The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

#23,731
#23,731
From a KenPom perspective, If the season ended right now, Duke would be the highest rated team in the history of the stat I believe.

Obviously a good bit of ball left to play though.

They blow everybody out. They have a lot of young talent that’s been getting better as the season goes on. And Flagg is a generational talent.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol and The Dog
#23,732
#23,732
bleedingTNorange said:
Yes, lower number of possessions than expected, with that said KP only projected us to score 72 so not that far anyhow
Click to expand...

Lots of possessions went way late into the shot clock on both sides.

It’s funny too because I’ve noticed this concentrated effort we’ve been making to push the ball up the court really fast all year.

But it’s not to get transition buckets and it rarely results in transition buckets.

We do it to get into our offense with as much time on the clock as possible so we can run as many sets as we can.
 
  • Like
Reactions: walkenvol, DowntownVol and Unconditional Surrender
#23,733
#23,733
I hope that our fans show up and show out for the game on Saturday and turn TBA into a hornet’s nest. This is the biggest game of the year with historic implications for this program.

It’s just felt all year like TBA has not had the same juice it used to have. It’s sounded dead on TV more often than not. I think the fans (myself included) have become so consumed by the elusive Final Four that a sizable portion are not appreciating this team for what it has been and still can be. I’ll admit the offense isn’t pretty at times, but it’s been effective and here we are at 23-5 with 3 games left.

We have to feed the floor if we want to win this game. I hope our fans give this team the juice they deserve.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sami, walkenvol, Lankykong and 5 others
#23,734
#23,734
TheMookieMonster said:
I hope that our fans show up and show out for the game on Saturday and turn TBA into a hornet’s nest. This is the biggest game of the year with historic implications for this program.

It’s just felt all year like TBA has not had the same juice it used to have. It’s sounded dead on TV more often than not. I think the fans (myself included) have become so consumed by the elusive Final Four that a sizable portion are not appreciating this team for what it has been and still can be. I’ll admit the offense isn’t pretty at times, but it’s been effective and here we are at 23-5 with 3 games left.

We have to feed the floor if we want to win this game. I hope our fans give this team the juice they deserve.
Click to expand...
I haven’t been to a game in TBA in almost 30 years. That changes Saturday. Can’t wait to see and feel the atmosphere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vol49er and walkenvol
#23,735
#23,735
omghulkhands said:
Lots of possessions went way late into the shot clock on both sides.

It’s funny too because I’ve noticed this concentrated effort we’ve been making to push the ball up the court really fast all year.

But it’s not to get transition buckets and it rarely results in transition buckets.

We do it to get into our offense with as much time on the clock as possible so we can run as many sets as we can.
Click to expand...
Barnes wants them to push, but not at the expense of a turnover or missed basket leading to a run out the other way. We don’t have anyone great at driving and finishing, Mashack had a couple blown layups in transition that I recall last night, there’s just not someone you feel great about driving and finishing in transition.
 
#23,736
#23,736
TheMookieMonster said:
I hope that our fans show up and show out for the game on Saturday and turn TBA into a hornet’s nest. This is the biggest game of the year with historic implications for this program.

It’s just felt all year like TBA has not had the same juice it used to have. It’s sounded dead on TV more often than not. I think the fans (myself included) have become so consumed by the elusive Final Four that a sizable portion are not appreciating this team for what it has been and still can be. I’ll admit the offense isn’t pretty at times, but it’s been effective and here we are at 23-5 with 3 games left.

We have to feed the floor if we want to win this game. I hope our fans give this team the juice they deserve.
Click to expand...
At least you’re admitting that, it’s why many, myself included, have been beating that drum all year. Not being blind or sunshine pumpers or whatever it is folks wanted to call us, but to not be so reactionary and see a bigger picture as well as the landscape around us. Absolutely in play for the best regular season in program history, in the middle of the best era in program history and yet “fans” want to kick and scream like little kids if we don’t score 85+
 
  • Like
Reactions: MinisterofDef#92 and VolCalls
#23,739
#23,739
bleedingTNorange said:
At least you’re admitting that, it’s why many, myself included, have been beating that drum all year. Not being blind or sunshine pumpers or whatever it is folks wanted to call us, but to not be so reactionary and see a bigger picture as well as the landscape around us. Absolutely in play for the best regular season in program history, in the middle of the best era in program history and yet “fans” want to kick and scream like little kids if we don’t score 85+
Click to expand...

