The Official #9 Tennessee vs. Arkansas Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2

[Thunder Good-Oil]

First half missed three bunnies and had the ball with the shot clock off at the end yet Arky scored at the buzzer. 8 point swing by not playing fundamentally sound. Plus how many free throws were missed in the first half?

 

[therickbol]

I wonder if any other team's fanbase would so often complain about the defense and advocate for a change in defensive philosophy when their team possess the #1 defense statistically in college basketball

It's really a good look and immediately uncovers the functional basketball intelligence of that poster.

 

[cardvolfan]

Great bounce back win. Question - does anyone notice the issue with traction and loose ball handling these last two games. Our guys - Keon SV Springer as slip sliding all over the place and having a lot of ball handling issues. Is it the ball, is it the shoes or is the court like an ice rink?

I wondered that myself.

 

[therickbol]

Can you imagine how long these posters would make it on the team had they not been cut in high school? 5 minutes into the first game they are throwing their hands up saying "we suck and what coach is doing is not working" and already giving up on being able to win. They would be put under the bench and off the team before the team gets out of the locker room after the game.

 

[VolMarine1371]

Arkansas has 2 losses dude.

Nice that you can comment after we beat them. I was responding to a comment that was made DURING THE GAME. And yet they have 2 losses now but yet still not ranked. There may be a reason for it. Anyone can have a good record when they play university school of the blind.

 

[chuckiepoo]

First half missed three bunnies and had the ball with the shot clock off at the end yet Arky scored at the buzzer. 8 point swing by not playing fundamentally sound. Plus how many free throws were missed in the first half?

Bunnies to start killed us.

 

[omghulkhands]

Great bounce back win. Question - does anyone notice the issue with traction and loose ball handling these last two games. Our guys - Keon SV Springer as slip sliding all over the place and having a lot of ball handling issues. Is it the ball, is it the shoes or is the court like an ice rink?

A funny thing I noticed is Bailey sweats buckets. He was standing at the free throw line and literally just dripping down his face like a faucet. I was thinking he needs his own personal floor dryer to go behind him.

 

[NEO]

A funny thing I noticed is Bailey sweats buckets. He was standing at the free throw line and literally just dripping down his face like a faucet. I was thinking he needs his own personal floor dryer to go behind him.

Oddly enough that a sign of not enough fluids.

 

[Schasz]

When James plays the way he did tonight, the offense hits another gear.

Plain and simple JJJ needs to shoot more going forth.

 

[OneVolNation]

Any win in the SEC is a good win. Way to go, Vols!

 

[C-south]

At least Vescovi looked good. 😂

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

.

 

[Roustabout]

First half missed three bunnies and had the ball with the shot clock off at the end yet Arky scored at the buzzer. 8 point swing by not playing fundamentally sound. Plus how many free throws were missed in the first half?

Great to get the win, but you point out some obvious problems with this team. They had a few sequences where things went wrong on both ends.

Those problems aren't as obvious if UT makes wide open looks and they had even more open looks in this game. Also, still seem tentative to attack the paint. Yes, i know that guy was 7'5" but they should have been putting bodies on him hard. He's not a physical player.

Barnes is not managing his roster well. Throwing Pember in last game and Uros this one. It looks like they've ruined ON's confidence again. Vescovi was a huge liability last night, yet was on the floor in the clutch. He again picked up his dribble having to call a time out to fix his error.

Arkansas looked to have about four guys who were twin brothers to Gaines. Skinny as hell, but our beef didn't do anything with it. We were not the more physical team.

This team continues to make bad decisions on defense with bigs over pursuing past the three point line. Plus the constant switching. In the Bama game Anosike finally starting laying back and barking at the guards to stay on their man. He didn't play much this game, maybe not at all in the 2nd half.

Fulk is off. That failed dunk shows that he isn't getting up like he used to. Obvious wrist injury. My wife said, "well, he should have been resting during those easy games."

Any conference win is a good win, but this team has some glaring errors. I said in the preseason that people need to pump the brakes. Last years squad wasn't even going to make the tourney. Sure, they've added some nice pieces, but this is far from a final 4 team.

 

[calban]

Great to get the win, but you point out some obvious problems with this team. They had a few sequences where things went wrong on both ends.

Those problems aren't as obvious if UT makes wide open looks and they had even more open looks in this game. Also, still seem tentative to attack the paint. Yes, i know that guy was 7'5" but they should have been putting bodies on him hard. He's not a physical player.

Barnes is not managing his roster well. Throwing Pember in last game and Uros this one. It looks like they've ruined ON's confidence again. Vescovi was a huge liability last night, yet was on the floor in the clutch. He again picked up his dribble having to call a time out to fix his error.

Arkansas looked to have about four guys who were twin brothers to Gaines. Skinny as hell, but our beef didn't do anything with it. We were not the more physical team.

This team continues to make bad decisions on defense with bigs over pursuing past the three point line. Plus the constant switching. In the Bama game Anosike finally starting laying back and barking at the guards to stay on their man. He didn't play much this game, maybe not at all in the 2nd half.

