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1. It's March Madness. Tennessee won the game and exorcized the demons from last year by winning in the Round of 32. In the end that's what really matters. I'm going to try very hard to no be overly negative because it's all about survive and advance...BUT.....
2. Tennessee has got to figure out what the hell is going on at halftime. That's now three straight games where they came out flat as hell and let their opponent make a big run to start the half. I think something going forward Barnes could change was taking Grant out at the 19:00 minute mark after he picked up his third. Normal situations dictate you take him out but I think if you keep him in it and get that lead to 25-30 then it doesn't matter later on about the foul situation. I’m good either way though.
3. Admiral told Barnes to keep Kyle in (allegedly) and the shot he took with so much time on the shot clock with under a minute to go was truly horrifying. But you cannot, under any circumstance, willingly leave your best shooter on the bench when you need a final shot to win a game. That absolutely cannot happen and it was dreadful. And this is the second time (forgive me but I cannot remember which game) where the best shot Tennessee got in this situation is a dumb catch and shoot for your fourth best shooter in Jordan Bone. We have to execute better late.
4. Ultimately it didn't matter but the call on Lamonte Turner on the block after the ref inadvertently blew his whistle is an absolute disgrace to the sport. If you messed up by blowing your whistle accidentally...that's okay. We are humans, we make mistakes. Don't compound your mistake by being embarrassed and claiming a foul when the referee closer to you said it was tipped. I don't know the name of the referee but he should not be in this tournament anymore.
5. Okay, what happened? Why did Iowa come back? I'm actually not going to blame Barnes much for this one, because it was turnovers. And that's not on the coaches. Jordan Bone and Grant Williams are upperclassmen and were particularly careless with the ball today. If Tennessee cuts half their turnovers they win by double digits. You cannot be lazy with the ball in March. Same thing happened with Auburn.
6. To further compound the point, Tennessee had 17 turnovers and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. You basically are giving Iowa a chance to score 30 more times with those numbers. Tennessee took 35 shots in the first half...14 in the second half! You cannot give away possessions.
7. Player of the game: Grant Williams- Grant played such an all-around game. He was fantastic defensively, had 19 points and also had 4 steals and 3 blocks. He made almost every big play in OT.
8. The defense wasn't as good in the second half but still solid. Tennessee only gave up three 3 pointers and held them to 44% shooting but the biggest thing was fouling. They went 16-17 from the line. Iowa is really good at it getting to the line. Tennessee didn't move their feet as well and made some silly fouls (and it was a tighter whistle). They played better defense today than they did against Colgate and really clamped them down Iowa in OT. I thought Lamonte Turner was incredible with his ball pressure on Bohannon.
9. Look I am all in favor of of saving timeouts, but dear God it's the tournament. Call a timeout Rick. It won't freaking kill you. Obviously, it's not working when you don't. And it's not even a momentum thing. You call those timeouts so you can get a play in to score, change the defensive strategy, or maybe get in a different lineup. Iowa went on multiple runs and Barnes did nothing. That's bad coaching.
10. But, overall it doesn't matter. If Tennessee somehow wins a national title, nobody cares you blew a 25 point lead and had to win in OT in the second round. I got to give it to the players and Barnes/coaching staff for focusing in OT after getting knocked down and taking the win. If Tennessee plays as they did in the first half nobody can beat them. They have to learn to keep that going for two halves. Purdue is a really good basketball team. Basically a souped-up version of Iowa. Lamonte Turner vs. Carsen Edwards is going to be a bloodbath. Tennessee still has a chance to make their first ever Final Four and overall Tennessee did what they had to do to advance. Can't complain about that.
Go Vols!
2. Tennessee has got to figure out what the hell is going on at halftime. That's now three straight games where they came out flat as hell and let their opponent make a big run to start the half. I think something going forward Barnes could change was taking Grant out at the 19:00 minute mark after he picked up his third. Normal situations dictate you take him out but I think if you keep him in it and get that lead to 25-30 then it doesn't matter later on about the foul situation. I’m good either way though.
3. Admiral told Barnes to keep Kyle in (allegedly) and the shot he took with so much time on the shot clock with under a minute to go was truly horrifying. But you cannot, under any circumstance, willingly leave your best shooter on the bench when you need a final shot to win a game. That absolutely cannot happen and it was dreadful. And this is the second time (forgive me but I cannot remember which game) where the best shot Tennessee got in this situation is a dumb catch and shoot for your fourth best shooter in Jordan Bone. We have to execute better late.
4. Ultimately it didn't matter but the call on Lamonte Turner on the block after the ref inadvertently blew his whistle is an absolute disgrace to the sport. If you messed up by blowing your whistle accidentally...that's okay. We are humans, we make mistakes. Don't compound your mistake by being embarrassed and claiming a foul when the referee closer to you said it was tipped. I don't know the name of the referee but he should not be in this tournament anymore.
5. Okay, what happened? Why did Iowa come back? I'm actually not going to blame Barnes much for this one, because it was turnovers. And that's not on the coaches. Jordan Bone and Grant Williams are upperclassmen and were particularly careless with the ball today. If Tennessee cuts half their turnovers they win by double digits. You cannot be lazy with the ball in March. Same thing happened with Auburn.
6. To further compound the point, Tennessee had 17 turnovers and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. You basically are giving Iowa a chance to score 30 more times with those numbers. Tennessee took 35 shots in the first half...14 in the second half! You cannot give away possessions.
7. Player of the game: Grant Williams- Grant played such an all-around game. He was fantastic defensively, had 19 points and also had 4 steals and 3 blocks. He made almost every big play in OT.
8. The defense wasn't as good in the second half but still solid. Tennessee only gave up three 3 pointers and held them to 44% shooting but the biggest thing was fouling. They went 16-17 from the line. Iowa is really good at it getting to the line. Tennessee didn't move their feet as well and made some silly fouls (and it was a tighter whistle). They played better defense today than they did against Colgate and really clamped them down Iowa in OT. I thought Lamonte Turner was incredible with his ball pressure on Bohannon.
9. Look I am all in favor of of saving timeouts, but dear God it's the tournament. Call a timeout Rick. It won't freaking kill you. Obviously, it's not working when you don't. And it's not even a momentum thing. You call those timeouts so you can get a play in to score, change the defensive strategy, or maybe get in a different lineup. Iowa went on multiple runs and Barnes did nothing. That's bad coaching.
10. But, overall it doesn't matter. If Tennessee somehow wins a national title, nobody cares you blew a 25 point lead and had to win in OT in the second round. I got to give it to the players and Barnes/coaching staff for focusing in OT after getting knocked down and taking the win. If Tennessee plays as they did in the first half nobody can beat them. They have to learn to keep that going for two halves. Purdue is a really good basketball team. Basically a souped-up version of Iowa. Lamonte Turner vs. Carsen Edwards is going to be a bloodbath. Tennessee still has a chance to make their first ever Final Four and overall Tennessee did what they had to do to advance. Can't complain about that.
Go Vols!
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