Potential Starting Line up and Rotation 2019-2020

3 of 5 those "new faces" will be starters, so not as much unknown.
Agree. It’s the pieces beyond those 3 who are much of the unknown. The point was more about the amount of roster turnover and the unknown in Burns and Kent. We effectively have six guys who have never played a meaningful minute of college basketball, and another (Plavsic, if eligible) who has never played at Tennesseee. That is over half of our roster that we know next to nothing about. Turner, Bowden, Fulkerson, Pons, and Johnson are our only returning players with any experience, and two of those have but just a little experience.
 
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I won't be surprised if Jalen Johnson starts or is early off of the bench.

So much potential. I think he can be a great, and even elite shooter, but he seems to have to work the nerves out of him. He has been here long enough, the butterflies should start to fade. I also, think his defense is a bit lacking. But, I think he will progress as the season goes on, but we need to just throw him and let him work everything out.
 
I like Fulky's grit and hustle, but lets be honest. Unless he has takes a large jump in the offseason, if we are relying on him for a bulk of production we are in for a long year.
 
So as of now with no Blackshear or Plavsic our rotation is...

James,Turner,Bowden,Fulkerson,Kent.

With Johnson,Pons,Burns,ORN,as your probable top 4 off the bench.

You may disagree with that and change the rotation up a tad but the same point applies.

James better be Lebron,Turner better be Lofton,and Bowden better be Yarbrough if we're gonna be good and one if those posts better be Patrick Ewing.


Lol...so your take is that we need our starting team this season to have talent equivalent to 2 all-time NBA greats and 2 all-time TN greats...seems legit

Asinine hyperbole
 
You're dumb if you take that seriously.

Im saying the roster is so weak we better have some players play our of their minds to have a successful season.

Josiah James needs to be a full grown bull for us from day 1 and Turner and Bowden need to be the equivalent of what Chris Lofton and Jajuan Smith were for us.

On top of that you're never gonna find a good team without somebody you can throw it down low to and get a big bucket from so one of our gang of unproven posts have got to show something they havent yet.

You have to assume Fulkerson is better than Kent or Burns because he played over them so he's probably your best returning post.

Then you have a center who's currently ineligible and ORN.

Do you feel confident that Fulkerson can back down a 6'10 5 star from Kentucky and get a bucket?

Do you think ORN could either for that matter?

If you're confident in this gang you better have them playing in the Morristown Rec League.
 
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You're retarded if you take that seriously.

Im saying the roster is so weak we better have some players play our of their minds to have a successful season.

Josiah James needs to be a full grown bull for us from day 1 and Turner and Bowden need to be the equivalent of what Chris Lofton and Jajuan Smith were for us.

On top of that you're never gonna find a good team without somebody you can throw it down low to and get a big bucket from so one of our gang of unproven posts have got to show something they havent yet.

You have to assume Fulkerson is better than Kent or Burns because he played over them so he's probably your best returning post.

Then you have a center who's currently ineligible and ORN.

Do you feel confident that Fulkerson can back down a 6'10 5 star from Kentucky and get a bucket?

Do you think ORN could either for that matter?

If you're confident in this gang you better have them playing in the Morristown Rec League.
The fact you didn't know that Burns redshirted last season and Kent was injured tells me all I need to know about your knowledge of the current basketball team.
 
I knew Burns redshirted and knew that Kent was apparently hurt at one point yes.

Would Burns have redshirted if he was able to contribute?

Nope.

I never heard anything said that Kent's injury was so serious that he should have missed a whole season either.

We simply have a board full of members who dont necessarily have to be right but that live to "prove" others wrong.
 
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I knew Burns redshirted and knew that Kent was apparently hurt at one point yes.

Would Burns have redshirted if he was able to contribute?

Nope.

I never heard anything said that Kent's injury was so serious that he should have missed a whole season either.

We simply have a board full of members who dont necessarily have to be right but that live to "prove" others wrong.
The plan was to redshirt Burns when we signed him since he reclassified from the class of 2019 to 2018. Also Kent would have been healthy enough to play last year he would have. Especially since Walker didn't give us anything last year.
 
Love Fulky, but he needs to be a high energy off the bench hustle player at UT. The home crowd loves him and his entry into games alone brings electricity to TBA. But that’s his role. He’s a great role player. He wouldn’t be a starter at many SEC schools, which should include UT.
 
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Right here says he was fully dressed out and didnt favor his knee in any way but Barnes chose not to play him.

Rick Barnes offers update on Zach Kent's status

This story said he had surgery the first week of October and was expected to be ready to contribute by the start of the season...

Vols' Forward to Have Surgery on Knee | Rocky Top Insider

Expected recovery time for meniscus surgery is 4-6 weeks.

4-6 weeks assuming there are no complications. Isn't that a similar procedure to what Maymon had and it kept him off of the floor for an entire season. Do you have access to his medical records?

It says that he wasn't able to fully participate in practice. So he was 3 or 4 months behind with about 2.5 months left in the season. Makes sense to not play him at that point and keep the option of applying for a medical hardship waiver. Also, no need to risk aggravating his injury at that point. What happened to Kevin Durant when he hurried back?
 
Right here says he was fully dressed out and didnt favor his knee in any way but Barnes chose not to play him.

Rick Barnes offers update on Zach Kent's status

This story said he had surgery the first week of October and was expected to be ready to contribute by the start of the season...

