2024-2025 Tennessee Basketball Team Discussion

#77
#77
Dallasbowlin said:
From the Trilly discord:

“Got to see a good chunk of practice today. I think the starters are pretty set in stone. Z, Chaz, Shack, Igor and Felix. Front court is excellent. Igor and Felix are both perfect fits and really good. Cade is really coming along. I would say arguably the best frontcourt we’ve had and that’s without JP who is going to be a pro eventually. Z is obviously a really nice luxury at PG and gives Rick a lot of peace of mind to keep things running smoothly. We’ve got to get a lot more offense from the 2 and 3 spots. Cam was better today but still inconsistent. Shack is what he is which is still extremely valuable but most of the value on defense. Gainey is banged up but can at least make some shots when he gets hot. Chaz had a really rough day. Things not clicking for Dstone at all. I think with Z and the frontcourt and defense we cruise to a top 4/5 seed but Chaz and Cam’s offense probably determine whether or not we can compete at the very top of the league/sport”
Click to expand...
Few follow up posts:

About Dstone:
He’s just having a rough time with the transition mentally.

“Vols will be very solid. I’m pretty confident that Igor is one of the 6-8 best players in the league and Z at PG+ the defense = a very high floor.”
 
  • Like
Reactions: MinisterofDef#92, b_gann, Chaz-Vol and 1 other person
#81
#81
  • Like
Reactions: volfan__18, FeelVol, chuckiepoo and 3 others
#82
#82
cncchris33 said:
Somewhat ironic that the two biggest transfer "wins" on paper were Lanier and Dubar, and yet Milicic and Okpara have allegedly been the most impressive players in the summer/preseason.
Click to expand...
I stated all along Milicic will be the the best one of the portal additions. Okpara will be the force needed inside but for offensive game Milicic is the one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FeelVol and cncchris33
#83
#83
cncchris33 said:
I was always concerned (and vocal) about whether he'd translate. It was always concerning that it took him 4 years to make an impact at the low-major level. The news on him hasn't been impressive to say the least.
Click to expand...
Maybe you’re referencing other reports I’ve missed, but most all the ones I’ve wwwj since summer wouldn’t fall under the “hasn’t been impressive” category, unless of course the expectations were Knecht. We heard about him being the only guy to successfully complete the KD drill and did so on day 2 iirc, we’ve heard various times he’s the teams best shooter, the negative has stayed the same since early on that he’s not likely going to be able to go get his own at this level consistently.

My way too early thought is he’s a 25+mpg starter ego probably averages 12+PPG and likely leads the team in 3pt made…to be that wouldn’t be a disappointment, but again maybe my expectations aren’t nearly as high as others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol, Orange., whodeycin85 and 4 others
#84
#84
knoxvol52 said:
I stated all along Milicic will be the the best one of the portal additions. Okpara will be the force needed inside but for offensive game Milicic is the one.
Click to expand...
Barnes said yesterday they’ll play him 1-5 and that they’ve never had anyone like him, I think he could mess around and get drafted, but age will obviously be a negative.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol, Orange., BernardKingGOAT and 2 others
#85
#85
bleedingTNorange said:
Maybe you’re referencing other reports I’ve missed, but most all the ones I’ve wwwj since summer wouldn’t fall under the “hasn’t been impressive” category, unless of course the expectations were Knecht. We heard about him being the only guy to successfully complete the KD drill and did so on day 2 iirc, we’ve heard various times he’s the teams best shooter, the negative has stayed the same since early on that he’s not likely going to be able to go get his own at this level consistently.

My way too early thought is he’s a 25+mpg starter ego probably averages 12+PPG and likely leads the team in 3pt made…to be that wouldn’t be a disappointment, but again maybe my expectations aren’t nearly as high as others.
Click to expand...
I’d definitely be happy with that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo, Orange. and walkenvol
#86
#86
bleedingTNorange said:
Barnes said yesterday they’ll play him 1-5 and that they’ve never had anyone like him, I think he could mess around and get drafted, but age will obviously be a negative.
Click to expand...
I believe after the season fans will be saying "I wish he had another year" just as individuals have said about Knecht. Imo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#87
#87
bleedingTNorange said:
Maybe you’re referencing other reports I’ve missed, but most all the ones I’ve wwwj since summer wouldn’t fall under the “hasn’t been impressive” category, unless of course the expectations were Knecht. We heard about him being the only guy to successfully complete the KD drill and did so on day 2 iirc, we’ve heard various times he’s the teams best shooter, the negative has stayed the same since early on that he’s not likely going to be able to go get his own at this level consistently.

