BTO’s ETSU Postgame Report

[Sea Ray]

Admittedly off topic but a fun thought:

Athleticism of today's basketball players is amazing. Anyone know if KC and/or ZZ can dunk the ball?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

1. Powell had a 1/8 game during his abbreviated season last year.

2. I’ve already made mention that Bailey appears much more selective so far this year, albeit a small sample size. If that holds true then I see him continuing to get minutes, that was an area he had to improve.

3. This isn’t about Powell vs. Bailey, both guys are going to play…and both will play more than Zeigler, THAT is the point.

The point is what TN wants to do, not how many minutes each player registers. If TN blows out lots of opponents, Jancek could get a lot of minutes. MPG is most relevant if every game is close. In blowouts and buy win games there will be more experimentation with combinations.

If KC plays as many minutes as possible then ZZ’s could be limited as he only plays in one spot. But if KC gets close to 35 minutes, 5-10 could be as an off guard with ZZ at the PG.

ZZ is in the base 8 if TN is effective at controlling a fast tempo. If Bailey, Powell, JJJ, or Vescovi are at the PG spot then TN likely will not be as effective at pushing that tempo. You want to maintain a fast pace when you have a long bench and the team has been programmed to play at a fast pace. You don’t want a completely different look if the attack is effective. Sure, there could be matchups when ZZ’s height is a huge liability and TN is forced to go with more size. But if games play out like TN wants, with 2 PGs keeping the pressure on by pushing the pace, then ZZ is the sub at PG, Powell on the wings, and BHH in the paint. The first 8. Bailey’s role will be determined by his ability to keep up with Powell and staying ahead of Mashack. ZZ looks like he might be nailing down the backup PG spot.

TN’s choice will be playing fast and scoring in transition or moving the ball quickly in the half court if transition baskets are denied. ZZ keeps the energy on offense elevated, he might even increase it when he subs for KC.

 

[JelloPuddinPup]

Admittedly off topic but a fun thought:

Athleticism of today's basketball players is amazing. Anyone know if KC and/or ZZ can dunk the ball?

KC definitely can. There was a practice video that showed him doing it with ease. Not sure about ZZ but I would be willing to wager he could get it down in a layup line.

 

[cardvolfan]

Originally read it this way. Was taken aback to be honest

Yeah, I don’t blame you…….

 

[Creeker]

Admittedly off topic but a fun thought:

Athleticism of today's basketball players is amazing. Anyone know if KC and/or ZZ can dunk the ball?

There was one point during the warm ups yesterday that ZZ was right there at it, if he can’t he’s extremely close to being able to.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

even if Zeigler backs up Chandler it doesn’t just automatically make him more “regular”…if Zeigler plays in 30 games averages 8-9mpg, and Bailey play in 30 games averaging 19mpg there’s literally no discussion who was where in the rotation.

I’d consider the #2 PG more of a regular in the rotation than the 5th wing no matter how the minutes add up.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Admittedly off topic but a fun thought:

Athleticism of today's basketball players is amazing. Anyone know if KC and/or ZZ can dunk the ball?

KC can absolutely dunk. But he was nearly seriously injured after a bad fall while dunking in a high school all star game. I doubt that he’ll take that risk very often.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Admittedly off topic but a fun thought:

Athleticism of today's basketball players is amazing. Anyone know if KC and/or ZZ can dunk the ball?

Both can

 

[Sea Ray]

Both can

Amazing. They're both shorter than me and I can't touch the net. A lot of women basketball players are taller than 6 ft but pretty much none of them can dunk.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

The point is what TN wants to do, not how many minutes each player registers. If TN blows out lots of opponents, Jancek could get a lot of minutes. MPG is most relevant if every game is close. In blowouts and buy win games there will be more experimentation with combinations.

If KC plays as many minutes as possible then ZZ’s could be limited as he only plays in one spot. But if KC gets close to 35 minutes, 5-10 could be as an off guard with ZZ at the PG.

ZZ is in the base 8 if TN is effective at controlling a fast tempo. If Bailey, Powell, JJJ, or Vescovi are at the PG spot then TN likely will not be as effective at pushing that tempo. You want to maintain a fast pace when you have a long bench and the team has been programmed to play at a fast pace. You don’t want a completely different look if the attack is effective. Sure, there could be matchups when ZZ’s height is a huge liability and TN is forced to go with more size. But if games play out like TN wants, with 2 PGs keeping the pressure on by pushing the pace, then ZZ is the sub at PG, Powell on the wings, and BHH in the paint. The first 8. Bailey’s role will be determined by his ability to keep up with Powell and staying ahead of Mashack. ZZ looks like he might be nailing down the backup PG spot.

TN’s choice will be playing fast and scoring in transition or moving the ball quickly in the half court if transition baskets are denied. ZZ keeps the energy on offense elevated, he might even increase it when he subs for KC.

Powell and Bailey both sub at wing, there’s 2 wing positions, not sure why that’s a difficult concept.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I’d consider the #2 PG more of a regular in the rotation than the 5th wing no matter how the minutes add up.

