Is UK must win?

#1
C

CladInOrange

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#1
Now before everyone says I am overreacting an 0-3 start to begin SEC play would be brutally devastating to a young team. I have a feeling its going to be more like a neutral game atmosphere with all the blue that is surely going to get in. I hope the 9PM start helps with atmosphere a little and all people who sit on their hands stay at home for their 8PM bed time.
 
#2
#2
CladInOrange said:
Now before everyone says I am overreacting an 0-3 start to begin SEC play would be brutally devastating to a young team. I have a feeling its going to be more like a neutral game atmosphere with all the blue that is surely going to get in. I hope the 9PM start helps with atmosphere a little and all people who sit on their hands stay at home for their 8PM bed time.
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The Blue always gets in, and would've even if UT was 12-1.
 
#3
#3
CladInOrange said:
Now before everyone says I am overreacting an 0-3 start to begin SEC play would be brutally devastating to a young team. I have a feeling its going to be more like a neutral game atmosphere with all the blue that is surely going to get in. I hope the 9PM start helps with atmosphere a little and all people who sit on their hands stay at home for their 8PM bed time.
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Have you ever been to a KY game in the TBA? I don't remember people ever sitting on their hands.
 
#6
#6
CladInOrange said:
Don't think I have missed on in 15 years or so. I was sort of referring to the UNC game crowd.
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There's been some debate on the UNC crowd. It seemed loud and electric from where I sat. I think that the announcers and Roy said that as well. Sometimes it appears differently on TV since the director controls the audio mix.
 
#8
#8
Yes, IMO it is, especially since we lost to Auburn. And if the team last night shows up, we'll get destroyed.
 
#9
#9
Yes is the answer to your question. I hate to call this a "Must Win" game but to start 0-3 in conference play would be bad. The last two games we have had leads in the second half but just cannot seem to hang on to them.
 
#10
#10
Must win? Yes and no. TN could drop half of the remaining games and still be on the bubble. It sure would help to restore some order and go a long ways as far as shutting up the Miscreant Vols however.
 
#11
#11
Yeah it's a must win. Lose this one and it'll probably be a downward spiral from here on out. I know that Arkansas game went into OT but the amount of points given up over the last 2 games...My God.
 
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#12
#12
Yes. After giving away the Arkansas game and looking like ass last night, yes it is. Unfortunately the UK game is a must win. This team will now struggle to get to 15-16 wins.
 
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#13
#13
Well I actually thought the Auburn game was a must win after the Arky loss, so yes the KY game is a must win.
An 0-3 start especially if it's an ugly loss and this team is on the verge of not dancing already.

Funny how one week swings things, win both the Arky and Auburn game, which they should have and we're having dreaming of a conference title.
 
#14
#14
A must win for what? This team is not going to accomplish much with their guard play, lack of any inside offensive presence other than Williams, and the complete lack of mental toughness to compete for any type of championship, NCAA berth, etc.
 
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#15
#15
Don't know if it's a must win, but it is a must try game. Many more lackluster efforts like last night, and I'm back to not really caring about what they do. People love cheering for a team that puts it on the line, win or lose. Lazy efforts...not so much.

I will give Barnes credit for not pulling any punches in post game presser, and like that he points out how guys say "my bad" and think it's ok, when making unforced errors are not ok...you prevent them thru preparation.
 
#16
#16
If Tennessee wants to do ANYTHING this season; YEP. Right now; they have 2 Shoulda's and One Coulda. UK Better be the DID; or it's over. Too Fragile to recover.
 
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#18
#18
I don't see it as a must win since I really don't expect this team to do better than the NIT and that might be tough for this squad. They simply don't have that go to guy when it's crunch time. Can't depend on Williams due to foul trouble and his size. If a team wants to take him away, they can do so. He's not the kind of guy who can take over a game IMO. We also lack consistency at guard. Come tournament time, the teams with the best guard play are the ones who succeed. I've seen glimpses, but have no real faith in our guards as a unit. So, no I don't see it as a must win because I don't really hAve confidence in this team right now. Suspect the grind of the sec will take a toll and we'll be fortunate to go .500 in league play at best. And until proven otherwise, it's one and done in the SECT. Too much history to think otherwise at this point.
 
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#19
#19
A must win to get the debbie downers away from here. Good lord. We have people saying we'll be lucky to make the tourney are clueless. Everyone knew that this 6 game stretch wasn't going to be easy. Most thought we would lose to Arkansas, but many thought we would win against Auburn. Still, the Auburn lose will not be considered a bad loss come tournament time.

