Watch Jayden Springer play tonight

[BowlBrother85]

One of the most common perpetually repeated untruths in VN lore. Hopson was Freshman All-SEC, and as a junior, 1st team All-SEC. I'll take that level of disappointment from each member of next years class.

I appreciate you correcting me... and looking back on his stats, you are right. He was better than I remembered.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Vescovi?

Yes. He’s the alpha on the team right now.

 

[cncchris33]

I appreciate you correcting me... and looking back on his stats, you are right. He was better than I remembered.

Ehh, no big deal. It happens all the time. I think it has been repeated by so many people for so long, that others tend to irrationally believe it with no real evidence to prove it's true. You aren't the first to say it, nor will you be the last. I appreciate the fact that you can admit it was uninformed rather than doubling down and defending it like many would have done.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

There is too small of a sample size of 5 star men's basketball signees at Tennessee to make an informed judgment of. I can think of only one, Scotty Hopson, that was a true disappointment here. Tobias Harris and Jarnell Stokes were very good players. Harris is having a nice NBA career. He is currently averaging 19.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Philadelphia 76ers. That is hardly disappearing.

Also, does history really mean anything when you have changed head coaches as many times as Tennessee has over the last 25 years? Rick Barnes developed both Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams into pretty good players and they were not even ranked in the top 100 high school recruits in the country in their senior year of high school. You are not the only one here who digs in search of negativity, but you definitely do dig very hard with few specific examples ever given in support of your very negative opinions.

Pretty sure Hopson led the team in scoring during the VOLS lone elite 8 run during the 2010 season.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Springer is 10x the PG Vescovi is at present moment. Vescovi cannot handle the ball well enough to play PG at this level, right now. His TOs are going to get worse as the opposition gets better. His best asset is his spot up jumper, and he won't get to utilize that as a PG very often. He needs serious ball-handling work in the offseason, but I'd bet a lot of money that, right now, he is the SG next season and Springer plays PG. Their respective skill sets really dictate that.

Yeah, that's not accurate at all. Springer is playing HS ball too and Vescovi is playing SEC D-1 college ball with no fall camp of conditioning.

Maybe Springer is a better PG, maybe he's not. I'd wait until he's playing the same level of competition before making a final judgement on it.


What Springer is though, without question is more aggressive offensively at driving to the rim.

 

[jmva1]

Yeah, that's not accurate at all. Springer is playing HS ball too and Vescovi is playing SEC D-1 college ball with no fall camp of conditioning.

Maybe Springer is a better PG, maybe he's not. I'd wait until he's playing the same level of competition before making a final judgement on it.


What Springer is though, without question is more aggressive offensively at driving to the rim.

I agree with you 100%, it will be interesting to see how it plays out next season as next year will be a genuine open competition for playing time.

Between JJJ and Vescovi as sophomores and Springer coming in, I think it’s likely we don’t have one true PG and have all of them run the point at points during the game depending on the situation. I’d bet Josiah would start the year bringing the ball up simply since he’s been there the longest and Rick tends to go defer to experience. But my guess would be by years end Springer likely is the primary creator at the end of games.

It’s a very good situation to have to have 3 playmakers that can play on or off the ball like those 3. Keon and Corey Walker can also bring the ball up in a pinch sometimes also. Next year should be an extremely versatile team position wise. It’s gonna be fun to watch. I hope Rick lets them play fast because they should have one of the more athletic teams in the conference also.

 

[Unconditional Surrender]

Yes. He’s the alpha on the team right now.

My pug is also an alpha.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Barnes gonna have about 4-6 guards he trust to run the point is what we'll see next year.

James
Springer
Vescovi
Bailey
Keon
Gaines

Shoot you'll even return Jalen.

 

[Lefteye]

I agree with you 100%, it will be interesting to see how it plays out next season as next year will be a genuine open competition for playing time.

Between JJJ and Vescovi as sophomores and Springer coming in, I think it’s likely we don’t have one true PG and have all of them run the point at points during the game depending on the situation. I’d bet Josiah would start the year bringing the ball up simply since he’s been there the longest and Rick tends to go defer to experience. But my guess would be by years end Springer likely is the primary creator at the end of games.

It’s a very good situation to have to have 3 playmakers that can play on or off the ball like those 3. Keon and Corey Walker can also bring the ball up in a pinch sometimes also. Next year should be an extremely versatile team position wise. It’s gonna be fun to watch. I hope Rick lets them play fast because they should have one of the more athletic teams in the conference also.

Bailey may get stretches playing that pg spot as well. Should be a great problem to have.

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah, that's not accurate at all. Springer is playing HS ball too and Vescovi is playing SEC D-1 college ball with no fall camp of conditioning.

Maybe Springer is a better PG, maybe he's not. I'd wait until he's playing the same level of competition before making a final judgement on it.


