The "That's How You Put Away an Opponent When it Matters" Iowa Postgame Report

#1

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee Saturday night."
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#1
1. Survive and advance. Survive and advance. Survive and advance.

2. This could have been a disaster. Down 16-4, Iowa had all the momentum and Tennessee seemed to have no energy. Jordan McRae hit a three, then made a critical three point play that gave Tennessee a little run. That was a senior play. It will get lost, but those two plays saved the season for Tennessee.

3. Tennessee attacked the rim in the second half. They shot 25-30 from the line. That is what will win you games in the tournament.

4. However, too many 3 pointers. This team needs to attack the basket and the paint. More pick and rolls would help that. It wasn't easy with so many zone looks by Iowa, but Tennessee is going to see that for the rest of the season.

5. Jordan McRae deserves an absolute ton of credit for handling Aaron White. That was a mismatch for Iowa and they could never get him the ball. Only five shots. Jordy was everywhere on the defensive end and shut White down.

6. Only eight turnovers. Tennessee's biggest weakness has been outside shooting and turnovers. They took care of turnovers and I thought Barton (in the second half) did a great job controlling the pace. He made me want to throw something at my screen in the first, but he did a great job initiating the offense.

7. The Bernard King Player of the Game: Josh Richardson earned himself some money down the line. His future agent (that is still illegal so wait till April 2015!) should show this game tape to anybody wanting Josh's basketball services. He shut Marble down. He owned him. And he was great on offense and really gave Tennessee a lift when the Vols hit their offensive lull.

8. Tennessee's defense was simple. Don't let Iowa get the ball moving forward and get momentum to the paint. They made sure that the bigs jumped out on off ball screens so Marble/White could not get easy looks. In the second half, it was a thing of beauty to watch. They also did a great job not fouling.

9. However, Jarnell's effort was not there defensively. He played a solid game, but he got lost too much trying to protect drives and let Woodbury have too many open looks around the rim. I was fine with Woodbury getting decent looks. Better than Marble or White. But he needs to hustle back to his man better.

10. But Tennessee won a tournament game!!!!! This is a great day for a program and considering a lot of the **** Tennessee fans have gone through program wise the last three years, it's soooooooo nice to enjoy this. I'm incredibly happy for Jeronne and Jordan, guys who stuck with the program through thick and thin. They deserved this. However...why stop here? Who says Tennessee can't make a run? Crazier things have happened. If they play defense like they did tonight, Tennessee can make noise. Enjoy the tournament Vol fans!!!

Go Vols!!! :hi:
 
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#2
#2
So freaking proud of this team. After a God-awful first half in which we reverted to doing everything we had finally gotten away from (jacking 3s, no touches for Stokes, poor defense), we finally figured how to adjust at halftime and asserted ourselves and dominated overtime.

1. This is Martin's team, and whether you support him or not, and whether that matters or not, you have to be proud of this team finally turning the corner against a quality opponent by comingcfrom behind to win.

2. Didn't like the execution in the first half. Pitiful actually. On both ends. Transition defense was awful.

3. Stokes was abysmal on defense, but made it up on the boards and at the FT line.

4. McRae got wild early, but reined it in and played much smarter in the 2nd.

5. JRich started out awful offensively, and then proceeded to have one of his best offensive outputs of the season, and that goes without mentioning his TREMENDOUS defense on Marble. Spectacular defense.

6. Maymon has got nothin but heart, and he struggled @ times, but that shot and one he hit turned it around for us.

7. Really surprised to not see any 1-3-1, but with JRich shutting down Marble, perhaps that is why.

8. This team had won every way possible thus season except by coming from behind to defeat a quality opponent. It finally happened in the biggest game of the season.

9. Barton needs to find his shot again, but the two he hit were huge.

10. Game was won at the FT line. It's been our nemesis on several occasions this year, but we made them to win tonight.

Great game Hawkeyes! A real classic from both sides. Tough win for the Vols and a lot of credit to Iowa to lead the entire time without much at all from Marble.

On to UMass. Get behind these Vols whether you like Martin, Pearl, Wooden, Summitt, or Rupp. Put that crap behind you and enjoy this team.
 
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#3
#3
Freaking awesome performance. This was a fun team to watch tonight once we woke up.
 
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#5
#5
Hey jackwagon! You gave up this job! Haha. Messing with ya. Great job as usual.

Merge my postgame report with your's. You were quicker on the drawm
 
#6
#6
Posted this in the other thread, but I want to repeat:Cuonzo is the only Tennessee coach that is undefeated in the NCAA tournament.



*minimum one appearance
 
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#7
#7
Hey jackwagon! You gave up this job! Haha. Messing with ya. Great job as usual.

Merge my postgame report with your's. You were quicker on the drawm

I think we can keep two tonight
 
#10
#10
Fought back from a sizable deficit and never gave up.

Martin had NOTHING to do with it. Zilch. Nada.

Great game. Too close for comfort, but a win is a win, and the best win is when the win is in March.

GO VOLS!!!
 
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#12
#12
Chris I think I made a fair compromise if that's okay with you.

I tried to get yours to be the first post, maybe Freak can make that happen.
 
#13
#13
Chris I think I made a fair compromise if that's okay with you.

I tried to get yours to be the first post, maybe Freak can make that happen.

Nah...don't worry about it. I'm just happy to survive. Wouldn't care if mine was deleted.

We just won a tournament game!!!!
 
#14
#14
Great report as always. For those that didn't think Richardson could be the main man next year, tonight showed it. If Richardson didn't think he could do it, tonight showed it. If Rich is aggressive, he could average 15 a game. His shot was beautiful in the second half.
 
#15
#15
Survive and advance! That's all that matters.

UMass has no advantage over UT other than they are named the home team. Big freakin' deal. This was the perfect game for UT to get the tourney jitters out of them.
 
#17
#17
Without the slow (and by slow I mean god awful) start, we would have won by 10+ in regulation, IMO.
 
#18
#18
Nah...don't worry about it. I'm just happy to survive. Wouldn't care if mine was deleted.

We just won a tournament game!!!!

It was just nice to be in the tournament again.

I had not watch a tournament game since the Elite Eight game. I didn't watch the last Pearl game.
 
#19
#19
Question for X & O guys. Why when everyone doubles Stokes down low can't we reverse the ball and get more layups or open looks?
 
#20
#20
Fair enough. You still got it Z.

Dude it's the NCAA. We can have two post game reports for all I care. I can't make yours first, but we can let you have your own thread if you prefer.

Somebody needs to be getting warmed up writing these since apparently ZJC is teetering on retirement. Seriously, we appreciate the effort from both of you guys.

:hi:
 
#22
#22
Question for X & O guys. Why when everyone doubles Stokes down low can't we reverse the ball and get more layups or open looks?

We did better tonight. Iowa is really tough to do that too.

We don't cut very well. Our spacing is inconsistent. Jordy and Barton don't cut, they stay on the perimeter. Sometimes that works, but we should cut better.
 
#23
#23
I think maybe ZJC is a bandwagon fan who wants back on now that we're winning. :)
 
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#24
#24
Question for X & O guys. Why when everyone doubles Stokes down low can't we reverse the ball and get more layups or open looks?

Seems like we have never developed plays for Stokes being doubled. When that happens, I expect a lot of motion for players to get open for Stokes to pass the ball to. It happens sometimes, but not nearly enough.

The upside of this is that Stokes has developed some very nice skills in splitting defenders.
 
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#25
#25
Stokes played defense in the second half like a guy who had 4 fouls. If he fouls out we lose the game. No complaints from me about his defense.
 
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