Comments from Chris Dortch... "Tennessee has upgraded across the board"

[Hank Bukowski]

If we do get Lanier, this looks to me like a potentially better all around team than last year's team, which too often was DK or bust. Now he rarely let us down, but the reality was that aside from ZZ and occasionally Aidoo, there was nowhere else Barnes could count on for any consistent offense.

I'll always love JJJ and SV, but as we're sitting here right now Igor, Dubar, and Lanier appear to be upgrades, but of course we're going to have to see it happen at this level. The intangibles and leadership that was a huge part of their value will be picked up by ZZ and Mashack. I think after seeing how soft Aidoo was in big spots, we're going to love Okpara.

What we'll get from Carr and Estrella are two potential wild cards, and I would expect Gainey to step up after a disappointing season. This looks like it will be a typically competitive Barnes team with potentially the most balance we have seen in his time here. I'm way more fired up for this season than I thought would be possible.

I would absolutely love to see a rotation of at least 9 this fall. We need a deep bench/depth, as I see it.

 

[Volfan1000]

He makes an interesting point. I confess to thinking during this past season that the 2023 team represented the last and possibly even best shot Barnes was going to get to reach the Final Four at Tennessee. The imports and roster changes have given me second thoughts about that. I'm not sold, but I admit being curious to see what UT will make of this clearly talented bunch this year. They may have put together enough of a group to squeeze off one more round from the current era, even more so if Lanier somehow made it to Knoxville.

With Lanier now in the boat, this team has the potential to make a Final Four run and the potential to hang a national championship banner at Thompson Boling Arena.

 

[Smokey 77]

With Lanier now in the boat, this team has the potential to make a Final Four run and the potential to hang a national championship banner at Thompson Boling Arena.

Now we are talking! The excitement for the 2024-25 season is going to be through the roof!!! Let's GO!!!! It's great to be a Tennessee Vol!

 

[cardvolfan]

Perfect description of Igor - “You can run offense for him, or you can run offense through him…he’s a great defensive rebounder, one of the best in the country.”

I met Igor at the Tennessee baseball game last Saturday. He was very nice and shook my hand. Seems like a great young man, and I’m sure you will be watching him this upcoming year. Feels like we all got to know him through you. Thanks for all your input.

 

[SN-A-C Orange]

He makes an interesting point. I confess to thinking during this past season that the 2023 team represented the last and possibly even best shot Barnes was going to get to reach the Final Four at Tennessee. The imports and roster changes have given me second thoughts about that. I'm not sold, but I admit being curious to see what UT will make of this clearly talented bunch this year. They may have put together enough of a group to squeeze off one more round from the current era, even more so if Lanier somehow made it to Knoxville.

I am intrigued as well.
I thought Awaka and Aidoo would take bigger steps forward.
I did not see SV's shoulder injury having the impact that it did.
And DK surprised me!!!
However, I did think we had a final four team last year....oh well.

Looking forward... according to me ....
To start the season, the current team looks like elite eight overall talent as it is now. BUT we could struggle with fitting the pieces together.
Whose team will this be .. ZZs or JMs or perhaps CL. I am hoping it is shared among those two or three.
I think our ceiling is ...final two. And if we can get there ... Anything can happen if you let it ...

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Vols having to replace DK, SV, JJJ, plus JA & TA? Barnes said, "hold my Cheerwine"!

 

[bigorangepoppa]

I figure the team will get together and run through the sets until they are second nature. It's the commitment the players have to learn without the coaches being present that will determine the outcome for next season.

 

[Rockytop10nessee]

Chris Dortch was on Sports Talk. He had some interesting takes.

--It may be old news (I'd never heard it) and not surprising, but he said that Dalton Knecht improved his jump shot within two weeks of arriving in Knoxville. His shot was a little flat when he got here, and he corrected that after arriving on campus. Knecht has a work ethic like few he's seen.

--He said this Tennessee team has arguably upgraded across the board. At center, Felix Okpara, he wants to dunk everything at one end at block everything on the other. He's stronger, longer, and more aggressive than Aidoo. Opkara played well down the stretch last year and will get even better. He has a jump hook and Tennessee will teach him to put a little more air under that shot which will make him basically unguardable. Aidoo was chill, and that's fine, but if you're going to play the five in a power conference, you can't be chill.

--Igor Milicic is the son of a coach and plays like it. You can run offense for him and you can run offense through him. He's a great passer and a great trail jump shooter, especially from three -- his numbers are off the charts. He's a great defensive rebounder, one of the best in the county. He's a versatile player that can do all sorts of things, where Toby Awaka was still a young guy trying to come into his own.

