I'm afraid that this probably the least talented Tennessee team in 10+ years. That isn't a terrible knock on them as the last 10 years have seen some really good teams, and even the worst of those finished with pretty good records. I just think it is going to take a masterful coaching job to make this group of collective talent anything special.
What I saw over the first 25 minutes last night was some of the worst team basketball I can remember. At no point in that 25 minutes did we look like a cohesive group and it felt like there were 5 individuals out there just doing whatever each one wanted. That has to be corrected immediately.
The Good...
1. We won all three shooting phases of the game. We held Marshall to 36.5% from the field, though a lot of that had to do with the low-percentage shots they took despite the fact that we gave them lanes to drive for most of the night.
2. We hit our FTs, and ended up shooting twice as many as Marshall for the game after only attempting 2 ourselves in the 1st half. 25-30 from the line will win you some ballgames.
3. Robert Hubbs, despite not starting due to a minor injury, played one of his finer games. He got into the lane, didn't settle for 3s, hit the boards (esp. ORebs), and took care of the ball on a night when that felt optional for the rest of the team. 19 pts on 7-14 shooting, 5 rebs, 1 asst, 2 stls and only 1 TO in 28 mins.
4. Nice bounce back game for Armani Moore, turnovers notwithstanding. He shot much better from the field, rebounded well, and got to the basket with ease, though he still needs to learn to finish better once he gets in close. 20 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assts, but 4 TOs.
5. I'm going to give Derek Reese credit where credit is due. For a guy who struggled to accept his role as a post player the past two seasons, he has done a great job doing the dirty work this year. He leads the team in rebs and is 2nd in FG% and blks. His post defense leaves a lot to be desired at times, but he has only attempted 9 shots through 3 games (with no 3 pt attempts) and made 5 of them. Last night he had 2 pts, 13 rebs, 4 blks, 1 stl and 0 TOs in 24 mins.
6. Baulkman played his best all-around game of the season. He didn't shoot particularly well, but he did finish with 13 pts, 7 rebs, 2 assts, 1 stl, and 1 TO in 34 mins.
7. Punter didn't shoot all that well, but made up for it by hitting 9-10 at the FT line because he finally began driving the ball and attacking the basket. Several of those key FTs came towards the end as well when Marshall had to foul. 19 pts, 3 rebs, 4 assts, 2 stls, and 3 TOs in 37 mins.
8. Kasongo had a couple nice hook shots to finish 2-2, scoring 4 pts and grabbing 1 reb in only 5 mins. of action.
9. I thought our ability to fight through a really, really poor opening 5 minutes of the 2nd half to overturn a 16 point deficit was encouraging. Disappointed though, that we were ever down to that quality opponent by 16 pts at home.
The Bad...
1. Talk about a team of individuals. There is very little team basketball being played right now, and it is very reminiscent of the Jerry Green days when it seemed he just rolled the ball out there and told his boys to go play.
2. There seems to be very little individual talent too, which makes the continued one-on-one play all the more strange. There isn't one guy I have confidence in when the ball leaves his hand on a perimeter shot. Sadly, our level of experience, lack of size, and offensive post skills are going to force us to win a lot of games from the 3-pt line, where we collectively are shooting 27.8% as a team (15-54), good for 290th in the country.
3. Along those same lines, last night especially, we just settle for open perimeter shots. We don't try to run any backdoor cuts, drives to the basket that draw double teams that provide open looks for teammates, or flashes to paint. We stand four guys around the perimeter and pass it back and forth. Barnes has to create some offense on set plays, and to this point, I see very little offensive coaching.
4. The defense at times last night was middle school level. There was a period that Marshall just did whatever they wanted. We didn't guard the perimeter against a team we knew liked to shoot the ball from outside. We didn't switch on drives and cuts to the lane. We got burned in transition as well. Just an overall pitiful performance for the first 25 minutes.
5. We got next to nothing from the newcomers last night. In 25 combined minutes, McGhee, Kasongo, Alexander, Phillips, and Schofield combined for 4 pts (all from RayK), 5 rebs, 2 assts, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 TOs and 7 fouls. McGhee, who played really well against GT, was to learn to defend and rebound without fouling. That was an issue in his handful of games last year, and it has been again this year. He has some talent, but it's of no use when he's constantly on the bench in foul trouble. A few of these guys need to step up and be reliable for 10-15 minutes a piece. Fatigue is an obvious issue for teams in general and we are in trouble if we can only go 6 deep, which we did for most of the 2md half (Punter, Moore, Hubbs, Reese, Baulkman, Mostella).
Bottom line...
This team, in its current state, will struggle to finish .500 for the season. They need an infusion of talent. From ball-handling to consistent perimeter shooting, to offensive post skills. Right now it feels like a lot of square pegs in round holes and the decision-making of some (Armani Moore and Kevin Punter) is troubling. Maybe they are trying to do too much instead of trusting their teammates, but Barnes has got to get a hold on this and teach them/force them to play within a system, if one even exists. I've not seen much evidence of one yet.
