A couple day after thoughts...

#1
bleedingTNorange

bleedingTNorange

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#1
One thing I wanna talk more about is the versatility of this roster, it’s pretty incredible honestly...I know it has been mentioned but until you see the guys out there you’re not really sure how much guys have actually improved or changed their games.

I feel like we are seeing a very similar transformation from Grant that we did from Adrmial. Early on Admiral was an undersized 4, he went to work incredibly hard on improving his perimeter shot, ball handling, and lateral quickness to allow him to play the 3, he did an incredible job at that, are we seeing similar with Williams? Obviously an undersized 4 man, he has trimmed up and through 2 games looks much quicker, he is 4-6 from 3 through 2 games, I don’t think anyone predicted that. In addition he also appears more comfortable with the ball, he actually brought it up the court a couple times last night and looked comfortable doing so, and as further proof of this transformation he did indeed play some 3 last night when Vols went big.

Besides Williams you’ve seen Admiral continue his development on the perimeter and he’s a guy that could play 2-4 and hold his own, he’s gonna bring bigger guys away from the basket and post smaller guys up down low, he’s also really embraced looking for his teammates and his nearly 6apg average through 2 games is evidence of that.

Yves Pons offensively isn’t going to change his game but defensively he can guard 1-5, and that allows Barnes to be very versatile and not worry about moving guys like Williams or Schofield to the 2 or 3.

You look at last night and we didn’t play Lamonte Turner, the reigning 6th MOY, who’s our backup PG...and yet the offense has still been much more efficient than it was most of last year, that’s a promising sign. Louisiana played a smaller uptempo style, as a result you saw Fulkerson get a lot of minutes and Alexander finally played 30mpg, this meant Walker didn’t play much at all. Barnes attributed it to Louisiana going small, but again that’s the versatility and options we have, against bigger teams you will see more of Walker and less of Fulky.

I don’t know how this season ultimately ends or goes, but through 2 games I really like the makeup of this team and individually I don’t think there’s much debate that we are better across the board, now whether that translates to better as a team is yet to be seen but the early signs are positive. Barnes is a stickler on defense so I feel safe in assuming he will continue to fine tune it and get it to an elite level like last year, my question for this year was can we take the next step offensively, because last year that was what held us back and so far we look better than I expected offensively and that’s without arguably our best guard scorer in Lamonte Turner.

GBO!!!
 
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#3
#3
Totally agreed with most of what you said, the exception being Pons' offense. I know he hasn't shown much to this point, but it's there and as he gets more minutes and is more comfortable he'll give us some points in addition to being a very irritating and upsetting defender. He took their point guard out of his game totally for long stretches of the game.

What impresses me most about this team is how comfortable they seem with their role and their teammates. Even the "rotational" (not sure if I like that term) guys look like they belong in their position when they enter the game. Also, when guys rotate in we don't miss a beat. We play a little differently depending who comes in but our offense nor defense seem to suffer much, if at all.

This team just "looks the part" and man, are they fun to watch!
 
#4
#4
StrangeVol said:
Totally agreed with most of what you said, the exception being Pons' offense. I know he hasn't shown much to this point, but it's there and as he gets more minutes and is more comfortable he'll give us some points in addition to being a very irritating and upsetting defender. He took their point guard out of his game totally for long stretches of the game.
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I may have worded that part on Pons poorly...

I didn’t mean he has no offensive game, I just meant his game offensively isn’t going to change by what position he plays. Bone and Turner can play the point and know how to run it, but they can also play the 2 and adjust their offensive game. Williams and Schofield can over power guys in the post but they can also shoot the 3 and take guys off the dribble.

Pons offense is going to be shoot the open 3, offensive rebound outback’s, and open court/slashing to the basket...he doesn’t have post moves to back a guy down or the ability right now to blow by a guy on the wing and drive all the way to to hoop.
 
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#5
#5
Barnes won't say something unless he knows it. Early on, he's consistently said Pons is going to have a coming out party, and said he was a real shot in the arm for us defensively last night. Think about it, our first five is really good, and when other teams start their rotations or minutes start to pile up, then have to face Pons on defense, it's going to be a real help to us. Dude's a freak, and expect his offensive game to come around kinda like Admiral, where he was pretty raw on offense, early on, but has developed into a legit NBA prospect. Additionally, Pons is mentioned by Barnes in similar breath as Admiral as far as work ethic is concerned.
 
