BTO’s Alabama Postgame Report

[bleedingTNorange]

1. What a showing from Tennessee in this hyped up matchup, on both ends of the court Tennessee was clearly the better team and more ready to play team. The physicality of which Tennessee played with on both ends was clearly something that Alabama simply wasn’t ready for/able to handle, it’s an aspect of this team with so much experience and returning veterans that probably gets overlooked. Also many associate physical with defense and while that is also true there’s a level of it offensively that we played with that also showed up.

2. Jonas Aidoo continues to improve as this season grows on, he still has his faults and holes in his games but each time out it feels he improves in those areas. He has played against arguably 4-5 of the best big men/true post types in college basketball this season, he took some tough lessons from those games but to his credit has used those lessons to improve and it’s really showing. It now feels like on most nights we have the better post player than most teams, and given our guard/wing talent that’s a huge advantage. It remains to be seen how he will hold up against the elite big men still, but luckily there’s not a ton of those and hopefully his confidence from this stretch will serve him well for the next matchup.

3. Was so great to see Jordan Gainey come to life, just as many we calling for his move to the end of the bench he showed why the coaches have continued to put him out there time and time again against the fans wishes. That’s what they see in practice and he’s a guy that gets in tons of gym time outside of practice, they felt he’d snap out…it remains to be seen if he’ll now continue that play or not but you can see the flash. If he can be that guys for us, much like Aidoo in the paint, it’s a huge bonus…offensive spark plug off the bench who’s got confidence and teams have to find, a 15-20mpg guy off the bench that will quickly put up 6-7 shots in a game if he’s feeling it. Again it’s ugly/looks bad when he’s cold and everyone is yelling to stop shooting, but when he’s on it takes this team to another level.

4. As a team we were great defensively, but specifically what Mashack and Zeigler did to their guards borderline was unfair. Those dudes had an absolutely miserable first 25-30 minutes specifically and were not ready in the least bit for what those guys had for them. Mashack’s versatility is huge for this team as he can really play a bunch of positions, and more importantly guard every position, he’s become such a weapon. His offensive continues to grow and before it’s all said and done he could mess around and find himself as a NBA guy a year from now if he continues to grow that offensive game, especially from the 3pt line.

5. What’s pretty wild is we scored 91 and didn’t by any means shoot the lights out as you’d expect to see us hang 90+ on a projected Top 4 SEC team…36% from 3 and 68% from FT line leaves something to be desired, the 57% from 2 also isn’t elite by any means. Turning it over 7 times to their 22 was the huge difference as it allowed us 10 more shots than them overall, the offense was good don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy to think about if this team has one of those nights they hit 50% or whatever from 3. I hope to not regret saying this, but it just feels like the floor for this offense in many ways is much higher than in recent years, through 5 SEC games we are averaging 86ppg, that’s pretty unbelievable. This is further evidenced on KenPom…with the win Tennessee is up to a season high #4 overall on KP, and #19 ranked offensive team…the defense still at #2 means Tennessee is now in that “top end” group so often referred to as those who are Top 20 in both offense and defense.

6. Big picture that’s a big win for the Vols on a few fronts…holding serve at home is going to be huge for both the SEC race but also NCAAT seeding long term. Also getting that early leg up on Bama who we could very well end up competing with in the league race H2H is a nice feather in the cap as well. When league play started I said 7-2 would be a great start through the first 9, we sit at 4-1 with 4 to go. We have 3 games we likely will be double digit favorites and a road game against Kentucky that will be big time hyped. I have no expectations to win that one and feels like a bonus game to be honest, but win those other 3 and it’s exactly that, you’ve met that 7-2 mark and things are looking great as you head to the back half of SEC play. As a result of the Bama game projections have shifted upwards slightly to predict 24-7(14-4) for the Vols, moving up from the 23-8(13-5)…obviously a lot of time left and no way to be absolute, but I had said 23-8(13-5) was the goal and likely has you a 2 seed with outside shot of a 1 or 3 seed, well 24-7 (14-4) definitely moves that a bit towards very well filling in as that last #1 seed potentially, so something to monitor there as well. Again don’t want to get ahead of our skis too much but something fun to keep track of as other teams have games this week while we’ve got a week to wait.



GBO!!!

