Tennessee Volunteers European Trip

[VOLinPD]

Walker might give us a little more than I previously thought, makes the possibility of Kent red shirting that much more likely.

Also that's 2 games which Turner has been a serious threat from 3, if he's developed a consistent perimeter shot he also will play more than I was thinking.

Agreed. He was definitely streaky last season.

 

[Lefteye]

Walker will block a lot of shots. He is explosive and has very good size.

Admiral is no doubt a threat on the perimeter. I used to think that he was more of a wanna be guy on the outside that needed to be on the inside to add value. He is actually a legit borderline all-SEC player at the 3. Fortunately or unfortunately, TN is now kind of crowded at the 3 with Johnson, Bowden, and Pons. Maybe Bowden plays a lot at the 2, but that's also a crowded spot with Daniel, Turner, and possibly Bone and Johnson. You almost have to put Schofield at the 4 some to spread around some minutes to those guys I've mentioned.

Don't mind Admiral at the 4 on offense. Just think he struggles a little guarding actual 4s.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Don't mind Admiral at the 4 on offense. Just think he struggles a little guarding actual 4s.

I think that ideally Schofield gets 25+ minutes/game at the 3. BUT... Johnson needs minutes too and I don't think that his 3-pointer has developed enough to get more than a few minutes at the 2. If Schofield goes 20-25 minutes at the 3 and Johnson spells him for 10-15 minutes, where does Pons get minutes? The rotations are going to be very interesting this year.

 

[Orange&White]

How good is the competition we are playing over there?

It worries me to see us so streaky, losing big leads and falling behind. I felt like that was an issue last season that needed to be fixed. We need better consistency, but I know it's early on.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

How good is the competition we are playing over there?

It worries me to see us so streaky, losing big leads and falling behind. I felt like that was an issue last season that needed to be fixed. We need better consistency, but I know it's early on.

I'm not worried at all. The games mean nothing and it's a great opportunity to experiment with various lineup combinations.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

How good is the competition we are playing over there?

It worries me to see us so streaky, losing big leads and falling behind. I felt like that was an issue last season that needed to be fixed. We need better consistency, but I know it's early on.

They're missing 2 likely starters and 2 likely role players...I wouldn't put much into these games.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Basilio was criticizing Barnes today saying that he's on vacation instead of coaching. Ridiculed him for only playing 3 games over 11 days. I was a math major and if I learned it correctly, games on August 4th, 7th, and 10th equals 3 games in 7 days. Of course Basilio constantly rips the Haslams too... but he NEVER did that when they were buying a remote from him every week.

He also calls Daniel "Daniels" and is clueless about which players are injured. But he's some kind of expert.

 

[cncchris33]

Basilio was criticizing Barnes today saying that he's on vacation instead of coaching. Ridiculed him for only playing 3 games over 11 days. I was a math major and if I learned it correctly, games on August 4th, 7th, and 10th equals 3 games in 7 days. Of course Basilio constantly rips the Haslams too... but he NEVER did that when they were buying a remote from him every week.

He also calls Daniel "Daniels" and is clueless about which players are injured. But he's some kind of expert.

Stopped reading at "Basilio was criticizing Barnes" and to be fair, I probably should've just stopped at "Basilio".

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I'm kind of surprised that Darrington didn't get the start. Maybe CRB wants to keep Turner and Bone engaged and motivated.

"Alexander, Lamonte Turner, Grant Williams, Jordan Bone and Admiral Schofield started for the Vols and 11 players played in the exhibition win. The Vols play the Valencia All-Stars on Monday in Godella, Spain."

Walker and Darrington also played. I wonder who the other 4 were?

Injured:
Daniel
Johnson
Bowden
Fulkerson

Played:
Alexander
Schofield
Bone
Turner
Williams
Walker
Darrington

Also on scholarship:
Pons
Kent

There are 3 walk-ons. Fleschman, Woodson, and Campbell. Maybe Pons didn't play since he's had so little time to work with the others.