My way too early thought is he’s a 25+mpg starter ego probably averages 12+PPG and likely leads the team in 3pt made…to be that wouldn’t be a disappointment, but again maybe my expectations aren’t nearly as high as others.
Click to expand...
I'd be happy if Chaz was 80% of Antonio Reeves type player who's awesome reliable shooter. I'd even be happy with junior or senior year Vescovi type shooter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#88
#88
bleedingTNorange said:
Maybe you’re referencing other reports I’ve missed, but most all the ones I’ve wwwj since summer wouldn’t fall under the “hasn’t been impressive” category, unless of course the expectations were Knecht. We heard about him being the only guy to successfully complete the KD drill and did so on day 2 iirc, we’ve heard various times he’s the teams best shooter, the negative has stayed the same since early on that he’s not likely going to be able to go get his own at this level consistently.

My way too early thought is he’s a 25+mpg starter ego probably averages 12+PPG and likely leads the team in 3pt made…to be that wouldn’t be a disappointment, but again maybe my expectations aren’t nearly as high as others.
Click to expand...
In addition to the idea that he will struggle to get his own shot, it was also reported that he showed up out of shape, which I'd bet is an additional contributing factor to not being able to create separation, and isn't a great look for someone who commanded such attention and financial commitment in the portal.

Look, I get that you're going to go to bat for the guy, and you are well aware of my long-standing skepticism. We probably won't find any much more common ground than simply arriving at that conclusion. Clearly I don't, and never have expected Knecht-like production from him. For starters, Knecht is the best player we've had in 30 years, IMO.
Secondly, I've always leaned more heavily to the "believe it when I see it" camp with regards to Lanier based on his NFU career. I've just never believed he was a special player, and I have said as much more than a few times. If all he is is a really good shooter (your claim), then we've got an expensive upgraded version of Jordan Gainey. And there's a spot for that, but I'll understand fan frustration if that's his ceiling after all the fanfare of his portal recruitment. In fact, part of what makes Gainey's frustrating level of play even slightly tolerable is that he came to Tennessee with little applause.
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol
#89
#89
Chaz-Vol said:
I'd be happy if Chaz was 80% of Antonio Reeves type player who's awesome reliable shooter. I'd even be happy with junior or senior year Vescovi type shooter.
Click to expand...
If Chaz is 80% of the player Antonio Reeves was last year, we should all be doing backflips. He averaged 45% from 3 on 188 attempts, averaged 20 ppg, and if not for Knecht, likely is SEC POY, last year.

But Reeves also shot 56% from 2 on 8 2-pt FGAs per games, as well. The knock on Lanier is that is where he may struggle, so of he can manage to give you something in that area and 80% of Reeves in every other offensive area, it probably changes some opinions on him, mine included.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheMookieMonster, berryvol, NighthawkVol and 1 other person
#90
#90
cncchris33 said:
In addition to the idea that he will struggle to get his own shot, it was also reported that he showed up out of shape, which I'd bet is an additional contributing factor to not being able to create separation, and isn't a great look for someone who commanded such attention and financial commitment in the portal.

Look, I get that you're going to go to bat for the guy, and you are well aware of my long-standing skepticism. We probably won't find any much more common ground than simply arriving at that conclusion. Clearly I don't, and never have expected Knecht-like production from him. For starters, Knecht is the best player we've had in 30 years, IMO.
Secondly, I've always leaned more heavily to the "believe it when I see it" camp with regards to Lanier based on his NFU career. I've just never believed he was a special player, and I have said as much more than a few times. If all he is is a really good shooter (your claim), then we've got an expensive upgraded version of Jordan Gainey. And there's a spot for that, but I'll understand fan frustration if that's his ceiling after all the fanfare of his portal recruitment. In fact, part of what makes Gainey's frustrating level of play even slightly tolerable is that he came to Tennessee with little applause.
Click to expand...
If he’s a better shooter than Gainey and can match Gainey’s defense then we should all be happy. If he’s lacking on D and can’t give us 13-16 a night with high efficiency, then he’s going to be a disappointment to most of us.

Surely there’s enough time for a 22 yo college basketball player to reach a high level of conditioning before we enter conference play. Rocky went from being a slob to elite condition in 6 weeks so why can’t Chaz?
 
