Tennessee traveled to Kansas Saturday to take on the No. 12 ranked Wichita State Shockers in a game that had a tournament feel. And, in true tournament style, the tougher team won the game as Wichita State gutted out the 70-61 win. A Tougher Breed, indeed.
THE BAD
Tennessee’s Shooting
The three most efficient shots in basketball are free throws, layups and 3-pointers, and Tennessee struggled with all three. Altogether, The Vols shot the ball poorly, going 20-52 (38.5 percent) in the game, including 6-20 from the 3-point line and 15-24 from the charity stripe.
Most frustrating was the inability to convert chances to score close to the rim. By my *unofficial* and very rapid count, Tennessee had 8 missed layups, though several of which were contested. Additionally, The Vols were fouled on seven more layup chances, of which they converted only 6/14 foul shots. Essentially, the Vols left 24 “layup” points on the floor Saturday.
Stokes’ Ineffectiveness
To make matters worse, Jarnell Stokes, who entered the game as Tennessee’s most involved offensive player (~29 percent %POSS rate) was limited by foul trouble and only played 20 minutes.
But let’s take a look at part of the reason Stokes was limited even before he got into foul trouble.
Stokes’ first touch inside the paint, nearly 3 1/2 minutes into the game. It comes off pick and roll action, which makes Jarnell catch while moving — not exactly a strength of his. This, and the surrounding traffic causes Stokes to fumble the ball out of bounds.
Stokes second touch in the paint, though this one is just barely so. At the catch, he’s damn near 15 feet away from the basket. Not ideal. He gives it up, only to repost…
… and get the ball here. Again, too far from the basket, but Stokes has a clear path to the basket, and even though he’s isn’t horrible off the bounce, it’s not where and how he’s most effective. He drives to the hoop and gets fouled but misses both shots.
14 minute mark and we have Stokes’ first touch that’s really legitimate scoring position for him. In Jarnell’s case, we’re looking for one or two dribbles, a strong move and a shot — ideally a layup or dunk. Stokes has his man sealed, drop steps but misses the layup. Sigh. That’s just the kinda day it was for Tennessee.
This Jarnell’s last meaningful touch before he picks up his second foul. As you can see, the shot clock is already ticked down to seven and Stokes is basically on an island over there. Not ideal position to begin with, compounded by no movement, no cutting, but plenty of standing and watching from the four other Vols on the court. He eventually passes it back out to Davis who clanks a 3-ball.
So through about 14 minutes, Stokes only had 5-6 really meaningful touches and even fewer actual scoring opportunities. He needs to do a better job getting into good position early, then he’s gotta to call for the ball and his teammates have to make the entry pass, though sometimes they look hesitant to do so. Then make a decisive move and score the ball. Stokes has his limitations but he’s UT’s best threat down low by a wide margin. This kind of effort won’t garner the Vols many wins.
As one might expect, Jarnell’s early foul trouble hurt Tennessee on the offensive glass. The Vols came into this game boasting a 45 percent OR% — a mark that was good for second in the country — but collected only nine offensive boards against the Shockers. This limited Tennessee’s effectiveness inside the paint, and Tennessee scored just 24 points in the paint after posting 40+ in each of the last three contests.
Rounding out THE BAD, Antonio Barton was nonexistent and Josh Richardson, other than locking down a hobbled Ron Baker, didn’t add much either.
THE GOOD
Tennessee’s Talented Trio of Freshman
Man, AJ Davis looked really good, didn’t he? Defensive game excluded, AJ reminds me of Anthony Davis. He’s a lefty with that long, lean build, and the way he shoots and handles the ball for a 6-9 guy looks special. I’m looking forward to watching him grow up this year. Next season, Tennessee will need him.
Although Darius Thompson hasn’t quite found his range shooting the ball, you can tell the stroke is there. The one 3-pointer he hit was pretty. I was pleased with the way he handled the pressure against the Shockers. He had just one turnover in his first real road game at an opponent’s home gym, bringing his total for the season to six turnovers through nine games.
Robert Hubbs flashed his potential with the near-dunk and made 3-pointer. Tennessee needs him to be more aggressive. It’s hard to come into a team full of veterans and command the ball, but the Vols need Hubbs on offense, especially in a game like this when Stokes is off. Hubbs has all the talent in the world, he’s just gotta use it.
DEFENSE
The Vols looked really good defensively at times during this game. During the final 10 minutes of the first half, UT allowed just six points. Unfortunately, during the final 10 minutes of the second half, it allowed 29 points.
The baseline, out-of-bounds defense was damn good throughout the game, repeatedly causing turnovers and timeouts by Wichita State. That’s just good effort and good scouting.
Overall, This is one that come NCAA tournament selection time, Tennessee is going to wish they had back. This loss slimmed an already slender margin-for-error for Tennessee without another really strong non-conference opponent remaining, and conference playing looming. Will a repeat of last year’s six losses in conference get UT into the Dance? We shall see.