
Tenacjim said:
Colin Castleton did a pretty good job on our bigs. I believe he went 20/9. The biggest thing is our guys couldn’t guard him without fouling (well, the whistle kept blowing anyway).
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20/9 from Castleton was nothing major compared to the other top big men we faced off against this year.

If kid from Louisiana goes 20/9 against us, that won't be enough to beat us.
 
#253
#253
JMSqb11 said:
20/9 from Castleton was nothing major compared to the other top big men we faced off against this year.

If kid from Louisiana goes 20/9 against us, that won't be enough to beat us.
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If their post goes for 20/9, I would be a little nervous because they have shooters that will score a little bit. They’re capable of hitting shots. This isn’t Longwood. I’d prefer not to let their best player score that much knowing he’s the main guy you gotta stop. If we can’t follow through with that game plan knowing you can’t let him beat you, I don’t know if I trust that we’ll limit the others enough. Their post averages around 19/game vs worse competition than us. If he goes above his average, better hope they don’t hit their average from 3.
 
#257
#257
We have plenty of talent to win this game but we were not playing good offense before ZZ went down.
 
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#264
#264
Chemvol said:
Gotta hit the freebies.

Iirc, we were fairly in control of that game until JP Prince picked up two quick fouls and had to sit. Prince’s length was giving his man fits on defense, and it was really disrupting Michigan State’s offense.
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That Elite 8 of Tennessee's that year was really enjoyable to watch. They made a better run that year than I expected. Yeah, got to hit free throw's in close games,but that was heartbreaking. It's been a little bit so I couldn't remember,but I think they would have matched up with Butler had they advanced? Speaking of which, they haven't been the same since Brad Stevens left. Looking forward to Thursday night. Hate the late tip-off though.
 
#266
#266
wtmvol said:
We won’t know that until the matchups are set.
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Although we can make an educated guess…

So, the Saturday games get a CBS double header starting around noon with no other games going on. So CBS will select 1 of the 4 Saturday locations to feature early afternoon. Last year 2 of the 1 seeds happened to be playing in the same place, and that’s what CBS chose to feature. So we got Baylor/UNC and then Kansas/Creighton.

1 of the 4 Thursday/Saturday locations is Sacramento, so we know it won’t be them.

Birmingham happens to feature 2 of the 1 seeds this year. My guess is that Alabama and Houston will get that CBS doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

However, they could also have some big brands in Kansas/Arkansas and Texas/Penn St in Des Moines that they could go with. Or they could go with us vs Duke if that’s the matchup and then UVA vs San Diego St.
When the smoke clears I think we would get 1 of the evening slots, maybe the 5:15 slot like we got last year. But again, we won’t know until CBS knows who’s playing.
 
#268
#268
You have to look a little deeper than the stat line to understand Louisiana. I’ll admit I skipped around a bit, but I did watch 6 of their games.

They’re “big” that everyone is so worried about has pretty much been the biggest player on the court in their games. He isn’t terrible, but Uros would look like Edey in the Sunbelt.

In order to defend him, many teams double him every time he gets the ball. He’s a good player, so he usually passes out of the double team, leading to wide open 3 pointers…..like really wide open, 2 secs with no one within 15 feet of you wide open. So that pretty much explains their good 3pt shooting.

I will say this, they have smart guards who move the ball around and find the open guy on the arc, and they rarely shoot with a hand in their face. When they do…..or when they are rushed….they are probably below average.

I don’t see us needing to double team this guy, and we play pretty good perimeter defense. He’s also terrible on defense. He late to the ball a lot, but he did seem to learn to just give up the basket when that happens instead of fouling. Still….gave up a ton of easy ones from being slow. He transferred for the same reason Pember did. Against lesser competiton he looks like a stud, wasn’t going to see the court at Arizona.

Louisiana isn’t terrible, but they can’t beat us. We can absolutely give the game away, but they just don’t have the talent. This is a game that in November would end up being 88-45 or something like that, but we are likely to slow it down some late, so I’ll go with 72-55, and never in doubt by the 1st half under 12 timeout.
 
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#269
#269
JMSqb11 said:
This team’s tourney success depends on Olivier to put up big numbers…. If he can get 18-20 per game, that will be huge. He clearly is capable of scoring that clip. Just a matter of him being consistent. It’s simple.
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At this point I’ll take 14pts-8rbs-2blks for 6 games. I mean we need his RBs. Heck I think Santiago gets more…
 
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#270
#270
GUNTERSVOL said:
There are OTHER important things a coach for UT needs to prioritize and he obviously does not value them to keep playing the murder facilitator. Find me a good coach with integrity or pass.
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YES! I’ll take a respected HOF coach with integrity, class, who will schedule games against the best teams in the country (and win), consistently have team ranked in top 10, and recruit terrific, talented kids at a high level. OH wait …. 😏
 
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#271
#271
scottchatt said:
You have to look a little deeper than the stat line to understand Louisiana. I’ll admit I skipped around a bit, but I did watch 6 of their games.

