Running out of Gas

[Lizzard28]

Maybe this has already been discussed, but aside from Zeigler's legs being gone for what seemed like most of the game, most of his shots were short, there was a 1 minute stretch from about the 5:17 mark to the 4:21 mark where the Vols could have taken the lead in this game, but the shots simply would not fall. Knecht and JJJ got 3 different good looks during this stretch when the score was 58-58 and 58-59. We had multiple chances to take the lead, and some of these shots were half way down, and if we just hit one or two of these shots it would have changed a lot down the stretch putting the pressure on Purdue to play from behind:

5:17		Tennessee Defensive Rebound.	58	58
5:00		Dalton Knecht missed Jumper.	58	58
5:00		Tobe Awaka Offensive Rebound.	58	58
4:53		Jump Ball won by Tennessee	58	58
4:46		Dalton Knecht missed Three Point Jumper.	58	58
4:46		Mason Gillis Defensive Rebound.	58	58
4:42		Foul on Tobe Awaka.	58	58
4:42		Zach Edey made Free Throw.	58	59
4:42		Zach Edey missed Free Throw.	58	59
4:42		Josiah-Jordan James Defensive Rebound.	58	59
4:36		Tennessee Timeout	58	59
4:21		Josiah-Jordan James missed Jumper.	58	59

And yes while we can sit here and say we are proud of the team, and it was a great season, it's just a tough one to take. I remember being proud of the team with JP Prince about 15 years ago, but who knows when the Vols will get back to this spot. The chance was there for the taking and we simply didn't have the legs to take advantage of it.

 

[BreatheUT]

I'm glad someone posted this. There was no where to go for offense. Dalton can't make every shot and no one stepped up. This is the only reason I thought it would be good to reinsert Aidoo who had fresh legs.

 

[Pride85]

I'm glad someone posted this. There was no where to go for offense. Dalton can't make every shot and no one stepped up. This is the only reason I thought it would be good to reinsert Aidoo who had fresh legs.

No matter how fresh his legs were, it was evident that Aidoo was "intimidated" by Edey. I don't mean he was afraid of him, just had zero confidence he could force his way in. He missed multiple mid range jumpers that he normally hits with ease. Edey is the two time player of the year in the NCAA for a reason. Valiant effort by the team, just came up short.

 

[2EastTnVols]

I agree we were fatigued, but so were they. They just simply had a guy they could dump the ball into that would get them 2 guaranteed free throws. And he made enough of them to win.

 

[madbamahater]

Yes, I think bringing in Aidoo could have helped provide a couple.of buckets. Maybe not, if he stayed cold, but you have to put the chips on the table right there......

 

[livefaith]

Maybe this has alrady been discussed, but aside from Zeigler's legs being gone for what seemed like most of the game, most of his shots were short, there was a 1 minute stretch from about the 5:17 mark to the 4:21 mark where the Vols could have taken the lead in this game, but the shots simply would not fall. Knecht and JJJ got 3 different good looks during this stretch when the score was 58-58 and 58-59. We had multiple chances to take the lead, and some of these shots were half way down, and if we just hit one or two of these shots it would have changed a lot down the stretch putting the pressure on Purdue to play from behind:

5:17		Tennessee Defensive Rebound.	58	58
5:00		Dalton Knecht missed Jumper.	58	58
5:00		Tobe Awaka Offensive Rebound.	58	58
4:53		Jump Ball won by Tennessee	58	58
4:46		Dalton Knecht missed Three Point Jumper.	58	58
4:46		Mason Gillis Defensive Rebound.	58	58
4:42		Foul on Tobe Awaka.	58	58
4:42		Zach Edey made Free Throw.	58	59
4:42		Zach Edey missed Free Throw.	58	59
4:42		Josiah-Jordan James Defensive Rebound.	58	59
4:36		Tennessee Timeout	58	59
4:21		Josiah-Jordan James missed Jumper.	58	59

And yes while we can sit here and say we are proud of the team, and it was a great season, it's just a tough one to take. I remember being proud of the team with JP Prince about 15 years ago, but who knows when the Vols will get back to this spot. The chance was there for the taking and we simply didn't have the legs to take advantage of it.

