The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

#26,426
#26,426
VolArmy74 said:
Kevin Durant's first 3 games at Texas. 31mpg, 20.7ppg, 9rpg, 1.5apg, 44% fg, 31% 3pt, 82% ft, 2.7tos pg.

Nate Ament's first 3 games at Tennessee. 29mpg, 20ppg 8.7rpg, 3.7apg, 46% fg, 27% 3pt, 77% ft, 2.7tos pg.

They aren't quite the same player, but are quite similarly effective through 3 games under Coach Barnes. Ament is 6'11 if not 7'0 tall. He's not going to look fast/explosive or have a super tight looking handle at this point in his basketball life, most people his size will never achieve the handle he has already. But he dunked on the baseline last night, leaving the floor 2 feet outside the paint, and made it look effortless. At any level of play, a team is either going to have to commit a big man to try and guard him away from the basket, or he's going to simply shoot over guys who are 6'6 that can stay with him outside. That's why he's getting fouled so much, defenders are always in a bad position against him because he's a physical mismatch.
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Ament is shorter than Felix who’s listed at 6’-11”. I saw them side by side at the Georgia football game.
 
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#26,429
#26,429
I am still really excited to see this team develop...we had 3 guys with ~20+ pts - remember the days when we were begging for 3 guys to be in double digits lol.

Agree regarding t/o...this is my primary concern esp given the low-level competition we have played. Our perimeter D is obviously going to be worse than the last few yrs but it may be a real issue in conf play when we face more athletic teams. Lastly our D rebounding has been surprisingly problematic at times so far...not sure if it's focus/intensity but we def need to fix that (shortening the rotation should also help).
 
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#26,430
#26,430
MinisterofDef#92 said:
I am still really excited to see this team develop...we had 3 guys with ~20+ pts - remember the days when we were begging for 3 guys to be in double digits lol.

Agree regarding t/o...this is my primary concern esp given the low-level competition we have played. Our perimeter D is obviously going to be worse than the last few yrs but it may be a real issue in conf play when we face more athletic teams. Lastly our D rebounding has been surprisingly problematic at times so far...not sure if it's focus/intensity but we def need to fix that (shortening the rotation should also help).
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I agree the TOs are concerning, but I'm going to withhold ultimate judgement until we play someone with a pulse and still continue to see the silly stuff.

A lot of what we've seen seems to be born out of guys trying to do too much, Gillespie especially. It is easy to allow yourself to make those mistakes when there isn’t really cause for concern if it doesn't work out. For some other guys, I think it's an issue of pressing to make something happen, knowing their minutes could be short. Others, like Burg, are due to a lack of experience with this group.

I will be far more concerned if we continue to see that same level of freewheeling against Houston, Louisville, and Illinois. I expect a lot of it to be reined in and controlled.
 
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#26,432
#26,432
This has probably been talked about before, but who do we lose after the season? Gillespie, Ament, Okpara, and Abram? Anybody else?
 
#26,435
#26,435
orbs son said:
This has probably been talked about before, but who do we lose after the season? Gillespie, Ament, Okpara, and Abram? Anybody else?
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Seniors: Abram, Felix, Ja'Kobi (Hurst think he's still WO though)
Draft: Ament

The "others" I would be worried about leaving and why...

JP - If he continues pushing 20/10 all year...he's in year 3 and was a top 60 rated HS talent may decide its worth going to draft if he has a full healthy year and generates draft buzz, but I get the feeling he's enjoying college and may simply play out his eligibility
Burg - classified as a Sophomore so he could play 2 more years and he may just do that, but he's already 23 as well so may decide to just go pro. I don't think he will...he's likely here on some sort of student visa and like Santi will stay as long as possible to potentially get his citizenship. Plus NIL is probably paying better than pro ball where he'd end up anyway


Transfers are always a concern too, but I see most this roster picked this spot to develop under Barnes and because the brand/NIL is at the top.
 
