Kinda sad only one UT player on this list

#26
#26
BernardKingGOAT said:
Yeah. I think Knecht is a better overall player, especially by senior year, but Houston was great all four years. King was better when he was a freshman than any one on the list was as a senior.
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I definitely agree with the King part. I wish I could’ve seen Houston play but he was just before my time 😂 I was just a kid watching lofton swoosh from 30 feet.
 
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#28
#28
King, Grunfeld, and Ellis were the best all around players. Lofton was a shooter. Houston was a shooter and a scorer off the dribble as well. I think that DK and Houston are the most similar of those 6. Although Houston was smooth as silk with the ball. DK was explosive on offense. Houston was also a great free throw shooter. Both Knecht and Houston could attack the rim. Houston drew fouls and got to the line while Knecht overpowered defenders and finished. Houston didn’t have Knecht’s strength.

I always say it’s too bad that Houston didn’t have more offensive weapons around him. Especially down low. Although he did play alongside Lang Wiseman, Greg Bell, and Carlus Groves.
 
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#32
#32
BernardKingGOAT said:
Well, he was first team all SEC every year and a good player in the NBA. Led the Knicks to the finals in 1999. Hit the game winning shot in the conference finals to get them there
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I remember the shot with the Knicks very well. I'm not counting the NBA, but he was just a level below IMO - the rest of those guys were All-Americans.
 
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#36
#36
pimo1 said:
This...also Lanier does not have a resume like DK's.
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Well seeing as he's yet to play a season for UT it's kinda hard to. Lanier like knecht comes in as a walking bucket and one of the top scorers in the nation. Like knecht he's got to improve drastically with defense. Nobody saw Knecht becoming what he did. Lanier has to take the same highway but we will see if he can replicate. I say no because he's surrounded with better weapons and shouldn't have to be the total offense at times like Dalton had to.
 
#37
#37
pimo1 said:
www.espn.com

Updated Top 100 rankings for the 2025 NBA draft: A new player sneaks into the top five

Duke's Cooper Flagg maintains his hold on No. 1, but there's change among the top 10 with some of college basketball's stars moving up.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

oops former UT player Jonas Aidoo.
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Honestly, this team excites me. No superstar, but a lot of new pieces who have something to prove. Teams can't just focus on one guy this year, and I'd hope the days of "no shows" is finally behind us. Someone decides to take the night off and there's enough depth on this roster that Barnes can sit a kid. Best of all is that ZZ will set the tone as the leader. Kid has that NYC street grit to him. If that permeates the locker room, look out SEC. We should be deep, long and varied. Yeah, I'm bullish on this years team.
 
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#38
#38
Vawlk Tuah said:
Well seeing as he's yet to play a season for UT it's kinda hard to. Lanier like knecht comes in as a walking bucket and one of the top scorers in the nation. Like knecht he's got to improve drastically with defense. Nobody saw Knecht becoming what he did. Lanier has to take the same highway but we will see if he can replicate. I say no because he's surrounded with better weapons and shouldn't have to be the total offense at times like Dalton had to.
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Resume is what he did in the past. I am talking about what DK was when he came here. He had produced at a high level every year of his career and improved ear to year. Lanier had literally one good year. Before his senior year he averaged 4 points a game. To put it in context in UT terms Laniers Trajectory is like Mashack. DK's trajectory is like ZZ's. Not knocking Lanier or saying he only has one year of being the dude that carried his team and that was at a directional university in Florida I've never heard of in the same conference (ASUN) with Austin Peay, Lipscomb and Bellarmine. DK played in the Big Sky also a mid-major but slightly higher up the totem pole and was an impact player from day 1.