#91
#91
walkenvol said:
If he’s a better shooter than Gainey and can match Gainey’s defense then we should all be happy. If he’s lacking on D and can’t give us 13-16 a night with high efficiency, then he’s going to be a disappointment to most of us.

Surely there’s enough time for a 22 yo college basketball player to reach a high level of conditioning before we enter conference play. Rocky went from being a slob to elite condition in 6 weeks so why can’t Chaz?
Click to expand...
That's just it, unless he turns a sudden corner on defense, he's going to be an average/below average defender in the SEC. Statistically, he was middle of the road as a defender for his North Florida team, last year, in a much easier league. I, for one, don't really believe that Gainey was a great defender, last year. He had moments, and his defense seemed to improve as his offense fell off as the season grew older (more focus on that end to maintain playing time, perhaps) but the overall efficiency stats don't really favor him. He wasn't statistically an elite defender at USC-Upstate, either.
 
#92
#92
cncchris33 said:
That's just it, unless he turns a sudden corner on defense, he's going to be an average/below average defender in the SEC. Statistically, he was middle of the road as a defender for his North Florida team, last year, in a much easier league. I, for one, don't really believe that Gainey was a great defender, last year. He had moments, and his defense seemed to improve as his offense fell off as the season grew older (more focus on that end to maintain playing time, perhaps) but the overall efficiency stats don't really favor him. He wasn't statistically an elite defender at USC-Upstate, either.
Click to expand...
In my opinion, Gainey became a solid team defender as the season progressed and made a couple great defensive plays in the NCAA tournament. I agree when the season began he was still a work in progress.

If Chaz proves to be below average on D, unable to regularly get his shot off the dribble, and only scores 10-12 a game as a spot up shooter - then to me he will be a bust.

Knecht was supposed to be a defensive liability when he arrived and the staff worked with him until he was at least average and I’d argue above average as he became a pretty good shot blocker. If the staff can do that for Knecht who was our unquestioned go-to offensive option then I’m hopeful Chaz can develop on D also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StoneokeyVol and cncchris33
#93
#93
walkenvol said:
In my opinion, Gainey became a solid team defender as the season progressed and made a couple great defensive plays in the NCAA tournament. I agree when the season began he was still a work in progress.

If Chaz proves to be below average on D, unable to regularly get his shot off the dribble, and only scores 10-12 a game as a spot up shooter - then to me he will be a bust.

Knecht was supposed to be a defensive liability when he arrived and the staff worked with him until he was at least average and I’d argue above average as he became a pretty good shot blocker. If the staff can do that for Knecht who was our unquestioned go-to offensive option then I’m hopeful Chaz can develop on D also.
Click to expand...
Man, y’all are harsh.

If Chaz scores 10-12 points a game, but gives up less than that to the guy he’s defending, then I‘m happy. I don’t care how he scores them. If he all he does is prove to be a reliable spot up shooter, then at the very least that means that the person guarding him can’t sag on defense while he’s on the perimeter. That should open up driving lanes for Ziegler (and lobs for Okpara on a pick and roll with Z). Mashack should benefit as well from a spread out defense, as his offensive game is better when he drives to the basket.

From the sounds of it, Igor has a 3 level offensive game. If he’s a halfway decent defender, then we’re cooking with gas, because we‘ve already got 2 elite defenders on the perimeter in Z and Mashack, and Okpara as the eraser for anyone that gets near the basket.

We might have some growing pains as we figure out who the best contributors will be after the starting five, though. The good news is that any of the bench players is good enough to have a major impact on a given night. Hopefully some of them will be able to consistently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cardvolfan, chuckiepoo, tev.sm and 4 others
#94
#94
SGidds said:
Man, y’all are harsh.

If Chaz scores 10-12 points a game, but gives up less than that to the guy he’s defending, then I‘m happy. I don’t care how he scores them. If he all he does is prove to be a reliable spot up shooter, then at the very least that means that the person guarding him can’t sag on defense while he’s on the perimeter. That should open up driving lanes for Ziegler (and lobs for Okpara on a pick and roll with Z). Mashack should benefit as well from a spread out defense, as his offensive game is better when he drives to the basket.

From the sounds of it, Igor has a 3 level offensive game. If he’s a halfway decent defender, then we’re cooking with gas, because we‘ve already got 2 elite defenders on the perimeter in Z and Mashack, and Okpara as the eraser for anyone that gets near the basket.