They’re “big” that everyone is so worried about has pretty much been the biggest player on the court in their games. He isn’t terrible, but Uros would look like Edey in the Sunbelt.

In order to defend him, many teams double him every time he gets the ball. He’s a good player, so he usually passes out of the double team, leading to wide open 3 pointers…..like really wide open, 2 secs with no one within 15 feet of you wide open. So that pretty much explains their good 3pt shooting.

I will say this, they have smart guards who move the ball around and find the open guy on the arc, and they rarely shoot with a hand in their face. When they do…..or when they are rushed….they are probably below average.

I don’t see us needing to double team this guy, and we play pretty good perimeter defense. He’s also terrible on defense. He late to the ball a lot, but he did seem to learn to just give up the basket when that happens instead of fouling. Still….gave up a ton of easy ones from being slow. He transferred for the same reason Pember did. Against lesser competiton he looks like a stud, wasn’t going to see the court at Arizona.

Louisiana isn’t terrible, but they can’t beat us. We can absolutely give the game away, but they just don’t have the talent. This is a game that in November would end up being 88-45 or something like that, but we are likely to slow it down some late, so I’ll go with 72-55, and never in doubt by the 1st half under 12 timeout.
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Jordan Brown averaged 20 minutes a game and nearly 10 points a game with Arizona as a sophomore, so he wasn’t on the Pember trajectory. Also Uros is a bit smaller than Kevin Samuel, the South Alabama center who faced him twice in the past two weeks. Brown went 13-15 for 28 points and 11 rebounds in the first of those matchups. Size alone won’t intimidate him.
 
#272
#272
JMSqb11 said:
What big man has destroyed our bigs this year? Oscar averaged 15 and 10 against us..... Tubelis and Ballo both scored under 20. Not sure what makes you think our bigs are all of the sudden outmatched by someone from Louisiana.
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What have you been watching? Florida’s, Vandy’s, Auburns, Kentucky’s, Zona’s, A&M’s, and even Mizzous “big man” Brown did considerable damage! Quick math
In 11 games vs those big men (Castleton, Robbins, Broome, Oscar, Ballo, Marble, and Brown) they averages 18pts-8.5rbs-2blks.
I’d say that’s borderline getting destroyed..
 
#273
#273
kckempf said:
Jordan Brown averaged 20 minutes a game and nearly 10 points a game with Arizona as a sophomore, so he wasn’t on the Pember trajectory. Also Uros is a bit smaller than Kevin Samuel, the South Alabama center who faced him twice in the past two weeks. Brown went 13-15 for 28 points and 11 rebounds in the first of those matchups. Size alone won’t intimidate him.
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Well he certainly wasn’t getting on the court over Koloko last year or Ballo this year at Arizona, hence the transfer.

Kevin Samuel (who is shorter and lighter than Uros) is another great example. Look how much his production jumped in similar minutes after transferring from TCU. In South Alabama’s games agai st Louisiana they were still doubling Brown, so that tells you what they think about Samuel’s 1 on 1 ability. I’d happily take Uros, Awaka, Aidoo or even Olivier over Samuel.

The main point is you can’t just compare stats between the Sun Belt and the SEC. It’s not apples to apples.

The Vols haven’t played great the last few weeks. We all have reasons to be concerned. While the team certainly needs to focus on Louisiana, as fans, we can pretty much move on to worrying about Duke, where at least the talent/size levels are pretty even. No one in the country wants to play Duke right now.
 
#274
#274
aWhiteLoftonChism said:
What have you been watching? Florida’s, Vandy’s, Auburns, Kentucky’s, Zona’s, A&M’s, and even Mizzous “big man” Brown did considerable damage! Quick math
In 11 games vs those big men (Castleton, Robbins, Broome, Oscar, Ballo, Marble, and Brown) they averages 18pts-8.5rbs-2blks.
I’d say that’s borderline getting destroyed..
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18 / 8 from Louisiana's big will not be enough to beat us.......
 
#275
#275
Vfl2407 said:
Duke would be a huge opportunity.
All media would predict us losing.
Great motivation to get ZZ back to his hometown even though he can’t play
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I have seen a few national pundits already say TN would be upset in the 1st round. Saying that basically means we will be playing the underdog in every game. That alone should light a fire, if any was needed, to play loose and prove their top 5 ranking wasn't a fluke. Not sure the consistency is there but doesn't matter any more.
With only 6 games left this year, now is a great time to come together and make a statement!

Go Vols!!
 
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