 

[GoVols9800]

1. What a showing from Tennessee in this hyped up matchup, on both ends of the court Tennessee was clearly the better team and more ready to play team. The physicality of which Tennessee played with on both ends was clearly something that Alabama simply wasn’t ready for/able to handle, it’s an aspect of this team with so much experience and returning veterans that probably gets overlooked. Also many associate physical with defense and while that is also true there’s a level of it offensively that we played with that also showed up.

2. Jonas Aidoo continues to improve as this season grows on, he still has his faults and holes in his games but each time out it feels he improves in those areas. He has played against arguably 4-5 of the best big men/true post types in college basketball this season, he took some tough lessons from those games but to his credit has used those lessons to improve and it’s really showing. It now feels like on most nights we have the better post player than most teams, and given our guard/wing talent that’s a huge advantage. It remains to be seen how he will hold up against the elite big men still, but luckily there’s not a ton of those and hopefully his confidence from this stretch will serve him well for the next matchup.

3. Was so great to see Jordan Gainey come to life, just as many we calling for his move to the end of the bench he showed why the coaches have continued to put him out there time and time again against the fans wishes. That’s what they see in practice and he’s a guy that gets in tons of gym time outside of practice, they felt he’d snap out…it remains to be seen if he’ll now continue that play or not but you can see the flash. If he can be that guys for us, much like Aidoo in the paint, it’s a huge bonus…offensive spark plug off the bench who’s got confidence and teams have to find, a 15-20mpg guy off the bench that will quickly put up 6-7 shots in a game if he’s feeling it. Again it’s ugly/looks bad when he’s cold and everyone is yelling to stop shooting, but when he’s on it takes this team to another level.

4. As a team we were great defensively, but specifically what Mashack and Zeigler did to their guards borderline was unfair. Those dudes had an absolutely miserable first 25-30 minutes specifically and were not ready in the least bit for what those guys had for them. Mashack’s versatility is huge for this team as he can really play a bunch of positions, and more importantly guard every position, he’s become such a weapon. His offensive continues to grow and before it’s all said and done he could mess around and find himself as a NBA guy a year from now if he continues to grow that offensive game, especially from the 3pt line.

5. What’s pretty wild is we scored 91 and didn’t by any means shoot the lights out as you’d expect to see us hang 90+ on a projected Top 4 SEC team…36% from 3 and 68% from FT line leaves something to be desired, the 57% from 2 also isn’t elite by any means. Turning it over 7 times to their 22 was the huge difference as it allowed us 10 more shots than them overall, the offense was good don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy to think about if this team has one of those nights they hit 50% or whatever from 3. I hope to not regret saying this, but it just feels like the floor for this offense in many ways is much higher than in recent years, through 5 SEC games we are averaging 86ppg, that’s pretty unbelievable. This is further evidenced on KenPom…with the win Tennessee is up to a season high #4 overall on KP, and #19 ranked offensive team…the defense still at #2 means Tennessee is now in that “top end” group so often referred to as those who are Top 20 in both offense and defense.

6. Big picture that’s a big win for the Vols on a few fronts…holding serve at home is going to be huge for both the SEC race but also NCAAT seeding long term. Also getting that early leg up on Bama who we could very well end up competing with in the league race H2H is a nice feather in the cap as well. When league play started I said 7-2 would be a great start through the first 9, we sit at 4-1 with 4 to go. We have 3 games we likely will be double digit favorites and a road game against Kentucky that will be big time hyped. I have no expectations to win that one and feels like a bonus game to be honest, but win those other 3 and it’s exactly that, you’ve met that 7-2 mark and things are looking great as you head to the back half of SEC play. As a result of the Bama game projections have shifted upwards slightly to predict 24-7(14-4) for the Vols, moving up from the 23-8(13-5)…obviously a lot of time left and no way to be absolute, but I had said 23-8(13-5) was the goal and likely has you a 2 seed with outside shot of a 1 or 3 seed, well 24-7 (14-4) definitely moves that a bit towards very well filling in as that last #1 seed potentially, so something to monitor there as well. Again don’t want to get ahead of our skis too much but something fun to keep track of as other teams have games this week while we’ve got a week to wait.



GBO!!!

Great observations as usual. Thanks bTo!

 

[orbs son]

What’s crazy to me is that DK’s name wasn’t mentioned one time in this. Just shows how deep we can be at times.