--Darlinstone Dubar... is he better than JJJ and Vescovi? He can play the two through the five. He's another great jump shooter. He shoots off the charts from the corners. Last year he 45% from beyond the arc from the left corner and 56% from the right corner. He's a shot blocker, a rebounder, a multi-skilled guy.

--Almost every time Tennessee lost a game last year they started out slow and missed chippies around the rim. All three of these newcomers have high percentages around the rim. Okpara shot 68% around the basket.

--Sure they'll miss Knecht, but coaches will tell you they'd rather spread it around than rely on one person.

And That’s without mentioning Lanier… we’re gonna be damn good again

 

[Hank Bukowski]

I figure the team will get together and run through the sets until they are second nature. It's the commitment the players have to learn without the coaches being present that will determine the outcome for next season.

This, all day long. Only way to build team chemistry with so many new faces.

 

[berryvol]

Yeah in the transfer portal era I think attention has not been paid as much to development either. We're bringing in talented players but players like Z, Jahmai, and J. Gainey and especially Carr, Estrella and Phillips should also be better than they were last year

Carr and JP are the X factors for this team, IMO. Carr has the scoring ability to be starter-caliber at the 3 spot by the end of the season. If both of those make the big jumps they’re capable of this offseason, I agree with Dortch that this team can be better than last years and much more balanced. We can still be good without them, but those two could be the difference in a S16 team and a championship caliber team.

 

[spyfish007]

Chris Dortch was on Sports Talk. He had some interesting takes.

--It may be old news (I'd never heard it) and not surprising, but he said that Dalton Knecht improved his jump shot within two weeks of arriving in Knoxville. His shot was a little flat when he got here, and he corrected that after arriving on campus. Knecht has a work ethic like few he's seen.

--He said this Tennessee team has arguably upgraded across the board. At center, Felix Okpara, he wants to dunk everything at one end at block everything on the other. He's stronger, longer, and more aggressive than Aidoo. Opkara played well down the stretch last year and will get even better. He has a jump hook and Tennessee will teach him to put a little more air under that shot which will make him basically unguardable. Aidoo was chill, and that's fine, but if you're going to play the five in a power conference, you can't be chill.

--Igor Milicic is the son of a coach and plays like it. You can run offense for him and you can run offense through him. He's a great passer and a great trail jump shooter, especially from three -- his numbers are off the charts. He's a great defensive rebounder, one of the best in the county. He's a versatile player that can do all sorts of things, where Toby Awaka was still a young guy trying to come into his own.

--Darlinstone Dubar... is he better than JJJ and Vescovi? He can play the two through the five. He's another great jump shooter. He shoots off the charts from the corners. Last year he 45% from beyond the arc from the left corner and 56% from the right corner. He's a shot blocker, a rebounder, a multi-skilled guy.

--Almost every time Tennessee lost a game last year they started out slow and missed chippies around the rim. All three of these newcomers have high percentages around the rim. Okpara shot 68% around the basket.

--Sure they'll miss Knecht, but coaches will tell you they'd rather spread it around than rely on one person.

Ok you just seriously fired me up for basketball and I am fully in baseball mode and don't get me started on my excitement for the upcoming football season. We are very fortunate right now. Basically July and August are a bit slow, but that is it. Go Vols!

 

[NighthawkVol]

I am intrigued as well.
I thought Awaka and Aidoo would take bigger steps forward.
I did not see SV's shoulder injury having the impact that it did.
And DK surprised me!!!
However, I did think we had a final four team last year....oh well.

Looking forward... according to me ....
To start the season, the current team looks like elite eight overall talent as it is now. BUT we could struggle with fitting the pieces together.
Whose team will this be .. ZZs or JMs or perhaps CL. I am hoping it is shared among those two or three.
I think our ceiling is ...final two. And if we can get there ... Anything can happen if you let it ...

We did have a F4 team. But not all F4 teams make the Final 4. We were screwed by a) not getting the 4th 1 seed because UNC got blue blood bias and b) having to play the #2 1 seed in the E8, even though we were the top 2 seed. The o my teams better than Tennessee were UConn and Purdue and we shouldn’t have had to play either before the Final 4.

 

[RockiesTop22]

I think the floor of next years team is higher but the ceiling is lower. Vescovi and JJJ were great leaders but when they were cold they would play timid and hot potato the ball. Same can be said for Aidoo when he was hitting vs not. When they hit shots and things were spreading around the team last year could blast anyone. I think with a more balanced offense and with players that ideally can make layups and will not be afraid to drive to the hoop and dunk they should not suffer from same droughts.

Not having a Knecht that can go supernova for 8-10 point stretches will lower the ceiling of the team.