I am sure Lanier will be a big part of this teams success this year. .I just have way lower expectations for any of the transfers compared to DK and I mean that based on the expectations I had for DK before he went super saiyan. I think the biggest impact player from this batch of transfers will be Milicic. I also think as a whole this batch can possibly contribute more than last year's batch. We have a lot of different guys that can play a lot of roles. Milici and Okpara are the high-floor guys who will be almost guaranteed dependable. Lanier and Dubar are the high-ceiling lets hope guys. I haven't heard much lately butthe reports on both Dubar and Lanier early were kinda disturbing (less athletic than expected out of shape) Hopefully those were exaggerations.
 
#39
#39
CAVPUT said:
Honestly, this team excites me. No superstar, but a lot of new pieces who have something to prove. Teams can't just focus on one guy this year, and I'd hope the days of "no shows" is finally behind us. Someone decides to take the night off and there's enough depth on this roster that Barnes can sit a kid. Best of all is that ZZ will set the tone as the leader. Kid has that NYC street grit to him. If that permeates the locker room, look out SEC. We should be deep, long and varied. Yeah, I'm bullish on this years team.
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In a way I kinda get your feeling but... in basketball you have to have at least one of those guys that teams have to focus on and it has to be a 2-5. Point guards are catalysts. They can contribute to the success of a team but in today's game its really hard to in it all with your PG having to be the man. ZZ cant be our leading scorer he has too many other responsibilities if he is scoring 20+ a game we are not having a good season. 12-15 a game and he is second or third on team in scoring is where we need to be. Not saying ZZ cant score more, saying that if he is scoring 17-20 a game its means things have gone really badly.
 
#40
#40
Vawlk Tuah said:
Well seeing as he's yet to play a season for UT it's kinda hard to. Lanier like knecht comes in as a walking bucket and one of the top scorers in the nation. Like knecht he's got to improve drastically with defense. Nobody saw Knecht becoming what he did. Lanier has to take the same highway but we will see if he can replicate. I say no because he's surrounded with better weapons and shouldn't have to be the total offense at times like Dalton had to.
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I disagree with the “better weapons” comment. Knecht had Vescovi, James & Aidoo. Lanier has 2 lower division transfers who’s anybody’s guess at this point and Felex who isn’t the scorer like Aidoo. We’re hoping ZZZ and JM step up their offense
 
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#41
#41
pimo1 said:
Resume is what he did in the past. I am talking about what DK was when he came here. He had produced at a high level every year of his career and improved ear to year. Lanier had literally one good year. Before his senior year he averaged 4 points a game. To put it in context in UT terms Laniers Trajectory is like Mashack. DK's trajectory is like ZZ's. Not knocking Lanier or saying he only has one year of being the dude that carried his team and that was at a directional university in Florida I've never heard of in the same conference (ASUN) with Austin Peay, Lipscomb and Bellarmine. DK played in the Big Sky also a mid-major but slightly higher up the totem pole and was an impact player from day 1.

I am sure Lanier will be a big part of this teams success this year. .I just have way lower expectations for any of the transfers compared to DK and I mean that based on the expectations I had for DK before he went super saiyan. I think the biggest impact player from this batch of transfers will be Milicic. I also think as a whole this batch can possibly contribute more than last year's batch. We have a lot of different guys that can play a lot of roles. Milici and Okpara are the high-floor guys who will be almost guaranteed dependable. Lanier and Dubar are the high-ceiling lets hope guys. I haven't heard much lately butthe reports on both Dubar and Lanier early were kinda disturbing (less athletic than expected out of shape) Hopefully those were exaggerations.
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walkenvol said:
I disagree with the “better weapons” comment. Knecht had Vescovi, James & Aidoo. Lanier has 2 lower division transfers who’s anybody’s guess at this point and Felex who isn’t the scorer like Aidoo. We’re hoping ZZZ and JM step up their offense
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Vescovi wasn't worth a crap scoring last year and James wasn't anything great either. Everything I've heard this years team is much more offensively inclined
 