 

[walkenvol]

Just kidding. Solid observations and especially on Gainey. His and Vescovi’s shooting are starting to appear to be the X factors for this team’s success. Those 2 have been inconsistent, but when they are on we’re as good as any team in the country. IMO

 

[HighWaterVol]

Thanks BTO and GO VOLS!

 

[TNBV]

Great observations as usual. I went to the game with my son and I told him I really hoped that Vescovi would ball out. What I witnessed was Vescovi absolutely working as hard on offensive cuts as Mashack does on D. 4 times Vescovi made a back cut through a screen set by Aidoo, curling around Aidoo to receive the ball just inside the free throw line, with Aidoo using the same screen to establish post position, Vescovi then immediately feeding Aidoo the ball for an easy 2 pointer (actually once was to Awaka and Awaka was fouled on the incoming pass from Vescovi). To make this happen, Vescovi made that same back cut maybe dozens of times, dragging his man across multiple screens, sometimes just to get open for just a simple reset pass, wash and repeat. If anyone in the SEC really gets on the wrong side of their coach their punishment might be "Hey, I want you to guard Santiago on D and then switch to have Mashack guard you when we are on O". While I would love to see him hitting more shots, like we have grown accustomed to over the last few years, the work he is doing is crucial to our offensive success in my opinion.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

1. What a showing from Tennessee in this hyped up matchup, on both ends of the court Tennessee was clearly the better team and more ready to play team. The physicality of which Tennessee played with on both ends was clearly something that Alabama simply wasn’t ready for/able to handle, it’s an aspect of this team with so much experience and returning veterans that probably gets overlooked. Also many associate physical with defense and while that is also true there’s a level of it offensively that we played with that also showed up.

2. Jonas Aidoo continues to improve as this season grows on, he still has his faults and holes in his games but each time out it feels he improves in those areas. He has played against arguably 4-5 of the best big men/true post types in college basketball this season, he took some tough lessons from those games but to his credit has used those lessons to improve and it’s really showing. It now feels like on most nights we have the better post player than most teams, and given our guard/wing talent that’s a huge advantage. It remains to be seen how he will hold up against the elite big men still, but luckily there’s not a ton of those and hopefully his confidence from this stretch will serve him well for the next matchup.

3. Was so great to see Jordan Gainey come to life, just as many we calling for his move to the end of the bench he showed why the coaches have continued to put him out there time and time again against the fans wishes. That’s what they see in practice and he’s a guy that gets in tons of gym time outside of practice, they felt he’d snap out…it remains to be seen if he’ll now continue that play or not but you can see the flash. If he can be that guys for us, much like Aidoo in the paint, it’s a huge bonus…offensive spark plug off the bench who’s got confidence and teams have to find, a 15-20mpg guy off the bench that will quickly put up 6-7 shots in a game if he’s feeling it. Again it’s ugly/looks bad when he’s cold and everyone is yelling to stop shooting, but when he’s on it takes this team to another level.

4. As a team we were great defensively, but specifically what Mashack and Zeigler did to their guards borderline was unfair. Those dudes had an absolutely miserable first 25-30 minutes specifically and were not ready in the least bit for what those guys had for them. Mashack’s versatility is huge for this team as he can really play a bunch of positions, and more importantly guard every position, he’s become such a weapon. His offensive continues to grow and before it’s all said and done he could mess around and find himself as a NBA guy a year from now if he continues to grow that offensive game, especially from the 3pt line.

5. What’s pretty wild is we scored 91 and didn’t by any means shoot the lights out as you’d expect to see us hang 90+ on a projected Top 4 SEC team…36% from 3 and 68% from FT line leaves something to be desired, the 57% from 2 also isn’t elite by any means. Turning it over 7 times to their 22 was the huge difference as it allowed us 10 more shots than them overall, the offense was good don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy to think about if this team has one of those nights they hit 50% or whatever from 3. I hope to not regret saying this, but it just feels like the floor for this offense in many ways is much higher than in recent years, through 5 SEC games we are averaging 86ppg, that’s pretty unbelievable. This is further evidenced on KenPom…with the win Tennessee is up to a season high #4 overall on KP, and #19 ranked offensive team…the defense still at #2 means Tennessee is now in that “top end” group so often referred to as those who are Top 20 in both offense and defense.