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#6
#6
bleedingTNorange said:
I may have worded that part on Pons poorly...

I didn’t mean he has no offensive game, I just meant his game offensively isn’t going to change by what position he plays. Bone and Turner can play the point and know how to run it, but they can also play the 2 and adjust their offensive game. Williams and Schofield can over power guys in the post but they can also shoot the 3 and take guys off the dribble.

Pons offense is going to be shoot the open 3, offensive rebound outback’s, and open court/slashing to the basket...he doesn’t have post moves to back a guy down or the ability right now to blow by a guy on the wing and drive all the way to to hoop.
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Ummm, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I think he has more in his offensive bag of tricks than we've seen yet. I honestly believe he has the handle and quickness to blow by some guys on the wing. A present he's doing what any new kid would do, deferring to his older more experienced teammates, plus there isn't a lot of need for him to be aggressive on offense at this point. Scorers we got. As the season goes along things may change. We'll see.
 
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#7
#7
StrangeVol said:
Ummm, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I think he has more in his offensive bag of tricks than we've seen yet. I honestly believe he has the handle and quickness to blow by some guys on the wing. A present he's doing what any new kid would do, deferring to his older more experienced teammates, plus there isn't a lot of need for him to be aggressive on offense at this point. Scorers we got. As the season goes along things may change. We'll see.
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He very well might, I can only go off what I’ve seen and heard though, not gonna assume Kyle Alexander can play point guard until actually seeing it happen. Likewise I don’t think Pons has the offensive versatility to post up a smaller defend without seeing it, would love to be wrong.
 
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#9
#9
Fulkerson seems to really be getting back to his former self. He had one rebound were he was relenteless in going after the ball. I think Fulkerson might have a breakout game coming soon.
 
#11
#11
If Grant continues to play the way that he has so far, I don’t see how he doesn’t get drafted. I get being undersized but he does things at 6’6 that big men 6’10 can’t do. Won’t be first round obviously but he’s too good to not get picked up.
 
#12
#12
SJAVol32 said:
If Grant continues to play the way that he has so far, I don’t see how he doesn’t get drafted. I get being undersized but he does things at 6’6 that big men 6’10 can’t do. Won’t be first round obviously but he’s too good to not get picked up.
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Agree...he’s looking a lot like Bonzie Colsob from Notre Dame.
 
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#14
#14
SJAVol32 said:
If Grant continues to play the way that he has so far, I don’t see how he doesn’t get drafted. I get being undersized but he does things at 6’6 that big men 6’10 can’t do. Won’t be first round obviously but he’s too good to not get picked up.
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If Junior GW makes the kind if improvements Junior AS did, you may be right.
 
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#17
#17
bleedingTNorange said:
I feel like we are seeing a very similar transformation from Grant that we did from Adrmial. Early on Admiral was an undersized 4, he went to work incredibly hard on improving his perimeter shot, ball handling, and lateral quickness to allow him to play the 3, he did an incredible job at that, are we seeing similar with Williams? Obviously an undersized 4 man, he has trimmed up and through 2 games looks much quicker, he is 4-6 from 3 through 2 games, I don’t think anyone predicted that. In addition he also appears more comfortable with the ball, he actually brought it up the court a couple times last night and looked comfortable doing so, and as further proof of this transformation he did indeed play some 3 last night when Vols went big.

GBO!!!
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So I don't offend anyone, I love most everything I see and read about GW - both on the court and off....

As to GW transforming to a 3 like AS did last year - I don't think he has the same quickness as AS to be the same type of 3. Also, I don't view GW as an undersized 4 in the college game. He may be a couple inches shorter than average but his strength and width makes up for that IMO. GW being able to hit the open 3 and some guarded midrange shots is a huge advancement of his skill set and will help this team a lot. I don't however see GW being guarded by other SEC 3's and him still having the quickness and handles to dribble by them like AS does. Now if he can pull out the other team's 4 or 5 away from the basket then he may well have the quickness to beat those guys off the dribble? While AS is muscle bound, it appears to me GW is a thicker guy. If they played football, GW would be a tackle whereas AS would be a TE or LB. CRB is a great developer of talent and if GW has the DNA to make it in the NBA then it will most likely happen. I'm pulling for him. JMO, TIFWIW, AARP.
 
