Quarterly Review by Will Warren

[bleedingTNorange]

Quarterly Review #1: Tennessee’s answering these preseason questions very well

For those of you on Twitter I highly suggest following Will, he’s a big Tennessee fan and one of the brighter analytical minds around, he does a tremendous job breaking down Tennessee basketball beyond the box score. In this piece he looks at his season preview he did and revisits some of the questions he had about this team, really informative piece.


Some of my biggest takeaways...

-while analytics suggest Tennessee takes too many midrange shots majority of these shots are 4-10 feet not what many think of as midrange, and guys like Springer and Fulk excel there.

-JJJ is currently 8/16 on catch and shoot 3’s, Tennessee has ran quite a few designed looks to get him those chances.

-the starting 5 is statistically our best lineup

 

[Fullfillmer]

You can't really count Springers shots as mid range IMHO - 6 foot bank shot that he makes 10 out of 10 times. JJJ is so tall - his catch and shoot 3's have all been pretty wide open looks - or great percentage looks above the defender.
In looking at a lot of the statistics the other 3 guards are outperforming the two freshman --- stats like assist to turnover ratio, etc. so it is no wonder that the starting 5 are statistically our best lineup. Also Fulky when replaced in the starting 5 is a drop off -
he is the best big when it comes to passing, assists and is also a good defender. It's a fun team to watch and may be the best defensive team we have ever had if we don't run out of steam as the season grinds on.

 

[Zvols]

The roster conversation is an interesting thing to look at. I have to think Barnes is starting to work certain lineups more to get it ready for SEC play, but he might be holding a lineup in his pocket for when he needs it. I’d like to see the lineups progress like this...

Santi
Bailey
JJJ
Pons
Fulk

Springer
Bailey
Keon
Pons
Anosike

Santi
Springer
Keon
JJJ
Fulk

The last lineup will be important for the Kansas game when they go small ball. JJJ is very important to this team’s versatility. Being able to play him against less athletic 4s will open the floor up immensely.

 

[Lankykong]

Quarterly Review #1: Tennessee’s answering these preseason questions very well

For those of you on Twitter I highly suggest following Will, he’s a big Tennessee fan and one of the brighter analytical minds around, he does a tremendous job breaking down Tennessee basketball beyond the box score. In this piece he looks at his season preview he did and revisits some of the questions he had about this team, really informative piece.


Some of my biggest takeaways...

-while analytics suggest Tennessee takes too many midrange shots majority of these shots are 4-10 feet not what many think of as midrange, and guys like Springer and Fulk excel there.

-JJJ is currently 8/16 on catch and shoot 3’s, Tennessee has ran quite a few designed looks to get him those chances.

-the starting 5 is statistically our best lineup

Fun article, thanks for sharing

 

[Vol49er]

Great article, don’t have twitter but may bookmark the site. Wonder if that good shot selection metric is adjusted for each team’s shooting percentages. That would make more sense to me that we are 4th in the nation at taking good shots, as we are better in that 4-10 foot range than most, as the author alluded to

 

[njvols]

To me, there's very few ways to scheme to beat us...alot would be depending on us having an off night shooting from all the guards and not be able to get ball down low. We're at our best when we work inside/out. If I'm going against UT, I'm pressing up the floor to take us out of our sets, and play zone to force us to beat them from distance, while hoping my guys have a great night from 3's.

 

[TennesseeFan07]

He puts out great stuff.

 

[AirForceVol74]

Quarterly Review #1: Tennessee’s answering these preseason questions very well

For those of you on Twitter I highly suggest following Will, he’s a big Tennessee fan and one of the brighter analytical minds around, he does a tremendous job breaking down Tennessee basketball beyond the box score. In this piece he looks at his season preview he did and revisits some of the questions he had about this team, really informative piece.


Some of my biggest takeaways...

-while analytics suggest Tennessee takes too many midrange shots majority of these shots are 4-10 feet not what many think of as midrange, and guys like Springer and Fulk excel there.

-JJJ is currently 8/16 on catch and shoot 3’s, Tennessee has ran quite a few designed looks to get him those chances.

-the starting 5 is statistically our best lineup

IMO I think JJJ could be a great player...even better than he is now, he is very unselfish, passes many open shots to get a team mate involved. If he were to get selfish and start taking those shots more and driving to the basket he would be a triple double candidate every game. GBO!