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#42
#42
Vawlk Tuah said:
Vescovi wasn't worth a crap scoring last year and James wasn't anything great either. Everything I've heard this years team is much more offensively inclined
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ehhhhh... ok lol. James had his best season at UT. Both he and Santi contributed in ways that did not necessarily look impressive to the Casual fan but they both played winning basketball. UT under Barnes has and will always live and die on the defensive end of the court. they contributed there. This team will probably be one of the better offensive squads he's had but probably one of he worst defensively. You might think that Santi played like crap (he had a lot going on) but trust me his mere presence on the court created open shot opportunities for DK. People freaking out because Santi and James scored a bit less than expected don't get how math works. There are only so many points a Barnes team is gonna score per game. If one person is scoring 21 then there are less points out there for others. The year before DK got here the leading scorer was 12.5 a game with the next 3 dropping 10. DK came in doing 21. Before that you had 2 dropping 13 and one dropping 10. We averaged 79 points game last season... if one person is scoring 21 there is only so much left for everyone else.

Also a team can be as offensively inclined as they want to be but can they score? Can they get the stops that are required to generate more possessions? it does not matter how many points you're inclined to score if the other team scores more.

This team is the most unproven team Barnes has fielded. Period no question. This will be Rick Barnes 10th year coaching at UT. In those 10 years only in his first year where Kevin Punter Averaged 22 points a game. and the 2020 season where we had 2 one and dones.T he heart of his teams has been a group of 4-5 guys that were in his system for a year or more. This year we have 3 guys that will be in normal rotation that have experience in his system ZZ, Mashack and Gainey. ZZ and Macshack I think we can all agree are known quantities and Gainey could be something. Honestly I think Gainey making a big impact is at least as likely as Lanier or Dubar. We have never seen this many new faces under Barnes and next year there will be even more.

Barnes is a clear developer of talent that's his claim to fame. Even guys that transfer out of his program tend to do fairly well elsewhere. Every player that comes in his program leaves a better and different player. but it takes time. People in BB forums are making same mistake FF forum has with expecting too much out of Nico. This will be a good team but not likely as good as last year IMO. Our record might be better especially early in the season because our schedule is probably the easiest we have had in years. we could start off 12 or 13-0 and still not be a better team than last year. All it takes is one guy not buying in and going rogue because we don't have the chemistry and sense of family the teams the past 6-7 years have had. Those guys that played for Barnes recently would run through a wall for him. From the Grant Williams era on. Santi and James took on lesser roles last year and allowed DK to do what he did.. Because CRB asked them to.
 
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#43
#43
pimo1 said:
ehhhhh... ok lol. James had his best season at UT. Both he and Santi contributed in ways that did not necessarily look impressive to the Casual fan but they both played winning basketball. UT under Barnes has and will always live and die on the defensive end of the court. they contributed there. This team will probably be one of the better offensive squads he's had but probably one of he worst defensively. You might think that Santi played like crap (he had a lot going on) but trust me his mere presence on the court created open shot opportunities for DK. People freaking out because Santi and James scored a bit less than expected don't get how math works. There are only so many points a Barnes team is gonna score per game. If one person is scoring 21 then there are less points out there for others. The year before DK got here the leading scorer was 12.5 a game with the next 3 dropping 10. DK came in doing 21. Before that you had 2 dropping 13 and one dropping 10. We averaged 79 points game last season... if one person is scoring 21 there is only so much left for everyone else.

Also a team can be as offensively inclined as they want to be but can they score? Can they get the stops that are required to generate more possessions? it does not matter how many points you're inclined to score if the other team scores more.

This team is the most unproven team Barnes has fielded. Period no question. This will be Rick Barnes 10th year coaching at UT. In those 10 years only in his first year where Kevin Punter Averaged 22 points a game. and the 2020 season where we had 2 one and dones.T he heart of his teams has been a group of 4-5 guys that were in his system for a year or more. This year we have 3 guys that will be in normal rotation that have experience in his system ZZ, Mashack and Gainey. ZZ and Macshack I think we can all agree are known quantities and Gainey could be something. Honestly I think Gainey making a big impact is at least as likely as Lanier or Dubar. We have never seen this many new faces under Barnes and next year there will be even more.