6. Big picture that’s a big win for the Vols on a few fronts…holding serve at home is going to be huge for both the SEC race but also NCAAT seeding long term. Also getting that early leg up on Bama who we could very well end up competing with in the league race H2H is a nice feather in the cap as well. When league play started I said 7-2 would be a great start through the first 9, we sit at 4-1 with 4 to go. We have 3 games we likely will be double digit favorites and a road game against Kentucky that will be big time hyped. I have no expectations to win that one and feels like a bonus game to be honest, but win those other 3 and it’s exactly that, you’ve met that 7-2 mark and things are looking great as you head to the back half of SEC play. As a result of the Bama game projections have shifted upwards slightly to predict 24-7(14-4) for the Vols, moving up from the 23-8(13-5)…obviously a lot of time left and no way to be absolute, but I had said 23-8(13-5) was the goal and likely has you a 2 seed with outside shot of a 1 or 3 seed, well 24-7 (14-4) definitely moves that a bit towards very well filling in as that last #1 seed potentially, so something to monitor there as well. Again don’t want to get ahead of our skis too much but something fun to keep track of as other teams have games this week while we’ve got a week to wait.



GBO!!!

Finally. @BTO ... excellent as always!

Whoa ... you were right yet again. Gainey > Estrella.
We played 10, but only 7 had double digit minutes. I hope that is a continuing trend (playing 10). Developing depth and developing skills and talent for next year as well.
Alabama went deeper into their bench attempting to exhaust us with their offensive tempo. But at this point in the season we looked to be the better conditioned and smoother team on both ends of the floor.

2. We are definitely making an effort to get the ball inside to JA (+13) and allowing/getting him to be an offensive threat. The point is, we were FORCING it inside by design and we were not turning it over in the process. ZZ and SV combined for 11 AS, 0 TO. We had 38 paint points - Alabama had 42. Look for us to continue to go inside and make this a more balanced part of our offense going forward.
As Nate Oats said, " ... (Jonas) he was killing us" - that is aptly spoken.

3 Gainey (+12) is a little bit like Jekyll and Hyde. You do not know which one is going to show up. But he has earned his minutes in practice!!!
5. Some players lost focus or were flat out tired at the FT line. Something to watch going forward.

6. I was actually hoping we would go 8-1 for the first half. Yet again your thoughts > my thoughts. Winning in Rupp would be sweet. But I have to admit that Kentucky also has a top 10 team. So, winning on the road at Kentucky is going to be the stuff of fairy tales. But since I have a Disney daughter. I am going to hope that the slipper fits this year.

7. Between DK (+19) and SV, they drew 10 fouls ... that is not something that will get much attention, but when you end up on the free throw line early - that is a big deal!

8. DK had 25 ... on a so-so night. Everybody else chipped in ... since he was not hotter than a fire cracker.
The team balanced scoring was a thing of beauty. And yet, while JJ (+20) only scored 1 measly point, the offense and defense was the most productive when he was on the floor. Who would have thought it???
We beat Alabama by 20 and they are a top 15 team!!! (My opinion, of course. But, since kenpom (showing Alabama #8) agrees with me, I feel vindicated.)
Personally, I am expecting Alabama to bounce back and beat Auburn on Wednesday.

9. Top offenses according to kenpom:

Tennessee offense should continue to inch up ... I think we could end up around 10th, if we keep up our current progression.

Tennessee is coming to a gym near you! GBO

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I think it’s a great sign for this team that Dalton Knecht can be as inefficient as he was in that game shooting the ball and STILL find a way to get 25 points.

He was also 17-17 from the free throw line this week just days after a recent scouting report said he needs to be better from the charity stripe to increase his draft stock. The point there being that this guy continues to just improve week to week and has become such a huge weapon for this team.

It was also nice seeing Santi reached double digits and find his strike a bit, but 2 missed free throws from him just shows that there certainly remains something off with his shot as free throw misses have become a lot more common for him this season it feels like. He used to be automatic.

When it comes to your final point on seeding, I’ve always wanted to see TN finally grab that first ever 1-seed. But, we’re going to need some help in the SEC to get that. It’s weird to think but we could potentially finish 14-4 in this league, finish in 2nd place, and have a better overall resume than Auburn but not get the 1-seed because they won the league.

