The "We don't give a damn about the whole state of Alabama" Postgame Report

#1

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee saturday night."
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#1
BTO hasn't done the postgame report yet, I am sure for good reason and I hope he still posts one, but imma steal some spotlight here and do my own.

1. Look, games like this are going to happen. It's conference play. It's why nobody really goes undefeated in Power 5 conference play. Think about those back to back national title teams that Florida had and they lost games like this. This happens. And the big thing is Tennessee won. Tennessee played their worst game of the year and a ten minute stretch of Jodie Meeks flashbacks from John Petty and won. Last year, they lose this game. That is growth.

2. Okay, so went wrong? Simply, Tennessee got little from the perimeter. They only hit 3 three-pointers, which cannot happen in today's basketball. Alabama outscored them by 21 points from the three-point line. Some of this was open looks were just missed. Admiral had four good looks and only hit one. I'm not worried about that. But Tennessee really struggled to get open looks from the perimeter. Alabama shut down that part of the game. Grant has to manage double teams better and guys have to reset better after passes to get good looks. You can tell the lack of perimeter shooting hurt because Tennessee only had 1.03 points per possession and that is usually much higher. Three-pointers matter.

3. So with John Petty...some of this was just good offense by him. He was in the zone to start the second half. He hit two contested deep three-pointers over Alexander and Fulkerson, which they guarded really well. Whatever, you move on. But Tennessee really struggled to cover off ball screens. Tennessee usually just has the perimeter players fight through screens, but other than Bowden nobody really did fight through those. Not sure if miscommunication was a problem, but that has to be cleaned up. Also, Tennessee might want to consider more switching on wings like Petty in the future.

4. Grant Williams cannot have zero defensive rebounds. That is simply inexcusable. Putrid even. Lazy rotations and lack of effort led to 12 offensive rebounds for Alabama. It's the biggest problem Tennessee has and I don't know if it will get fixed. Every team has a weakness and Tennessee's is the defensive glass.

5. I thought Kyle Alexander had a good game. He got caught in some tough spots defensively but that was some bad perimeter defense too. He had the second-best offensive rating today and his 5 blocks were absolutely huge. He continues to be an elite rim protector. Jordan Bone was efficient today (10 points on 10 shots and 7 assists to 1 turnover) but bad defense and not enough aggressiveness on offense. We need him to do more in the pick and roll and take the ball to the rim.

6. Yves Pons was better today. Rick Barnes said he can struggle defensively sometimes with multiple actions and he got caught lost on some off ball screens. Offensively Pons was more engaged and more decisive. So we are going to give him a good grade for today.

7. Not sure what the issue was but Tennessee struggled with assignments in transition that led to easy Alabama buckets, especially in the first five minutes of the second half. It happened in the first half late too. Not sure if the substitution pattern was different and might have caused that but it needs to be cleaned up.

8. Bernard King Player of the Game: Jordan Bowden. 12 points and 4 assists won't blow you away but he was super efficient and shut down Petty the final ten minutes. He was excellent defensively and he should have had fifteen shots today not seven. That pin down play where Grant sets him an off-ball screen, gets it near the high post area and then dishes to Grant or rises for a jumper produced 10 points today. It was unstoppable.

9. Rick Barnes isn't perfect. Not calling timeout after the 8-0 start by Alabama and waiting till it got to 13-0 is inexcusable. I know he wants the guys to fight through it and having only four timeouts in today's game you have to be a little more judicial. But Tennessee needed something drawn up to get a bucket to stop the run when it went 8-0. He will know for next time.

10. Tennessee had its worst game of the year against a potential tournament team and won. That's all that matters. The second half against Arkansas was sloppy but never in doubt. Tennessee got a wake up call and will be top 2 in the country on Monday. This should easily wake them up for Wednesday against Vanderbilt and I expect a really good game from Tennessee. Tennessee did not get exposed today. Alabama didn't find the key to beat Tennessee. They played really hard and caught Tennessee on a bad night. They do need to clean up some issues and need to get back to guarding hard on every possession. They've gone away from that the last three games. But this is an experienced Tennessee team with a lot of leaders and mature young men. They will get it together.
 
