A Coherent Rant

#1
zjcvols

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee saturday night."
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#1
Obviously in typical message border fodder, people are panicking because Tennessee has last two of their last three games. But there have been some fallacies out there & overall things I want to mention.

1. This team did not peak too early. One the season isn't over. How the hell do you peak too early when the season isn't over? What if Tennessee wins the rest of their games? Did they peak too early still? Did they find another peak? It's dumb. Tennessee is playing better teams. Road conference wins against top 25 teams are really hard.

2. There is no such thing as conference officials. They are independent contractors. It's part of the reason officials aren't any good because nobody really governs them. But there are no such thing as SEC officials or Big Ten officials or ACC officials in college basketball.

3. Lamonte Turner has struggled. So has Jordan Bowden. Both have been off the last three games. This does not mean Lamonte coming back was bad for the team. This does not mean Jordan Bowden is mentally weak. There is this thing called slumps. Sometimes you are hot and overperform. Sometimes you struggle and under perform. It's called regressing to the mean. They do not suck. They will be fine. The same people complaining about these two players are the same people whining about how our best three point shooter should play inside more when he struggled (Admiral Schofield) and he's back to hitting perimeter shots. Just calm down.

4. Now, I do not have a problem with people saying this was a bad loss. In terms of resume, it is not. But Tennessee blew a nine point lead late, had two chances to win the game, gave up an offensive rebound late that tied the game in OT and LSU was without their best perimeter player. So if someone wants to say this is a bad loss, I don't have a problem with that.

5. HOWEVER, this does not mean Tennessee sucks or again we peaked too early. I don't believe this team can win a national title because of their rebounding woes and not being an elite defensive team. However, this does not mean the season is over or they won't make noise in the tourney or they can't win the Final Four.

6. Expectations can be a bitch. During the game against Vanderbilt, I did not have fun watching the game. That is a mistake. We beat an instate rival by double digits and all I did was roll my eyes and complain. That's a me problem. In 2016 (just three years ago) Tennessee lost twice to Vandy by a combined 31 points in the regular season. Tennessee has two tough losses in February ON THE ROAD AGAINST RANKED TEAMS. Villanova lost THREE TIMES in February last year. This could be the greatest Tennessee basketball team of all time. Let's relax a little and enjoy this team.

7. We have a lot of new posters to the basketball forum with the success of the basketball team and that is awesome! And there are times when established posters (including myself) can be a little ornery about new posters coming into the forum and I need to do better that regulars are being hospitable to everyone. But please, be considerate and knowledgable. Please use stats to support your opinions. Please don't drive by post and all you do is complain. Please just look at threads and the forum and see if threads have been started. It's always just a good reminder sometimes (plus I've been going on a merger spree, @Freak doesn't pay me, stop making me do mod work please).

8. Overall, Tennessee is 24-3 and has two SEC road losses. This is not a perfect team. No team is. There's a reason nobody has been undefeated in 40+ years. Some posters are overreacting and saying we won't accomplish anything while some posters trying to dismiss that today's loss means little or nothing. Like a lot of things, it's in the middle. I don't think Tennessee is going to win a national title. BUT THAT IS OKAY. This is not an elite basketball program. Go look at our 2020 target list and who is coming to Knoxville on Saturday, the program is being built. Next year's team can be really good too. I'm guilty of this sometimes, but we need to relax and enjoy what is happening. Plus, have you seen how bad the athletic department has been over the last ten years, dear god I am just glad to have a top 10 team in something (and except the Braves none of my pro sports teams are making the playoffs so I need this). We can win 30 games for only the second time in school history. We are in a good place. Trust me.
 
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#4
#4
It's pretty clear by watching the games we peaked a month or so ago. We would have beaten ANYONE in January, But we look tired and beat up now. Also, Villanova had 3 NBA first rounders so that is a different story. We don't have that talent luxury. We can still make a little run in the tournament, but I agree our defense and rebounding will keep us from anything past the Sweet 16.
 
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#5
#5
Catbone said:
It's pretty clear by watching the games we peaked a month or so ago. We look tired and beat up now. Also, Villanova had 3 NBA first rounders. We don't have that talent luxury. We can still make a little run in the tournament, but I agree our defense and rebounding will keep us from anything past the Sweet 16.
Click to expand...

Tennessee’s offensive and defensive efficiency is the same from a month ago. No again we didn’t peak, we are playing better teams. This is what happens when you play better team.

Tennessee won six straight games by double digits before Kentucky. How is that peaking?
 