 

[maxorange]

Finally. @BTO ... excellent as always!

Whoa ... you were right yet again. Gainey > Estrella.
We played 10, but only 7 had double digit minutes. I hope that is a continuing trend (playing 10). Developing depth and developing skills and talent for next year as well.
Alabama went deeper into their bench attempting to exhaust us with their offensive tempo. But at this point in the season we looked to be the better conditioned and smoother team on both ends of the floor.

2. We are definitely making an effort to get the ball inside to JA (+13) and allowing/getting him to be an offensive threat. The point is, we were FORCING it inside by design and we were not turning it over in the process. ZZ and SV combined for 11 AS, 0 TO. We had 38 paint points - Alabama had 42. Look for us to continue to go inside and make this a more balanced part of our offense going forward.
As Nate Oats said, " ... (Jonas) he was killing us" - that is aptly spoken.

3 Gainey (+12) is a little bit like Jekyll and Hyde. You do not know which one is going to show up. But he has earned his minutes in practice!!!
5. Some players lost focus or were flat out tired at the FT line. Something to watch going forward.

6. I was actually hoping we would go 8-1 for the first half. Yet again your thoughts > my thoughts. Winning in Rupp would be sweet. But I have to admit that Kentucky also has a top 10 team. So, winning on the road at Kentucky is going to be the stuff of fairy tales. But since I have a Disney daughter. I am going to hope that the slipper fits this year.

7. Between DK (+19) and SV, they drew 10 fouls ... that is not something that will get much attention, but when you end up on the free throw line early - that is a big deal!

8. DK had 25 ... on a so-so night. Everybody else chipped in ... since he was not hotter than a fire cracker.
The team balanced scoring was a thing of beauty. And yet, while JJ (+20) only scored 1 measly point, the offense and defense was the most productive when he was on the floor. Who would have thought it???
We beat Alabama by 20 and they are a top 15 team!!! (My opinion, of course. But, since kenpom (showing Alabama #8) agrees with me, I feel vindicated.)
Personally, I am expecting Alabama to bounce back and beat Auburn on Wednesday.

9. Top offenses according to kenpom:
View attachment 613209
Tennessee offense should continue to inch up ... I think we could end up around 10th, if we keep up our current progression.

Tennessee is coming to a gym near you! GBO

Will Warren stated that 9 of the last 21 champions were Top 15 KenPom Off & Def teams. We're inching pretty close to that territory.

 

[cardvolfan]

A win over Nate Oats is a win for all that’s good in college basketball. Several incidents bothered me in/before this game to tell me that Oats is unwilling to be a good citizen in college basketball: (1) That little pre-game huddle they had on our end as the national anthem was about to be played and (2) the “one fly we all fly” demo they did before the game.

An opponent doing the OFWAF routine every game they play is flattery. Doing that one game is a mockery towards Tennessee. I’m glad we kicked their collective butts.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

When it comes to your final point on seeding, I’ve always wanted to see TN finally grab that first ever 1-seed. But, we’re going to need some help in the SEC to get that. It’s weird to think but we could potentially finish 14-4 in this league, finish in 2nd place, and have a better overall resume than Auburn but not get the 1-seed because they won the league.

So in your opinion 26-5(15-3) Auburn is seeded higher than 24-7(14-4) Tennessee?

 

[orbs son]

I didn’t get to see every possession, but what’s going on with TA, besides his silly fouls?

 

[cncchris33]

I didn’t get to see every possession, but what’s going on with TA, besides his silly fouls?

That's about it. 3 fouls in 5 minutes won't cut it. He's been a little disappointing this year, to be honest. Hasn't really followed thru on the promise he showed on Team USA last summer.

He's combined for 17 fouls in 60 minutes in the five SEC games. 21 points, 19 rebounds, 3 blks, 7 TOs. That isn't real efficient and it's a good thing Aidoo has been as good as he's been. I thought Awaka would have taken a bigger step forward with Plavsic and Nkamhoua leaving and opening so many minutes. Tobe plays hard but is still undisciplined.

 

[Frozevol]

Just kidding. Solid observations and especially on Gainey. His and Vescovi’s shooting are starting to appear to be the X factors for this team’s success. Those 2 have been inconsistent, but when they are on we’re as good as any team in the country. IMO

One of these days - and I hope it is deep in the tourney- Gaines and Vescovi and JJJ will all get in synch at the same time and … fill in the blank!

