HoopNotes: Either/Or

[orange+white=heaven]

Either Tennessee Basketball will make history just after midnight this evening, and The VolNation will rejoice in it's(admit it) improbable deep run at the NCAA Championship....Or, phase two of an up to now thoroughly successful rekindling of the basketball fires in Big Orange Country will be complete.

Whichever winds up being the case, I could not be happier that I am fan of this program, or that I had the opportunity to watch these freshmen spend a season learning to play the game... learning to play with one another...learning how much fun it can be to represent the University of Tennessee.

This program has been turned once more into a class act. It has been immeasurably fun to watch.

TheNotes: Gameday Edition...

We start with guest columnist John Whisler of the SA Express-News, and his thoughts on our Pearl...

SA Express

Finding a college coach who has won more games than Tennessee's Bruce Pearl isn't difficult. But finding anyone who is more entertaining while winning games?
Good luck.
In that regard, Pearl might be in a class by himself.
He calls the team that takes on Ohio State today in a NCAA South Regional semifinal at the Alamodome a collection of "misfit toys."
"But that's the fun part of working with them," Pearl said. "They've got a misfit coach."
He's motivated by two things, he says, "fear of failure and Jewish guilt."

In Knoxville, the story hasn't been about the Volunteers' return to the nation's elite as much as how they've gotten there — with a team of misfits (the Volunteers' power forward stands just 6-foot-4) that sports a shoot-first mentality with a coach who is committed to winning and having fun doing it.

"He goes out of his way to help people feel great about themselves," Bradshaw said. "Since he's come to Knoxville, it's like it's become Bruce Pearl country."
As for his sometimes-wacky ways, Pearl offers little in the way of explanation other than a footnote fans at the Alamodome might find a bit unsettling.
"I grew up in a time when streaking was in," he said.

Tennessean Pulling together

They all took different paths to Tennessee, a basketball wasteland for most of the last quarter century.At least, on the men's side.

But here they are, the Sweet 16 no less, and one step away from taking Tennessee basketball to unparalleled heights.

But a story UT (24-10) has no intentions of ending now.
"Maybe there was a time when some of us wanted to go somewhere else to college, but Tennessee came and gave us an opportunity," Lofton said. "It's a blessing in disguise for everybody to end up here together. You know, things happen for a reason."

Ryan Childress, the team's most improved player, signed with Wisconsin-Milwaukee when Pearl was there and then followed him to Tennessee.
Junior guard Jordan Howell signed with Georgia, but got out of his letter-of-intent after the Jim Harrick scandal.
Freshman guard Josh Tabb signed with Southern Illinois out of high school, didn't qualify academically and went to prep school in Cincinnati. He signed with UT after Pearl took the job.
Freshman point guard Ramar Smith admits UT was nowhere on his radar until Pearl arrived in Knoxville. He was headed to UConn, but his Detroit high school coach knew Tony Jones, the Vols' associate head coach.
"Didn't nobody expect us to get here," Ramar Smith said. "(Ohio State) had more hype than us. But at the same time, we're here. We're meeting up again, and we get to show what we can do."

Chemistry, though, was never an issue.
"We've all come from different places," JaJuan Smith said. "But in a sense, we're all the same and have bonded.
"Look at our coach. He had to start at the bottom and work his way to the top, just like a lot of us. Now that we've crept to the top, we're just trying to stay here and climb a little higher."

The tfp's Estes apparently spent the day working an interview with Oden. Wish he would've talked to our kids about this moment. Still, it's a good read..

tfpOnline:Oden Big Test

Two student managers are positioned on either side of him in the Ohio State locker room.
Only now is Greg Oden prepared to ward off the media horde.
"Troy Smith, it took him four years to learn that," Oden said of his school's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. "It took me about a year.

At first glance, Oden is massive. He stands 7-foot, 270 pounds, with hands and feet as massive as the frame they support.
Yet he's no jock. Cerebral and soft-spoken, Oden's grade point average is in the 3.7 range. He doesn't like stardom; he says he never goes out. In fact, he claims to have never shaved, and if he was 5-foot-9, "I would have been a brainiac."
"I don't know if I would play basketball," Oden said. "I'm really not that athletic."

Man, who is this guy?
"After we win a Big Ten championship the other day, I'm trying to finally get with our team and talk to them, and I can't find Greg," Matta said. "He's out there signing autographs for 50 little kids. He wasn't going to leave until they all got his autograph. That's who he is."

"What Greg Oden does for them is allow them to beat any team on their schedule," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "Defensively, Greg just changes everything with his size and his ability to block shots.
"As we sit here, hours before game time, I don't know that Tennessee has a real feel of what we need to do."

Chism, actually, has an earlier memory of Oden. He likes the first one better. During an AAU tournament game between Chism's loaded Memphis squad and Oden's loaded Indiana squad, Chism held Oden to only seven points.
It was a performance that, as Chism said, "Got me to school," since most college coaches weren't aware of him until that performance. After that, Chism's phone wouldn't stop ringing.
"I know a lot about him," Chism said. "That makes me more confident that I can stop him again."
Said Oden of Chism: "Out of the guys, you've seen him develop the most. When he first started playing AAU, you really didn't know him. But then as the years came on and we were seniors, he was a great player who could come out and shoot the 3 and take guys off the dribble."

Late tonight, there is a chance that each of us can smile broadly, take a deep breath, and breathe in some very rare air. This bunch of players have a way of making you think that the improbable might actually be doable.

History or a solid season. Either/Or.
I really don't mind that those are the options.

Go Vols!!!

 

[VolinArizona]

Amazing post! Thanks !

 

[hohenfelsvol]

Great gameday read. Thanks.... Again.

 

[OWB]

Thanks, good read.

 

[Mrs.BigOrangeNation]

Thanks for the read!

 

[TennTradition]

goosebumps....

 

[tidwell]

Either Tennessee Basketball will make history just after midnight this evening, and The VolNation will rejoice in it's(admit it) improbable deep run at the NCAA Championship....Or, phase two of an up to now thoroughly successful rekindling of the basketball fires in Big Orange Country will be complete.

Whichever winds up being the case, I could not be happier that I am fan of this program, or that I had the opportunity to watch these freshmen spend a season learning to play the game... learning to play with one another...learning how much fun it can be to represent the University of Tennessee.

Couldn't agree more. If the Vols do come up short tonight, I'm sure there will be a moment or two of disappointment, but after that wears off, how could you not just be elated with this season?

In fact, he (Oden) claims to have never shaved

Right... :lol:

 

[volbreaker]

Couldn't agree more. If the Vols do come up short tonight, I'm sure there will be a moment or two of disappointment, but after that wears off, how could you not just be elated with this season?


Right... :lol:

I know I've never been this pumped for a bball game. This is the longest day ever and this post just pushed it over the top. THANX:salute:

 

[Jaytrain5]

I love Pearl...there's not another coach in America I'd rather have...Not Roy Williams, not Donovan, not Coach K, nobody...he's a helluva coach, a great salesman, a marketing genius, and a comedian.

motivated by 2 things..."fear of failure and jewish guilt"...hilarious.

 

[bigorange]

Late tonight, there is a chance that each of us can smile broadly, take a deep breath, and breathe in some very rare air. This bunch of players have a way of making you think that the improbable might actually be doable.

History or a solid season. Either/Or.
I really don't mind that those are the options.

*feels heart pumping in chest, tries to swallow*

great post!! :hi:

 

[volhoopsfan001]

I didn't get to read this until now, the day after the loss to TOSU, but your "History or a solid season. Either/Or." words helps me to think about the season as a whole and not be tooooo disappointed about the loss. Great post!