Tennessee vs VCU preview

#2
#2
(AP) -- - Coach Shaka Smart and his Virginia Commonwealth basketball team have become regulars in the NCAA tournament since that improbable run to the Final Four in 2011.

VCU is ranked No. 15 in the preseason Top 25, the second consecutive year with the Rams in the rankings to start the season.

VCU is also the runaway pick to win the Atlantic 10 Conference, meaning that Smart's youngest and perhaps most talented team yet will have expectations to contend with all season.

The first test comes Friday night when they'll meet Tennessee at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. However, the Rams will be without starting point guard and team leader Briante Weber.
 
#3
#3
More from VCU's standpoint.

"The Rams expect to see a fairly unusual defense when they open their season Friday against Tennessee in the Veterans Classic at the Naval Academy. New Volunteers coach Donnie Tyndall combined a zone press with a half-court matchup zone in stints at Morehead State and Southern Mississippi.

“Not a lot of people do that,” Smart said. “He’s been really successful with that. … Watching them on tape (in exhibition games), his guys have done a really good job of picking it up in a short time.”

The press usually is a 1-2-2 or 2-2-1, which is different from VCU’s. The matchup sometimes starts with one guard up high.

“You can’t just stand around,” Smart said. “You’ve got to do a good job moving the basketball and attacking different points of the zone. It’s different than what our guys have seen.”

VCU has led the nation in steals per game the past three seasons. Tyndall’s teams at Southern Mississippi were fifth (9.6) and 17th (8.2)."
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#5
#5
This press should be a great indicator of how well Punter, Josh, etc can manage the PG spot. The PG spot and how well/fast our young freshman post develop is what I look forward to seeing the most. Willie, Owens, and McGhee are all going to get thrown in the fire very quickly.
 
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#8
#8
keckjm said:
This press should be a great indicator of how well Punter, Josh, etc can manage the PG spot. The PG spot and how well/fast our young freshman post develop is what I look forward to seeing the most. Willie, Owens, and McGhee are all going to get thrown in the fire very quickly.
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Just how quickly would you say they get thrown in the fire? You might want to put your bib on. You just maybe eating crow for dinner tomorrow. Willie and Jabari won't be push overs and Tariq just may surprise you. You never know.
 
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#9
#9
AuntieDee said:
Just how quickly would you say they get thrown in the fire? You might want to put your bib on. You just maybe eating crow for dinner tomorrow. Willie and Jabari won't be push overs and Tariq just may surprise you. You never know.
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Seriously, again? You do realize I support your boy McGhee, right? Is saying we are throwing them into the fire offending too? I stated in my own words what Tyndall did when he came out and said in a presser two weeks ago that Willie would ideally play no more than 10-15 minutes a game this year on an experienced team, but on this team he will be forced to play 25-28 for us due to depth. You mad at Tyndall too? Our post, McGhee included, are going to be asked to grow up quick, because they have to play a lot for us. VCU isn't a warm up game for these guys. They are about to play a really good team, and if they don't play well we are in some serious trouble.

P.S. I made a thread last Sunday on this basketball forum after watching the game Saturday where I stated clearly that I thought McGhee and Owens were going to make a great combo off the bench in the coming years. Check it out if you don't believe me. I stated I thought McGhee was a really good rebounder but just needed to develop a good 15 FT jumper, and I stated that I believed Owens was the first natural shot blocker we have had here in a long time. I promise, I'm on your side. I'll be smiling ear to ear if these guys kill it tomorrow. Just wanted you to know so we are seeing eye to eye here. We both are on the same team. I'm fully supporting your boy. Not in any way trying to be disrespectful here. Just don't want to hash it out all season with you, especially since basketball is my favorite sport. I'll be watching and supporting :rock:
 
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#10
#10
keckjm said:
Seriously, again? You do realize I support your boy McGhee, right? Is saying we are throwing them into the fire offending too? I stated in my own words what Tyndall did when he came out and said in a presser two weeks ago that Willie would ideally play no more than 10-15 minutes a game this year on an experienced team, but on this team he will be forced to play 25-28 for us due to depth. You mad at Tyndall too? Our post, McGhee included, are going to be asked to grow up quick, because they have to play a lot for us. VCU isn't a warm up game for these guys. They are about to play a really good team, and if they don't play well wet are in some serious trouble.
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Seriously, YOU support Jabari? I haven't been able to detect that, but it's nice to know. I am in no way mad. Lol I guess we just don't read each other very well. But you did say they were being thrown in the fire quickly. I took that as negative connotation. But it doesn't mean that I'm mad I suppose it's your terminology that I'm not use to.