What Springer is though, without question is more aggressive offensively at driving to the rim.

Actually, almost everything I wrote is factually accurate. The only debatable portion is whether you believe Springer is 10x better than Vescovi as a PG and which position they will play next year. Every criticism of Vescovi’s game is 100% accurate. Vescovi isn’t a natural fit at PG, struggles handling the ball, struggles with passing out of the press, struggles pushing the ball up the floor, struggles getting to the rim, and struggles to create his own shot. And just as in my original post you quoted, I qualified that by saying “right now”, leaving open the possibility that he could improve in all those areas in the future.

That said, I still think Springer shows a greater and more natural ability in all of those areas. Furthermore your comparison of D1 college ball vs HS ball is quite skewed. Springer isn’t playing a typical HS schedule. The competition difference isn’t as great as you are implying. Springer doesn’t play for Karns High School against local KIL competition. He practices and plays for a national program filled with future All-Americans and NBA lottery picks against a national schedule and likewise competition. The IMGs, Montverdes, Huntington Preps, Oak Hill Academies of the world could hang with a lot of lower level college programs. He plays that kind of competition every game, and while it might not be LSU and Kentucky, it is with and against the kind of kids who will play for those schools in next year or two on a nightly basis.

 

[SGMVols]

Barnes gonna have about 4-6 guards he trust to run the point is what we'll see next year.

James
Springer
Vescovi
Bailey
Keon
Gaines

Shoot you'll even return Jalen.

I don’t see Jalen Johnson staying. He will be eligible to grad transfer and we will almost certainly oversign this year, because we still need a big man in this class.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Actually, almost everything I wrote is factually accurate. The only debatable portion is whether you believe Springer is 10x better than Vescovi as a PG and which position they will play next year. Every criticism of Vescovi’s game is 100% accurate. Vescovi isn’t a natural fit at PG, struggles handling the ball, struggles with passing out of the press, struggles pushing the ball up the floor, struggles getting to the rim, and struggles to create his own shot. And just as in my original post you quoted, I qualified that by saying “right now”, leaving open the possibility that he could improve in all those areas in the future.

That said, I still think Springer shows a greater and more natural ability in all of those areas. Furthermore your comparison of D1 college ball vs HS ball is quite skewed. Springer isn’t playing a typical HS schedule. The competition difference isn’t as great as you are implying. Springer doesn’t play for Karns High School against local KIL competition. He practices and plays for a national program filled with future All-Americans and NBA lottery picks against a national schedule and likewise competition. The IMGs, Montverdes, Huntington Preps, Oak Hill Academies of the world could hang with a lot of lower level college programs. He plays that kind of competition every game, and while it might not be LSU and Kentucky, it is with and against the kind of kids who will play for those schools in next year or two on a nightly basis.

Yeah 10x better is all I was commenting on really. But it's just an assumption his turnovers will gets worse, it's not factually accurate at this time.

I hope both are driven to be the starter at PG and become elite talents at the position, nothing wrong with having competition on team to earn the spot at all. If Springer is better we'll see once he's playing here next season, nothing more nothing less.

I hope he's 10x better though, 110 ppg, 40 rpg, and 28 apg sounds AMAZING

 

[Kosmalski]

I'll be shocked if either of those 2 transfer. They'll be buried in the depth chart next year, but JJ and Bailey will leave before they are out of eligibility and there's a good chance that JJJ, Springer, and Keon are all gone when Pember and Gaines still have 2 years left. They could be the primary offensive contributors by their senior years. Especially if they each RS a year.

Bailey aint leaving. He's got 2 years left. JJ would have to leave at the end of the season. I expect Pember , Gaines or Vescovi to redshirt

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Bailey aint leaving. He's got 2 years left. JJ would have to leave at the end of the season. I expect Pember , Gaines or Vescovi to redshirt

JJ and Bailey will leave before Pember and Gaines are out of eligibility is the point that I was making.

 

[Kosmalski]

My pug is also an alpha.

Now that's funny

JJ and Bailey will leave before Pember and Gaines are out of eligibility is the point that I was making.

OK didnt quite read it that way. No doubt about that.

 

[Roustabout]

I don’t see Jalen Johnson staying. He will be eligible to grad transfer and we will almost certainly oversign this year, because we still need a big man in this class.

I agree: With Bailey here, I can’t imagine Johnson getting many minutes, unless the light switch comes in soon. Lord knows this team is desperate for it.

 

[Sea Ray]

I agree with you 100%, it will be interesting to see how it plays out next season as next year will be a genuine open competition for playing time.

Between JJJ and Vescovi as sophomores and Springer coming in, I think it’s likely we don’t have one true PG and have all of them run the point at points during the game depending on the situation. I’d bet Josiah would start the year bringing the ball up simply since he’s been there the longest and Rick tends to go defer to experience. But my guess would be by years end Springer likely is the primary creator at the end of games.