We currently have the 5th hardest SOS and are still in the top 25 RPI. We don't have a single bad loss at this point. Nova, UNC, and Ark are all top 10 in the RPI and Auburn is 21st.

We could lose to UK and still make the tourney. We need to at least get through this brutal 6 game stretch 2-4. From there just going 7-5 and beating Iowa State would still get us in the tourney as a bubble team at 19-13.

I still think that this team will go 3-3 during the stretch and then finish 8-4 and beat Iowa State. Which would put us at 21-9 and would firmly get us in.
 
#20
#20
It is for Rick Barnes, lest he desires to become known as the Botch Jones of college basketball.
 
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#22
#22
Stoked said:
A must win to get the debbie downers away from here. Good lord. We have people saying we'll be lucky to make the tourney are clueless. Everyone knew that this 6 game stretch wasn't going to be easy. Most thought we would lose to Arkansas, but many thought we would win against Auburn. Still, the Auburn lose will not be considered a bad loss come tournament time.

We currently have the 5th hardest SOS and are still in the top 25 RPI. We don't have a single bad loss at this point. Nova, UNC, and Ark are all top 10 in the RPI and Auburn is 21st.

We could lose to UK and still make the tourney. We need to at least get through this brutal 6 game stretch 2-4. From there just going 7-5 and beating Iowa State would still get us in the tourney as a bubble team at 19-13.

I still think that this team will go 3-3 during the stretch and then finish 8-4 and beat Iowa State. Which would put us at 21-9 and would firmly get us in.
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Very accurate post...which means it will get ignored by just about everyone.

My quote from that first 6 game OP...
So underdogs in 3/6 games, a pick em’ in another game, slight favorites in the other 2. Imo 2-4 wouldn’t shock me, and would hardly be disastrous, but I’m hoping for 3-3...that would be a very strong start given the schedule imo.
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18-12 has the Vols dancing imo...so like you said 2-4 has the Vols 11-6(2-4) at the end of this 6 game gauntlet...that means they’d still only have to finish the season 7-6 to reach that mark.
 
#23
#23
Stoked said:
A must win to get the debbie downers away from here. Good lord. We have people saying we'll be lucky to make the tourney are clueless. Everyone knew that this 6 game stretch wasn't going to be easy. Most thought we would lose to Arkansas, but many thought we would win against Auburn. Still, the Auburn lose will not be considered a bad loss come tournament time.

We currently have the 5th hardest SOS and are still in the top 25 RPI. We don't have a single bad loss at this point. Nova, UNC, and Ark are all top 10 in the RPI and Auburn is 21st.

We could lose to UK and still make the tourney. We need to at least get through this brutal 6 game stretch 2-4. From there just going 7-5 and beating Iowa State would still get us in the tourney as a bubble team at 19-13.

I still think that this team will go 3-3 during the stretch and then finish 8-4 and beat Iowa State. Which would put us at 21-9 and would firmly get us in.
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The problem is while Arkansas and Auburn on paper aren't bad losses, the way we lost both makes people question the team. When this team falls apart, they REALLY fall apart. And I'm questioning how the team can respond if they start out 0-3 in the SEC.

If we play hard and lose Saturday night, then I might agree a loss isn't that bad. But if we play like last night and UK smokes us, I think we're in trouble.
 
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#24
#24
VolsSportsFan said:
The problem is while Arkansas and Auburn on paper aren't bad losses, the way we lost both makes people question the team. When this team falls apart, they REALLY fall apart. And I'm questioning how the team can respond if they start out 0-3 in the SEC.

If we play hard and lose Saturday night, then I might agree a loss isn't that bad. But if we play like last night and UK smokes us, I think we're in trouble.
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Tennessee’s losses at this point are to (RPI)...

#7 Villanova (neutral)
#8 North Carolina (home)
#9 Arkansas (away)
#21 Auburn (home)

So at this point we’ve not lost a single game to a team outside the RPI top 50...the remainder of our schedule is 6 games against top 50 and 11 against sub top 50 rpi teams.

Until Tennessee drops a game to Vandy or South Carolina or LSU etc I won’t start to worry about their tourney chances. I agree that this isn’t what we hoped for, and is disappointing as a result of the early season success...but the positive is these are “good losses”, if we learn from them and beat the teams we should this team will be just fine.
 
#25
#25
These last 2 games have been so disheartening! We’re better than this!! I’ve never seen a team that can lose a lead so fast!! When we play fast, we’re ok, but we then get in a hurry, panic, and it’s all over!!

We need to beat the kitties! 🐱
 
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