 

[TheMookieMonster]

So in your opinion 26-5(15-3) Auburn is seeded higher than 24-4(14-4) Tennessee?

I think you mean 24-7, but yeah. I would have to go back and do some research after work, but how often is the regular season conference champ seeded below the 2nd place team? Especially one with 2 more losses even if our strength of schedule would be a lot higher.

 

[Plateauvol]

1. What a showing from Tennessee in this hyped up matchup, on both ends of the court Tennessee was clearly the better team and more ready to play team. The physicality of which Tennessee played with on both ends was clearly something that Alabama simply wasn’t ready for/able to handle, it’s an aspect of this team with so much experience and returning veterans that probably gets overlooked. Also many associate physical with defense and while that is also true there’s a level of it offensively that we played with that also showed up.

2. Jonas Aidoo continues to improve as this season grows on, he still has his faults and holes in his games but each time out it feels he improves in those areas. He has played against arguably 4-5 of the best big men/true post types in college basketball this season, he took some tough lessons from those games but to his credit has used those lessons to improve and it’s really showing. It now feels like on most nights we have the better post player than most teams, and given our guard/wing talent that’s a huge advantage. It remains to be seen how he will hold up against the elite big men still, but luckily there’s not a ton of those and hopefully his confidence from this stretch will serve him well for the next matchup.

3. Was so great to see Jordan Gainey come to life, just as many we calling for his move to the end of the bench he showed why the coaches have continued to put him out there time and time again against the fans wishes. That’s what they see in practice and he’s a guy that gets in tons of gym time outside of practice, they felt he’d snap out…it remains to be seen if he’ll now continue that play or not but you can see the flash. If he can be that guys for us, much like Aidoo in the paint, it’s a huge bonus…offensive spark plug off the bench who’s got confidence and teams have to find, a 15-20mpg guy off the bench that will quickly put up 6-7 shots in a game if he’s feeling it. Again it’s ugly/looks bad when he’s cold and everyone is yelling to stop shooting, but when he’s on it takes this team to another level.

4. As a team we were great defensively, but specifically what Mashack and Zeigler did to their guards borderline was unfair. Those dudes had an absolutely miserable first 25-30 minutes specifically and were not ready in the least bit for what those guys had for them. Mashack’s versatility is huge for this team as he can really play a bunch of positions, and more importantly guard every position, he’s become such a weapon. His offensive continues to grow and before it’s all said and done he could mess around and find himself as a NBA guy a year from now if he continues to grow that offensive game, especially from the 3pt line.

5. What’s pretty wild is we scored 91 and didn’t by any means shoot the lights out as you’d expect to see us hang 90+ on a projected Top 4 SEC team…36% from 3 and 68% from FT line leaves something to be desired, the 57% from 2 also isn’t elite by any means. Turning it over 7 times to their 22 was the huge difference as it allowed us 10 more shots than them overall, the offense was good don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy to think about if this team has one of those nights they hit 50% or whatever from 3. I hope to not regret saying this, but it just feels like the floor for this offense in many ways is much higher than in recent years, through 5 SEC games we are averaging 86ppg, that’s pretty unbelievable. This is further evidenced on KenPom…with the win Tennessee is up to a season high #4 overall on KP, and #19 ranked offensive team…the defense still at #2 means Tennessee is now in that “top end” group so often referred to as those who are Top 20 in both offense and defense.

6. Big picture that’s a big win for the Vols on a few fronts…holding serve at home is going to be huge for both the SEC race but also NCAAT seeding long term. Also getting that early leg up on Bama who we could very well end up competing with in the league race H2H is a nice feather in the cap as well. When league play started I said 7-2 would be a great start through the first 9, we sit at 4-1 with 4 to go. We have 3 games we likely will be double digit favorites and a road game against Kentucky that will be big time hyped. I have no expectations to win that one and feels like a bonus game to be honest, but win those other 3 and it’s exactly that, you’ve met that 7-2 mark and things are looking great as you head to the back half of SEC play. As a result of the Bama game projections have shifted upwards slightly to predict 24-7(14-4) for the Vols, moving up from the 23-8(13-5)…obviously a lot of time left and no way to be absolute, but I had said 23-8(13-5) was the goal and likely has you a 2 seed with outside shot of a 1 or 3 seed, well 24-7 (14-4) definitely moves that a bit towards very well filling in as that last #1 seed potentially, so something to monitor there as well. Again don’t want to get ahead of our skis too much but something fun to keep track of as other teams have games this week while we’ve got a week to wait.



