Grades for UT Basketball

#1
zjcvols

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee Saturday night."
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#1
I've watched every game, so here are my grades for each individual player... These are the expectations I had from the beginning of a season...

Ty Smith- A+ You can't ask anymore from this kid. Can do it all and is a great leader. He can score, pass, rebound, block shots. The best player in the SEC.

Wayne Chism- A- I know he's been a little inconsistent, but when they get him the ball, he can score. He has made some dumb plays (aka Kansas 3-pointer 77-70) but his rebounding, defense, and scoring have improved.

Emmanuel Negedu-A- Doing what I thought he would. Give great hustle/energy, solid rebounding, good D. Really, really raw offensively (expected), but has tremendous upside potential.

Josh Tabb-B+ Moving to a new position, missed early practice, has come in and has done a good job. Plays very good D, and settles the offense well. Sometimes he has his turnovers, and his limited offensively, but his D is tremendous imo.

Bobby Maze-B Has hit a wall lately, but has been consistent. Good defensively, not great. Gets to the hole well, but struggles to finish. Good passer and can hit some shots. Needs to be more aggressive all-around.

Scotty Hopson-B Decent three point shot and can get to the hole anytime. Defense sucked at beginning, but his getting better. Good rebounder (expected), and is becoming more aggressive, which he clearly wasn't earlier.

J.P. Prince-B Has had some injuries this year. Can finish very well at the basket (when healthy) and his d is okay, I think his ankle was worse than we thought. His jumper still is awful, but he hustles on the offensive glass and gets easy baskets. His bounce was back yesterday.

Brian Williams-B- Has improved his D and rebounding tremendously. Good hustler on the offensive glass. Sometimes has silly turnovers and his offensive game is still limited. His hands are awful for a post, but he's still young and gives good energy.

Cam Tatum- C I'm disappointed. I expected better offensive production. Has had his moments (Zaga at home, G-Town), but has been very inconsistent, especially shooting. Does a good job driving and finishing and can knock down the three, but is defense is atrocious. I think his knees are bad, but I still think he has lots of room to improve and is a better player than we've seen.

Renaldo Wooldridge- D Basically doesn't play anymore. Only can do one thing-shoot-and has struggled lately. He needs to work on his offensive game and his defense is the worst on the team. He has lots of potential, but I really want to see some improvement. Has a beautiful stroke and needs to find it, because he can contribute to this team.
 
#5
#5
Hopson has not been a very good rebounder so far. Woolridge made a few shots early, but beyond that he has been a poor shooter. Also, with his size, he is still not willing (or able) to bang down low. The team is making some strides, though.
 
#8
#8
I defenitely have to agree that these grades are just a bit bias and are just a little bit generous. IMO i see it more like this(and this is how i see them as to what my expectations were):

Tyler Smith B+...Tyler is defenitely the leader and has clearly assumed that role and really shown it. He has looked good defensively, he's been a leader, and has played the hardest and most consistent out of anybody. The way he has gotten everyone else involved and called out Scotty was great leadership. Unfortunately, i expected to see Tyler's guard skills (ballhandling) and his outside shot improve over what they were last year. He is rather ineffective outside of the 15 foot range but that has really been the only dissapointment.

Wayne Chism A-...Wayne is probably the most improved player on the team without a doubt. If not for Wayne this teams record would be alot different that's for sure. Coming into the year i really wasnt expecting too much from Wayne i actually thought after watching the RTL that brian and him would compete. Wayne has come out and really played though, his offense has looked very good and he is rebounding now with authority. He has always been pretty good defensively but he has shot down big men this year and has had tons of blocks. His 3 point shot is very effective througout the majority of the game, but i do agree with 3 minutes left in a close game it's not the shot we need. Besides that the only real knock i have on Wayne is his tendency to get into foul trouble and not be able to recover from that.

JP Prince C+...This was a hard one especially after last night. It's kinda like what JP is going to show up tonight???If the way he has played recently was because of a nagging injury and last night was as close to 100% as he has been all year as he said it was then this grade will defenitely go up. His defense defenitely needs improvement, but once again its hard to tell because of the injury so it will be interesting to see how he plays the rest of the year(if he doesnt get injured again).

Brian Williams C...Kind of the opposite of Wayne here, as i stated earlier i thought that he and Wayne would compete for time, and Pearl actually thought that to some degree early in practice. Brian has defenitely shown good signs but he dissapears and gets into foul trouble doing stupid things when he really doesnt need to. He needs to be more aggresive down low and use that body like shaq, and stop being such a pansy. With that said his rebounding has been nice, and he has stepped up when we needed him to in Waynes spot, but i really think that he could play alot better.

Cameron Tatum B-...Cameron has looked good at times this year and looked like he's going to be a tremendous scorer, but then at times dissapears completely. I expected a little bit more of him because he did have a year as a redshirt, but he has defenitely dissapointed my expectations. I believe that if he could get a more consistent 3 point shot that that would really help him out but he isnt there yet.

Scotty Hopson B+...This is probably that hardest person to grade because it has been a tale of 2 halves. The first Scotty Hopson we saw would have probably got a C- but the last 2 games he has really shown some aggresivness and maturity and starting to look like he is going to come into his own. I guess i kind of give him some slack because he is a freshman, but i really expect him to start stepping it up now and to really establish himself as a 15 ppg starter.

Bobby Maze B...This is another one that is a guessing game as to who is going to show up. We have seen flashes of brilliance from Maze, and then at times seen terrible games were we wished Ramar was still hear(ok maybe not that bad). With that said though i have been pretty pleased with the way he has commanded the floor. I would defenitely love to see hime drive to the bucket more(as i would all of UT's players) becasuse as shown a few times last night when he did he leaves his defender behind him. I would just overall like to see him be a little bit more agressive and try to score a little bit more, not only do i think that he is capable of it but i believe that it would really help out the rest of the team and help open up the court for everybody else.

Josh Tabb B+...Ok so your saying how does he get a B+, like i said earlier i am going by what my expecations were. My expectations were for D West to back up Maze and Tabb to see a few minute (-5) a game at the 2 or maybe the 1 if there was foul trouble. He learned a new position and has done very well considering the situation. So i am defenitely pleased with the way that he has played so far.

Emmanuel Negedu B...We havent really seen much of him, and i would defenitely love to see a lot more of him (like take away some of B Williams mins). We knew his offensive game was non-existent and that he was a hi energy type of player but i didnt expect this. The guy is crazy out there and is an absolute nut out there, and really plays his butt off. He has defenitely shown signs that he has a huge upside.

Renaldo Wooldridge D...I didnt expect much at all from this kid really this year, but then he started out the year being a pretty big asset. He was providing us with a few 3's a game but now that's all he does is shoot 3's and they arent even close. I guess i got too excited, but he should have realized what his role was and that it was to shoot 3's so he should have been getting better at them, not worse.
 
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