We might have some growing pains as we figure out who the best contributors will be after the starting five, though. The good news is that any of the bench players is good enough to have a major impact on a given night. Hopefully some of them will be able to consistently.
Click to expand...
Maybe you’re viewing Chaz through a different lens than me? What you described would be a solid addition to the team unless he’s just completely sub par on D. I’m viewing him as likely our highest paid NIL portal recruit and the expected production that should come from that. He can be a “bust” compared to the expectations and still be a productive piece of the team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaz-Vol
#95
#95
I'd like to see (and I believe it will be) this team built differently than last year from a scoring standpoint. Don't get me wrong, I loved having Knecht last year and he was a ton of fun to watch But I'd rather our scoring be built more like UConn's last year. I want 5-6 guys that give me 8-12 points with the potential for any of them to go off on a hot night and score 20.

Zeigler - 10-12 points, 4-5 assists
Chaz - 10-14 points
Mashack - 8-10 points
Carr - 8-10 points
Igor - 10-16 points, 6-8 rebounds
Okpara - 8-12 points, 8-10 rebounds (I can see his points from lobs and O rebounds)
Gainey - 6-8 points
Bunbar - 6-8 points
Estrella - 4-6 Points

That'd put us in the 80-85 range each night which may be a little high.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vols All Day, NighthawkVol and chuckiepoo
#96
#96
bleedingTNorange said:
Maybe you’re referencing other reports I’ve missed, but most all the ones I’ve wwwj since summer wouldn’t fall under the “hasn’t been impressive” category, unless of course the expectations were Knecht. We heard about him being the only guy to successfully complete the KD drill and did so on day 2 iirc, we’ve heard various times he’s the teams best shooter, the negative has stayed the same since early on that he’s not likely going to be able to go get his own at this level consistently.

My way too early thought is he’s a 25+mpg starter ego probably averages 12+PPG and likely leads the team in 3pt made…to be that wouldn’t be a disappointment, but again maybe my expectations aren’t nearly as high as others.
Click to expand...

I see him as a more athletic Santi. Which if you're getting that or an upgrade that's going to help this team.

If Igor and Felix can score consistently inside they'll be great options for us. Don't think any one guy this year will be a DK level scorer... hopefully we have 3-5 guys all pushing north of double digits though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#97
#97
I’m curious how many minutes we’re all not figuring, and if the production might be better than we’re thinking, for Cade Phillips. Not saying he’s gonna all of a sudden set the woods on fire, but he’s already been somebody that makes the most of his minutes in the sense that he always plays hard and works to get in the correct spots. I think his minutes could be up and down, but the way he runs the floor could be a surprise to a lot of people in terms of production. Jmo
 
  • Like
Reactions: berryvol, Vol49er, StoneokeyVol and 1 other person
#98
#98
Lefteye said:
I’m curious how many minutes we’re all not figuring, and if the production might be better than we’re thinking, for Cade Phillips. Not saying he’s gonna all of a sudden set the woods on fire, but he’s already been somebody that makes the most of his minutes in the sense that he always plays hard and works to get in the correct spots. I think his minutes could be up and down, but the way he runs the floor could be a surprise to a lot of people in terms of production. Jmo
Click to expand...
Guess depends how much further is his offensive game has developed. Size wise he's a natural 4 but because he's limited offensively will be at the 5 mostly. Having him on the floor as a 4 would really clog up the offense though if he's mostly a within 5 feet guy.
 
#99
#99
Chaz-Vol said:
Guess depends how much further is his offensive game has developed. Size wise he's a natural 4 but because he's limited offensively will be at the 5 mostly. Having him on the floor as a 4 would really clog up the offense though if he's mostly a within 5 feet guy.
Click to expand...
without seeing the other 4s minus Igor, I don’t think “clog” would apply.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#100
#100
MoCo_Vol said:
I see him as a more athletic Santi. Which if you're getting that or an upgrade that's going to help this team.

If Igor and Felix can score consistently inside they'll be great options for us. Don't think any one guy this year will be a DK level scorer... hopefully we have 3-5 guys all pushing north of double digits though.
Click to expand...
I see Chaz’s only trait equal to or better than Vescovi based on early season reports is he’s likely a better shooter than last year’s Vescovi. I suspect he won’t match Vescovi’s rebounding, defense, or assists. Like JJJ, Vescovi ended up being something of an extra coach on the floor which we won’t see from any one year portal rental. IMO, Chaz is going to have to score 12-15 a game on a high percentage shooting to match the overall contribution we lose with Vescovi. JMO, TIFWIW
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top