 

[cardvolfan]

Very good stuff, as I am a statistics junkie. Correct me if I'm wrong, but statistically speaking Johnson is our best defender, with James probably second best? If so, for me these specific stats match the eye test. It also appears Vescovi is on the lower end defensively, and if that is the case, what a luxury to have a guard who plays with the tenacity he plays with and isn't considered near the top defensively on his own team.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

IMO I think JJJ could be a great player...even better than he is now, he is very unselfish, passes many open shots to get a team mate involved. If he were to get selfish and start taking those shots more and driving to the basket he would be a triple double candidate every game. GBO!

So if he becomes more selfish his assist numbers would triple in your opinion?

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Very good stuff, as I am a statistics junkie. Correct me if I'm wrong, but statistically speaking Johnson is our best defender, with James probably second best? If so, for me these specific stats match the eye test. It also appears Vescovi is on the lower end defensively, and if that is the case, what a luxury to have a guard who plays with the tenacity he plays with and isn't considered near the top defensively on his own team.

Vescovi is the PG in our 2 best defensive lineups per that article, and the best 2 man combo is Bailey/Johnson per that article. It sounds like Johnson is probably best defender as he’s involved in all 5 of the top 2 man defensive units, my guess is Springer may be lowest of the group but that just goes to show how strong defensively our guards all are.

 

[berryvol]

So if he becomes more selfish his assist numbers would triple in your opinion?

Just playing devil's advocate here since you're being smarmy, but if he were to be more aggressive attacking the basket and draw defenses in, he could potentially get more assists off drive and dish opportunities. Not sure this is what OP was even going for, just had to toss it out there that, in theory, his point could work lol

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Just playing devil's advocate here since you're being smarmy, but if he were to be more aggressive attacking the basket and draw defenses in, he could potentially get more assists off drive and dish opportunities. Not sure this is what OP was even going for, just had to toss it out there that, in theory, his point could work lol

I think he drives a decent amount as is, and that’s where a good portion of his assists comes from, OP specifically mentioned taking more shots...I think part of what makes JJJ so good/efficient is the quality of shots in which he takes.

 

[berryvol]

I think he drives a decent amount as is, and that’s where a good portion of his assists comes from, OP specifically mentioned taking more shots...I think part of what makes JJJ so good/efficient is the quality of shots in which he takes.

Agreed. JJJ's unselfishness gels the team in a big way. I wouldn't mind seeing him take a few more shots, but we need plenty to go around with this deep team. I could see his scoring go way up next season, assuming we lose Keon and Springer.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Agreed. JJJ's unselfishness gels the team in a big way. I wouldn't mind seeing him take a few more shots, but we need plenty to go around with this deep team. I could see his scoring go way up next season, assuming we lose Keon and Springer.

I could see that, along with having Chandler at PG who has elite vision

 

[AirForceVol74]

So if he becomes more selfish his assist numbers would triple in your opinion?

I didn't say his stats would triple...I stated a triple double candidate....big difference.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I didn't say his stats would triple...I stated a triple double candidate....big difference.

To be a triple double candidate I assume you’re saying points, rebounds and assists, correct? If so, you are suggesting that his assist numbers would triple by being more selfish.

 

[AirForceVol74]

To be a triple double candidate I assume you’re saying points, rebounds and assists, correct? If so, you are suggesting that his assist numbers would triple by being more selfish.

By being more aggressive with the ball or selfish he would create more offense...Points and assists...you can gain in assists by being more selfish...it doesn't always mean he doesn't pass. It means when UT is passing the ball around the perimeter and he just passes on to the next guy, when he could dribble and drive to create those opportunities to be that triple double candidate. GBO!

 

[bleedingTNorange]

By being more aggressive with the ball or selfish he would create more offense...Points and assists...you can gain in assists by being more selfish...it doesn't always mean he doesn't pass. It means when UT is passing the ball around the perimeter and he just passes on to the next guy, when he could dribble and drive to create those opportunities to be that triple double candidate. GBO!

Again, that’s how most his assists already occur, and you also specifically mentioned taking more shots in your OP...so you essentially want him to control the ball almost entirely? Either him shooting it or passing it to someone shooting it? I just see no way he triples his assists numbers by being more aggressive, I also see him being THAT much more aggressive as a negative on the team as a whole.

 

[Chris4Vols22]

By being more aggressive with the ball or selfish he would create more offense...Points and assists...you can gain in assists by being more selfish...it doesn't always mean he doesn't pass. It means when UT is passing the ball around the perimeter and he just passes on to the next guy, when he could dribble and drive to create those opportunities to be that triple double candidate. GBO!

An assist is awarded to a player when said player passes the ball to a teammate and the teammate subsequently scores.

A player achieves a triple double by gaining double digit numbers in three statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks) over the course of a single game.