The Next Three Games...

#1
hatvol96

hatvol96

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#1
will really set the Vols up for an NCAA bid or put them behind the eight ball. I'm going to assume a loss at Ohio State. That leaves WKU, Ok State, and Texas as the remaining opportunities for quality nonconference wins. Winning 2 or 3 of the games will give the Vols a little margin of error in conference play. Lose 2 or 3 and the Vols will have to perform exceptionally in the conference to make the tourney.
 
#3
#3
VolinArizona said:
Would it be silly of me to assume WKU and OKSU would be the two "easiest" of the 4?
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I think Texas in Knoxville is a better matchup than Ok State in Nashville. Texas is exceptionally young. I'd expect them to struggle on the road. The Cowboys are a veteran bunch and I don't expect much of a home court advantage in Nashville.
 
#4
#4
Have our boys seemed to really gel and mature....I hope so because this is a gauntlet!! The Memphis game surprised me with the margin seeig how physical it was. Here's to hoping that tarheel wood shed was a positive growth experience and the lessons were learned...I know it's early, but it seemed to in the Memphis game. One things for sure, we won't be waiting long to find out.
 
#5
#5
hatvol96 said:
I think Texas in Knoxville is a better matchup than Ok State in Nashville. Texas is exceptionally young. I'd expect them to struggle on the road. The Cowboys are a veteran bunch and I don't expect much of a home court advantage in Nashville.
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What kind of percentage do you put on the likelihood of going 3-1 in those 4 games?

From my limited, but growing, knowledge of 2006 college basketball, I would rank the 4 opponents from toughest to weakest:

1. tOSU
2. OKSU
3. WKU
4. Texas

This is, of course, after your statements about the young Longhorns. WKU is probably a top 5 mid major this season, yes?
 
#7
#7
VolinArizona said:
What kind of percentage do you put on the likelihood of going 3-1 in those 4 games?

From my limited, but growing, knowledge of 2006 college basketball, I would rank the 4 opponents from toughest to weakest:

1. tOSU
2. OKSU
3. WKU
4. Texas

This is, of course, after your statements about the young Longhorns. WKU is probably a top 5 mid major this season, yes?
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Western's good. I think Texas is probably a tougher matchup for the Vols because we have absolutely nobody to guard Kevin Durant.
 
#9
#9
VolinArizona said:
What kind of percentage do you put on the likelihood of going 3-1 in those 4 games?
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If the Vols go 3-1 during this 4 game stretch, I'll be doing cartwheels in the front yard.

What time is the Western Kentucky game?
 
#10
#10
It's possible to do 3-1 and maybe the miracle 4-0 in the stretch, but it will really depend on a HIGH HIGH FG%...if we can get hot like we did against Texas last year, look out...if we struggle at all with shooting, we're probably in trouble. Our defense isn't where it needs to be to win low scoring games. Memphis was a fluke, since they (for some reason) shot about 1000 3's and refused to rebound. I don't expect an easy time from here on without major contributions from people not named Lofton.
 
#13
#13
Im shooting for a 2-2 record for these 4 games. I think we will beat WK and the Texas University game is at home, as Hatvol has said they are young. Im afraid OKst and tOSU will not be pretty
 
#14
#14
VolTSX23 said:
Im shooting for a 2-2 record for these 4 games. I think we will beat WK and the Texas University game is at home, as Hatvol has said they are young. Im afraid OKst and tOSU will not be pretty
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Agreed. 2-2 would be great during this stretch.

How well we play in all games will matter also. Play competitively, and we'll get respect. Get blown out a couple of timees, and we'll need 20 wins to make the tourney. We could be undefeated right now with a slightly easier schedule. But Pearl wants to play the best, and I love it.

On guarding Durant, I haven't seen him play, but I bet we'll mix up Bradshaw and Tabb on him, simply b/c those guys, even though shorter, will fight him every second he's on the court.
 