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#6
#6
You make some good points, however, here is my response to each of them:
1. Maybe we didn't " peak" too early, but something is definitely different with this team the past couple of weeks. Tired , gassed, injured, maybe a mixture of all
2. I'm of the opinion that most officials have large egos and are ruining the game, especially with the replay monitor. This was a 2 hour and 45 minute game.Even Vitale was complaining about the refs going to the monitor too often
3. Without Turner and Bowden contributing, this team is average at best. Bowden is very fragile and when he loses his confidence, it's hard for him to get it back. We've seen this multiple times the past 2 seasons. Turner needs to stop trying to be the hero and learn that Grant and Schofield are our best two options when the game is on the line
4. IMO, no such thing as a loss not being "bad". Good losses are for losers. Is this as bad as losing to Georgia, of course not but they both would count the same in the loss column
5. This team could be a Final Four team, IF they get back to playing smart, sharing the ball and getting contributions from 3 key players that have suddenly disappeared ( Turner, Bowden, Alexander). Without them, we. are an average team at best because we have no bench strength
 
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#7
#7
zjcvols said:
Tennessee’s offensive and defensive efficiency is the same from a month ago. No again we didn’t peak, we are playing better teams. This is what happens when you play better teams.
Click to expand...

So were we overrated at #1?
 
#10
#10
1985Vols said:
You make some good points, however, here is my response to each of them:
1. Maybe we didn't " peak" too early, but something is definitely different with this team the past couple of weeks. Tired , gassed, injured, maybe a mixture of all
2. I'm of the opinion that most officials have large egos and are ruining the game, especially with the replay monitor. This was a 2 hour and 45 minute game.Even Vitale was complaining about the refs going to the monitor too often
3. Without Turner and Bowden contributing, this team is average at best. Bowden is very fragile and when he loses his confidence, it's hard for him to get it back. We've seen this multiple times the past 2 seasons. Turner needs to stop trying to be the hero and learn that Grant and Schofield are our best two options when the game is on the line
4. IMO, no such thing as a loss not being "bad". Good losses are for losers. Is this as bad as losing to Georgia, of course not but they both would count the same in the loss column
Click to expand...

1. Yes, they are playing better teams on the road. That is what is happening.

2. Refs are terrible yes.

3. So two of our best six players play bad and we are average? Yeah that happens to every college team.

4. Losses happen and we lost to a good team. I’d be much more concern if we lost to Vandy and beta LSU than what happened.
 
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#12
#12
I want to be clear though, I think this team is still very good just not trending the right direction. Probably the best roster top to bottom in our lifetime which is why this year is so important!
 
#15
#15
Hurts when Lamonte and Bowden don’t contribute. When we were playing so great offensively early in SEC play, they were making a big difference. When we don’t get anything from them we struggle.
 
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#17
#17
zjcvols said:
Obviously in typical message border fodder, people are panicking because Tennessee has last two of their last three games. But there have been some fallacies out there & overall things I want to mention.

1. This team did not peak too early. One the season isn't over. How the hell do you peak too early when the season isn't over? What if Tennessee wins the rest of their games? Did they peak too early still? Did they find another peak? It's dumb. Tennessee is playing better teams. Road conference wins against top 25 teams are really hard.

2. There is no such thing as conference officials. They are independent contractors. It's part of the reason officials aren't any good because nobody really governs them. But there are no such thing as SEC officials or Big Ten officials or ACC officials in college basketball.

3. Lamonte Turner has struggled. So has Jordan Bowden. Both have been off the last three games. This does not mean Lamonte coming back was bad for the team. This does not mean Jordan Bowden is mentally weak. There is this thing called slumps. Sometimes you are hot and overperform. Sometimes you struggle and under perform. It's called regressing to the mean. They do not suck. They will be fine. The same people complaining about these two players are the same people whining about how our best three point shooter should play inside more when he struggled (Admiral Schofield) and he's back to hitting perimeter shots. Just calm down.

4. Now, I do not have a problem with people saying this was a bad loss. In terms of resume, it is not. But Tennessee blew a nine point lead late, had two chances to win the game, gave up an offensive rebound late that tied the game in OT and LSU was without their best perimeter player. So if someone wants to say this is a bad loss, I don't have a problem with that.

5. HOWEVER, this does not mean Tennessee sucks or again we peaked too early. I don't believe this team can win a national title because of their rebounding woes and not being an elite defensive team. However, this does not mean the season is over or they won't make noise in the tourney or they can't win the Final Four.