Barnes is a clear developer of talent that's his claim to fame. Even guys that transfer out of his program tend to do fairly well elsewhere. Every player that comes in his program leaves a better and different player. but it takes time. People in BB forums are making same mistake FF forum has with expecting too much out of Nico. This will be a good team but not likely as good as last year IMO. Our record might be better especially early in the season because our schedule is probably the easiest we have had in years. we could start off 12 or 13-0 and still not be a better team than last year. All it takes is one guy not buying in and going rogue because we don't have the chemistry and sense of family the teams the past 6-7 years have had. Those guys that played for Barnes recently would run through a wall for him. From the Grant Williams era on. Santi and James took on lesser roles last year and allowed DK to do what he did.. Because CRB asked them to.
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I unfortunately don't have the time to read this and I'm sure it's very interesting but my point is Santi was bad offensively which was the topic at hand. James scoring 10-12 points a game is ok but nothing great. Santi was great due to his defense but was absolutely a liability shooting. I'm not bashing them I'm just pointing out what my lookballs saw. Have a great day
 
#44
#44
Vawlk Tuah said:
I unfortunately don't have the time to read this and I'm sure it's very interesting but my point is Santi was bad offensively which was the topic at hand. James scoring 10-12 points a game is ok but nothing great. Santi was great due to his defense but was absolutely a liability shooting. I'm not bashing them I'm just pointing out what my lookballs saw. Have a great day
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Defense.....with Santi and James scoring less than people would have liked this was still the most potent offense Barnes feilded outside of Grant's senior Year. But even that team was built around defense. This team has 3 guys ZZ, Mashack and Okpara that are defensive guys. The rest of the roster maxes out at not a defensive liability. We lost 6 players from our 8-man rotation last year. 5 of them were defensive guys. We brought 1 in to replace that.

Dubar and Milicic are projected to be ok defenders. Lanier nope, Boswell I'm not sure about. Rick Barnes isn't going from Rick Barnes to Jerry Tarkanian in one year. We project to be a decent team IF all of our transfers and former bench players work out. I would bet on the over there but not much over.
 
#45
#45
pimo1 said:
Defense.....with Santi and James scoring less than people would have liked this was still the most potent offense Barnes feilded outside of Grant's senior Year. But even that team was built around defense. This team has 3 guys ZZ, Mashack and Okpara that are defensive guys. The rest of the roster maxes out at not a defensive liability. We lost 6 players from our 8-man rotation last year. 5 of them were defensive guys. We brought 1 in to replace that.

Dubar and Milicic are projected to be ok defenders. Lanier nope, Boswell I'm not sure about. Rick Barnes isn't going from Rick Barnes to Jerry Tarkanian in one year. We project to be a decent team IF all of our transfers and former bench players work out. I would bet on the over there but not much over.
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Ok...
 
#46
#46
BernardKingGOAT said:
It

No, he wasn't as good as Ellis or Houston. Probably not Grunfeld either
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I disagree. IMO, Knecht is the best basketball player to ever wear Tennessee orange. I said that last year, and I think his NBA career will prove it.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and mine is no more weighted than anyone else’s.

Also note that I did not say that he had the best Tennessee career, etc., because he was only here one year.

But, goodness, he is athletic and explosive. Not just a 3-point shooter. Also strong from mid-range and able to finish above and below the rim. I love watching him play.
 
#47
#47
EZE said:
I disagree. IMO, Knecht is the best basketball player to ever wear Tennessee orange. I said that last year, and I think his NBA career will prove it.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and mine is no more weighted than anyone else’s.

Also note that I did not say that he had the best Tennessee career, etc., because he was only here one year.

But, goodness, he is athletic and explosive. Not just a 3-point shooter. Also strong from mid-range and able to finish above and below the rim. I love watching him play.
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Better than King? Are you old enough to remember Bernard?
 
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