1. That was a hell of a win, what a showing from Tennessee today. I have been saying for weeks that road wins in conference won’t be easy, and they won’t, which makes todays performance all the more impressive. The win against UNC on a neutral court was nice, obviously the win at home against Top 5 Arizona was as well, but today quite possibly was the best showing from Tennessee overall that we have seen. That was a game Tennessee was projected to win something like 70-63, Tennessee was elite on both ends of the court today, what a showing.
2. When Tennessee left Austin, TX a week ago they were ranked #13 overall on KenPom, they had the #55 offense and #5 defense, 2 games later and Tennessee now has the #32 ranked offense and #8 ranked defense. Yes they are still #13 team overall but they went from about a 2pt difference from #13 to #12 to now just about 0.75 point difference, they’ve made a big move, and it’s mostly due to offense. Thinking of this Tennessee team as a Top 25 offensive team months ago seemed like an absolute joke, but with their recent play it’s quite possible. Today they performed like a Top 5 team on both ends of the court, they carried over the offense from A&M game and showed the defense we saw most of the year.
3. JJJ continues his resurgence, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it largely has coincided with Tennessee playing better overall as well. He’s a huge part of our defense so you want him out there, but when he was bringing nothing offensively it really hindered us, but he’s really found something. I pointed out his shooting numbers over 6 game stretch and they just continue to get better and better, over his last 8 games he’s 16/40 from deep, 40%, and then today he even flashed a mid range pull up game as well. This team is obviously much better when he’s an offensive threat, it opens everything up and just makes everything easier, while also keeping us at our best defensively.
4. ZZ goodness, you are going to be a joy to watch and absolutely hated by opposing teams, what a steal late in the game from Barnes and his staff. He’s great defensively, really gets exposed for his size, and is really starting to adjust his offensive it would seem to this level. He was already a big factor and great player, but if he too continues to find his outside shot, WATCH OUT. Over his last 4 games he’s 11/20 from deep for 55%, that’s obviously not going to continue, but again if he’s a consistent 40% shooter or so from deep, and JJJ continues that as well and Vescovi is hanging at 40% this becomes so much better offensively. It spaces things for Chandler to drive, or our posts to get some looks, where Nkahmoua has been starting to look good as well.
5. After a game like that you can really point out tons of great things, Chandler with 10ast and 0to, Plav with 8rbd, Fulk bringing energy and some offensive pop, Nkahmoua prior to injury looking like he was gonna keep things going and continue to come on…just lots of great things after a win like that and not much negative. Negative I’ll throw out there is once again we have foul trouble in the first half, Vescovi this game JJJ last game, they are 2 of our most important players, they gotta stay out of foul trouble.
6. Ok so big picture…entering the 4 game stretch I said you gotta go at least 3-1, 4-0 would be overachieving a bit and would build some momentum…we are 2-0 to start it off with 2 of our best offensive showings on the year, got a road W and now looking for another. We sit at 16-6(7-3) and head to Starkville for an important game, they look like they’ll be one of the teams competing with us for a Top 4 finish so beating them would be huge. It’s also a chance at a Q1 win, something that helps your NET and NCAAT seeding projections, it’s a game that will likely be projected as a pick em’, a 50/50 game…it’s gonna take another good showing to get a W. They have a Top 25 offense and one of the best guards in the league in Iverson Molinar, not gonna be an easy trip but it provides a great opportunity.
GBO!!!
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