What was the deal with Vescovi last night...

#26
#26
Both Vescovi and Zeigler have not been in their top form, but they will be. We will need their experience when things get sticky. Sometimes it takes a while for teams to jell when new substantial players join, but this team has all the potential in the world. When settled and healthy, this team still has the potential for a very deep run, even a championship. We lost close games to the #1 and #2 teams in the country on a neutral site, then we stunk up the first half to a red hot team on the road. Fortunately, Barnes won't panic like some of our fan base.
 
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#28
#28
walkenvol said:
There’s more to basketball than just offense. Vescovi is our best rebounding guard and one of our best defenders. He hasn’t found his normal long range shot outside of the Kansas game, but he’s played tough defense IMO

In Maui, I think he was far from “hurting the team”
Kansas 21 points / 4 rebounds / 3 assists
Purdue 8 points / 4 rebounds
Syracuse 8 points / 5 rebounds / 5 assists

Averaged 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2,67 assists.
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Exactly! Still getting his share of steals as well. Something a drive-thru basketball fan can’t come close to comprehending.
 
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#29
#29
livefaith said:
I love SV. He looks just like my Son in Law and we joke about it all the time. But, his defense was horrible last night and he's lost his way all season offensively. Something really looks different and I'm not sure why. Not judging the young man. Remember Chris Lol Lofton?
Something seems off and you never know what a person's going through. If we could get SV involved 100%, get DK 100% healthy, get Awaka back 100%, and get Freddy Dillion back 100%, all with time to gel by seasons end ... Then we may have something.
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That's a lot of if's but I'd like to see Dillion to.
 
#31
#31
turbovol said:
My take on Santi is that DK's emergence has really changed our offense. Let's remember, we didn't have a true go-to player either last year or the year before. Last year we isolated Nkamhoua sometimes, in the hope that he could score, but he was never a go-to guy. We passed and moved a lot until somebody got open for a shot--often Santi. Now, we suddenly have DK--a true go-to, and while he's certainly a team guy, the offense is not quite like it's been the last two years. And that can throw some guys off their games. Also, offensively, I haven't seen Santi get too many open looks this season--very few, in fact. He's been guarded quite tightly most of the time and, as a result, as not taken many shots at all. Lastly, we've got four guards who can play and who have different skill sets. I think Barnes will go back to Ziggy as our starting PG, and then try to figure out how best to use the other three.
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Ah Yes! turbovol gets it! DK's arrival and Vescovi looks a little heftier, which is slowing him down... Just my observation.
 
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#34
#34
So far this year he has looked like he is disinterested. Against UNC it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Not sure if he is having problems with not being “the guy” on offense, as Knecht has that role sewn up.
 
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#35
#35
CINCYVOL said:
So far this year he has looked like he is disinterested. Against UNC it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Not sure if he is having problems with not being “the guy” on offense, as Knecht has that role sewn up.
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It is obviously an adjustment for Vescovi. Change is very difficult, regardless. Maybe now that Knecht is hurt (STATUS?) Santi will take back the leadership role. He has been there 4 years, and been a big cog. So not really a surprise; and we don't know if He has other issues; too. He did make a few good defensive plays vs NC. He will round into form, unless he has physical problems we aren't privy to.
 
#37
#37
K-town Vol Fan said:
I feel like he has regressed into a spot up shooter who is currently ice cold. And it's not all on him, he's been playing long enough teams know exactly how to defend him. They know he is very rarely looking to finish at the rim so they just let him pump fake and drive and kick.
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This season (so far) is actually his highest % while shooting 2PT buckets.

He's fouling a lot more 22 through 7 games (previous high in a season is 87 as a Junior through 35 games). So he's on pace to hit 110 this year...that's the problem, he's not defending without fouling and it's gotten him in the doghouse.
 
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#38
#38
CINCYVOL said:
So far this year he has looked like he is disinterested. Against UNC it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Not sure if he is having problems with not being “the guy” on offense, as Knecht has that role sewn up.
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When a guys mind is elsewhere, there's usually a reason. What was his girlfriends name again? Are they still a thing?
 