I still have concerns with the depth and offensive consistency. Gainey having the flu tonight basically forced us to run a 6-7 man rotation. And the shots don’t fall two games in a row typically.

With that being said, the mostly speaks to the coaching job being done by Barnes. I think this may be his best coaching job of his Tennessee career. The roster has some pretty glaring flaws and isn’t the most talented roster we’ve had top to bottom, yet we sit at 23-5 in the toughest league in the history of the sport.

Hope our fans have the team’s back on Saturday. Wish I could be there. But they deserve it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Willy14, Lankykong, MinisterofDef#92 and 3 others
#23,740
#23,740
Kind of what I expected last night, a 'take care of business' win in as uninspiring a setting as we've played all season. It was tough even as a viewer to get involved in that game, I can only imagine the kids subconsciously wanted to just get it done and get on the plane home.

Felix was a beast, and I love how Chaz has improved his defense and rebounding as the season has gone on. Mashack was a monster on the offensive boards, and really so was the entire team. Good thing when the offense isn't clicking like it wasn't last night.

Bring on Bama.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong, MinisterofDef#92 and VolCalls
#23,741
#23,741
TheMookieMonster said:
I still have concerns with the depth and offensive consistency. Gainey having the flu tonight basically forced us to run a 6-7 man rotation. And the shots don’t fall two games in a row typically.

With that being said, the mostly speaks to the coaching job being done by Barnes. I think this may be his best coaching job of his Tennessee career. The roster has some pretty glaring flaws and isn’t the most talented roster we’ve had top to bottom, yet we sit at 23-5 in the toughest league in the history of the sport.

Hope our fans have the team’s back on Saturday. Wish I could be there. But they deserve it.
Click to expand...

Agree on Barnes. The in-game adjustments this season have been elite and a huge reason for the position we're in.

My main concern is the team wearing down from this brutal schedule with the short rotation and no real 'breather' type games in this league. I hate the discussions of whether to try and win in the SEC tournament of lose and get more rest (who the hell tries to lose and what kind of precedent would that set?), but there's something to be said about having a full week off before the NCAA's.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol, cncchris33 and VolsAgainstTheWorld15
#23,742
#23,742
bleedingTNorange said:
At least you’re admitting that, it’s why many, myself included, have been beating that drum all year. Not being blind or sunshine pumpers or whatever it is folks wanted to call us, but to not be so reactionary and see a bigger picture as well as the landscape around us. Absolutely in play for the best regular season in program history, in the middle of the best era in program history and yet “fans” want to kick and scream like little kids if we don’t score 85+
Click to expand...
If we win out we will end with 11 quad 1 wins and no sub quad 1 losses. I don’t think we’ve ever had a team do that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohhbother and berryvol
#23,743
#23,743
TheMookieMonster said:
I hope that our fans show up and show out for the game on Saturday and turn TBA into a hornet’s nest. This is the biggest game of the year with historic implications for this program.

It’s just felt all year like TBA has not had the same juice it used to have. It’s sounded dead on TV more often than not. I think the fans (myself included) have become so consumed by the elusive Final Four that a sizable portion are not appreciating this team for what it has been and still can be. I’ll admit the offense isn’t pretty at times, but it’s been effective and here we are at 23-5 with 3 games left.

We have to feed the floor if we want to win this game. I hope our fans give this team the juice they deserve.
Click to expand...
Think I'm taking the whole family Saturday. We'll do our part.
 
  • Like
Reactions: walkenvol
#23,744
#23,744
SGMVols said:
If we win out we will end with 11 quad 1 wins and no sub quad 1 losses. I don’t think we’ve ever had a team do that.
Click to expand...
All we have to do it beat South Varolina at home to avoid any sub-Q1 losses, so that's a virtual lock, I'd think.

But here's the crazy part, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Mizzou, Ole Miss, and Georgia are all on the same track. That's how good the SEC was this year, and how consistent the SEC was out of conference, this year. Almost half the teams in the conference could finish with zero sub-Q1 losses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol and sami
#23,745
#23,745
cncchris33 said:
All we have to do it beat South Varolina at home to avoid any sub-Q1 losses, so that's a virtual lock, I'd think.

