I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Here’s to a promising and profitable 2014 for you and your loved ones.
Going into Monday night’s game against the Vols, Virginia boasted one of the nation’s top defenses, allowing just over 54 points per game.
Apparently, nobody bothered to tell Josh Richardson and Tennessee.
Richardson poured in 15 of his 20 points, and the Vols hit on 8-11 3-pointers during a 48-point first half en route to a 87-52 shellacking of the Cavaliers.
Four players scored 10 points or more for Tennessee as Jarnell Stokes and Jordan McRae also eclipsed the 20-point mark, while Antonio Barton chipped in 14 points, including a forty-foot buzzer-beater to end the first half. Tennessee never trailed during the game and led by as many as 37 points.
Richardson’s Hot Hand
Richardson nearly set the court ablaze with his torrid shooting. He notched two triples and those 12 of his 15 first-half points before the 10-minute mark. For the game, he missed just one shot (8-9) and tied his career-high for scoring.
“Yeah, I felt like if I threw it up there it was going to go in,” Richardson said. “I was making them tonight.”
Yeah, sometimes, you just have those nights. Well, maybe not you, or I, but good basketball players have those nights. Those nights where the shots just drop.
Over the last two contests, RIchardson’s shot nearly 67 percent and averaged nearly 20 points. His mid-range game has been smooth like churned butter and he’s looked confident shooting the 3-ball.
That Josh Richardson, the one from the past two games, is the Josh Richardson Tennessee needs on a nightly basis going forward. When he struggles, Tennessee struggles. During the Vols’ last three losses, Richardson scored a meager 7 points per game on just 37 percent shooting, including 1-7 from 3-point range. Now that’s not to say he’s the only one that didn’t play well those games, because that’s not the case. Nor is he the reason UT lost those games. Correlation doesn’t equal causation — but damnit when Josh plays well it gives Tennessee a better chance to win games.
He doesn’t have to go all unconscious, lights out every night, especially with his defensive responsibilities, as he typically draws the opposing teams’ best scorer. That will understandably take its toll on his offensive game from time to time. However, on Monday, Richardson was getting to his spots, taking open looks and knocking them down. The Vols need his scoring punch.
Stokes Doing the Little Things
In case y’all somehow missed it, Jarnell Stokes hit 12-14 FTs last night. No kidding, hand-to-God, he hit 12 of his 14 foul shots. Mr. Clank himself turned in an 86 percent performance at the line that would make even J.J. Redick proud. Now I’m giving him a hard time in an attempt to be humorous, but realistically Stokes FT percentage has jumped nearly 13 percentage points since last year.
“Repetition,” Stokes said, regarding the uptick in his FT shooting. “I pretty much had the whole summer to work on it. . . I was just constantly getting them up and making sure I used the same form every time. I think I struggled with that last year with not being able to use the form. So, from going through the struggles with last year I know that they are very important.”
Let’s take a look at what Jarnell was talking about.
Here’s one of Jarnell’s FT attempts from his 2-5 effort against Wichita State game. It was an away game in a tough environment, and Jarnell’s “form” suffered. Most notably, check the feet — on the tips of his toes, and the shooting arm — not fully extended.
Another miss from the Wichita State game. Resizing the images makes the font grainy, and I didn’t make it big enough to begin with, so it’s tough to read. But I just noted that again, the shooting arm is not fully extended. That elbow is all kinds of bent, and it’s another brick.
Now this is one of Stokes’ makes from the Virginia game. Notice he’s got a good base with his knees slightly bent. When he lets the ball go, he’s got full extension with his shooting arm. There’s a slight bend to his elbow but it’s pretty insignificant, relatively speaking. Nothing but net.
One more, almost identical to the one above. Another swish. This is what Stokes’ FT stroke should look like every time. This performance from the line was surely an aberration, but if he keeps his form consistent, Jarnell can maintain his 70 percent mark and avoid 2-for-5 performances like the one against Wichita State.
In addition to hitting his FTs, I was pleased with Jarnell’s decision-making in the post. Early in the game, Virginia sent the quick double team when Tennessee dumped the ball inside, and even though Stokes found himself hemmed up in the corner a couple times, with two defenders in his grill, he consistently made the right play.
Jimmy Dykes noted that the defenders brought the double team on this play, but they didn’t get “shoulder to shoulder.” Well here you can see exactly how wide was the margin they left. The double left two men fairly open on the far wing, but the width of the double team impeded Stokes’ ability to see the open men and any chance of making an accurate pass. So instead, he was patient, pivoted through the crease, and scooped it in for two points.
Again we see the double team, this time Stokes is closer to the baseline which works in favor of the defense, typically, with the boundary acting as another defender. The double team is much tighter this time, leaving no crease for Stokes to pivot through. But the tautness of the double leaves some open space and breathing room on the near wing. 
Stokes keeps his cool and dribbles around the defender. He makes a good pass to Darius Thompson at the top of the arc who keeps the ball rotation going and makes a pocket pass to Richardson near the corner. Good decision making and good ball movement leads to open looks. Keep Calm and Pass the Damn Ball, for my Chivers.
The Vols need Jarnell scoring the ball but that’s not the only way he can help this team. If he can maintain his form, hit his FTs at a consistently good clip and continue to make good plays from the post, hopefully Tennessee’s offense can avoid the inept periods of looking like it’s operating in quick sand.
Barton’s Bounce Back
After scoring zero points in forty minutes of court time during Tennessee’s recent two-game losing skid, senior point guard Antonio Barton recovered in a big way against Virginia on Monday. Barton nailed three out his four 3-point attempts on the way to 5-6 shooting and 14 points. He said a trip home to Baltimore helped him get his mind right.
“Believe it or not just going home, seeing my daughters, being around my family just being tress free not worried about the last games, i came back with a different attitude,” Barton said. “I haven’t seen my daughter that often like I wanted to, seeing her spending time with, her doing Christmas, put me in a different mind set and made me comeback more focused.”
Barton’s role scoring the ball is similar to Richardson’s the way I see it. Stokes and McRae provide the main offensive punch but they can’t carry the load night in and night out; they need ancillary scorers helping out. Barton isn’t going to have the 30-point nights of which Trae Golden was capable, but the Vols don’t really need those nights. They need Barton to not disappear for stretches, something else Golden had a knack for. Bring the ball up the court, initiate the offense and hit open looks.
This was a win the Vols really needed. It was their last chance to add a win to the NCAA tournament résumé that could use some padding. It also provided some confidence that they can, in fact, show up and knock down shots early in games. UT gets Tusculum at home Saturday before kicking off the conference schedule down in Baton Rouge where the 9-2 LSU Tigers have not lost a game yet this season.