Fulk is off. That failed dunk shows that he isn't getting up like he used to. Obvious wrist injury. My wife said, "well, he should have been resting during those easy games."

Any conference win is a good win, but this team has some glaring errors. I said in the preseason that people need to pump the brakes. Last years squad wasn't even going to make the tourney. Sure, they've added some nice pieces, but this is far from a final 4 team.

We'd have had a better idea of where we are and how good we are if the Covid hadn't affected our early schedule. We're just now learning what we've got. And the SEC may not be as bad as some on here usually believe.

 

[Volinnooga]

A couple of thoughts:
vezcovi did not have a good game but he is clutch with free throws down the stretch.
We did a better job of help defense when they spread the floor. We let ourselves get too far out against Bama but did a better job of help last night, particularly as the game wore on.
Didn’t play great but it’s a conference win against a solid team. Win and move on.

 

[BalledUPfists]

What makes you a troll is that your takes are so terrible that we assume you are making those statements on purpose because the alternative is that you have no idea what you are talking about.

If you think that utilizing multiple defensive strategies is foolish then there’s nothing else that I can say that will matter. You do realize that great coaches utilize multiple offense of sets and defensive sets to confuse and achieve winning results, right? Vescovi, Bailey, and Fulk are not quick enough to be able to effectively guard the dribble drive penetration that the last two teams have used. That is why our average points allowed has gone up almost 10 points for the season. We are playing elite level players that can get to the rim against these players. If you do not see that than you are not watching the same games the rest of us are.

 

[Volfan2012]

Were not playing very well right now, but won the game and that is what matters. I think when we went more to four guards we got a lot better play last night. I like James, Springer, and Johnson as a group along with Fulk and Pons as starters and maximum players. Looks to be our best defensive team. Vescovi and Bailey are excellent offensive players not great defenders.

 

[walkenvol]

Scored 79 points on a night where we missed more wide-open 3's than normal and didn't shoot great from FT. We have some limitations on offense and need to improve but 'terrible' is ridiculous.

Missed at least 4 point blank bunnies also. We shot 76% free throws - do you expect 90%*?

 

[therickbol]

If you think that utilizing multiple defensive strategies is foolish then there’s nothing else that I can say that will matter. You do realize that great coaches utilize multiple offense of sets and defensive sets to confuse and achieve winning results, right? Vescovi, Bailey, and Fulk are not quick enough to be able to effectively guard the dribble drive penetration that the last two teams have used. That is why our average points allowed has gone up almost 10 points for the season. We are playing elite level players that can get to the rim against these players. If you do not see that than you are not watching the same games the rest of us are.

I have been coaching basketball for 17 years. I gave a full breakdown in the thread asking about Zone Defense so I won't retype all of it. You are free to go read it if you care. Moving to a zone does not fix the issues we had the last two games. And the external costs far outweigh the benefits. I love that moving to a zone will magically make Vescovi and Bailey quicker so they can guard dribble penetration 🙄 We play a gap scheme M2M which provides the help that would be achieved in a zone. They have to play better and be more disciplined with their small details on defense. They don't need some magic 'zone pill' that will fix it. And no great team constantly switches between M2M and zone. If a team does that it is because they are not good at either type of defense. And by switching back and forth they guaranteed that they will not become great at either one.

 

[therickbol]

Missed at least 4 point blank bunnies also. We shot 76% free throws - do you expect 90%*?

Didn't look at final % I just remembered we shot poorly early in the game from FT line. That final number certainly was helped by Keon and Vescovi being clutch at the end of the game. Can't argue with 76% once all is said and done.

 

[walkenvol]

Didn't look at final % I just remembered we shot poorly early in the game from FT line. That final number certainly was helped by Keon and Vescovi being clutch at the end of the game. Can't argue with 76% once all is said and done.

To be honest I had the same idea until I checked the stats

 

[volinbama256]

The last two games showed us that we are still a work in progress... the key will be if we continue to fix and adjust the mistakes... this is a solid team right now, but definitely not the elite team most thought based on the first few games... plenty of room to grow and gel, but if we are going to make a run, we need to start tightening up and being more consistent in several areas...

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

The last two games showed us that we are still a work in progress... the key will be if we continue to fix and adjust the mistakes... this is a solid team right now, but definitely not the elite team most thought based on the first few games... plenty of room to grow and gel, but if we are going to make a run, we need to start tightening up and being more consistent in several areas...

I think that the injuries to Fulk and Springer and the refs quick to call fouls on Pons are the biggest factors why TN has struggled with the last two opponents. Having James, Johnson, and Springer on the court at the same time at the top of their game and we’re elite.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

I was thinking a good first half strategy would have been to put Uros in there to just go right at the big Ark player to get some fouls on him. Would have opened up the middle for Fulky after he was out. Just a thought.

 

[jeff1vol]

Since you’re pushing this narrative, post the statistics that says over 50% of teams regularly switch in zone

Can you post the stats that says they don't? Stupid question. As usual... ya'll completely miss the point. Is DOES NOT MATTER. Barnes is NOT going to change up his defense, period. The "zone" was an example of what other coaches do to "mix things up". Barnes does not and WILL not do that. Get it now?