Thoughts On Possible Interior Presence

#51
#51
There's opportunity here for some strategic thinking about this matchup, where we have two of the nation's top defensive teams going against each other. What approach should our Vols take?

Do you double down on defense so that at the end of the game, even if you're down, you're guaranteed to be just a couple of 3s from taking the lead?

Do you find your hot shooter early and ride him to the finish, running the offense to benefit his game?

Do you focus on creating fouls, and win it at the line where there's no defense?

One thing's for sure--if we haven't fixed our inbound defense by game time, we'll be down by a dozen before halftime.
Why not all of the above?
 
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#53
#53
Just out of curiosity. How many of us posting have coached a men's bb team for more than two years? 'Cause, I see some really uninformed remarks about Rick Barnes coaching style. (I bet, you would have heartache with Coach K at Duke who treats players the same way.)

These appear to be some of the tenets of Barnes' coaching philosophy:
Playing time is earned in practice.
Playing good defense earns you playing time.
Failure to follow the defensive game plan will reduce your time on the floor.
Failure to take open shots on offense will earn you a trip to the sideline.
Barnes reads body language of players and acts based on what he sees.
Every player has a role. You must fill the role assigned to you or you will sit for a while.

Coaching is a little bit of magic along with all the game film and stats.
How many have read the story about Coach Wooden and him promising to start a career bench player the next game.
Or the story about Barnes getting an assistant coach to commit to working with him by talking with the assistant's wife.
Both are fantastic stories.

I likened ZZ to Nate Archibald.
I suggested that Chandler would not average playing 30 minutes per game because he just wasn't ready yet. Note: I also think KC is in the top two of best point guards to play at TN.

There are some things that frustrate me, for one...Barnes' teams tend to be more finesse than physical.

Coaches do not miss open threes. Players do not strategize and game plan. Both coaches and players have to execute well to win a bb game.
Go VOLS!
 
#55
#55
The people who want Barnes to play BHH more are the same ones who will complain the loudest when we lose more games because of it. We definitely would’ve lost that Ole Miss game playing him more than we did.

At this point, if the 3’s aren’t falling then we need to have another option in the paint to at least work into the offensive game plan. I don’t care who it is, someone has to step up. When the bigs we have aren’t interested in trying anything or stepping up, then it’s tough to see a guy like BHH or even Aidoo or Mashack sitting.
 
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#56
#56
At this point, if the 3’s aren’t falling then we need to have another option in the paint to at least work into the offensive game plan. I don’t care who it is, someone has to step up. When the bigs we have aren’t interested in trying anything or stepping up, then it’s tough to see a guy like BHH or even Aidoo or Mashack sitting.

At this point, BHH either needs to grow up and improve his game, or have fun being a bust in the NBA.

Having talent doesn’t automatically make you a great player.
 
#58
#58
Starting on Saturday, I would possibly start Huntley-Hatfield against LSU since he brings scoring and rebounding potential to the lineup and bring Fulkerson off the bench.

BHH is not the best defender yet but he needs more minutes to show what he can do and Fulkerson seems to still be recovering from the Covid-19 virus.

If Huntley-Hatfield and Aidoo do not get more minutes as the season progresses, they could hit the transfer portal at the end of the season and Barnes might have trouble attracting top interior players to Tennessee in the future.

Thoughts from the board?
He has tremendous physical talent and yet PERFORMS worse than Uros. That's a sad scenario. You don't start a player because he has physical talent and you hope starting him means he will realize his potential. That is backasswards. BHH busts his butt in practice and workouts and proves he can actually produce at a level that will help his team win. And THEN you start him. It's really that simple.
 
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#59
#59
I see this approach as detrimental to the team’s development. There’s some talented guys like Mashack, Frenchie, and Adoo who are also trying to earn pt. If you start handing it out to guys who haven’t done the things in practice the coaches are saying are needed to earn pt then those other guys become potentially disgruntled. Best thing is to have clear ground rules and let players complete to earn pt IMO.
Ding ding ding!
 
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#61
#61
At this point, if the 3’s aren’t falling then we need to have another option in the paint to at least work into the offensive game plan. I don’t care who it is, someone has to step up. When the bigs we have aren’t interested in trying anything or stepping up, then it’s tough to see a guy like BHH or even Aidoo or Mashack sitting.


Plavsic took a big step tonight toward being an inside force. Very aggressive on the offensive end.
 

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