My Record Prediction

#36
#36
If I’m being realistic, we will likely lose 10 games +/- 2. There’s just too much roster turnover, especially on the perimeter where the plays and defense are initiated. Barring injuries, should be much better in February/March with the possibility of a deep tournament run (at least I hope so).
 
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#37
#37
Unconditional Surrender said:
The biggest issue to me is Gillespie is probably not an All SEC pg and I thought he would be.
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I think he probably is and it is taking time to adjust and the team to gel. I expected this at the first of the season. How long it will last before and if the teams put it together, beats the crap out of me. I have faith that CRB will figure it out. One thing for sure is some of them need to tone there bodies up to SEC Physical standards.
 
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#38
#38
Okay .... I waffled between 25 and 26.
Since I am the eternal optimimist, I went with 26-5.
First, I think you are confusing finesse and physical players and making some unfounded assessments.
Second, Barnes was experimenting and letting them play...to see their ingrained habits ... in order to assess progress and tendencies. Scrimmages are to evaluate progress.
Third, This IS Rick Barnes team, he is one of the best coaches on the court. He picked these pieces!
Fourth, Are the guards slow...or...are they not sure what to do, yet. I favor the later. I do think the defense will be slower to develop this year.
Frankly, CRB seems more excited about this team than the last few years.

To be fair, on the other side ...
We might not jell.
Ament might not be physical enough.
There could be injuries.
You are worried about the defense.

Admit it, you just do not have that much confidence in our coaches. Get up outta that arm chair and do some jumping jacks. You are too out of shape for suicides. Not an accusation, just trying for a little humor to help with the medicine going down.😁
 
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#41
#41
Unimane said:
I'm going with 18-12. Watching them play just screams, to me, an above average team. Kind of reminds me of the 2019-2020 team. A lot of players of average athleticism and few scorers. Part of the ebb and flow of the sport for us to take a dip after some great seasons.
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Agreed. They may bring it all together, but it's going to take time. I expect us to get a few bloody noses in the first half of the season...well, maybe a couple more than a few...from teams we're expecting to beat.
 
#42
#42
BigOrangeSZN_05 said:
Before Tennessee tips off against Mercer in five minutes, I will quickly predict our regular-season totals and a few player statistics.

Overall: 25-5
Home Record: 19-1
Road Record: 6-4
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Losses: at #2 Houston, at #3 Florida, at #15 Alabama, vs #20 Auburn, at #9 Kentucky

Best Win: vs #9 Kentucky
Worst Loss: vs #20 Auburn
---------------------------------
Offensive Player: Nate Ament (F)
Defensive Player: Felix Okpara (F)
Overall Payer: Nate Ament (F)
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I’ll take it
 
#44
#44
Creeker said:
There were some concerning things last night, but also a lot of things that will be cleaned up and improved. Predictions of 18-20 wins fully healthy seem low to me. I’d say a floor of 22-9.
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This is about where I am as well. Over 20 wins but closer to 10 losses than 5, and that’s just fine as long as they are peaking in March rather than November and December.
 
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#45
#45
Unimane said:
I think you misread the quote. Cohesion is certainly one of the fixable things. Figuring out the rotation is going to be resolved in the next few months, no doubt.

Otherwise, I watched the game. The big men were not physically imposing on their frontcourt. Better depth, yes, but their center outscored our front court and was able to get to the basket regularly. We were not great at getting points on low post moves, either. The depth among the big men is a nice change from last year. None of them are going to regular double digit guys, unless we count Ament as a big.

Hopefully, though, my observations are proven wrong. I'd rather win than say "I told you so". We'll see how it works out.
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With what we've seen, I would agree. I have full faith that he'll fix the rebounding and defense to where we have a high floor.

I think the key to the season is what Burg, Estrella, and Troy Henderson can provide. I don't have a ton of hope for a 5 with Boswell and Carey in it. The paint is always crowded, and it's not allowing Jakobi or Nate to have quality looks. It was an issue against Duke and would be against any quality team really.
 
#46
#46
Derek Reese's jumpshot said:
We're starting Bishop Boswell and some of you think we're going to win 26 games.
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We will see, unless you are there at practices and in full view of him on the court day to day this comment is uncalled for at this time. CRB has his reasons for doing so, who knows why and time will tell. First game may change in the season but no need to question it after one game.
Geez the prediction is made on a team sport not an individual. What's more it is based upon the coach and staff. But after one game I have them as 24 -7 preseason and overall minus the Tournaments.
Too many moving pieces at the moment. The common denominator is CRB
 
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#47
#47
Too many obvious deficiencies to have a great season.

(1) Lack of quickness is glaring. The Vols will be challenged by teams with superior quickness- and that will be most opponents.
(2) No perimeter/wing scorers or shooters. Gillespie is our best option but he is playing the point. He also arches the ball too much to be a consistent shooter. He will have to move to the wing and someone else will have to move to point. I suspect we will see this soon.
(3) Not sure we have anyone in the post who can score against an athletic big. Every SEC team will have posts bigger and better than Mercer - and we struggled with Mercer
(4) Ament is talented but has issues. He will struggle to score against strong posts. He is not quick enough off of the bounce to beat a quality defender. I'm afraid he will be an inconsistent shooter from the perimeter. I don't think he can be the focus of our offense.

On a positive note - Brown has a huge upside. He is not as raw as expected - he has good hands and a soft touch. He may be the next Grant Williams, but bigger and more athletic

SEC record prediction - 10 - 8
 
#48
#48
We will understand the potential of this team after the December run when play quality opponents the entire month. I'm convinced however that despite only playing 1 game, we have more scoring options (interior, perimeter and wing) than we have had under previous Barnes teams and that includes more bench scoring. Plus this team (due to Ament) has potential to get to FT line more often....just have to make them. And I think we have overall depth to play with more pace and not worry as much about foul trouble. Further, we "should" be an excellent rebounding team given how much size we have, but guards need to crash the boards too off long 3's. Defensively, we don't have the same "lockdown" one on one defenders we had in ZZ and Mashack, but our defensive length is impressive. Guard that 3 pt line and make teams take tough 2's over our size.

Take better care of the ball (fixable) and play with more effort and cohesion on the defensive side of the ball (also fixable) then we can compete for an SEC championship in my opinion. Just have to solve some of these early issues. I trust Barnes.
 
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#49
#49
birdie74 said:
Too many obvious deficiencies to have a great season.

(1) Lack of quickness is glaring. The Vols will be challenged by teams with superior quickness- and that will be most opponents.
(2) No perimeter/wing scorers or shooters. Gillespie is our best option but he is playing the point. He also arches the ball too much to be a consistent shooter. He will have to move to the wing and someone else will have to move to point. I suspect we will see this soon.
(3) Not sure we have anyone in the post who can score against an athletic big. Every SEC team will have posts bigger and better than Mercer - and we struggled with Mercer
(4) Ament is talented but has issues. He will struggle to score against strong posts. He is not quick enough off of the bounce to beat a quality defender. I'm afraid he will be an inconsistent shooter from the perimeter. I don't think he can be the focus of our offense.

On a positive note - Brown has a huge upside. He is not as raw as expected - he has good hands and a soft touch. He may be the next Grant Williams, but bigger and more athletic

SEC record prediction - 10 - 8
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