How is Bailey the 5th wing when he’s the first guy off the bench? Are we starting 4 wings? Lol.

If Chandler and Ziegler are PG, that means you’re saying 2/3 is wing…it’s been Vescovi/James and then Bailey first into the game and logging the most minutes, making him the 3rd wing, at worst he would be 4th if you’re trying to argue it. With that said, majority of James’ minutes have actually come at the 4, so if you instead consider James a forward that would make Bailey the #2 wing, or 3 if you’re trying to make a case for Bailey.

 

[cardvolfan]

Admittedly off topic but a fun thought:

Athleticism of today's basketball players is amazing. Anyone know if KC and/or ZZ can dunk the ball?

KC can quite easily. I think I saw ZZ do it in warmups, but not totally sure.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Powell and Bailey both sub at wing, there’s 2 wing positions, not sure why that’s a difficult concept.

How is Bailey the 5th wing when he’s the first guy off the bench? Are we starting 4 wings? Lol.

If Chandler and Ziegler are PG, that means you’re saying 2/3 is wing…it’s been Vescovi/James and then Bailey first into the game and logging the most minutes, making him the 3rd wing, at worst he would be 4th if you’re trying to argue it. With that said, majority of James’ minutes have actually come at the 4, so if you instead consider James a forward that would make Bailey the #2 wing, or 3 if you’re trying to make a case for Bailey.

Bailey could fall as far as #7 behind Vescovi, JJJ, Powell, KC, QD, and Mashack.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Bailey could fall as far as #7 behind Vescovi, JJJ, Powell, KC, QD, and Mashack.

Lmao

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Lmao

There have been 10 regulars. Uros is about to reduce that number to 9. Of the 4 subs, 3 have been in the program for a few months. The 4th, Bailey, for a few years. I think that ZZ is the backup PG, BHH is the backup post, and Powell is the eventual first reserve as a wing. Those are my solid 8. Bailey is the most likely of the first 9 to see a diminishing role unless he’s truly upped his game between his 4th and 5th seasons. I can easily see Mashack climbing into a core of 9 players.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

even if Zeigler backs up Chandler it doesn’t just automatically make him more “regular”…if Zeigler plays in 30 games averages 8-9mpg, and Bailey play in 30 games averaging 19mpg there’s literally no discussion who was where in the rotation.

Respectfully, Barnes WANTS his players to play LESS than 30 minutes per game ... therefore ... ZZ or Vescovi are picking up 12-14+ of KC time off court. ZZ makes the most sense in the long view .... provided he does not make a lot of mistakes.... a mistake or two would get him the shepherd's hook in a hurry.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

Here you go ... the thing I think we can agree on is likely ZZ minutes go UP and Uros minutes go DOWN with Fulky back on the floor.
That is your starting five and the ones with the potential for double digit minutes until we get to January.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

I wouldn't make many assumptions about the rotation yet. My take is that these first two games plus the exhibition were basically just auditions for the new players and a couple of the older ones. Barnes already knows what he has in the returners, for the most part. He was taking an extended look at the newbies. I would wish it weren't so if he chose to exclude ZZ from the rotation for now, but he has to be comfortable with a player, and he usually isn't comfortable with freshmen. Barnes has always trusted experience a lot. I don't think he is really comfortable with BHH, but he doesn't have much of a choice but to play him and hope. Aidoo, Uros, and Tamba just aren't gonna get minutes when a game is still in doubt.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I wouldn't make many assumptions about the rotation yet. My take is that these first two games plus the exhibition were basically just auditions for the new players and a couple of the older ones. Barnes already knows what he has in the returners, for the most part. He was taking an extended look at the newbies. I would wish it weren't so if he chose to exclude ZZ from the rotation for now, but he has to be comfortable with a player, and he usually isn't comfortable with freshmen. Barnes has always trusted experience a lot. I don't think he is really comfortable with BHH, but he doesn't have much of a choice but to play him and hope. Aidoo, Uros, and Tamba just aren't gonna get minutes when a game is still in doubt.

I think that Uros will be an occasional role player in certain situations, Tamba will redshirt, and Aidoo is yet to be determined. Aidoo’s illness might have put him too far behind to play significant minutes this season minus attrition/injuries.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

I think that Uros will be an occasional role player in certain situations, Tamba will redshirt, and Aidoo is yet to be determined. Aidoo’s illness might have put him too far behind to play significant minutes this season minus attrition/injuries.

Uros will be an occasional role player
Uros WILL play ... and the number of those minutes are based on 2 factors ... UROS continuing development and the right situations. You will likely see him on the floor (more) when the guys in the post are 'less' quick. I see improvement ... but BHH is a lot quicker ... but can BHH stay out of foul trouble ... that remains to be seen ...
Tamba will redshirt
Spot on!
Aidoo’s illness might have put him too far behind to play significant minutes this season
Have to disagree on this one ... Barnes played Aidoo, against ETSU ... that means he is likely going to play minutes .... my guess is ... he needs more time to get up to speed ... because you are right .... illness DID put him behind
But he appears to be making up ground ... he go some minutes ... I was expecting it to be January before he saw the floor at all.