6. Expectations can be a bitch. During the game against Vanderbilt, I did not have fun watching the game. That is a mistake. We beat an instate rival by double digits and all I did was roll my eyes and complain. That's a me problem. In 2016 (just three years ago) Tennessee lost twice to Vandy by a combined 31 points in the regular season. Tennessee has two tough losses in February ON THE ROAD AGAINST RANKED TEAMS. Villanova lost THREE TIMES in February last year. This could be the greatest Tennessee basketball team of all time. Let's relax a little and enjoy this team.

7. We have a lot of new posters to the basketball forum with the success of the basketball team and that is awesome! And there are times when established posters (including myself) can be a little ornery about new posters coming into the forum and I need to do better that regulars are being hospitable to everyone. But please, be considerate and knowledgable. Please use stats to support your opinions. Please don't drive by post and all you do is complain. Please just look at threads and the forum and see if threads have been started. It's always just a good reminder sometimes (plus I've been going on a merger spree, @Freak doesn't pay me, stop making me do mod work please).

8. Overall, Tennessee is 24-3 and has two SEC road losses. This is not a perfect team. No team is. There's a reason nobody has been undefeated in 40+ years. Some posters are overreacting and saying we won't accomplish anything while some posters trying to dismiss that today's loss means little or nothing. Like a lot of things, it's in the middle. I don't think Tennessee is going to win a national title. BUT THAT IS OKAY. This is not an elite basketball program. Go look at our 2020 target list and who is coming to Knoxville on Saturday, the program is being built. Next year's team can be really good too. I'm guilty of this sometimes, but we need to relax and enjoy what is happening. Plus, have you seen how bad the athletic department has been over the last ten years, dear god I am just glad to have a top 10 team in something (and except the Braves none of my pro sports teams are making the playoffs so I need this). We can win 30 games for only the second time in school history. We are in a good place. Trust me.
Click to expand...
The bolded is partially correct. They are independent contractors, but they typically do have a home base (conference), even if they do work games in multiple conferences throughout the year. They are also "governed" by each conference's officiating coordinator. For the SEC, that person is still Mark Whitehead, I believe. Officials are judged on performance by both the coordinator and his assistants, as well as the conference coaches.
 
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#19
#19
Very coherent sir. For me the tournament is all that matters. I predict that when the tournament starts we will be playing a lot better.
 
#20
#20
It's hard to know when you peaked when the journey isn't even done. UT might win the last 10 games or whatever and win a title. They might not. But how can you make a conclusion when the whole story isn't written? Makes no sense to me.

Overreacting is part of being a fan. As long as you support the team and don't trash the players then it's all good. I think UT has the players to make a decent run. The defense isn't great. But when the offense is clicking it's elite. But I keep going back to the numbers. Only 1 champ in recent memory hasn't been a top 20 offense/defense (Kenpom). Right now UT is pretty far off defensively.
 
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#21
#21
I just do not see the "intensity" on the floor on offense, but especially on defense.

I wonder why we stayed in "man" on defense in the last 3 minutes of the game when we could not stop Smart on the dribble-drive. We just seemed to let him run right by us.

Can anyone explain to me why we couldn't switch to a 2-3 zone?
 
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#22
#22
LittleCat said:
It's hard to know when you peaked when the journey isn't even done. UT might win the last 10 games or whatever and win a title. They might not. But how can you make a conclusion when the whole story isn't written? Makes no sense to me.

Overreacting is part of being a fan. As long as you support the team and don't trash the players then it's all good. I think UT has the players to make a decent run. The defense isn't great. But when the offense is clicking it's elite. But I keep going back to the numbers. Only 1 champ in recent memory hasn't been a top 20 offense/defense (Kenpom). Right now UT is pretty far off defensively.
Click to expand...
You can't, but this board goes full on stupid and defeatist following a loss. As if the 24 wins before it didn't matter. If we had managed 3 more points and beaten LSU, we'd hear the same posters banging the table about why we should be ranked #1 again.
 
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#23
#23
golfballs said:
Hurts when Lamonte and Bowden don’t contribute. When we were playing so great offensively early in SEC play, they were making a big difference. When we don’t get anything from them we struggle.
Click to expand...

I believe they will all get things turned around. They should have a sense of urgency now that the season is winding down, and we are tied for the lead, not simply leading and undefeated.
 
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#25
#25
cncchris33 said:
You can't, but this board goes full on stupid and defeatist following a loss. As if the 24 wins before it didn't matter. If we had managed 3 more points and beaten LSU, we'd hear the same posters banging the table about why we should be ranked #1 again.
Click to expand...
Underrated post.

Its been a great season so far. Losing a game they could've won sucks, but get over it. Its been historic so far.

If anyone wants to bash anyone, complain about Kesling
 
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