HoopNotes:Sledding Into February

[orange+white=heaven]

Forget the Jones's.... How 'Bout Them Smiths!!!

22 and 21 from Juju and Ramar.

Defensive intensity returns and so does momentum as the Vols go snow tubing down The Hill into February.

Good riddance January.

TheNotes....

tfpOnline: Weidmer Commentary
Weeds would admit, if pressed, that he's more of a Kentucky homer. But he went to the game last night, and he came back with quite positive vibes...

There was absolutely zero reason to believe the University of Tennessee basketball team would defeat Georgia on Wednesday night.

The Vols had lost their last two games by a combined 33 points. All-American Chris Lofton was never going to leave the bench, despite gamely running through warm-ups. And Georgia was coming off arguably its most satisfying week of coach Dennis Felton’s four years on the job, having just knocked off Kentucky and LSU.

So what happened?

"We decided to make defense our identity," UT junior guard JaJuan Smith said after the Vols held the Bulldogs to 38.5 percent shooting in an 82-71 victory. "I think we’ve gotten away from that a little bit this year. If we can do this the rest of the way, we can become a great team again."

This is why the rest of the SEC is growing to greatly dislike UT coach Bruce Pearl. And why it is going to dislike him more and more in the years to come.

This was a victory for coaching, both technical and emotional. Arriving at Thompson-Boling Arena on the short end of both talent and experience, the Vols outworked and outthought the Bulldogs at every turn.

"They’re the deeper team," said Pearl, whose team improves to 15-7 overall and 3-4 in the SEC. "But we were the fresher team tonight."

Consider the facts behind Pearl’s words. The Bulldogs started a senior, three juniors and a sophomore. The Vols countered with a senior, a junior and three freshmen.

Yet here was Tennessee spreading the floor, driving it to the hole, dishing it to open shooters each time the Dawgs swarmed. The Vols’ Jordan Howell scored 11 while hitting three of five 3-pointers.
JaJuan Smith buried five more triples. Ramar Smith drilled three of four, including backto-back treys midway through the second half to extend a seven-point Big Orange cushion to 13.

"It was feast or famine,"Pearl said of UT’s execution against Georgia’s aggressive defense, noting the 11 3-pointers his team made. "But I thought we feasted on it pretty well."

Howell was averaging less than 18 minutes a game this season. He played 26 against the Bulldogs and committed zero turnovers.

"My confidence hasn’t been very big," Howell said. "But coach talked to me this afternoon. He told me to start looking for my shot. Then he told me again during the game. It made a huge difference. I just started relaxing out there."

JaJuan Smith thought the Dawgs may have felt too good about this one before it started.

"They came in with a lot of swagger, which was to be expected," Smith said. "But they just had that look, like they didn’t think we could beat them. They barely took a shot in warm-ups."

My favorite part...

Said Pearl, smiling for the first time in three weeks, "Our RPI’s 19. We needed to act like it. Tonight we did."

tfpOnline:Game report

when Tennessee needed it most, fortune made amends. A night-long shooting slump for the redhot Bulldogs propelled the Volunteers to a much-needed 82-71 victory before 17,686 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"This was a big win," UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "We needed this one."

Back at home after losing five straight road games, Tennessee (15-7, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) finally began to resemble its old self. Big shots dropped at key moments, while the opponent never got going in a hostile environment.

The Vols, meanwhile, sank 11 of 23 from 3-point range to build a 13-point first half lead and – for once – hang on throughout a foul-laden second half.

"That’s probably the best half-court defensive effort that we’ve had, maybe since I’ve been here," Pearl said. "We obviously put two halves together, with the shooting percentages for us and the shooting percentages for Georgia."

There is newfound momentum for Saturday’s trip to topranked Florida.

"We took it as a must-win, and I don’t think they took it as that," said Vols guard Jordan Howell, who scored a careerhigh 11 points in 26 minutes. "We’re playing the underdog right now. We have to win games to set ourselves up for March."

Pearl said Lofton had been cleared to play in an "emergency situation."

"That does not make him ready for Saturday," Pearl said. "He’s got to go through a few more paces to be ready to play. If I had a foul shooter injured and had to take someone off the bench to shoot the free throw, he could have."

Pearl blamed some of Tennessee’s hot shooting on a 1-3-1 trapping defense employed by Georgia coach Dennis Felton.

"They turned us over a couple of times," Pearl said, "but how many 3s did we hit against it? It was feast or famine, and I thought we feasted on it pretty well."

Tennessean: Game Report

the Vols went out and delivered Wednesday night with an 82-71 victory over Georgia to remain unbeaten at home and stay in the chase for an NCAA Tournament berth.
"They came out during warm-ups like we weren't there," freshman point guard Ramar Smith said of the Bulldogs, who entered the game having won five of their last six games.
"That's what really made us mad, and we came out and played hard. They were carrying themselves like they just knew they were going to come in here and win. After seeing that, we really couldn't let it happen then."

JaJuan Smith continued his recent tear with his fourth straight game of 20 or more points.
He blistered the Bulldogs for 22 and was 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
"We're a real good team right now," JaJuan Smith said. "With Chris, we're a great team. We're just going to pray and do our best to get Chris back."

"This just drew our team closer together even more, and when Chris gets here, we'll be a totally different team again," JaJuan Smith said. "We got over that hump (Wednesday night)."

"We got over that hump (Wednesday night)."

Due respect to Jajuan, last night was great but the alligators are the hump that needs getting over.
February means so much, it's where hard work and a healthy Lofton could equal wonderful rewards...

Go Vols!!!

 

[OWB]

Thanks for the notes. I hope Lofton will be able to play against UF but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[tidwell]

Good stuff, owh. Still all excited about the win... hard to really tell how good the defense is when you can't actually see it, but Bob and Bert were raving about it all night and obviously Bruce was pleased.

 

[cd12]

Well, Wednesday is hump day!

 

[JZVOL]

They are both playing so good. The other day driving to work I heard Micky Dearstone say Ramar was the biggest dissappointment of all the freshman. Heather Harrington agreed and they were saying after all the hype he's just not that good. The "sports doctor" went on to say he was such a great pg in high school, but everyone knows he was a combo guard and didn't play much point. I about lost it, those guys are so uninformed it drives me nuts, yet I keep listening.

 

[Gorilla33]

I pretty sure MD honestly believes that the lady vols would beat the men, and that Candace Parker would start for the men. I can't listen to him any more. There have been times during football when I wondered if he could name more than 5 players on the team. Unbelievable! I believe Ramar has came along way this year, although it is hard to believe that he was ever viewed as a shooting guard.