I heard and/or read that Pons had his debut today. That means that all 3 walk-ons played in the Friday game and Pons sat out of that one. 11 played Friday, everybody except Pons, Daniel, Fulkerson, Bowden, and Johnson... the other 8 on scholarship plus the 3 walk-ons.

 

[Lefteye]

I think that ideally Schofield gets 25+ minutes/game at the 3. BUT... Johnson needs minutes too and I don't think that his 3-pointer has developed enough to get more than a few minutes at the 2. If Schofield goes 20-25 minutes at the 3 and Johnson spells him for 10-15 minutes, where does Pons get minutes? The rotations are going to be very interesting this year.

Agree, can't picture the minutes distribution at the 2 or the 3. I really like Admiral, but I'd love for Johnson to be a freak nobody was expecting. Him and Pons have the best basketball frame of anybody on the roster. Hoping they both have a good first step and can keep defenders honest outside. Cause other 2s and 3s won't want to drive against him.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Agree, can't picture the minutes distribution at the 2 or the 3. I really like Admiral, but I'd love for Johnson to be a freak nobody was expecting. Him and Pons have the best basketball frame of anybody on the roster. Hoping they both have a good first step and can keep defenders honest outside. Cause other 2s and 3s won't want to drive against him.

Johnson most definitely has a first step. He's looks like an upgrade over Mostella at attacking the rim and is several inches taller. He has a nice pull up jumper in the 12'-18' range. But his 3-pointer isn't as good as Mostella's. More like Kwe Parker's, Bone's, and Turner's.

I can't wait to see what Pons can do. He's probably not a shooter right now but he could earn playing time with his athleticism. If he fits the mold of the guys that Barnes has been signing, he's a high IQ player that will only get better and better over his career.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Agree, can't picture the minutes distribution at the 2 or the 3. I really like Admiral, but I'd love for Johnson to be a freak nobody was expecting. Him and Pons have the best basketball frame of anybody on the roster. Hoping they both have a good first step and can keep defenders honest outside. Cause other 2s and 3s won't want to drive against him.

I tend to think we aren't going to get much from Pons this season, he's not even practiced with the team yet so combine that with him being raw and I just am hesitant to think he contributes much his first season.

Bone 20/Darrington 20
Daniel 20/Turner 15/Bowden 5
Schofield 20/ Bowden 10/ Johnson 8/ Pons 2
Williams 25/Schofield 5/Pons 5/Fulkerson 5
Alexander 15/Walker 15/Fulkerson 10


Totals:
Williams 25
Schofield 25
Bone 20
Darrington 20
Daniel 20
Turner 15
Bowden 15
Alexander 15
Walker 15
Fulkerson 15
Johnson 8
Pons 7

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Actually it will not surprise me if Schofield plays a lot of minutes at the 2 and 4 (but mostly at the 3) in order to get Daniel, Johnson, Bowden, Pons, and possibly even Turner on the court. TN is pretty deep at the 3.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I tend to think we aren't going to get much from Pons this season, he's not even practiced with the team yet so combine that with him being raw and I just am hesitant to think he contributes much his first season.

Bone 20/Darrington 20
Daniel 20/Turner 15/Bowden 5
Schofield 20/ Bowden 10/ Johnson 8/ Pons 2
Williams 25/Schofield 5/Pons 5/Fulkerson 5
Alexander 15/Walker 15/Fulkerson 10


Totals:
Williams 25
Schofield 25
Bone 20
Darrington 20
Daniel 20
Turner 15
Bowden 15
Alexander 15
Walker 15
Fulkerson 15
Johnson 8
Pons 7

There aren't enough minutes to go around. I agree that Pons might not get too many. But unless Johnson has nagging injuries he might even work his way into to top 5 of minutes played. I don't think that Bone is a 20 mpg player yet.

I hope that Barnes can manage the long bench and limited minutes. I really feel that if all of them put the team first and are all pulling in the same direction that it can be a really special team... maybe even the basketball version of the 1985 Sugar Vols.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

There aren't enough minutes to go around. I agree that Pons might not get too many. But unless Johnson has nagging injuries he might even work his way into to top 5 of minutes played. I don't think that Bone is a 20 mpg player yet.