#18
#18
^^^^

Admiral Schofield 6’6” 240lbs
Grant Williams 6’7” 236lbs

Pretty similar measurables, difference is gonna be that Admiral has a lower body fat % and is all muscle...Admiral started out as an undersized 4 and played that until this past year when he made the move full time pretty much to the perimeter, but that came off hard work and a lot of agility training. Williams is not there, but I do think he’s at a similar spot as Schofield was his sophomore year when we started to see him show that as a possibility. I’m not saying he becomes the exact same player as admiral, but last year nobody was talking about GW playing the 3, 2 games in and it has already happened. Williams and Barnes both are smart enough to know of Williams is gonna have a chance professionally it will be increased by developing his perimeter game, it would appear that’s exactly what he is working on. He already looks leaner and quicker than last year, who’s to say another year of similar work won’t produce an even more developed perimeter game?
 
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#21
#21
He didn’t come in as a 6’6” 240lb dominant SF like the guy we see now and it’s easy to forget that, his body and game has changed a ton since he arrived to Knoxville.
 
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#22
#22
bleedingTNorange said:
^^^^

Admiral Schofield 6’6” 240lbs
Grant Williams 6’7” 236lbs

Pretty similar measurables, difference is gonna be that Admiral has a lower body fat % and is all muscle...Admiral started out as an undersized 4 and played that until this past year when he made the move full time pretty much to the perimeter, but that came off hard work and a lot of agility training. Williams is not there, but I do think he’s at a similar spot as Schofield was his sophomore year when we started to see him show that as a possibility. I’m not saying he becomes the exact same player as admiral, but last year nobody was talking about GW playing the 3, 2 games in and it has already happened. Williams and Barnes both are smart enough to know of Williams is gonna have a chance professionally it will be increased by developing his perimeter game, it would appear that’s exactly what he is working on. He already looks leaner and quicker than last year, who’s to say another year of similar work won’t produce an even more developed perimeter game?
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I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see a place for GW in the NBA. Those guys at 6'-7" are athletic freaks like Pons but with great bball skills. GW hasn't shown elite "fast twitch" that some football coaches refer to and I don't think that can be developed with agility training - in your DNA or its not. Stokes appeared to be more athletic in college and larger than GW and he hasn't been able to find a permanent spot? Doesn't mean GW won't, and I hope he proves me to be an idiot for thinking he won't.
 
#23
#23
walkenvol said:
I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see a place for GW in the NBA. Those guys at 6'-7" are athletic freaks like Pons but with great bball skills. GW hasn't shown elite "fast twitch" that some football coaches refer to and I don't think that can be developed with agility training - in your DNA or its not. Stokes appeared to be more athletic in college and larger than GW and he hasn't been able to find a permanent spot? Doesn't mean GW won't, and I hope he proves me to be an idiot for thinking he won't.
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With his current skill set or last years you are correct, he won’t, but if he continues to improve his perimeter skills and lateral quickness he definitely can. I think he has the ability to be a PJ Tucker type player for sure, which oddly enough was another Barnes guy.
 
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#24
#24
walkenvol said:
I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see a place for GW in the NBA. Those guys at 6'-7" are athletic freaks like Pons but with great bball skills. GW hasn't shown elite "fast twitch" that some football coaches refer to and I don't think that can be developed with agility training - in your DNA or its not. Stokes appeared to be more athletic in college and larger than GW and he hasn't been able to find a permanent spot? Doesn't mean GW won't, and I hope he proves me to be an idiot for thinking he won't.
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For as good as Jarnell was he moved like a robot when it came to making moves in the post. GW has a legit face up game and his footwork is better than Stokes. Again I don’t know if GW will make it to the league but I could see him having a better chance than Stokes.
 
#25
#25
IMO Pons is a bit of a liability on offense right now. He does 3 things very well and he can make open shots. He's a threat to score when running the court. He can score hitting the offensive glass. He can throw down the back door lobs. The lobs get the crowd into games, but it's a pretty low percentage play. He's not really on the court to optimize TN's half court offense. In the slow paced games we'll probably see more of Turner off of the bench and maybe even JJ.
 
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