Is J James our most important player for success?

[orangemadam]

Agree. James has already shown that he has the body and athletic ability to be an elite, undersized, rebounder. Which leads me to believe if he decides to attack the basket more and be just a little more selfish, he could easily average 10+ points a game. JJJ's shot is a little flat, but so was mine and I used to dominate on "want to" and athletic ability. Of course, I'm talking about JV and adult league rec ball, no comparison to D1 college ball, but if u are a better athlete, with a high level basketball IQ and a will to win, it still translates. Player's like that (JJJ), will always have success in whatever level of basketball, they are playing.

Look at that, u can tell I'm feeling the Thanksgiving holiday "Love", because I'm breaking out the, "I used to be a balla stories". Bwaa-ha-ha

Are you really Al Bundy?

 

[calban]

I agree his PPG will likely go up, and have said just that, I just didn’t expect him to come in and be a huge offensive contributor Day 1...I didn’t expect him to come in and light the world on fire, but not a shock this fanbase thought he would.

Add to the expectation that Barnes demands defense first and his rebounding definitely shows the effort there.

 

[cncchris33]

You based your expectations on the MCDAA? I wouldn’t call that smart.

So you were expecting 5 points and 2.5 assists per game on 36% shooting from JJJ? You even said yourself you expected more scoring. So obviously you were expecting bigger expectations. Nobody was expecting 20/10 but I think most people assumed he’d be the third leading scorer around 10-12 per game

Have you met our fan base? Were you not around for the Robert Hubbs and Scotty Hopson era? I guarantee you there were some who expected exactly that. Not smart or sensible people, but again, have you met our fan base?

 

[ndubvols]

It may not be his game, but I’d like to see us try and post him up some when he gets an undersized defender on him. We don’t have a true post guy to throw the ball into, but he should be able to get enough matchups to where he can get a bucket if needed. Especially if we can spread out the court when fulky is out of the game, as everyone else looks capable of making an outside jumper.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

It may not be his game, but I’d like to see us try and post him up some when he gets an undersized defender on him. We don’t have a true post guy to throw the ball into, but he should be able to get enough matchups to where he can get a bucket if needed. Especially if we can spread out the court when fulky is out of the game, as everyone else looks capable of making an outside jumper.

Good call, I bet we see it some down the road in conference play.

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

I don’t think I can say he is our most important player for success for the simple fact that if Bowden, turner, JJJ, or pons go down, we would struggle mightily to get to the dance. I think those 4 are all of equal importance for success.

 

[VolinMichigan]

Turner makes the offense go, that much is obvious. I think JJJ and the coaching staff are still figuring out his role. Offensively he’s still a work in progress. He can rebound and play defense, but he’s been the odd man out offensively. I’d like to see some different looks with him posting up, moving off screen, but the wing or guard spot may not be where he’s most comfortable.

 

[blued125]

If only the guy could hit buckets.

 

[CAVPUT]

I personally believe that JJJ is the best all around player on the team. His size is a problem for teams defensively and when it comes to rebounding. He's one of the most gifted players physically that we've ever had in Knoxville, he's a big POINT GUARD and I emphasize that because he's currently playing out of position most of the game. He definitely needs to improve his scoring and his aggressiveness. I think he'll be a much better pro player than college player. Teams are about to start pressing our guards, they are going to come after Bowden and Turner and that's going to leave JJJ open in space a bunch come SEC play, how he handles that will determine the outcome in a lot of big games this year. We basically know everyone's role on the team right now except for James. I think that by the end of the year his improvement or not will play a big role in our boys success. I'd like to see him start the break off his rebounds by going coast to coast some as well.
We need some depth so adding the PG in Jan should help us some with our guard rotation.

Spot on. When James can take control of the point and the new PG joining us in Jan gets acclimated, UT can move Turner off the ball where he's definitely going to be more comfortable. At that point, I think we'll be at our best with the roster we have. Still no answer in the paint, but just having the players in the positions they belong will help. Might get us to the tournament but might not. Just need to get another out of conference win we shouldn't to help pad the resume.

 

[BruinVol]

James has been just fine. Imo he’s made the most important basket of the year when he hit that when Washington was closing the gap. So it’s good to know he can make big shots

And booom!!


What another huge shot he made to retake the lead after we gave it up late in the second half!!

Love it that he is making some huge shots! Thanks

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

And booom!!


What another huge shot he made to retake the lead after we gave it up late in the second half!!

Love it that he is making some huge shots! Thanks

He made a few winning plays down the stretch. He had a big defensive rebound on one of their late misses as well. The inbounds pass to Turner on the game winner was nice as well!!