GBO!!!

Great write up BTO. It was worth the wait. Really appreciate your well thought out comments.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

That's about it. 3 fouls in 5 minutes won't cut it. He's been a little disappointing this year, to be honest. Hasn't really followed thru on the promise he showed on Team USA last summer.

He's combined for 17 fouls in 60 minutes in the five SEC games. 21 points, 19 rebounds, 3 blks, 7 TOs. That isn't real efficient and it's a good thing Aidoo has been as good as he's been. I thought Awaka would have taken a bigger step forward with Plavsic and Nkamhoua leaving and opening so many minutes. Tobe plays hard but is still undisciplined.

Yeah, the dumb fouls are killing him. When he refrains from the silliness, he adds value. He can score on the block. He can be a commanding rebounder. Still time for him to put it together. Luckily we haven't needed him to this point. Plus, it has given Estrella quality minutes. If Awaka can eliminate his mistakes, it will be gravy for Barnes

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Take a little time to watch Santi without the ball on offense. That guy is running all over the floor setting screens, being a decoy, getting open and more often than he shoots he gets an assist. That guy must run 20 miles in a game. Agree his scoring has been down but he don't have to this season but doesn't mean he ain't working hard.

 

[Plateauvol]

A win over Nate Oats is a win for all that’s good in college basketball. Several incidents bothered me in/before this game to tell me that Oats is unwilling to be a good citizen in college basketball: (1) That little pre-game huddle they had on our end as the national anthem was about to be played and (2) the “one fly we all fly” demo they did before the game.

An opponent doing the OFWAF routine every game they play is flattery. Doing that one game is a mockery towards Tennessee. I’m glad we kicked their collective butts.

I would like to give you multiple likes for your post. Excellent.

 

[cardvolfan]

I would like to give you multiple likes for your post. Excellent.

Many thanks, friend.

 

[volchile]

Would just like to say to you BTO, THANKS! ... I appreciate these recaps after each game. Well done, keep up the great work!

 

[cardvolfan]

That's about it. 3 fouls in 5 minutes won't cut it. He's been a little disappointing this year, to be honest. Hasn't really followed thru on the promise he showed on Team USA last summer.

He's combined for 17 fouls in 60 minutes in the five SEC games. 21 points, 19 rebounds, 3 blks, 7 TOs. That isn't real efficient and it's a good thing Aidoo has been as good as he's been. I thought Awaka would have taken a bigger step forward with Plavsic and Nkamhoua leaving and opening so many minutes. Tobe plays hard but is still undisciplined.

Awaka is, by all accounts, an incredibly gifted intellectual. I think he will turn this around.

 

[walkenvol]

Take a little time to watch Santi without the ball on offense. That guy is running all over the floor setting screens, being a decoy, getting open and more often than he shoots he gets an assist. That guy must run 20 miles in a game. Agree his scoring has been down but he don't have to this season but doesn't mean he ain't working hard.

I don’t care that his scoring average is down…I do care that his shooting percentage is down, especially since he’s not having to be the prime scoring option which required him taking some tougher shots last year compared to this year. Just hit those wide open 3’s at a >40% Clip and we’re golden. It will command the defense expand to guard him at 22’-25’ which spreads the defense and allows Knecht more room to work his magic driving the lane. Same for Gainey and both Gainey and Vescovi have shot 3’s at >40% in the past.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

I don’t care that his scoring average is down…I do care that his shooting percentage is down, especially since he’s not having to be the prime scoring option which required him taking some tougher shots last year compared to this year. Just hit those wide open 3’s at a >40% Clip and we’re golden. It will command the defense expand to guard him at 22’-25’ which spreads the defense and allows Knecht more room to work his magic driving the lane. Same for Gainey and both Gainey and Vescovi have shot 3’s at >40% in the past.

