Were you surprised?

#1
Freak

Freak

VolNation's Grand Poobah
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#1
I heard all of the talk this week about Bama's lack of depth and how many minutes many of their guys are playing. I expected to see them run out of gas down the stretch but it never seemed to happen.
 
#3
#3
(vol_freak @ Feb 18 said:
I heard all of the talk this week about Bama's lack of depth and how many minutes many of their guys are playing. I expected to see them run out of gas down the stretch but it never seemed to happen.
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I always think, if a team is properly conditioned, the minutes played stat is overrated. Teams that have worn down against UT do so because they aren't fit enough, not because they are playing too much. These are 18-22 year old kids playing 2 games a week. Conditioning is the issue, not minutes.
 
#4
#4
Not by the fact the Vols lost, but the margin, yes. That'll happen when the other team shoots that high of a percentage though.
 
#5
#5
It's also amazing how much energy a team can find when they are busy shooting 70%.
 
#6
#6
It is a lot easier to wear somebody out when you're winning the game, like at Rupp, where UT led UK most of the way. The Bama players never got tired of running, because they were playing with the adrenaline of kicking our asses. I am not suggesting that we should have tried to slow things down, but we may have worn ourselves out today. You have to try to catch up somehow though. We went down fighting.
 
#7
#7
Alabama seems to always give us trouble. Prior to the game today, I felt like the next few games would be close to what the NCAA tournament would be like.Hope we correct our problems in a hurry!
 
#8
#8
(utfantilidie @ Feb 18 said:
Alabama seems to always give us trouble. Prior to the game today, I felt like the next few games would be close to what the NCAA tournament would be like.Hope we correct our problems in a hurry!
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I don't think we can make anyone grow. Today shows what a lot of us have been labeled negative for pointing out. This team has a much smaller margain for error than the elite teams. That doesn't mean they aren't a good, gutsy team. It means they have to be on to beat even merely decent teams.
 
#10
#10
Next time Dan4vols says he has a bad feelin bout this game maybe someone will take me seriously. Its not all about the team history and player profiles, or how many points team A scored in their last outing....etc. I swear on a stack of sports illustrateds that over a month ago I saw this comin....honestly.
 
#11
#11
(dan4vols @ Feb 18 said:
Next time Dan4vols says he has a bad feelin bout this game maybe someone will take me seriously. Its not all about the team history and player profiles, or how many points team A scored in their last outing....etc. I swear on a stack of sports illustrateds that over a month ago I saw this comin....honestly.
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So what will happen on Wednesday? :question:
 
#14
#14
"I think we'll take Florida in a huge fashion , by more than 15....maybe 20."

Wow. That is one heck of a prediction.
 
#15
#15
Bama broke the press too easily, and kept us out of the fast break by making everything thrown at the basket. The shooting they got in this game was once in a lifetime, and our offense was lackluster. That's why they didn't get worn out, we couldn't play our game that WOULD wear anyone out.
 
#16
#16
It's no surprise really, our half court defense is atrociuous because we don't have the inside guys to match up with teams like Bama and LSU. If our press is not able to create havoc and some turnovers, then we are in trouble and have to hope that we can outscore the other team.

It's to be expected. What they are doing with the talent they have right now is amazing and I can't wait to see what we do with some inside players in years to come. But for right now, this team is pretty special and lets enjoy them this year.
 
#18
#18
im not surprised at the uat game. what i am surprised about is our record-19-4/10-2. u guys need to get a grip. we were hoping for double digit wins this year and we are cruising into the ncaa tourney. enjoy the ride for once. this may be a special year, but alot of vol fans are getting very spoiled already. a loss like this is almost good cuz it brings alot of us back to reality.
 
#19
#19
(vol_freak @ Feb 18 said:
I heard all of the talk this week about Bama's lack of depth and how many minutes many of their guys are playing. I expected to see them run out of gas down the stretch but it never seemed to happen.
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As you know, we use a very active baseline weave when we have the ball, particularly (and only) in a half court offense. Susually Bradshaw and Patterson (throw in Asumnu and Childress) are moving from wing to wing with defenders following them. This is how we get the defensive wings worn out in a half court set. Yesterday, those guys were held, chop blacked, hand checked, pushed and shoved all over the court. Their mobility was taken away by the defensive scheme wich was fueled by refs allowing bammer to physically take our weave away. Our offense was screwed from this and this alone. If the refs had called fouls we'd have gotten better looks and more looks at good shots.
 
#20
#20
(ukvols @ Feb 18 said:
"I think we'll take Florida in a huge fashion , by more than 15....maybe 20."

Wow. That is one heck of a prediction.
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now Florida is a very good team and talented, and this game is in Florida. But my reasoning is the Vols are coming off a flat loss and usually play well the next game. Then you figure Florida just lost a bad one in OT to Arkansas, that and we've beat em before. So I think we'll have a significant pysch advantage.
 
#21
#21
Guys, from someone that used to watch this style of basketball throughout the Pitino era in Lex, I can tell you that this happens from time to time. UK laid a big egg in 96 against MSU in the SEC tourney, and it was actually good for them. Here are two things to keep in mind:

1. When you take a ranked team on the road in the SEC people are going to give you there best shot ala high percentage shooting.

2. When you run a press defense, if you are not getting transition baskets, games like yesterday are going to happen every now and then. You have to get defensive rebounds and make shots in order to push your tempo.

This team will be fine. Depth will be a tourney issue, but they are a good well coached teams with quite a few "signature victories".
 
#22
#22
LexVol, I was in KY for that era too. I think Pearl can have that kind of success at UT.
 
#23
#23
(BHAMVOLFAN @ Feb 19 said:
Yesterday, those guys were held, chop blacked, hand checked, pushed and shoved all over the court. Their mobility was taken away by the defensive scheme wich was fueled by refs allowing bammer to physically take our weave away. Our offense was screwed from this and this alone. If the refs had called fouls we'd have gotten better looks and more looks at good shots.
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I have been telling you for weeks that in the NCAA's the refs always swallow their whistles quite a bit. You need to toughen up if you want to stick around in that tourney for very long.
 
#24
#24
If they swallow the whistles on both ends, that could be a good thing for a pressing team like Tennessee.
 
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