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#5
#5
Nights where your shots won't seem to fall are just part of the game of basketball. Finding a way to win on those nights are what championship teams do. The Vols missed so many good looks that they have been consistently making this year. I didn't see a lack of effort or a ton of poor decisions. I'd chalk this one up as a good win on a tough shooting night
 
#6
#6
I hope we don't face too many teams that are that athletic. The inside/out offense wasn't working. They played really good D in the paint AND were able to get hands in our shooter's faces. Good thing that they were also laying bricks from the free throw line. Too many offensive rebounds taken by Bama as well... although TN countered with several of their own.
 
#7
#7
Just saw the end of the Auburn game. Barnes is so much better at end of game situations.


Great win in a tough game. There are always nights like this during a season. Great teams and coaches find a way to win the bad games.

Holy cow. I agree with Ktown on something. šŸ˜‰

Agreed. Pearl was exciting, but inbounds plays were never his forte. Nor were end of game situations.

I can't wait for Dontae Hall to graduate/leave Bama. He's been a thorn in UT.
 
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#8
#8
I hope we don't face too many teams that are that athletic. The inside/out offense wasn't working. They played really good D in the paint AND were able to get hands in our shooter's faces. Good thing that they were also laying bricks from the free throw line. Too many offensive rebounds taken by Bama as well... although TN countered with several of their own.
Yeah, the last 2 years, Vols have played their worst game of both years against Bama. That's not a coincidence, That's a bad match-up/trend
 
#9
#9
Good write up Z. Feels like 2012 in here...haha.

Not calling timeout during that run almost cost me a new tv remote.

Perimeter defense was abysmal. Bowden put the clamps on Petty, finally. Bama kept the came close by hitting 10 3s to our 3 3s.

Rebounds and loose balls seemed to find their way to Alabama on too many occasions.

Felt like we played some of our best basketball of the season in the first 10 minutes, and then some of our worst over the next 30.

This team needed a challenge that it has not gotten in a long time outside of parts of that Florida game on the road. Seeing them persevere and stealing a win they didn't probably deserve while playing the worst offensive game of the season was a positive sign. Championship teams do that.
 
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#10
#10
We'll be better for it in the long run, muddling through games like this. Looked like it might be a blow-out early on, didn't materialize obviously. Glad 'bama wasn't hitting their foul shots or this would have been an L.
 
#11
#11
Tennessee definitely played it worst game of the year.. Super sloppy defensively.. I donā€™t know if their mindset has changed but they need to go back to a ā€˜defense firstā€™ type of mentality. Itā€™s been obvious this last week.

I also agree with an above poster that Lamonte Turner doesnā€™t flow the offense as well as Bone or Bowden at PG. Heā€™s good in transition and good at spot up 3s. Thatā€™s what his offense should stick to.
 
#12
#12
Tennessee definitely played it worst game of the year.. Super sloppy defensively.. I donā€™t know if their mindset has changed but they need to go back to a ā€˜defense firstā€™ type of mentality. Itā€™s been obvious this last week.

I also agree with an above poster that Lamonte Turner doesnā€™t flow the offense as well as Bone or Bowden at PG. Heā€™s good in transition and good at spot up 3s. Thatā€™s what his offense should stick to.
He's better at the 2g spot than running the point. That is clear. It just isn't his natural position.
 
#13
#13
4. You could argue their biggest weakness, or at least right there with it, is for whatever reason this year they havenā€™t been as good guarding the ball and stopping dribble penatration. Which gets us to rotating then causes our breakdowns.
9. Right or wrong, I think he was trying to see just how mature the team is and could they pull out of it. Letting them try and play through and test them, but pressure on them. UT was unable to
 
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#15
#15
Holy cow. I agree with Ktown on something. šŸ˜‰

Agreed. Pearl was exciting, but inbounds plays were never his forte. Nor were end of game situations.

I can't wait for Dontae Hall to graduate/leave Bama. He's been a thorn in UT.

