Tennessee/ Villanova Q&A

[FTCvol]

I did a back and forth yesterday with a fella who writes for the SB Nation Villanova hoops site, and I thought it turned out pretty well and reasonably informative. I figured I'd share so we can brush up, given it's been a few years since we've had a run in with these Wildcats.

Here's an excerpt:

There’s four players averaging at least 16 points per-game on Nova’s roster right now. Guard Justin Moore leads the way at an even 19, and he’s followed by guard Collin Gillespie at 17.3, forward Brandon Slater at 16.7 and forward Jermaine Samuels at 16. Moore, Gillespie and Samuels all averaged double-figure scoring last year, but Slater never averaged more than four points per-game in his previous three seasons at the school. His scoring pop is bolstered by what looks to be a newfound proficiency from 3-point range — he’s hit nine in three games this year after hitting a total of 13 3s during his first three seasons.

Is Slater's ramped-up production just simply a result of increased playing time? And are Villanova fans counting on Slater to keep up his pace?

Shhhh, we’re trying not to jinx it right now. Slater has always shown flashes and Nova Nation is excited to see him coming into his own as a senior. He looks like he’s completely rebuilt his body, changing from a wiry defensive disruptor to the chiseled head of the snake of the defense. He actually shot it fairly well from deep last year on very few attempts so Villanova was hopeful he could become a proficient enough shooter to make 35% or so of his wide open ones to keep the defense honest. Instead, after bricking his first two, he’s made 9 of his last 10 3s, some of them being fairly contested. He’s not going to keep up this pace, but he’s probably already done enough to drag defenders out to him and create more space for Gillespie and Samuels, and there’s hope now that he can be a real weapon on both ends of the floor.

If you're interest in reading the whole thing, you can find it here.

Dan also had some good questions for me, and you can find those posted on VU Hoops. In one of them, he asked me about Vols fans' overall perception of Rick Barnes and mentioned Barnes' reputation sorta taking a hit when he was fired from Texas:

"What is the fanbase’s opinion of Rick Barnes? His run at Texas looks very impressive in retrospect, but he was mostly considered a punchline when he was finally pushed out the door in Austin. He’s done relatively well at Tennessee, but I wonder whether his unfair reputation results in a lack of patience from the fans."

I reckon I wasn't tuned in to the national CBB scene at the time, because I don't recall that being the case. Did I just miss it?

 

[golfballs]

Punchline? No. Not living up to fan expectations? Certainly. Were they unrealtic expectations? Only due to his own success. Tom Penders gave the program a kick start and Barnes took them even higher. Just based on how good they were over the years the odds are they would have had more post season success. Considering we had just fired butterball, I didn’t care much about whatever stigma there was around failing to consistently go deep in the postseason. I’d be glad if we were consistently getting there. He immediately gave legitimacy to our program and was a great cultural fit.

 

[njvols]

think it's going to be a high scoring game. If our sharp shooters are on their game, I think we win b/c of our depth.

 

[Hacksaw]

Would love to see Aidoo get some minutes today and disrupt some of their shots near the basket -- maybe get a few rebounds. Really looking forward to seeing what he might be able to give us this season.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Would love to see Aidoo get some minutes today and disrupt some of their shots near the basket -- maybe get a few rebounds. Really looking forward to seeing what he might be able to give us this season.

Villanova takes almost as few 2pa as anyone in the country, and you want to stick a true freshman who’s never played in a game out there against one of the tougher offensive systems to defend which will have him on the perimeter and in multiple ball screen situations???

No offense but that seems like a horrible plan.

 

[Hacksaw]

Villanova takes almost as few 2pa as anyone in the country, and you want to stick a true freshman who’s never played in a game out there against one of the tougher offensive systems to defend which will have him on the perimeter and in multiple ball screen situations???

No offense but that seems like a horrible plan.

No offense back to you, but your post seems kind of like an over-reaction to what I posted.

Barnes has said some very positive things about Aidoo's potential value as a rim protector and I've been intrigued by him since he committed to the Vols. So, yeah, I'm anxious to see him "get some minutes" sooner rather than later. Your response would make more sense if I was clamoring for him to start or complaining that he should get more playing time over someone else on the roster. I trust Barnes. I just get excited to see the new guys and what they can bring to the party.

 

[Vol49er]

No offense back to you, but your post seems kind of like an over-reaction to what I posted.

Barnes has said some very positive things about Aidoo's potential value as a rim protector and I've been intrigued by him since he committed to the Vols. So, yeah, I'm anxious to see him "get some minutes" sooner rather than later. Your response would make more sense if I was clamoring for him to start or complaining that he should get more playing time over someone else on the roster. I trust Barnes. I just get excited to see the new guys and what they can bring to the party.

That’s kind of his whole thing

 

[bleedingTNorange]

No offense back to you, but your post seems kind of like an over-reaction to what I posted.

Barnes has said some very positive things about Aidoo's potential value as a rim protector and I've been intrigued by him since he committed to the Vols. So, yeah, I'm anxious to see him "get some minutes" sooner rather than later. Your response would make more sense if I was clamoring for him to start or complaining that he should get more playing time over someone else on the roster. I trust Barnes. I just get excited to see the new guys and what they can bring to the party.

Barnes has said good things about Tamba and his rim protection too though, Barnes has also said that Aidoo has a long way to go after missing as much time as he did.

Nova plays small and doesn’t shoot many 2’s at all, in a game where there probably aren’t a ton of minutes for our 5’s I just struggle to think that putting Aidoo out there for his first minutes against Villanova is a bad idea.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

That’s kind of his whole thing

So you agree that Aidoo should make his debut today?

 

[Col_Cathcart]

So you agree that Aidoo should make his debut today?

You’re proving his point (which was that you tend to be overly argumentative and had nothing to do with Aidoo).

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Barnes has said good things about Tamba and his rim protection too though, Barnes has also said that Aidoo has a long way to go after missing as much time as he did.

Nova plays small and doesn’t shoot many 2’s at all, in a game where there probably aren’t a ton of minutes for our 5’s I just struggle to think that putting Aidoo out there for his first minutes against Villanova is a bad idea.

I think Aidoo is a very gifted player who hasn’t able to make that jump yet in the college level.

He might play in garbage time if the game has already been decided but I don’t expect to see him in the rotation this year.

 

[Vol49er]

So you agree that Aidoo should make his debut today?

Not in a close game, but it’s not like a completely absurd thing to say that must be shot down with force. Dude wants to see the highly regarded freshman against a quality opponent. That’s pretty normal

 

[firedog28]

Villanova kicking our butts !

 

[kxtop]

VOLS looked like they forgot to sleep for a few nights before Villanova game. Do not know what was going on but that was not our team on the floor, lethargic, disorganized, bad shooting and no defense, all uncharacteristic of a Barnes team. Better now for this train wreck than late in the season.