The Official #20 Tennessee vs. North Florida Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, SEC Network +

#201
#201
TheMookieMonster said:
Think our starting lineup seems fairly clear now after 3 games.

Gillespie
Boswell
Ament
Estrella
Okpara
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Not sure starting means as much this year. Matchup moves, whether eliminating an advantage by opponents or forcing a move to eliminate our advantage MAY be the driver to playing time with so many players so close in offensive proficiency. Stops and rebounds and ability to stretch their defense and create lanes and to mitigate foul trouble can all be chess move drivers more than ever.

I don’t see classic short bench for us this year. Not going to emulate the revolving door our women employ, but keeping more guys ACTIVELY involved tactically beyond fresh legs.
 
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#202
#202
Orange Navy said:
I see what you're saying, but I disagree with Estrella being one of the best offensive options. I think you can include most of the front court in that conversation... Phillips, Okpara, Carey. The key is how will Barnes use those guys and how much offense we can expect from out post players. The 2-guard is really going to be downplayed this season. Play defense and make a wide-open three. That will earn you minutes as a shooting guard.
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Estrella has more points himself through 3 games than the other 4 posts have combined, he has an offensive game, understanding, skill set and hands that those guys simply don’t possess.
 
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#203
#203
VolArmy74 said:
I see now Boswell's path to big minutes. Burg was just horrible on defense tonight. He looked much less athletic than the NF guards, who didn't look very athletic themselves.
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Yup, and I don’t think he’s gonna bring much more offensively than what Boswell does, he definitely has a bit of a way to go. You could tell Barnes was searching for who was gonna guard at the 2 spot, it’s was a merry go round all night there.
 
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#206
#206
Outside of Gainey every blue moon - it felt like last years team lacked a player that could will his way to a bucket when the offense was flat.

Feels like we have 3 this year in Kobi, ament and JP. We should be leaning on them as our offensive identity moving fwd.
 
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#210
#210
Jax_Vol said:
Offense has to be sucking hard for me to not start Felix to set tone inside.

May get to that point, but no time soon.
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Yea, kinda feels like 1 of Estrella/Carey and 1 of Phillips/Okpara is the pairings that will see the court, maybe Brown takes the Carey spot, we’ll see. But Estrella and Carey aren’t the defenders the other 2 are, but then those 2 don’t have the offensive game, you kinda need to mix and match them…unless it’s late in a game and need stops, or offense/defense type stuff.
 
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#211
#211
bleedingTNorange said:
Yea, kinda feels like 1 of Estrella/Carey and 1 of Phillips/Okpara is the pairings that will see the court, maybe Brown takes the Carey spot, we’ll see. But Estrella and Carey aren’t the defenders the other 2 are, but then those 2 don’t have the offensive game, you kinda need to mix and match them…unless it’s late in a game and need stops, or offense/defense type stuff.
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I'd be very interested in seeing extended minutes with JP and Cade together. Might be an issue if we're struggling guarding the lane, but the offense between those two would open up a lot for Ament and Jakobi.
 
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#214
#214
Orange Navy said:
I see what you're saying, but I disagree with Estrella being one of the best offensive options. I think you can include most of the front court in that conversation... Phillips, Okpara, Carey. The key is how will Barnes use those guys and how much offense we can expect from out post players. The 2-guard is really going to be downplayed this season. Play defense and make a wide-open three. That will earn you minutes as a shooting guard.
Click to expand...
You’re seeing something I’m missing if JP isn’t clearly the most offensively skilled post on our team. JMO
 
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#215
#215
walkenvol said:
You’re seeing something I’m missing if JP isn’t clearly the most offensively skilled post on our team. JMO
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It’s not even a debate comparing the touch and hands. I mentioned prior, Okpara needs to be what he is and keep working but inside will not have a smoothe finishing postgame. He’s just not wired nor has the hands for it. Remember, he didn’t use his hands to play sports until teenage years. That’s a lot of hand/eye coordination missed out on.
 
#218
#218
Hbg said:
I guess we will see, I hope you are right.
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I think it's highly possible that's he is somewhat streaky with the 3. Some nights, like last night, he might miss most of them. Other nights he might get hot with it. Nevertheless, he doesn't need to stop shooting them because again, he's got an ultra smooth stroke
 
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#219
#219
BernardKingGOAT said:
I think it's highly possible that's he is somewhat streaky with the 3. Some nights, like last night, he might miss most of them. Other nights he might get hot with it. Nevertheless, he doesn't need to stop shooting them because again, he's got an ultra smooth stroke
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His stroke doesn’t come off to me as smooth but some of the best shooters don’t have the best looking shots. Look at Reggie miller.
 
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#220
#220
Hbg said:
His stroke doesn’t come off to me as smooth but some of the best shooters don’t have the best looking shots. Look at Reggie miller.
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Miller had a completely unorthodox manner of shooting that shouldn't ever be copied. It worked for him because it was his own and he repeated it every single time
 
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#222
#222
bleedingTNorange said:
With Gillespie/Ament/Estrella being by far your best offensive options you need defense around those guys…it’s why I think Boswell (and then either Abram, Burg, Henderson) at the 2…and then alongside Estrella you’ll have Phillips, Okpara (and even Brown, Carey). At some point the rotation is going to get trimmed down, but the schedule to start this year allows Barnes to really give guys chances, I said it way back but this team feels by far the team to me that has the most potential room to grow throughout the year.
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It definitely does have the most potential for growth throughout the year. It’s gonna be fun/interesting to see what happens. If they do eventually start to gel & learn how to play together, their ceiling is the highest of Rick’s tenure here, IMO.
 
#223
#223
I don't think it's as much about who starts as it will be who finishes. It looks like the starters will be JG, BB, NA, CP, and FO. People in at the end could be JG, AA/BB, NA, CP/FO, and JE. Gillespie and Ament need to be a little more stingy with their shot selection on the jumpers, but I think that will come as the season moves along.
 
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