Vols' Forward to Have Surgery on Knee | Rocky Top Insider

Expected recovery time for meniscus surgery is 4-6 weeks.
Now read the article again and restate what Barnes actually said about playing him and why.
 
I read the article and my understanding of it was if he was Christian Laettner he would have been playing and that was my original point.

That Barnes felt like Fulkerson was better than Burns or Kent.

Is it an autonatic redshirt situation if the player reclassifies?

Were we gonna redshirt Jalen Cone?

No.

Because we thought he could play.

My point once again.
 
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I knew Burns redshirted and knew that Kent was apparently hurt at one point yes.

Would Burns have redshirted if he was able to contribute?

Nope.

I never heard anything said that Kent's injury was so serious that he should have missed a whole season either.

We simply have a board full of members who dont necessarily have to be right but that live to "prove" others wrong.
I'm not living to prove you wrong, here. That is just a really bad take if you know anything about Burns' and Kent's situation. That's not to say you're wrong about Fulkerson potentially being better than either, or both. But your reasoning for believing it is really out of touch.
 
If Burns isn't better than Fulky, we are in some deep ****

I'll be surprised if Burns is better than Fulkerson at disrupting passing lanes, running the floor, bringing high energy, handling the ball at the high post, drawing offensive fouls, and understanding CRB's system. I do think that he'll be better at throwing his hip into an opponent in the paint without being tossed aside.
 
I'll be surprised if Burns is better than Fulkerson at disrupting passing lanes, running the floor, bringing high energy, handling the ball at the high post, drawing offensive fouls, and understanding CRB's system. I do think that he'll be better at throwing his hip into an opponent in the paint without being tossed aside.

Fulky will,probably be better at those things. I was mainly talking about points and rebounds. I don't expect huge numbers, but he's got to provide something, and,bring it every game
 
The thread argument is silly because the starting 5 will be fluid. The most experienced players most likely start in the early season with an exception or 2 for individuals that really step up or dominate in the off season. The starting five 1 or 2 months into the season will look different than on day 1. There's not enough separation between players 2 or 3 through 10 this year (unless James amazes).

It's possible that Johnson gains a ton of confidence by starting. He may not be nearly as effective coming off of the bench. With Bowden's experience he is more suited for entering as adjustments are implemented. Johnson might do better with a known plan that's been worked on for several days. Bowden can be put in when it's not clear where he's needed until the game has begun and can easily adapt.

Bowden maybe isn't nearly as dependable as we hope. When the attention of the defense and game plans shift from Grant Williams to the perimeter, it's kind if an unknown how he'll respond. Bowden could disappear at times. He has in the past. He hasn't shown to be the most consistent performer, although he has expanded what he does. Early on about all he was good for was to catch and shoot 3s. Early last year he was the backup PG, but he really didn't fill that role real well. Turner, another natural 2 guard, worked out better as Bones' backup. Of course it could have just evolved like that since Turner missed so much time until well into the season and Bowden was no longer needed as a PG once Turner was back on the floor. Bowden has improved significantly year over year over year, but I don't know yet if he can be depended on to be the go to threat.

Also, if the perimeter starts out a game playing poorly, there's not necessarily a lot to go to if Turner and Bowden are already on the floor. This board goes into caniption fits when time outs aren't used to disrupt bad trends. Bringing Bowden off of the bench would be more effective.

Bowden makes a better 6th man than Turner because he can be plugged into more spots. I like having somebody that potentially brings instant offense off the bench.

Don't confuse 6th best player with 6th man. There's not an award given out for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th man of the year. Don't confuse starting with getting the most minutes.


I can understand the logic of what you are saying as an experienced 6th man can help change momentum quickly. Vinnie Johnson comes to mind when I think of 6th men.
 
You'd think this board was full of 80 year old Southern Baptist women with all the hand-wringing and pearl clutching going on lately.
 
Now read the article again and restate what Barnes actually said about playing him and why.
Yep. It didn’t leave an room for interpretation. Pretty straight forward. Kent wasn’t ready. Period.

I think Burns reclassification was always with the idea he would 100% redshirt barring injury to Kyle or Grant.

Kent has looked like a newborn giraffe since he arrive. Anything he produces would shock me at this point.
 
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I'll be surprised if Burns is better than Fulkerson at disrupting passing lanes, running the floor, bringing high energy, handling the ball at the high post, drawing offensive fouls, and understanding CRB's system. I do think that he'll be better at throwing his hip into an opponent in the paint without being tossed aside.
Agree. I just don’t understand the Fulk hate. I wish Walker had been half as eager to play.
I know the S&C has been great at trimming guys down, but we now need major help bulking guys up. Fulk needs at least another 25 pounds. I think that could make him a real force.
 
Everybody loses players. 4 is on the high side.
Now time for the others to step up.
Nothing like playing time to bring out the best.
We will be fine. And will play about 10 players regardless who starts
 
Yep. It didn’t leave an room for interpretation. Pretty straight forward. Kent wasn’t ready. Period.

I think Burns reclassification was always with the idea he would 100% redshirt barring injury to Kyle or Grant.

Kent has looked like a newborn giraffe since he arrive. Anything he produces would shock me at this point.
With you on Kent and he could be the make or break guy in the front court if Plavsic doesn't get cleared.(Not holding my breath on that) Burns need for a red shirt was underlined in his only appearance. One time down the floor and gassed. If he's really lost 30 lbs will be interesting to see how much he can progress by Conf time.
 

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