bleedingTNorange
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1. Had our first bit of adversity it felt like today, first time trailing all year (got down by 8 iirc), had Awaka go out injured early, Knecht missing most of the 2nd half, lots of first half foul trouble…but Vols never seemed panicked or flustered, the veterans made sure everyone stayed steady and once Tennessee regained the lead they kept control the rest of the way, that was nice to see.
2. Speaking of veterans, I can’t say enough about JJJ after that one, and really just overall to start the season. I had mentioned how well he’s been playing but he turned in his best performance of the year today and when his teammates needed him most, his 3pt shot continues to be greatly improved and he hit the boards hard today pulling down a team high 12 rebounds, with the Awaka injury we even saw some of JJJ at the 5. He’s really rewriting his career so far through 4 games, for his sake, and Tennessee’s, I hope it continues.
3. Felt like Syracuse made a concerted effort to run us off the line and when they went zone really extending it, 14 attempts from 3 wasn’t a number I expected to see and not sure it’s a great offensive strategy for this team, but to their credit they got it done. The 16 turnovers was too many and the 41% from 2 when shooting 38% from 3 on the year is a tough one to swallow, Vescovi & Gainey really struggled as did Zeigler as well, we gotta finish better from 2, especially our guards.
4. To the teams credit while the offense wasn’t pretty (feels nice to say when still breaking 70), this game resorted to a comfort of many of the vets and Rick Barnes, tough and gritty and defensive minded. Syracuse hadn’t scored less than 79 yet this year, we held them to 56, and that was with Judah Mintz hitting some tough shots late and getting to the line. We don’t want to have to rely on that defense to be elite each and every night as we’ve learned in the past, but it’s nice to know they still got it if/when they need it.
5. Obviously not saying anything that isn’t already known, but Dalton Knecht is really damn good and is going to be such a weapon for us. Loved that we were able to do it without him for the much of the 2nd half, but his first half was needed and it felt as if he knew it and kept on going. As he continues to get more and more comfortable and Zeigler & Vescovi continue to find their footing this offense should continue to improve, their ceiling can be very high.
6. Got the W, should be a solid resume win come March away from home, wouldn’t have been a bad loss but now you’re pretty much guaranteed 2 more Q1 opportunities over the next 2 days which is huge for the overall SOS and resume. Gonna be a really tough task, have to think splitting these 2 would be a win but obviously we all are selfishly wanting more. To me the biggest thing will just be looking like we belong, Purdue returns a bunch of guys and is one of the favorites to win it all, losing that one early on doesn't mean we suck, should be a great measuring stick for our guys and learn a lot.
GBO!!!
2. Speaking of veterans, I can’t say enough about JJJ after that one, and really just overall to start the season. I had mentioned how well he’s been playing but he turned in his best performance of the year today and when his teammates needed him most, his 3pt shot continues to be greatly improved and he hit the boards hard today pulling down a team high 12 rebounds, with the Awaka injury we even saw some of JJJ at the 5. He’s really rewriting his career so far through 4 games, for his sake, and Tennessee’s, I hope it continues.
3. Felt like Syracuse made a concerted effort to run us off the line and when they went zone really extending it, 14 attempts from 3 wasn’t a number I expected to see and not sure it’s a great offensive strategy for this team, but to their credit they got it done. The 16 turnovers was too many and the 41% from 2 when shooting 38% from 3 on the year is a tough one to swallow, Vescovi & Gainey really struggled as did Zeigler as well, we gotta finish better from 2, especially our guards.
4. To the teams credit while the offense wasn’t pretty (feels nice to say when still breaking 70), this game resorted to a comfort of many of the vets and Rick Barnes, tough and gritty and defensive minded. Syracuse hadn’t scored less than 79 yet this year, we held them to 56, and that was with Judah Mintz hitting some tough shots late and getting to the line. We don’t want to have to rely on that defense to be elite each and every night as we’ve learned in the past, but it’s nice to know they still got it if/when they need it.
5. Obviously not saying anything that isn’t already known, but Dalton Knecht is really damn good and is going to be such a weapon for us. Loved that we were able to do it without him for the much of the 2nd half, but his first half was needed and it felt as if he knew it and kept on going. As he continues to get more and more comfortable and Zeigler & Vescovi continue to find their footing this offense should continue to improve, their ceiling can be very high.
6. Got the W, should be a solid resume win come March away from home, wouldn’t have been a bad loss but now you’re pretty much guaranteed 2 more Q1 opportunities over the next 2 days which is huge for the overall SOS and resume. Gonna be a really tough task, have to think splitting these 2 would be a win but obviously we all are selfishly wanting more. To me the biggest thing will just be looking like we belong, Purdue returns a bunch of guys and is one of the favorites to win it all, losing that one early on doesn't mean we suck, should be a great measuring stick for our guys and learn a lot.
GBO!!!