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#39
#39
walkenvol said:
There’s more to basketball than just offense. Vescovi is our best rebounding guard and one of our best defenders. He hasn’t found his normal long range shot outside of the Kansas game, but he’s played tough defense IMO

In Maui, I think he was far from “hurting the team”
Kansas 21 points / 4 rebounds / 3 assists
Purdue 8 points / 4 rebounds
Syracuse 8 points / 5 rebounds / 5 assists

Averaged 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2,67 assists.
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This is spot on. In my opinion, Vesco is going to go down as one of the most under appreciated Vols of all time. Of course, those who are knowledgeable do appreciate his value, but it is astounding to me how many of our fans constantly trash him. He does have some shortcomings and has struggled at times with consistency from the 3, but he was clearly our MVP last season.
 
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#40
#40
StickMan said:
This is spot on. In my opinion, Vesco is going to go down as one of the most under appreciated Vols of all time. Of course, those who are knowledgeable do appreciate his value, but it is astounding to me how many of our fans constantly trash him. He does have some shortcomings and has struggled at times with consistency from the 3, but he was clearly our MVP last season.
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This is dead on. Unfortunately, he is fueling the ammo this season. I think he will return to form sooner rather than later.
 
#41
#41
turbovol said:
My take on Santi is that DK's emergence has really changed our offense. Let's remember, we didn't have a true go-to player either last year or the year before. Last year we isolated Nkamhoua sometimes, in the hope that he could score, but he was never a go-to guy. We passed and moved a lot until somebody got open for a shot--often Santi. Now, we suddenly have DK--a true go-to, and while he's certainly a team guy, the offense is not quite like it's been the last two years. And that can throw some guys off their games. Also, offensively, I haven't seen Santi get too many open looks this season--very few, in fact. He's been guarded quite tightly most of the time and, as a result, as not taken many shots at all. Lastly, we've got four guards who can play and who have different skill sets. I think Barnes will go back to Ziggy as our starting PG, and then try to figure out how best to use the other three.
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Tennessee has not had a scorer like Dalton Knecht at all during Rick Barnes's tenure here.

James and Vescovi can still impact games in other ways while deferring to Knecht at the moment and they will have better chances to get easier baskets as the season rolls along with the emergence of Knecht as the go to guy.
 
#42
#42
It seemed like once Barnes found a winning recipe to stop UNC's offense, he didn't move off that group much. But specifically why Santi didn't play until the last minute of the game baffled me.
 
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#43
#43
CINCYVOL said:
So far this year he has looked like he is disinterested. Against UNC it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Not sure if he is having problems with not being “the guy” on offense, as Knecht has that role sewn up.
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So you think he looked disinterested and didn’t want to be there? I’ve always wondered what that looks like. How do you determine that? I was at the game and had no inkling that he looked like he didn’t want to be there.

I thought he had a couple of iffy fouls and I think he got frustrated having to come out, but I feel pretty confident saying he wanted to be there and 100% was fully bought in before he sat down.
 
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#46
#46
vavolfan6 said:
It seemed like once Barnes found a winning recipe to stop UNC's offense, he didn't move off that group much. But specifically why Santi didn't play until the last minute of the game baffled me.
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"Baffled"...the very word CRB used to describe the Vols' play in the 1st half: Coach Rick Barnes: To be honest, I was baffled in the first half of that game. Just totally baffled. I told the guys we would still have a chance if we just started doing what we needed to do.
 
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#47
#47
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I’m wondering why Mashack only played about the same number of minutes as Santi. Seems like keeping one of your best defenders on the bench while falling behind by about 23 points wasn’t very Barnes-like.
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Yeah, the obsession with Gainey is getting a little weird. If he was playing better it might make sense. Soon he will be up to 38 minutes a game and 2-20 from three.
 
#48
#48
CINCYVOL said:
So far this year he has looked like he is disinterested. Against UNC it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Not sure if he is having problems with not being “the guy” on offense, as Knecht has that role sewn up.
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His play reminds me of JJJ last year. Disinterested seems like a good word to describe it. That's why I brought up the possibility of injury. We knew about the knee with JJJ last year.
 
#50
#50
ColinS said:
His play reminds me of JJJ last year. Disinterested seems like a good word to describe it. That's why I brought up the possibility of injury. We knew about the knee with JJJ last year.
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I thought Gainey played great on ball defense in the 2nd half against UNC. I wouldn't describe him as disinterested. I think part of it is his natural disposition and part of it is him still trying to figure out his best role on this team.

His shot was off against UNC, and he has gone through some cold streaks within some games. But even when his missing, I think he is creating some good opportunities in what can be a stagnant offense at times. Also, it doesn't take him long to average back toward his 37% perimeter shooting.
 
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