I hope that Barnes can manage the long bench and limited minutes. I really feel that if all of them put the team first and are all pulling in the same direction that it can be a really special team... maybe even the basketball version of the 1985 Sugar Vols.

Bone has gotten the nod over Darrington in both games so far, so at the very least I would say they're likely to split minutes (20/20)...even if Bone's minutes go down I would expect Darrington's to then go up. Barnes would like those 2 to be his PG's, so even if you take 3-5 minutes away from Bone it doesn't really free up minutes elsewhere.

 

[Lefteye]

I tend to think we aren't going to get much from Pons this season, he's not even practiced with the team yet so combine that with him being raw and I just am hesitant to think he contributes much.

Don't put much stock in him not practicing yet, but I understand your point. I don't see him finishing games, but I see him logging minutes, highlights and hopefully some momentum changers.

 

[Lefteye]

Bone has gotten the nod over Darrington in both games so far, so at the very least I would say they're likely to split minutes (20/20)...even if Bone's minutes go down I would expect Darrington's to then go up. Barnes would like those 2 to be his PG's, so even if you take 3-5 minutes away from Bone it doesn't really free up minutes elsewhere.

Article says Darrington got the nod today.

Appreciate the baseball analogy with "the nod", btw.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Don't put much stock in him not practicing yet, but I understand your point. I don't see him finishing games, but I see him logging minutes, highlights and hopefully some momentum changers.

The other newcomers got here in June and have been involved in workouts and practices during that time...those guys also don't have a language barrier they're going to have to navigate around.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Article says Darrington got the nod today.

Appreciate the baseball analogy with "the nod", btw.

Missed that, thanks.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Bone has gotten the nod over Darrington in both games so far, so at the very least I would say they're likely to split minutes (20/20)...even if Bone's minutes go down I would expect Darrington's to then go up. Barnes would like those 2 to be his PG's, so even if you take 3-5 minutes away from Bone it doesn't really free up minutes elsewhere.

I think that Bone's minutes will depend on how the signees go, especially the 2018 class. If TN signs another PG then Bone gets a lot of bench time (or vice versa).

I think that Darrington is going to get high 20s or even 30 mpg. He looks like a leader and is much better at distributing the ball than Bone. But Bone's injury last year might have really hurt his progress. He stood around way too much last year instead of running the offense. Turner too.

I think that the freshmen (not counting Fulkerson) will be involved and get to see the floor in critical minutes (not just mop up time in blow outs), but I don't think they'll get lots of minutes. Go forward I see a strong positive correlation between experience and minutes averaged. I think that juniors and seniors (plus Williams, minus Alexander) play heavy minutes.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

We have several "projects" right now in Walker, Pons, and Kent. I hope that they're on board and patient. They could all be key pieces as juniors and seniors.

 

[i2amavol]

We have several "projects" right now in Walker, Pons, and Kent. I hope that they're on board and patient. They could all be key pieces as juniors and seniors.

I know this is just glorified scrimmages, but it doesn't appear that Walker is very much of a project. I am not sure that we have enough information to know if Pons is or not. I would like to hear how he actually did when he went in, knowing that he has had very little time to practice with the team.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I know this is just glorified scrimmages, but it doesn't appear that Walker is very much of a project. I am not sure that we have enough information to know if Pons is or not. I would like to hear how he actually did when he went in, knowing that he has had very little time to practice with the team.

Walker isn't in D-1 shape and isn't a serious scoring threat. He's a different type of a project. Kyle Alexander has been a project because he was new to playing organized basketball and lacked strength. Williams is strong and has a high basketball IQ. They're kind of opposites. Alexander was a soccer player... stamina wasn't what he needed to work on. Walker is strong but needs to work on his stamina. His scoring production may never be a problem since he can contribute in many other areas (watch how well he passes the ball, protects the rim, and runs the floor).

 

[calban]

Starters

"Turner, Darrington, Schofield, Walker and Williams"
One of many SLs we could see this season

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Starters

"Turner, Darrington, Schofield, Walker and Williams"
One of many SLs we could see this season

Is that a prediction or what was on the floor versus Valencia yesterday?