I've been reading about VCU. They are a great team and I know they are tough. But I'm little more optimistic than you. I see the glass as half full. You seem to see it as half empty. However I agree, Our guys have to come out playing hard and that includes the old timers.
 
#11
#11
P.S. I made a thread last Sunday on this basketball forum after watching the game Saturday where I stated clearly that I thought McGhee and Owens were going to make a great combo off the bench in the coming years. Check it out if you don't believe me. I stated I thought McGhee was a really good rebounder but just needed to develop a good 15 FT jumper, and I stated that I believed Owens was the first natural shot blocker we have had here in a long time. I promise, I'm on your side. I'll be smiling ear to ear if these guys kill it tomorrow. Just wanted you to know so we are seeing eye to eye here. We both are on the same team. I'm fully supporting your boy. Not in any way trying to be disrespectful here. Just don't want to hash it out all season with you, especially since basketball is my favorite sport. I'll be watching and supporting :rock:[/QUOTE]

I missed that post, but I'm with you. No hard feelings. Like I say, I'm learning your way.:thumbsup:
 
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#12
#12
AuntieDee said:
Seriously, YOU support Jabari? I haven't been able to detect that, but it's nice to know. I am in no way mad. Lol I guess we just don't read each other very well. But you did say they were being thrown in the fire quickly. I took that as negative connotation. But it doesn't mean that I'm mad I suppose it's your terminology that I'm not use to.

I've been reading about VCU. They are a great team and I know they are tough. But I'm little more optimistic than you. I see the glass as half full. You seem to see it as half empty. However I agree, Our guys have to come out playing hard and that includes the old timers.
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I'm completely hopefully until we play a team where we are forced to play a lot of half court sets. From what I've seen of this team, Punter seams to be a very good scorer. Mostella is going to be a really good scorer too. Hubbs can score. Josh can score. I worry about our 3 shooting and PG play in the half court. We some how have to get our post involved in the offense, and it'd be a whole lot easier with a natural PG. I do like our motion offense against zone in the half court. If we can get our 4 man to hit a 12-15 FT jumper consistently we will be in business. Our offense against zone really utilizes the 4 right off the base line, midway between the basket and a corner three. Hard shot to hit, but it's also a triple threat position. I think we can go really deep into our bench. Thats a big advantage for us. I see 11 guys who will play at the moment.

I can also say this, there won't be many teams that are more athletic than we are. We should be a great fast break team, and hopefully our athleticism helps in our press. Tyndall is also fun to watch coach. My biggest concern for this team is the criticism they may have to take. I just don't feel it's fair to put huge expectations on a team that's forced to play without a PG and with a lot of players who have never played a D-1 basketball game until tomorrow. Hopefully, the Tyndall NCAA problem goes away soon too. That'd be huge for all of us going forward. None the less, we should be fun to watch. We will struggle at times IMO, but what's great about basketball is you get hot and you can beat anyone. Plus, it's UT basketball. Who doesn't love some UT basketball? Best time of year IMO.
 
#13
#13
keckjm said:
I'm completely hopefully until we play a team where we are forced to play a lot of half court sets. From what I've seen of this team, Punter seams to be a very good scorer. Mostella is going to be a really good scorer too. Hubbs can score. Josh can score. I worry about our 3 shooting and PG play in the half court. We some how have to get our post involved in the offense, and it'd be a whole lot easier with a natural PG. I do like our motion offense against zone in the half court. If we can get our 4 man to hit a 12-15 FT jumper consistently we will be in business. Our offense against zone really utilizes the 4 right off the base line, midway between the basket and a corner three. Hard shot to hit, but it's also a triple threat position. I think we can go really deep into our bench. Thats a big advantage for us. I see 11 guys who will play at the moment.

