Wrong Players

[BasketvolsFan]

With your suggested lineups, we may not win another game.

[IPorange]

Yes, clearly less talented players is the solution.

[Vol4]

Originally Posted by tabrams

this is a 100% correct post, IMO......... also, those teams were playing with 3 small guards, who were very quick, and got alot of steals, and could play up=tempo.... If Pearl wants to play the same style, then he needs to change up his lineup to this:

PG Prince/ Maze
SG Maze/ Goins
SF Hopson/ Tatum
PF Tyler/ Woolridge
C Williams/ Hall

However, if Pearl actually wants to use the height and half-court gaem better (which they suck at), then he should go with:

PG Prince/ Maze
SG Hopson/ Tatum
SF Tyler/ Woolrigde
PF Chism/ Hall
C Williams/ Hall

Great coaches can alter the lineup around......... not sure what Pearl is trying to do, I'm really confused so far this year, actually.....

I'm not sure Prince is the answer at PG. Pearl tried him there last year and there was not much success. I like Maze, Hopeson, Tyler, Chism, and Williams. That lineup allows for more of an inside-outside threat. While UT did go 2-22 from beyond the arc against USC, a lot of those 3's were contested. If an inside game can be established with Chism and Williams, our guards should get better shots, and hopefully knock them down. The "run-n-gun" is good, if you have guards that can knock down contested shots (i.e. Lofton, Jajuan Smith) but this team does not. Hopson can shoot, but he needs some time to get that sky ball setup.

[tabrams]

Originally Posted by Vol4

I'm not sure Prince is the answer at PG. Pearl tried him there last year and there was not much success. I like Maze, Hopeson, Tyler, Chism, and Williams. That lineup allows for more of an inside-outside threat. While UT did go 2-22 from beyond the arc against USC, a lot of those 3's were contested. If an inside game can be established with Chism and Williams, our guards should get better shots, and hopefully knock them down. The "run-n-gun" is good, if you have guards that can knock down contested shots (i.e. Lofton, Jajuan Smith) but this team does not. Hopson can shoot, but he needs some time to get that sky ball setup.

yeah..........Pearl is kinda screwed IMO......he needs to alter his style to fit the team, this team should go big, and use their height and athleticism in more half-court sets.........for them to try to run and gun is just not going to work with guys this big

[OrangeNYC]

So do you guys think Calipari is just really 'coaching them up'? This Mcbee love is a joke. Just because he looks like you did in HS doesn't mean he's any good yet. It is very rare to have a few guys on the same team who were basically unrecruited turn into all-SEC guys and almost make the pros. We were so lucky to get Lofton and Smith, but that is what that was, just luck. Those guys wouldn't even have come to UT if it wasn't for the lack of interest from other schools. Better recruits typically become better players, and CBP is getting better recruits. Laziness and not practicing your shot is on our players. In the NCAA, CBP has only so much time for practice, and he needs to spend that on the press and D mostly. Good players work on their game outside of practice even more than at practice. I'd bet that no 2 players we have now spend as much time as Lofton did on their shot outside of practice..
Some guys mature quick and want to win worse than other guys. It's hard to tell who those guys are at 17, and even harder to get the ones with whom it's obvious to come to your school. This whole team is a disappointment, but we have a great class coming in and all it takes is one great class to change the mentality from this lazy, no d, no rebounding garbage back to the scrappy hustle we used to have with CBP. I'm looking forward to Tyler graduating so we can run the O thru somebody who can score.

[shaggymoe]

We don't have anyone on the team that is consistent from three.I have watched many of their games this year , other than the blowout, they weren't very impressive . Hopson doesn't seem to be able to step it up when he needs to. Against USC he had the nerve to yell after the tip dunk . Kinda sad when you are getting beat by twenty.

[m37bruno]

We are not knocking down shots...That is really the main problem right now. This team has not gelled yet and it really is showing. Every game it seems like all the guys are standing around waiting for someone to get hot so they can feed off that....We need more of sense of urgency in our tempo...Instead of opening with 6 3's I would like to see them get the ball down low and try and draw a foul and get to the line and get the other team in early foul trouble down low. We are pretty decent at the dribble drive it just seems like we drive kick it out and shoot the ball and we miss and dont have anyone down low rebounding...
On the Defensive end of the court...Well I just cant help but laugh sometimes at how weak they play...I would never give up an easy basket down low...You would have to earn that from the foul line everytime if I was playing...
I mean we are tall and most of our guys have long arms so we dont need to be playing so tight defense on players...We need to back off a little and just get a hand up when they shoot. When your tall it is easy to get around you to the basket. Then Chism slides over to help and the Guard dishes the ball to Chism's man and nobody rotates over to help him out...If we played a little more off the ball and did not allow the dribble drive as much then I think we could really win some games..I would take my chances with a team shooting 15-18 foot jump shots all day -vs- easy layups in transition because we did not rotate over in help side defense.

[shaggymoe]

When pearl first got here he had SHOOTERS that could hit .We don't have a PURE shooter on this team ,streaky shooters ,maybe. He needs a lofton or a Smith(jujuan ?) . We got exposed by USC . They showed every team how to beat us. Pack it in and make us shoot threes,because everyone on the team is ready to do that even our bigs.Our point guards shoot without any rebounders around the rim ,they play like they're playing street ball.Wait?!!

[volinreallife]

The one thing this team needs is a leader on the floor, that is the one thing they don't have that they really need. This team has tons of talent just no court leader. Another thing I have pick up on is that there does not seemed to be a lot of team chemistry. Has anybody else maybe picked up on this?

[tabrams]

Originally Posted by volinreallife

The one thing this team needs is a leader on the floor, that is the one thing they don't have that they really need. This team has tons of talent just no court leader. Another thing I have pick up on is that there does not seemed to be a lot of team chemistry. Has anybody else maybe picked up on this?

yeah........they're not playing together at all..........just abunch of hogs.......they actually look worse than last year in that regard........;(

[bigorange114]

I am by no means in love with Mcbee's game, but his attitude and the way he plays the game I am. Mcbee may not be the shooter he was built up to be, but he can improve. He is the kind of player Bruce has won with in the past. I'm just not sure if we can win with the players we have now.

[lylsmorr]

Originally Posted by IPorange

Yes, clearly less talented players is the solution.

If it's such a terrible idea to recruit slightly less talented, but hard working, players...how do you explain our records Bruce's first years compared to last year with so many "studs"

[VolFan_N_NC]

Originally Posted by lylsmorr

If it's such a terrible idea to recruit slightly less talented, but hard working, players...how do you explain our records Bruce's first years compared to last year with so many "studs"

4 words... Chris Lofton, Jujuan Smith

[lylsmorr]

Originally Posted by VolFan_N_NC

4 words... Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith

Chris Lofton-3 stars out of high school
Dane Bradshaw-3 stars also.
Couldn't even find JaJuan on any recruiting site out of high school.

Hard work is what separated those players from all the 4 and 5 stars we bring in these days. And I have no idea what to say about Tyler's play lately...I used to think he was a blue collar guy but lately I just don't know.

[VolFan_N_NC]

As we all know, stars don't mean all that much. I think it's the type of players Pearl is recruiting, not the caliber. It seems like every time we have a game all of our players are trying out to be on the next And1 mixed tape.