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#26,438
#26,438
MoCo_Vol said:
Seniors: Abram, Felix, Ja'Kobi (Hurst think he's still WO though)
Draft: Ament

The "others" I would be worried about leaving and why...

JP - If he continues pushing 20/10 all year...he's in year 3 and was a top 60 rated HS talent may decide its worth going to draft if he has a full healthy year and generates draft buzz, but I get the feeling he's enjoying college and may simply play out his eligibility
Burg - classified as a Sophomore so he could play 2 more years and he may just do that, but he's already 23 as well so may decide to just go pro. I don't think he will...he's likely here on some sort of student visa and like Santi will stay as long as possible to potentially get his citizenship. Plus NIL is probably paying better than pro ball where he'd end up anyway


Transfers are always a concern too, but I see most this roster picked this spot to develop under Barnes and because the brand/NIL is at the top.
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I could see JP going through draft process getting feedback but coming back to be starter and made the focal point next year. Especially with how loaded this particular draft class will be.
 
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#26,439
#26,439
Chaz-Vol said:
I could see JP going through draft process getting feedback but coming back to be starter and made the focal point next year. Especially with how loaded this particular draft class will be.
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Yeah that bold part is the biggest reason I think he's back for at least 1 more season. It's obvious with his size and strength and offensive skillset he could play in the NBA. But waiting a year and going from 2nd to 1st round is a big jump in making it a far more attainable goal.
 
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#26,440
#26,440
orbs son said:
This has probably been talked about before, but who do we lose after the season? Gillespie, Ament, Okpara, and Abram? Anybody else?
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5 freshman (one will jump to the NBA)

3 sophomores (all with a lot of experience or time in the program)

2 juniors

3 seniors (all transfers)

Plus a walk on awarded the 14th scholarship.
 
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#26,442
#26,442
cncchris33 said:
I agree the TOs are concerning, but I'm going to withhold ultimate judgement until we play someone with a pulse and still continue to see the silly stuff.

A lot of what we've seen seems to be born out of guys trying to do too much, Gillespie especially. It is easy to allow yourself to make those mistakes when there isn’t really cause for concern if it doesn't work out. For some other guys, I think it's an issue of pressing to make something happen, knowing their minutes could be short. Others, like Burg, are due to a lack of experience with this group.

I will be far more concerned if we continue to see that same level of freewheeling against Houston, Louisville, and Illinois. I expect a lot of it to be reined in and controlled.
Click to expand...
💯 re: withholding judgment
 
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#26,444
#26,444
I looked but didn’t see the Vols in NBA thread, I probably looked right over it. So SIAP Congrats to our guy Jamai Mashack for his 2 day 2 way. If they’re after a defensive presence I’d say all it should take is a couple of days to see MaShack.
 
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#26,446
#26,446
Rice, by all metrics and the eye test, was the best team we have played this year in the regular season (by a wide margin)

So it was very relieving to see us finally look like the type of Rick Barnes led team we have all become accustomed to.

The erratic play was significantly reigned in, and the chemistry looked stronger.

Everybody played well, or played well in moments. A rarity when you can say that about any college BB game.

Rice played physical, which you would expect from a Lanier coached team, and the refs let them do it. I was glad for it. We needed that sort of thing, and we showed how strong and deep we are down low.

The game wasn't as close as the score appeared. We dominated. Rice is a very good shooting team from the outside (their stats in previous games bear that out) and they shot very well in the second half from deep to balance the score a bit.

How many dunks did we have this game? 15? I would guess it has to be close to a school record.

In regards to the above point, I've said this before, but we need to see how the offense responds when we play some big boys where you don't get so many easy buckets, alley-oops and back downs like we have on the weaker part of the schedule. There will be times where we'll have to get more creative with scoring.
 
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#26,447
#26,447
omghulkhands said:
Rice, by all metrics and the eye test, was the best team we have played this year in the regular season (by a wide margin)

So it was very relieving to see us finally look like the type of Rick Barnes led team we have all become accustomed to.