Good analysis. A couple of those were sitting here watching it and everyone knew that that 5-minute stretch right there was going to carry us to the final four or bust. Yep, several of the guys looked a little bit gassed and we didn't do it at a critical meoment

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

No matter how fresh his legs were, it was evident that Aidoo was "intimidated" by Edey. I don't mean he was afraid of him, just had zero confidence he could force his way in. He missed multiple mid range jumpers that he normally hits with ease. Edey is the two time player of the year in the NCAA for a reason. Valiant effort by the team, just came up short.

I wondered all year if there would come a point when we missed Uros. For all his faults (and he’s probably less skilled than Aidoo), that Serbian SOB wouldn’t have backed down if Edey was eight foot four.

 

[DonDiego]

I wondered all year if there would come a point when we missed Uros. For all his faults (and he’s probably less skilled than Aidoo), that Serbian SOB wouldn’t have backed down if Edey was eight foot four.

Personally, I loved Uros, but he would have fouled out in the first half.

 

[kptvol1452]

No matter how fresh his legs were, it was evident that Aidoo was "intimidated" by Edey. I don't mean he was afraid of him, just had zero confidence he could force his way in. He missed multiple mid range jumpers that he normally hits with ease. Edey is the two time player of the year in the NCAA for a reason. Valiant effort by the team, just came up short.

I'm glad someone posted this. There was no where to go for offense. Dalton can't make every shot and no one stepped up. This is the only reason I thought it would be good to reinsert Aidoo who had fresh legs.

You got have heart as well as fresh legs.....Aidoo was scared from opening tip not good when freshman looks more ready than 3 yr player......

 

[Cartervol]

Zeigler was done.. His legs were definitely gone. We needed his points and one or two others. Never got it.

 

[Rocky Top T]

You got have heart as well as fresh legs.....Aidoo was scared from opening tip not good when freshman looks more ready than 3 yr player......

You are correct

 

[EZE]

Fatigue had little to do with it IMO. The refs obviously were fresh and had plenty of energy to blow their whistles on the Purdue end.

That was the difference in the game. Everything else was way down on the list.

You aren’t going to win many games against top-shelf opponents when they shoot 22 more free throws than you.

 

[VolMarine1371]

Fatigue had little to do with it IMO. The refs obviously were fresh and had plenty of energy to blow their whistles on the Purdue end.

That was the difference in the game. Everything else was way down on the list.

You aren’t going to win many games against top-shelf opponents when they shoot 22 more free throws than you.

Edey alone shot twice as many free throws alone as the entire Tennessee team. NCAA was not going to allow the Vols be in the final 4. NCAA is after the Vols and will come after us anyway they can “legally” just because they didn’t get their way with our football team.

 

[knox73]

Late game on Friday ending on Saturday morning with interviews and early game on Sunday was a severe challenge. The Mighty Vols fought through it and gave Purdue their toughest match of the tournament. This is my favorite all time Vol basketball team and the team and coaches deserve to be remembered for years as winners!!!

 

[Pride85]

You got have heart as well as fresh legs.....Aidoo was scared from opening tip not good when freshman looks more ready than 3 yr player......

But it sure gives you high hopes for the future. Estrella became a man this game. The training wheels are off.

 

[volfaninpa]

I also noticed that Zakai came out for just a moment before the 4 minute timeout, I believe. After hearing the comments about Zakai only coming out if he lets the coaches know he needs to, makes me think that part of his shooting yesterday was fatigue. He'd played all 40 minutes just 36 hours ago. Who knows? UT maybe wins if they get to play the 5:30 game yesterday instead of the 2:30 one.

No reason at all why those Sunday games couldn't be later in the evening.

 

[pimo1]

I agree we were fatigued, but so were they. They just simply had a guy they could dump the ball into that would get them 2 guaranteed free throws. And he made enough of them to win.

I've been saying it since midseason. Purdue was like the blueprint of a bad matchup for this team. With Santi being pretty much not available we were in an even worse position. Edey is like the worst possible thing we could have run into. This UT team had answers for pretty much anything outside of a dominant big man. Knecht and Edey made the noise they needed to cement themselves as first-rounders in this game for sure though.

 

[TboneinHuntsvilleAL]

My two cents... Purdue doesn't play good basketball. It is ugly and thuggish. WE don't have a "thug" in the paint to play with Eddy. You have to have an Eddy equal. UConn has such a player. Stay tuned.

 

[volfeeva]

No matter how fresh his legs were, it was evident that Aidoo was "intimidated" by Edey. I don't mean he was afraid of him, just had zero confidence he could force his way in. He missed multiple mid range jumpers that he normally hits with ease. Edey is the two time player of the year in the NCAA for a reason. Valiant effort by the team, just came up short.