I like your assessment but - I think you’re wrong about the ceiling… not sure how you can place a ceiling on a team before they have a first practice …
We were just an elite 8 (final 4 talent) team - we upgraded in a lot of spots… even with DK gone the average points for this squad goes up- and we trust CRB to improve defense for some of these new guys - right?

Again you’re mostly right/ outside of the ceiling comment …would be interesting to see if you set a ceiling on the team in preseason last year…

Either way we’re gonna be fun to watch I think - and CRB blew me away this offseason. We legit have a top 10 baseball, basketball and football program- and the women are doing their thing too- wild time to be a Vol!

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I figure the team will get together and run through the sets until they are second nature. It's the commitment the players have to learn without the coaches being present that will determine the outcome for next season.

I bet this happens under the guidance of off season Coach ZZ.

 

[CornbreadVol]

Carr and JP are the X factors for this team, IMO. Carr has the scoring ability to be starter-caliber at the 3 spot by the end of the season. If both of those make the big jumps they’re capable of this offseason, I agree with Dortch that this team can be better than last years and much more balanced. We can still be good without them, but those two could be the difference in a S16 team and a championship caliber team.

Carr has SEC 6th MOY potential off of the bench imo

 

[calban]

Vols having to replace DK, SV, JJJ, plus JA & TA? Barnes said, "hold my Cheerwine"!

Hoping for a lil deja vue time. Reminds me of when a certain QB left for Pros and the following season everyone was thinking 'missed our chance'. Could it BE??!!!

 

[tn4elvis]

Yeah in the transfer portal era I think attention has not been paid as much to development either. We're bringing in talented players but players like Z, Jahmai, and J. Gainey and especially Carr, Estrella and Phillips should also be better than they were last year

Carr will be a star here. You can see it from him when he is on the court. I am excited to see if he has the typical freshman to sophomore improvement year most great players have

 

[tn4elvis]

I figure the team will get together and run through the sets until they are second nature. It's the commitment the players have to learn without the coaches being present that will determine the outcome for next season.

I am not worried about any of this with Z at the wheel driving this big Orange train.

 

[SlyStone]

Chemistry is going to be the key. Guys fitting into their roles may take a bit, but hopefully by December we will know just how well this team is. Hopefully with balance scoring and not one dimensional.

 

[Namorto1]

Chemistry is going to be the key. Guys fitting into their roles may take a bit, but hopefully by December we will know just how well this team is. Hopefully with balance scoring and not one dimensional.

Absolutely, the talent is there but chemistry may be difficult to assess, but I have confidence that Barnes' player profile evaluation is solid as a rock and we have great on the floor leadership with Zeigler and Mashack.
One area where the newbies are going to have to adjust to is conditioning and pace. We played faster last year but weren't thoroughbreds either with adjusted tempo at 80 per kenpom last year. Which was much higher tempo than we played the 3 years prior. I think due to depth we can play faster next year, and still maintain high level of defense.
Charlotte (Milicic) - had adjusted tempo of 356
Hofstra (Dubar) - had adjusted tempo of 283
North Florida (Lanier) - had adjusted tempo of 206
Ohio State (Okpara) - had adjusted tempo of 251

 

[patrick]

Chris Dortch was on Sports Talk. He had some interesting takes.

--It may be old news (I'd never heard it) and not surprising, but he said that Dalton Knecht improved his jump shot within two weeks of arriving in Knoxville. His shot was a little flat when he got here, and he corrected that after arriving on campus. Knecht has a work ethic like few he's seen.

--He said this Tennessee team has arguably upgraded across the board. At center, Felix Okpara, he wants to dunk everything at one end at block everything on the other. He's stronger, longer, and more aggressive than Aidoo. Opkara played well down the stretch last year and will get even better. He has a jump hook and Tennessee will teach him to put a little more air under that shot which will make him basically unguardable. Aidoo was chill, and that's fine, but if you're going to play the five in a power conference, you can't be chill.

--Igor Milicic is the son of a coach and plays like it. You can run offense for him and you can run offense through him. He's a great passer and a great trail jump shooter, especially from three -- his numbers are off the charts. He's a great defensive rebounder, one of the best in the county. He's a versatile player that can do all sorts of things, where Toby Awaka was still a young guy trying to come into his own.

--Darlinstone Dubar... is he better than JJJ and Vescovi? He can play the two through the five. He's another great jump shooter. He shoots off the charts from the corners. Last year he 45% from beyond the arc from the left corner and 56% from the right corner. He's a shot blocker, a rebounder, a multi-skilled guy.

--Almost every time Tennessee lost a game last year they started out slow and missed chippies around the rim. All three of these newcomers have high percentages around the rim. Okpara shot 68% around the basket.

--Sure they'll miss Knecht, but coaches will tell you they'd rather spread it around than rely on one person.

And adding Lanier only adds to the offense.