Hot streaks are a key. Glad Gainey got out of his shooting funk last game. If he does that every 3 games it's value added. Not worried about Vescovi

 

[Volfan1000]

1. What a showing from Tennessee in this hyped up matchup, on both ends of the court Tennessee was clearly the better team and more ready to play team. The physicality of which Tennessee played with on both ends was clearly something that Alabama simply wasn’t ready for/able to handle, it’s an aspect of this team with so much experience and returning veterans that probably gets overlooked. Also many associate physical with defense and while that is also true there’s a level of it offensively that we played with that also showed up.

2. Jonas Aidoo continues to improve as this season grows on, he still has his faults and holes in his games but each time out it feels he improves in those areas. He has played against arguably 4-5 of the best big men/true post types in college basketball this season, he took some tough lessons from those games but to his credit has used those lessons to improve and it’s really showing. It now feels like on most nights we have the better post player than most teams, and given our guard/wing talent that’s a huge advantage. It remains to be seen how he will hold up against the elite big men still, but luckily there’s not a ton of those and hopefully his confidence from this stretch will serve him well for the next matchup.

3. Was so great to see Jordan Gainey come to life, just as many we calling for his move to the end of the bench he showed why the coaches have continued to put him out there time and time again against the fans wishes. That’s what they see in practice and he’s a guy that gets in tons of gym time outside of practice, they felt he’d snap out…it remains to be seen if he’ll now continue that play or not but you can see the flash. If he can be that guys for us, much like Aidoo in the paint, it’s a huge bonus…offensive spark plug off the bench who’s got confidence and teams have to find, a 15-20mpg guy off the bench that will quickly put up 6-7 shots in a game if he’s feeling it. Again it’s ugly/looks bad when he’s cold and everyone is yelling to stop shooting, but when he’s on it takes this team to another level.

4. As a team we were great defensively, but specifically what Mashack and Zeigler did to their guards borderline was unfair. Those dudes had an absolutely miserable first 25-30 minutes specifically and were not ready in the least bit for what those guys had for them. Mashack’s versatility is huge for this team as he can really play a bunch of positions, and more importantly guard every position, he’s become such a weapon. His offensive continues to grow and before it’s all said and done he could mess around and find himself as a NBA guy a year from now if he continues to grow that offensive game, especially from the 3pt line.

5. What’s pretty wild is we scored 91 and didn’t by any means shoot the lights out as you’d expect to see us hang 90+ on a projected Top 4 SEC team…36% from 3 and 68% from FT line leaves something to be desired, the 57% from 2 also isn’t elite by any means. Turning it over 7 times to their 22 was the huge difference as it allowed us 10 more shots than them overall, the offense was good don’t get me wrong, but it’s just crazy to think about if this team has one of those nights they hit 50% or whatever from 3. I hope to not regret saying this, but it just feels like the floor for this offense in many ways is much higher than in recent years, through 5 SEC games we are averaging 86ppg, that’s pretty unbelievable. This is further evidenced on KenPom…with the win Tennessee is up to a season high #4 overall on KP, and #19 ranked offensive team…the defense still at #2 means Tennessee is now in that “top end” group so often referred to as those who are Top 20 in both offense and defense.

6. Big picture that’s a big win for the Vols on a few fronts…holding serve at home is going to be huge for both the SEC race but also NCAAT seeding long term. Also getting that early leg up on Bama who we could very well end up competing with in the league race H2H is a nice feather in the cap as well. When league play started I said 7-2 would be a great start through the first 9, we sit at 4-1 with 4 to go. We have 3 games we likely will be double digit favorites and a road game against Kentucky that will be big time hyped. I have no expectations to win that one and feels like a bonus game to be honest, but win those other 3 and it’s exactly that, you’ve met that 7-2 mark and things are looking great as you head to the back half of SEC play. As a result of the Bama game projections have shifted upwards slightly to predict 24-7(14-4) for the Vols, moving up from the 23-8(13-5)…obviously a lot of time left and no way to be absolute, but I had said 23-8(13-5) was the goal and likely has you a 2 seed with outside shot of a 1 or 3 seed, well 24-7 (14-4) definitely moves that a bit towards very well filling in as that last #1 seed potentially, so something to monitor there as well. Again don’t want to get ahead of our skis too much but something fun to keep track of as other teams have games this week while we’ve got a week to wait.



GBO!!!

We were more physical than Alabama on both ends of the court which has not happened very often in the history of this series and we can take this approach into Rupp Arena and steal a win there.