It’s a very good situation to have to have 3 playmakers that can play on or off the ball like those 3. Keon and Corey Walker can also bring the ball up in a pinch sometimes also. Next year should be an extremely versatile team position wise. It’s gonna be fun to watch. I hope Rick lets them play fast because they should have one of the more athletic teams in the conference also.

When did Vescovi quit being a true point guard? That's a term we heard over and over again before he started playing for us:

Vescovi committed to Tennessee back in November and signed in December. The four-star guard from Uruguay ranks as the 74th overall player in the class, according to 247Sports. He’s spent the last year at the NBA Global Academy in Australia, preparing for the college level.
He joined the team last week, getting a week’s worth of practice in after Tennessee was blown out by Wisconsin last weekend. He’s a true point guard, giving the Vols something that they really don’t have anywhere else on the roster.

Tennessee point guard Santiago Vescovi cleared by NCAA ahead of LSU matchup

 

[cncchris33]

When did Vescovi quit being a true point guard? That's a term we heard over and over again before he started playing for us:



Tennessee point guard Santiago Vescovi cleared by NCAA ahead of LSU matchup

Have you watched him play, though? We all thought (hoped, maybe) that he was that pure PG, but he has struggled with nearly every aspect of playing the position, and in that time, proven that his outside shot is currently his best asset. It appears that the college game is just a bit too fast for him at the current moment. Hopefully, he can grow out of that and continue to improve on the PG skills, but right now, he is struggling to adjust to the speed and athleticism of the American game at that position.

 

[BreatheUT]

When did Vescovi quit being a true point guard? That's a term we heard over and over again before he started playing for us:



Tennessee point guard Santiago Vescovi cleared by NCAA ahead of LSU matchup

When the VN YMCA 7 and under recreation league coaches chimed in.

 

[Sea Ray]

Have you watched him play, though? We all thought (hoped, maybe) that he was that pure PG, but he has struggled with nearly every aspect of playing the position, and in that time, proven that his outside shot is currently his best asset. It appears that the college game is just a bit too fast for him at the current moment. Hopefully, he can grow out of that and continue to improve on the PG skills, but right now, he is struggling to adjust to the speed and athleticism of the American game at that position.

I have seen him play but are we more qualified to evaluate him than the basketball experts? Personally I'll say that it remains to be seen if he'll work out as a PG in the SEC. Like a lot of our freshman, there's some growing that needs to happen. I think Vescovi is one of many possibilities for PG next yr. I'm sure Barnes will work through this. I also think this team is far better with Vescovi than w/o him after Turner got hurt. It's been huge to have him. I'm not ready to say the experts were wrong and that he's not a pure PG

 

[cncchris33]

I have seen him play but are we more qualified to evaluate him than the basketball experts? Personally I'll say that it remains to be seen if he'll work out as a PG in the SEC. Like a lot of our freshman, there's some growing that needs to happen. I think Vescovi is one of many possibilities for PG next yr. I'm sure Barnes will work through this. I also think this team is far better with Vescovi than w/o him after Turner got hurt. It's been huge to have him. I'm not ready to say the experts were wrong and that he's not a pure PG

We are definitely a better team with him simply from a numbers standpoint. We are also better because of his outside shot. I think it is at least debatable that we are better because of his PG skills hes displayed thus far, though.

Don't let the so-called experts tell you what to think. Use your eyes and make a determination. I feel comfortable enough in my ability to do that without blindly believing the "experts" who had likely never heard of this kid 6 months ago. There isn't a ton of tape out there for them to break down and make a definitive decision.

Again, he can improve and be a part of the PG equation in the future, but I believe he is better off for both himself and the team at SG. Full disclosure, that is also based on limited film, so I am open to changing my opinion down the road.

JMO.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

If Vescovi isn't a point guard he has some of the best no look, bounce, and other dishes that I've ever seen by a non PG.

He's still developing as the guy to bring the ball across mid-court under pressure. We have JJJ to handle that duty. In reality, we have 2 PGs.

 

[cncchris33]

If Vescovi isn't a point guard he has some of the best no look, bounce, and other dishes that I've ever seen by a non PG.

He's still developing as the guy to bring the ball across mid-court under pressure. We have JJJ to handle that duty. In reality, we have 2 PGs.

I think he is much better facilitating from the wing as an off-guard than he is bringing the ball up the floor and setting up the offense. Each of his great passes last night came from him playing on the wing, plus the one on the break where he wasn’t facing any ball pressure. I think you can be a really good passer and not be a really good PG.

You are right, he is still developing. His biggest improvements need to come in his ball-handling and in development of his right hand. He is extremely left hand dominant.

 

[Stoked]

Springer reminds me a lot of Marcus Smart. Combo guard that can score and is a hell of a defender. I think he'll be our best freshman player since Tobias. Could be possibly our 2nd 1 and done player too.