Spot on about not being able to do anything about Purdue dumping the ball to Lurch and he eventually gets a lay up or dunk. There's not much you can do about that without a bigger guy to challenge him. Purdue has done that to every team they played in the tourney and it's worked so far.
Before the game all the talking heads on the pre-game shows including Barkley said Tenn big guy needs to get behind Edey and , well, we saw the result. I wonder if it might disrupt that to bring a player to be in front of Edey and try to keep him from getting the ball. I know this frees up a player that's not going to have a man on him, but you exchange a high percentage dunk shot for a jump shot farther out. Just thinking outside the box in hindsight.

 

[Rocky Volboa]

Gainey was hot hitting 2 three's and the pull up at the foul line. I wish they would have kept feeding him the ball.

 

[vol94]

No matter how fresh his legs were, it was evident that Aidoo was "intimidated" by Edey. I don't mean he was afraid of him, just had zero confidence he could force his way in. He missed multiple mid range jumpers that he normally hits with ease. Edey is the two time player of the year in the NCAA for a reason. Valiant effort by the team, just came up short.

Someone has to lose and unfortunately it was our Vols. This loss is still with me as I feel the same way I did after TN lost to LSU in 2001 and Jr in 2022.

We would’ve been a six point favorite over NC State so this loss makes me feel worse.

It’s frustrating as we were so close. I don’t think TN football will contend for a championship over the next few yrs so basketball was our best shot. Plus, I love this team and Coach Barnes.

 

[Tennman]

Maybe this has already been discussed, but aside from Zeigler's legs being gone for what seemed like most of the game, most of his shots were short, there was a 1 minute stretch from about the 5:17 mark to the 4:21 mark where the Vols could have taken the lead in this game, but the shots simply would not fall. Knecht and JJJ got 3 different good looks during this stretch when the score was 58-58 and 58-59. We had multiple chances to take the lead, and some of these shots were half way down, and if we just hit one or two of these shots it would have changed a lot down the stretch putting the pressure on Purdue to play from behind:

5:17		Tennessee Defensive Rebound.	58	58
5:00		Dalton Knecht missed Jumper.	58	58
5:00		Tobe Awaka Offensive Rebound.	58	58
4:53		Jump Ball won by Tennessee	58	58
4:46		Dalton Knecht missed Three Point Jumper.	58	58
4:46		Mason Gillis Defensive Rebound.	58	58
4:42		Foul on Tobe Awaka.	58	58
4:42		Zach Edey made Free Throw.	58	59
4:42		Zach Edey missed Free Throw.	58	59
4:42		Josiah-Jordan James Defensive Rebound.	58	59
4:36		Tennessee Timeout	58	59
4:21		Josiah-Jordan James missed Jumper.	58	59

And yes while we can sit here and say we are proud of the team, and it was a great season, it's just a tough one to take. I remember being proud of the team with JP Prince about 15 years ago, but who knows when the Vols will get back to this spot. The chance was there for the taking and we simply didn't have the legs to take advantage of it.

agreed, and by the way Foul on Awaka at 4:42 was not a foul. shame he had to sit .

 

[CaliVol2009]

I also noticed that Zakai came out for just a moment before the 4 minute timeout, I believe. After hearing the comments about Zakai only coming out if he lets the coaches know he needs to, makes me think that part of his shooting yesterday was fatigue. He'd played all 40 minutes just 36 hours ago. Who knows? UT maybe wins if they get to play the 5:30 game yesterday instead of the 2:30 one.

No reason at all why those Sunday games couldn't be later in the evening.

I bet there were a few of our players that were starting to get sick with the flu.

 

[Volatile68]

I'm glad someone posted this. There was no where to go for offense. Dalton can't make every shot and no one stepped up. This is the only reason I thought it would be good to reinsert Aidoo who had fresh legs.

No lol. He would have short changed another jumper 12+ ft from the basket.

 

[Frozevol]

agreed, and by the way Foul on Awaka at 4:42 was not a foul. shame he had to sit .

That’s the point. One bad call can seriously impact a team. The old saw of “well the bad calls work themselves out over the course of the game” is not entirely true. It is the situation of when the call is made that has to be considered. But it never is. The most obvious case is the non TD call against….PU (Ke).