cncchris33
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1. This was an odd game in which we blow out the opponent (86-44) and only get 12 points from our regular frontcourt rotation of Fulk, Nkamhoua, BHH, and Plavsic. 12 points on 5-10 shooting, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 71 combined minutes.
2. Point 1 can be partially explained by the fact that Presby certainly tried to clog the lane which is what opened up things on the perimeter, and they really never adjusted. Instead, they just continually dared us to beat them on the perimeter. We did beat them on some back-cuts and drives to the bucket by the guards (Vescovi and Chandler, specifically), but we never established a post presence.
3. Kennedy Chandler - 15 pts, 1 rebound, 7 assists, 7 steals, and 0 TOs. I feel increasingly comfortable saying that he is the best PG I've ever seen at Tennessee based on my own two eyes, but also in the fact that Barnes, notoriously difficult to please as a PG or a freshman...let alone both, has completely turned the team over to him. I think he is in that TJ Ford/DJ Augustine category. It seems like Barnes realizes he most likely only gets one year with him and it's better to let him make mistakes in November and December, play through them and learn from them, and then see improvement in January and February rather than try and play the long approach of benching him and working thru it over time. He didn't necessarily take that approach to Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, though I'd probably call Chandler the most talented/ready to contribute at a high level, of the three. Can you imagine those three together?
4. Justin Powell and Victor Bailey played 39 combined minutes. Let's assume they were all at the same position, so 39 of 40 minutes. They shot a combined 9-14 (9-13 from 3) and scored 29 points, had 3 rebounds (all Powell), 4 assists (Powell 3, Bailey 1), 1 block (Powell), and only 1 TO (Bailey).
Now, you aren't going to get that kind of efficiency every game, but if you got 75% of it on average, you have one locked down position that you don't have to worry about. That is the benefit of having elite shooters and that is exactly why you bring in a Justin Powell. The people who were skeptical of his small sample size are going to be eating their words, over time, I believe. I was a big proponent of signing him and was over the moon when he committed, because that is the kind of stat line (15/3/3) I imagined from him. He can just affect the game in so many ways due to his shooting, size, and passing. Yeah, neither guy is really effective on defense, but as long as your other 4 are more than adequate, you can live with having one liability with room for improvement.
5. We forced 25 TOs, though Presby forced a lot of those on themselves...I've never seen so many unforced traveling calls. Chandler was credited with 7 steals and Tennessee had 13 as a team. We were smothering them, defensively and they got nothing easy. Granted, they aren't even on the same planet in terms of talent, but it was good to see us do what you should do to an opponent like that, which is completely dominate them from start to finish.
6. It was nice to see Jonas Aidoo come off the bench in garbage time and be effective. He only played 5 minutes, but had 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal. His bucket was a monstrous throwdown dunk and he would have had another rebound and dunk had Brock Jancek not have drawn a goal-tending call on a missed shot. He played angry and wasn't overthinking, perhaps due to the opponent and outcome. If Uros played that way, he'd warrant more playing time. He's just too much finesse around the basket for a guy his size, which is probably just the "euro" way of playing.
2. Point 1 can be partially explained by the fact that Presby certainly tried to clog the lane which is what opened up things on the perimeter, and they really never adjusted. Instead, they just continually dared us to beat them on the perimeter. We did beat them on some back-cuts and drives to the bucket by the guards (Vescovi and Chandler, specifically), but we never established a post presence.
3. Kennedy Chandler - 15 pts, 1 rebound, 7 assists, 7 steals, and 0 TOs. I feel increasingly comfortable saying that he is the best PG I've ever seen at Tennessee based on my own two eyes, but also in the fact that Barnes, notoriously difficult to please as a PG or a freshman...let alone both, has completely turned the team over to him. I think he is in that TJ Ford/DJ Augustine category. It seems like Barnes realizes he most likely only gets one year with him and it's better to let him make mistakes in November and December, play through them and learn from them, and then see improvement in January and February rather than try and play the long approach of benching him and working thru it over time. He didn't necessarily take that approach to Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, though I'd probably call Chandler the most talented/ready to contribute at a high level, of the three. Can you imagine those three together?
4. Justin Powell and Victor Bailey played 39 combined minutes. Let's assume they were all at the same position, so 39 of 40 minutes. They shot a combined 9-14 (9-13 from 3) and scored 29 points, had 3 rebounds (all Powell), 4 assists (Powell 3, Bailey 1), 1 block (Powell), and only 1 TO (Bailey).
Now, you aren't going to get that kind of efficiency every game, but if you got 75% of it on average, you have one locked down position that you don't have to worry about. That is the benefit of having elite shooters and that is exactly why you bring in a Justin Powell. The people who were skeptical of his small sample size are going to be eating their words, over time, I believe. I was a big proponent of signing him and was over the moon when he committed, because that is the kind of stat line (15/3/3) I imagined from him. He can just affect the game in so many ways due to his shooting, size, and passing. Yeah, neither guy is really effective on defense, but as long as your other 4 are more than adequate, you can live with having one liability with room for improvement.
5. We forced 25 TOs, though Presby forced a lot of those on themselves...I've never seen so many unforced traveling calls. Chandler was credited with 7 steals and Tennessee had 13 as a team. We were smothering them, defensively and they got nothing easy. Granted, they aren't even on the same planet in terms of talent, but it was good to see us do what you should do to an opponent like that, which is completely dominate them from start to finish.
6. It was nice to see Jonas Aidoo come off the bench in garbage time and be effective. He only played 5 minutes, but had 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal. His bucket was a monstrous throwdown dunk and he would have had another rebound and dunk had Brock Jancek not have drawn a goal-tending call on a missed shot. He played angry and wasn't overthinking, perhaps due to the opponent and outcome. If Uros played that way, he'd warrant more playing time. He's just too much finesse around the basket for a guy his size, which is probably just the "euro" way of playing.