 

[cardvolfan]

Respectfully, Barnes WANTS his players to play LESS than 30 minutes per game ... therefore ... ZZ or Vescovi are picking up 12-14+ of KC time off court. ZZ makes the most sense in the long view .... provided he does not make a lot of mistakes.... a mistake or two would get him the shepherd's hook in a hurry.

I think as the season progresses, he will play Kennedy more than 30 minutes. It would seem to be a waste not to squeeze out 32-33 minutes from KC.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

There have been 10 regulars. Uros is about to reduce that number to 9. Of the 4 subs, 3 have been in the program for a few months. The 4th, Bailey, for a few years. I think that ZZ is the backup PG, BHH is the backup post, and Powell is the eventual first reserve as a wing. Those are my solid 8. Bailey is the most likely of the first 9 to see a diminishing role unless he’s truly upped his game between his 4th and 5th seasons. I can easily see Mashack climbing into a core of 9 players.

So if at the end of the year Bailey played in every game ~18mpg and Zeigler has multiple DNP’s and ~8mpg, you’re gonna say Zeigler was ahead of Bailey?

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Respectfully, Barnes WANTS his players to play LESS than 30 minutes per game ... therefore ... ZZ or Vescovi are picking up 12-14+ of KC time off court. ZZ makes the most sense in the long view .... provided he does not make a lot of mistakes.... a mistake or two would get him the shepherd's hook in a hurry.

I don’t think Barnes is pigeon holed to that, our 31 win team had 4 guys averaging over 30mpg…watch and see how it shakes out against Nova assuming it’s a close game. He will ride with guys he trusts and not have any issue playing them more than 30mpg, no offense but you’re crazy if you think Chandler is getting 26mpg as the schedule ramps up.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Uros will be an occasional role player
Uros WILL play ... and the number of those minutes are based on 2 factors ... UROS continuing development and the right situations. You will likely see him on the floor (more) when the guys in the post are 'less' quick. I see improvement ... but BHH is a lot quicker ... but can BHH stay out of foul trouble ... that remains to be seen ...
Tamba will redshirt
Spot on!
Aidoo’s illness might have put him too far behind to play significant minutes this season
Have to disagree on this one ... Barnes played Aidoo, against ETSU ... that means he is likely going to play minutes .... my guess is ... he needs more time to get up to speed ... because you are right .... illness DID put him behind
But he appears to be making up ground ... he go some minutes ... I was expecting it to be January before he saw the floor at all.

He also played Jancek, Sulack and Gilbert against ETSU…that means Barnes is gonna play them too?

 

[Hank Bukowski]

1. I mentioned that I wanted to see what we looked like with Fulk back before completely declaring an offensive identity shift, he was back and the offense definitely looked a bit different than the previous 2 games we saw, not nearly as many 3’s and more midrange jumpers, but was still super efficient. That’s what happens though we you shoot 44% from 3 and 89% from the FT line, it’s early in the year but so far this is looking like a really good shooting team, which probably has something to do with the play they’re getting at PG.

2. Little deeper dive into some analytics, Tennessee posted a 125.3 offensive rating and 82.7 defensive rating…both of those are really good, that’s 2 games in a row where offensively we are over 125, those performances have moved Tennessee up a few spots on KenPom and now sit at #9. The offense and defense both have performed better than expected by KenPom, the defense was much better today than last Saturday imo.

3. Great game from Olivier Nkamhoua, that’s 2 strong games from him to start the year and giving some hope that the glowing off season reports on him were accurate. He appears more confident, just making his moves and playing rather than seemingly overthinking each step, his touch from outside has also been impressive and he’s done a good job taking good shots.

4. Kennedy Chandler is sooooo good, probably gonna get sick of saying it but man, for a freshman he just has an unbelievable feel and control of the game. His outside shot is much better than expected and that’s really taking his game to another level…enjoy him while we got him, they don’t come around like him very often.

5. This has a lot to do with #4 but the shots this team is getting right now are such good looks…guys aren’t forcing midrange shots off 1 pass and no passes, a guy like VJ Bailey has been really efficient, Powell as well, doing a great job of taking good shots and not forcing lower percentage looks.

6. The competition is about to ramp up in a major way, hopefully we can at least split in CT and come back with a W…I will be intrigued to see the rotation, my guess is against Villanova we probably won’t see Plavsic, but could be a game that we see Zeigler and Mashack…on the flip side we play Purdue and Uros probably gets some minutes. Seeing Chandler on the big stage will be fun as well, Villanova obviously has great guards and so this will be by far his biggest challenge.


GBO!!!

“I will be intrigued to see the rotation, my guess is against Villanova we probably won’t see Plavsic, but could be a game that we see Zeigler and Mashack…”

Me, too. I hope to see a rotation of at least 9, ideally 10. Time to hang some banners, Coach Barnes.