BTO’s Louisville postgame report

#1
bleedingTNorange

bleedingTNorange

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#1
1. Well I definitely didn’t think Tennessee was going to put up 92, but I definitely also didn’t see us giving up 81 to Louisville (even though they average 92ppg on the year). Obviously the good is we’ve got some serious firepower, the bad is that the defense was disappointing and that is supposed to be our identity. Giving up 44% from the field, 40% from 3 (11-28) and 75%ft (18-24), is going to lose you a lot of games, however Tennessee not only won, but won by double digits.

2. Great showing from the 2 stars...Grant goes for 24pts 9rbd 4ast 3blk & Admiral matches with 20pts 6rbd 4ast. Both guys were very efficient and it was nice to see Schofield have himself a good game after struggling a bit early in the season.

3. Welcome back Lamonte Turner, he chips in 13pts 5rbd 4ast and in typical Ice Turner fashion he nailed a couple of absolutely monster shots that if he misses who knows that the result ultimately ends up being. The offense also appeared to be better with him at backup PG than Bowden, no shocker but for a teams who’s offense was already playing pretty well he has the ability to take them to another level.

4. If John Fulkerson can give you that each night you take it and run, looking more and more like he’s going to be the guy we saw flashes of early on 2 years ago. 11mins 11pts 4-4fg 3-4ft, he has a knack for just making the right cuts and he brings another level of energy.

5. 22 assists on 34 made field goals, the announcers referenced it a couple of times but it is what Tennessee does when they are at their best. Yes Williams and Schofield are very good, but they have so many weapons that Tennessee is at their best when sharing the ball and getting it to the open man, whoever that might be. Rarely does this team take bad shots and they have so many talented guys that if you take good shots a very high percentage of them are going to go in. Our 2pt offense was something that hurt Tennessee last season, so far this year that has been a strength for Tennessee, will be something to monitor.

6. You want some negative spin, I’ll go free throw shooting and rebounding. Coming in to today we were shooting 66%ft which ranked 237th in the country, tonight we shot 64% (16-25), so that number will just get worse. I’m hoping it’s just some rust but it’s something to watch, this same team shot 76%ft last year, if they can get back close to that this offense will become incredibly efficient and near impossible to stop. I will also again mention the rebounding, it may be the one thing (assuming defense today was a fluke) that keeps them from being elite. Yes they outrebounded Louisville by 6, but they aren’t an overly big team and I would have thought we could do better. Looking at the numbers we don’t get enough from our 5 spot with rebounding, I’m not sure Kyle can improve much on it at this point but it would definitely be something that can be worked on. As for the defense, not sure what to make of it tonight, can’t make too much out of 1 game but Louisville short really well obviously and they’ve been an incredibly good offensive team, so I’m waiting to see on that one.

7. Seems likely Tennessee will get Kansas on Friday, should obviously be yet another step up in competition and to just about the highest level there is in CBB. It wil take a better effort defensively from Tennessee to get a win against Kansas, but we know Tennessee CAN be better than they were defensively. A top 5 matchup likely awaits us on Friday and as a CBB fan these are the games you make sure to find a TV and watch, the fact our Vols are on one side of it is incredible given where this program was not all that long ago...GBO!!!
 
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#2
#2
I didn’t feel defense was so bad as Louisville made lots of junk 3 pointers and had some 2nd Chance opportunities.

We dominated that game more than the score tells imo

Some weird trends emerging though with rebounding and ft shooting.

I’m inclined to believe the FT shooting is variance and will balance out.

The rebounding might be an Achilles
 
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#3
#3
Seemed like until late TN was settling for outside shots instead of going inside to the bell cow. Luckily they warmed up. That lack of discipline will result in an early exit from the NCAAT. Good thing there's a lot if time between now and March to get them focused. We'll lose several in conference that we shouldn't.
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#4
#4
omghulkhands said:
I didn’t feel defense was so bad as Louisville made lots of junk 3 pointers and had some 2nd Chance opportunities.

We dominated that game more than the score tells imo
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I agree. I will gripe about us leaving the floor too much though. I feel like they would have missed a few more had we just gotten a hand near the face.
 
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#6
#6
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Seemed like until late TN was settling for outside shots instead of going inside to the bell cow. Luckily they warmed up. That lack of discipline will result in an early exit from the NCAAT. Good thing there's a lot if time between now and March to get them focused. We'll lose several in conference that we shouldn't.
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I see it differently. We’ve played like a top team.

Against GT offense wasn’t working and defense smothered them.

In this game where Louisville is hot from 3, we keep up with good offense.

We got lots of guys that can contribute or get hot.

We’ll lose games we shouldn’t. Everyone does. But this team is versatile.
 
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#8
#8
Interesting that Louisville was on fire from the 3PL yet Barnes switched to a 2-3 down the stretch and UL went cold. I'm surprised that they weren't able to move the ball into the middle of TN's zone and keep up.
 
#9
#9
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Seemed like until late TN was settling for outside shots instead of going inside to the bell cow. Luckily they warmed up. That lack of discipline will result in an early exit from the NCAAT. Good thing there's a lot if time between now and March to get them focused. We'll lose several in conference that we shouldn't.
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I hope this was sarcasm because this take is 🚮🚮🚮
 
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#10
#10
omghulkhands said:
I see it differently. We’ve played like a top team.

Against GT offense wasn’t working and defense smothered them.

In this game where Louisville is hot from 3, we keep up with good offense.

We got lots of guys that can contribute or get hot.

We’ll lose games we shouldn’t. Everyone does. But this team is versatile.
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Maybe they were all good looks that came after UL doubled down low and TN kicked the ball outside. But early in the second half I heard that TN was 6-17 from the 3PL and it seems like a lot of TN's loses happen when they take lots of 3s.
 
#11
#11
It was an interesting game. Louisville shot lights out in the first half. It was the only way they hung with us. Sooner or later those "off balance three" stop falling and we put together a nice run. I'm eager to see how we do against Kansas.
 
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#12
#12
Lamonte "Ice Man" Turner was huge tonight. His scoring made up for an absent Alexander, who had been playing really well the first 3 games.. We will need His inside presence on defense and 6-8 boards a game to reach our potential this season. An improved Fulkerson is a big plus. This team is going to be fun to watch in what is hopefully a historic season.
 
#15
#15
When the pressure was on, they stopped making their shots. UT made theirs in pressure situations. Difference in the game.
 
#17
#17
They hit a lot of 3's that made our defense seem worse than it was but Kansas is killing the 3 right now so that will be a big test
 
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#22
#22
Johnnyreb#VFL said:
Still seems that when UT just absolutely needs a bucket, Grant is the go-to guy. Although I trust admiral and turner in those situations as well.
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He's a beast. Love me some Admiral, but it's always kinda rustled my Js that some people act like he's the best player on the team.
 
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#25
#25
Chris4Vols22 said:
He's a beast. Love me so Admiral, but it's always kinda rustled my Js that some people act like he's the best player on the team.
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He’s got the better outside shot, but that’s about it. Grant has higher b-ball IQ and doesn’t make nearly as many mistakes.
 
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