I can also say this, there won't be many teams that are more athletic than we are. We should be a great fast break team, and hopefully our athleticism helps in our press. Tyndall is also fun to watch coach. My biggest concern for this team is the criticism they may have to take. I just don't feel it's fair to put huge expectations on a team that's forced to play without a PG and with a lot of players who have never played a D-1 basketball game until tomorrow. Hopefully, the Tyndall NCAA problem goes away soon too. That'd be huge for all of us going forward. None the less, we should be fun to watch. We will struggle at times IMO, but what's great about basketball is you get hot and you can beat anyone. Plus, it's UT basketball. Who doesn't love some UT basketball? Best time of year IMO.
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I feel you on all the above. I love being the underdog though. I like that feeling when everyone doubts us and me make them lap it . Like you I wish the Tyndall scandal will go away. I'm trying to get in touch with Olivia.Pope. :superman: Lol. She'll find the mole that started this BS and make him disappear...for good
 
#14
#14
AuntieDee said:
I feel you on all the above. I love being the underdog though. I like that feeling when everyone doubts us and me make them lap it . Like you I wish the Tyndall scandal will go away. I'm trying to get in touch with Olivia.Pope. :superman: Lol. She'll find the mole that started this BS and make him disappear...for good
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When Pearl was our coach in 2009 we had to play #1 Kansas at home. We at the time were ranked 16th I believe, but we also had 4 guys suspended, one of which was one of our two best players on the team. To tell you how bad a situation we where in, we played 3 walkons that game off the bench. We ended up beating them. I was in the student section, and it was bar none the best basketball game I've ever seen live. From that point on, I realized that when TN had the right coach we would always be a threat to win any game. I think Tyndall can be a coach that can win you any given game, but it's going to be hard until the NCAA gets off his back. Right now, whether he admits it or not, he has more on his mind then just winning basketball games.
 
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#15
#15
keckjm said:
When Pearl was our coach in 2009 we had to play #1 Kansas at home. We at the time were ranked 16th I believe, but we also had 4 guys suspended, one of which was one of our two best players on the team. To tell you how bad a situation we where in, we played 3 walkons that game off the bench. We ended up beating them. I was in the student section, and it was bar none the best basketball game I've ever seen live. From that point on, I realized that when TN had the right coach we would always be a threat to win any game. I think Tyndall can be a coach that can win you any given game, but it's going to be hard until the NCAA gets off his back. Right now, whether he admits it or not, he has more on his mind then just winning basketball games.
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The guys are playing with a chip on their shoulders. They are angry about all the Drama. They will play hard for Tyndall. I hope they can pull this off. Today is the day.. We need positive vibes on VN. Lets do this!:3cheers
 
#16
#16
AuntieDee said:
The guys are playing with a chip on their shoulders. They are angry about all the Drama. They will play hard for Tyndall. I hope they can pull this off. Today is the day.. We need positive vibes on VN. Lets do this!:3cheers
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Thats good to hear. Hopefully we can prove people wrong tonight.
 
#17
#17
To me, thrown in the fire means I'm a freshman playing against VCU on national tv and the coach may point at me 4 minutes into the game and tell me to go play some ball. I don't correlate it with anything negative. In fact, if a freshman isn't getting thrown into the fire/game, that means he's not ready yet.
It's not a fire fire. Fire as in battle/game.
 
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#18
#18
Spartacavolus said:
To me, thrown in the fire means I'm a freshman playing against VCU on national tv and the coach may point at me 4 minutes into the game and tell me to go play some ball. I don't correlate it with anything negative. In fact, if a freshman isn't getting thrown into the fire/game, that means he's

People interpret things differently, especially when its said or written in figurative language. Many bloggers here use a combination of words that have a figurative meaning owing to its common usage. I am not accustom to the language used here in Volnation, but I'm learning.

I've read several misinterpretations in Volnation and bloggers are always having to clarify something they wrote. So, I don't feel like the lone ranger.

Thanks for your interpretation of Volblogology!
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#19
#19
AuntieDee said:
Thanks for the lesson on Vol blog terminology! lol
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Pregame jitters AD. Exciting day for your family.

That saying, imo, is more of an old school deal where coaches when I was growing up (70's-80's) often correlated games with war and battle. Thrown into the fire for me meant I was young and undersized as well as lacked experience, but we got to fight anyway so I was going to have to get in there and get in the middle of it and learn in live action.
 
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#20
#20
Spartacavolus said:
Pregame jitters AD. Exciting day for your family.

That saying, imo, is more of an old school deal where coaches when I was growing up (70's-80's) often correlated games with war and battle. Thrown into the fire for me meant I was young and undersized as well as lacked experience, but we got to fight anyway so I was going to have to get in there and get in the middle of it and learn in live action.
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Yes, we're quite excited about his first collegiate game. But I'm excited for the team as well! Go Vols!
 
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