The erratic play was significantly reigned in, and the chemistry looked stronger.

Everybody played well, or played well in moments. A rarity when you can say that about any college BB game.

Rice played physical, which you would expect from a Lanier coached team, and the refs let them do it. I was glad for it. We needed that sort of thing, and we showed how strong and deep we are down low.

The game wasn't as close as the score appeared. We dominated. Rice is a very good shooting team from the outside (their stats in previous games bear that out) and they shot very well in the second half from deep to balance the score a bit.

How many dunks did we have this game? 15? I would guess it has to be close to a school record.

In regards to the above point, I've said this before, but we need to see how the offense responds when we play some big boys where you don't get so many easy buckets, alley-oops and back downs like we have on the weaker part of the schedule. There will be times where we'll have to get more creative with scoring.
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Agreed re: our bigs but I am really encourage by JG's ability to create in the paint (dish or score)...he seems a bit more capable due to his size than even ZZ. Abram has also shown he can create some nice assists as well (too well on that t/o last night where he expected Cade to roll - I was very surprised Cade wasn't on the same page with him). Best of all, I will assert we have the best passing frontcourt in the SEC and possibly the nation which will help immensely - our bigs are always looking for both interior and kick-out passes (Okpara's cross court pass to Burg was a dime)...love seeing the selfless play.

This, along with our t/o and def rebounding, are the 3 key issues imo facing this team which have to be addressed - will be interesting to see how we do as competition improves.

On a sidenote...I really, really like that we are seeing more of JG, Abram and Burg together (all +35% 3-pt shooters) - those 3 put immense pressure on opposing team's perimeter D and will allow our bigs more freedom else we will rain 3's down.
 
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#26,448
#26,448
Not too worried about Nate's 3 ball, he's not taking many of them in rhythm.

I do hope he gets a bit more consistent with finding his teammates off the doubles he's going to see. I expect most teams will try to match him up against a lengthy (but shorter) guard that's quick handed and then roll a 2nd player towards him. If he can anticipate this and make smart passes out of it those 3 assists a night can become 5 or 6 pretty quickly and teams will have to stop doubling him so much.
 
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#26,449
#26,449
MinisterofDef#92 said:
Agreed re: our bigs but I am really encourage by JG's ability to create in the paint (dish or score)...he seems a bit more capable due to his size than even ZZ. Abram has also shown he can create some nice assists as well (too well on that t/o last night where he expected Cade to roll - I was very surprised Cade wasn't on the same page with him). Best of all, I will assert we have the best passing frontcourt in the SEC and possibly the nation which will help immensely - our bigs are always looking for both interior and kick-out passes (Okpara's cross court pass to Burg was a dime)...love seeing the selfless play.

This, along with our t/o and def rebounding, are the 3 key issues imo facing this team which have to be addressed - will be interesting to see how we do as competition improves.

On a sidenote...I really, really like that we are seeing more of JG, Abram and Burg together (all +35% 3-pt shooters) - those 3 put immense pressure on opposing team's perimeter D and will allow our bigs more freedom else we will rain 3's down.
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Interesting comparison to ZZ: thru first 4 games of last season and this season, ZZ had 31 assists and 18 turnovers, while JG had 25 assists and 15 turnovers.
 
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#26,450
#26,450
cardvolfan said:
Interesting comparison to ZZ: thru first 4 games of last season and this season, ZZ had 31 assists and 18 turnovers, while JG had 25 assists and 15 turnovers.
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Many would be shocked to know how much better ZZ's shooting percentages were thru 4 games, too, though an admittedly small sample size.

ZZ: 15.5 ppg, 20-37 (54%), 10-21 (47.6%) from 3
JG: 16.5 ppg, 23-50 (46%), 13-32 (40.6%) from 3

Now, ZZ cooled off considerably and finished shooting 40.4% and 32.2% from 3.

If JG can maintain his percentages, that is a significant jump in efficiency on the year from that position.
 
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