#16
#16
Tennessee can't afford to loose there next 3 to wku, osu, and utexas and be 7-5. We can beat ets and ten. tech. and go 9-5. If we win any of the next 3 games, we'll be a reasonable 10-4 going into sec play. Last year, TN was 11-1 before playing the sec conference.
 
#18
#18
wbarron said:
Agreed. 2-2 would be great during this stretch.

How well we play in all games will matter also. Play competitively, and we'll get respect. Get blown out a couple of timees, and we'll need 20 wins to make the tourney. We could be undefeated right now with a slightly easier schedule. But Pearl wants to play the best, and I love it.

On guarding Durant, I haven't seen him play, but I bet we'll mix up Bradshaw and Tabb on him, simply b/c those guys, even though shorter, will fight him every second he's on the court.
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I respect what Bradshaw brings to the table. He is one of those "if they had such and suchs athletic ability he would be an all-american" type of players. But, if he guards Kevin Durant at any point it will be very ugly. I doubt that happens. Kevin Durant can shoot over Bradshaw and he is quick enough to go around Bradshaw. Thats a bad combination. Tabb will certainly guard him while he is in the game. Outside of that, I am curious to see what Pearl does.
 
#19
#19
therickbol said:
I respect what Bradshaw brings to the table. He is one of those "if they had such and suchs athletic ability he would be an all-american" type of players. But, if he guards Kevin Durant at any point it will be very ugly. I doubt that happens. Kevin Durant can shoot over Bradshaw and he is quick enough to go around Bradshaw. Thats a bad combination. Tabb will certainly guard him while he is in the game. Outside of that, I am curious to see what Pearl does.
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If you want to see what Durant would do to Bradshaw, go back and look at what Shawne Williams did to him in the final ten minutes of the Memphis game last year.
 
#20
#20
I would say athletically the best matchup against Durant is probably Crews. But, Chism is a more fundamentally sound defensive player. No matter who we put on him its a match-up problem. We will just have to compensate by scouting well and helping off of the right players and putting the ball in the hands of their least capable scorer.
 
#21
#21
therickbol said:
I would say athletically the best matchup against Durant is probably Crews. But, Chism is a more fundamentally sound defensive player. No matter who we put on him its a match-up problem. We will just have to compensate by scouting well and helping off of the right players and putting the ball in the hands of their least capable scorer.
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He would foul Wayne Chism out in about 12 minutes. Chism can't guard him out on the floor.
 
#23
#23
hatvol96 said:
will really set the Vols up for an NCAA bid or put them behind the eight ball. I'm going to assume a loss at Ohio State. That leaves WKU, Ok State, and Texas as the remaining opportunities for quality nonconference wins. Winning 2 or 3 of the games will give the Vols a little margin of error in conference play. Lose 2 or 3 and the Vols will have to perform exceptionally in the conference to make the tourney.
Click to expand...

(It may just be coach speak, but....) Coach Pearl has really been talking up Western Kentucky. Hopefully we can win that one at home. I feel better about Texas for some reason than Oklahoma State - maybe because Texas is at home, or maybe because I remember the Okie St. game from last year. I don't expect to win all 3, but 2 of 3 would be acceptable, especially after coming off of the Memphis win.
 
#24
#24
WKU is a very solid team; I expect them to be dancing in March. This is a brutal stretch of schedule - it's kind of sad that it comes so early in the year, as I expect the Vols to be MUCH better by tournament time than it is now.

I'll take 2-2, gladly. That, barring a major upset, puts UT at 11-4 going into conference play; from there 9-7 (which I think is perfectly reasonable) in the conference puts them at 20-11 overall. 20 wins is a lock for the Dance coming out of the SEC. 19-12 (8-8 conference) is borderline - we'd probably have to actually (gasp) win a game in the SEC Tournament to assure a spot.
 
#25
#25
Coming out of the SEC, I think that 19 wins will get us in, especially with the RPI that we should have from playing UNC, Memphis, Florida (2x), LSU, Alabama, etc., etc.
 
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