The Gonzaga Game...

#26
#26
There are probably 5 games left on the schedule where Tennessee is better than 40% chance to lose.

Tomorrow night v (@) Gonzaga
Jan. 12 @ South Carolina
Feb. 23 @ Memphis
Feb. 26 @ Vanderbilt
Mar. 5 @ Florida

Gonzaga has the best KenPom rating of any team left on the schedule @ #20. Xavier is listed at #19, so I believe we have a good shot. Not a great shot, but a good shot to win.

Tennessee's tempo ranks in the top 20 in the nation, whereas the Zags are ranked 165, or something. Different styles.

This game will be won on the boards. Gonzaga's 3 losses came in games where their OR% (offensive rebound %) was it's lowest. All 3 losses = bottom 3 of OR%. Keep the Zags off the offensive boards.
 
#30
#30
South Carolina is utterly awful. A loss to them would be an indication of major problems.
 
#32
#32
My main concern with the Zags is the height and shooting ability of their perimeter guys. Downs at 6'8 and Bouldin at 6'5 can really shoot it when they get hot, which could be a problem for our three 6'1 guards. The other issue is the matchup with Jeremy Pargo, I think he may be the most improved point guard I've seen this season. Look for Ramar to play a lot of minutes because he matches up best with Pargo, and look for J.P. to play a lot to help out on Downs and Bouldin. I wouldn't worry about Heytvelt being a factor, he couldn't even keep up against a methodical, half-court oriented Oklahoma team. He's extremely talented, but very very out of shape.
This would be a huge win for Tennessee, because Gonzaga is very talented and deep, but many players have missed time with injuries. Assuming they get everyone going, they could be a scary team come tourny time especially with the shooters that they have. This should be a very exciting, up-tempo basketball game. I've been looking forward to it for quite sometime now.
 
#35
#35
This game is important, but not critical. It would have been critical if we'd lost to Xavier. However, a win would be a HUGE notch in our belt going into conference play.

We have gauntlet to run this month:

@ Gonzaga (9-3)
Ole Miss (11-0, ranked #24)
@ South Carolina
Vandy (11-0, ranked #15)
Ohio St. (8-3)
@ Kentucky (always tough at Rupp)
Georgia
@ Alabama (9-3)
 
#39
#39
anything at 80% or 90% with this squad on the road means people aren't paying attention
 
#41
#41
let's see. we play no halfcourt d, our defensive rebounding is pathetic, we shoot truckloads of 3s and our main shooter is admittedly struggling. moreover, the pg position is pathetic right now.

talent, we have. consistency, we have none. 90% odds are enormous given the list above.
 
#42
#42
BigPapaVol said:
let's see. we play no halfcourt d, our defensive rebounding is pathetic, we shoot truckloads of 3s and our main shooter is admittedly struggling. moreover, the pg position is pathetic right now.

talent, we have. consistency, we have none. 90% odds are enormous given the list above.
Click to expand...

South Carolina is weak inside and has a bunch of young guards. They'll turn the ball over a lot and play right into our hands.

We played poorly at Xavier and still came away with a win. Xavier is far far far superior to South Carolina. All signs point to us winning easily. I'm still 80-90% confident.
 
#43
#43
Any road win in the SEC is a good win, regardless of the opponent. Even under Pearl, UT has lost some games they definitely should have won to inferior SEC competition on the road.
 
#47
#47
Lucky for them so are several other teams in the SEC this year.

This year will be Tennessee's best and easiest chance to win the SEC. Hopefully they can take advantage of it.
 
#48
#48
If Tennessee fails to win the SEC by at least two games, they should hang their heads in shame.
 
#50
#50
Going into the year I would say 12-4 or maybe 11-5 would be the expectations in conference play. After watching every SEC team play numerous times this season I would say 13-3 or maybe 14-2 should be a reasonable goal. The SEC is probably the 6th best conference in America. Florida is young and should improve throughout the year as there young kids develop. South Carolina is on about the same level of SCST, at least they have Devan Downey, that's about the only thing the people in Columbia have to be entertained by. Kentucky is awful, but Billy G is probably either the 2nd or 3rd best coach in the SEC right now so I wouldn't count any of there games as an L right now. They could sneak up on some people. Arkansas should be the 2nd best team in the conference right now, but they've faild every legitimate test they've been faced with, pretty bad. It's hard to get a feel for UGA right now. I thought that now that Dennis Felton has gotten a some years of improvement there that they would finally step up into the NCAA tournamet, but unless a major improvement they'll be NIT bound suspensions and other things have deeply killed there shot. Mississippi State and Alabama, well, they're doing there usual, underachieving by a mile. Auburn is still relatively young and still on the rise and I would expect nothing out of them. Vandy isn't really that good, they've played a soft schedule and have been fortunate to make it through 4 games already this season. As much as I despise Kevin Stallings I have to give him credit for what he's done this season, but I don't think they'll stay that way for long. Andy Kennedy is still proving that he's an incredible coach. I've felt since the start of the season that the Rebels would make the Tournament and it looks to be pretty clear now that they will barring a monumental meltdown in a watered down SEC West, or SEC altoghether.
 
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