But here's the crazy part, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Mizzou, Ole Miss, and Georgia are all on the same track. That's how good the SEC was this year, and how consistent the SEC was out of conference, this year. Almost half the teams in the conference could finish with zero sub-Q1 losses.
Click to expand...

It's irritating seeing Duke blow through that creampuff league (a diminished Illinois was the big test!) going into March - really, it's the same with any league other than the SEC. As deep as this league is with the meat grinder schedules in CFB and CBB has to hurt us in some way come the post season playoff or tournament. We'll see how that plays out in March.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong, MoCo_Vol and cncchris33
#23,746
#23,746
TheMookieMonster said:
Well, our offensive efficiency numbers aren’t going to get any sort of bump off of this, but a win is a win. We survived. That’s what matters. Ugly, ugly game.
Click to expand...

Yeah the problem with officiating was highlighted big time last night. We got called for 17 fouls, LSU 19 and honestly had they called the hand checks equally LSU would have probably hit 25+ fouls.

Still shot 41.1% FG on the night and if everyone outside Chaz/Mashack had hit their 3s at their normal % would have been a far more efficient game.

They wanted it to be an ugly game, but I don't think they realized how much better at those we are than them. +15 rebound margin

For Felix to be so banged up my guy has been playing lights out!

15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks without missing a shot or free throw? Also good showing from Mashack we don't need or expect him to be a guy taking 8-10 shots every night but he has to challenge his defender some to keep them from helping elsewhere. 9 points on 5 attempts and getting 6 attempts at the line was a good night for him offensively.


We really need Igor to give us a good game Saturday...Chaz, ZZ, Felix keep doing what they've been doing and then Igor & Gainey both reach their averages and we should win.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange., Lankykong, sami and 2 others
#23,747
#23,747
MoCo_Vol said:
Yeah the problem with officiating was highlighted big time last night. We got called for 17 fouls, LSU 19 and honestly had they called the hand checks equally LSU would have probably hit 25+ fouls.
Click to expand...

I found it surprising just how physical LSU was but of course as a Tennessee fan other teams tell us we’re not allowed to “complain” about physicality because we’re physical.

I think Okpara could have surprisingly had an even bigger game but he was being mauled in the post and officials just swallowed their whistle. Dubar got shoved in the back right before half and they called it a turnover and not a foul. And while ZZ was sloppy with the basketball most of the game, LSU was swiping like crazy and hand checking to the point the officials could have called a half dozen more fouls on attempted steals by the Tigers alone.

It really just bugs me that college athletics can’t hire better officials than what we’re given in every sport. It’s awful. Hell, last night Stetson baseball ties up the game with Florida in the 7th only to have the run overturned because “the baserunner was not in the running lane” so they called him out to end the inning. I’ll let you take a guess if the official got the call right (Hint: Not even close to being the correct call).
 
#23,748
#23,748
TheMookieMonster said:
I found it surprising just how physical LSU was but of course as a Tennessee fan other teams tell us we’re not allowed to “complain” about physicality because we’re physical.

I think Okpara could have surprisingly had an even bigger game but he was being mauled in the post and officials just swallowed their whistle. Dubar got shoved in the back right before half and they called it a turnover and not a foul. And while ZZ was sloppy with the basketball most of the game, LSU was swiping like crazy and hand checking to the point the officials could have called a half dozen more fouls on attempted steals by the Tigers alone.

It really just bugs me that college athletics can’t hire better officials than what we’re given in every sport. It’s awful. Hell, last night Stetson baseball ties up the game with Florida in the 7th only to have the run overturned because “the baserunner was not in the running lane” so they called him out to end the inning. I’ll let you take a guess if the official got the call right (Hint: Not even close to being the correct call).
Click to expand...

Yeah obviously refs didn't want to foul out anyone, cause Collins, Miller and Miller III all ended the game with 4 a piece but despite trying repeatedly never did pick up their 5ths.

And it drives me crazy that people just assume complaining about inconsistent officiating is suddenly us asking for more fouls to go our way. I just want to see it as close to even as possible. The way they let Sears mug ZZ while calling Chaz and Mashack for far less all night was infuriating.
 
#23,749
#23,749
Also...I really wanna know why Dubar can't seem to carve out more minutes with us being so short benched.

He played 11 at OU and hasn't hit 7 in a game since...even with Felix, Gainey and Igor all being ill or banged up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top