Do what? Pearl was the best in the nation at inbounds plays under the basket at UT
 
#16
#16
I also think once the game got tight, UTā€™s offense tightened up and they didnā€™t move the ball near as well as they usually do. Took bad, forced shots and made bad passes. Got really out of sync. It was good they were able to go through that and still win. Iā€™m sure they coaches and players all will learn from that.

Also, putting Bowden on Petty about mid way through second half was key. Donā€™t think Petty made a 3 after that.
 
#17
#17
Tennessee definitely played it worst game of the year.. Super sloppy defensively.. I donā€™t know if their mindset has changed but they need to go back to a ā€˜defense firstā€™ type of mentality. Itā€™s been obvious this last week.

I also agree with an above poster that Lamonte Turner doesnā€™t flow the offense as well as Bone or Bowden at PG. Heā€™s good in transition and good at spot up 3s. Thatā€™s what his offense should stick to.

This has to become and remain our bread and butter. Defense is what doesn't have off nights and what will carry us in the tournament. If we make defense and rebounding our focus, I don't see many games like we saw today. When they return to that mindset, we'll be rolling again.
 
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#18
#18
Got to give the Bama free throw shooting a very big assist for this squeaky win today. Without that it would have been an unexpected home loss.
 
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#19
#19
Holy cow. I agree with Ktown on something. šŸ˜‰

Agreed. Pearl was exciting, but inbounds plays were never his forte. Nor were end of game situations.

I can't wait for Dontae Hall to graduate/leave Bama. He's been a thorn in UT.

Google BRUCE PEARL INBOUNDS PLAYS & SEE THESE Pearl is a recognized master at these
Shaka Smart's 2013 Basketball Coaches Clinic: Bruce Pearl: Pressure ...

https://www.championshipproductions.com/.../Shaka-Smarts-2013-Basketball-Coaches...

Shaka Smart's 2013 Basketball Coaches Clinic: Bruce Pearl: Pressure Defense and Sideline Out of Bounds Plays - Basketball -- Championship Productions, Inc.
Images for Bruce Pearl's Inbounds plays
1547944231222.jpeg
1547944231263.jpeg
1547944231301.png
1547944231337.jpeg
1547944231372.png
1547944231409.jpeg
More images for Bruce Pearl's Inbounds playsReport images
Web results
Bruce Pearl Flex Duck-In | Sideline Out of Bounds | Pinterest | Bruce ...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/289004501058073996/

This is a SLOB play Bruce Pearl had a lot of success with while he was at Tennessee. What made thisplay so effective is that he had a 6'10ā€ Brian Williams and.
How To Defend Out Of Bounds Situations and Plays

https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/defending-out-of-bounds-plays.html

We do not practice offense not to score and out-of-bounds plays are a part of our .... Also, Bruce Pearls really aggressive teams at UWM and early at Tennessee ...
 
#20
#20
Just saw the end of the Auburn game. Barnes is so much better at end of game situations.


Great win in a tough game. There are always nights like this during a season. Great teams and coaches find a way to win the bad games.
True. But our perimeter defense has got to be better. So many long lean athletes flying at the rim today. Its a miracle only Williams fouled out. Oh, and he got 1 damn rebound!
 
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#22
#22
BTO hasn't done the postgame report yet, I am sure for good reason and I hope he still posts one, but imma steal some spotlight here and do my own.

1. Look, games like this are going to happen. It's conference play. It's why nobody really goes undefeated in Power 5 conference play. Think about those back to back national title teams that Florida had and they lost games like this. This happens. And the big thing is Tennessee won. Tennessee played their worst game of the year and a ten minute stretch of Jodie Meeks flashbacks from John Petty and won. Last year, they lose this game. That is growth.

2. Okay, so went wrong? Simply, Tennessee got little from the perimeter. They only hit 3 three-pointers, which cannot happen in today's basketball. Alabama outscored them by 21 points from the three-point line. Some of this was open looks were just missed. Admiral had four good looks and only hit one. I'm not worried about that. But Tennessee really struggled to get open looks from the perimeter. Alabama shut down that part of the game. Grant has to manage double teams better and guys have to reset better after passes to get good looks. You can tell the lack of perimeter shooting hurt because Tennessee only had 1.03 points per possession and that is usually much higher. Three-pointers matter.

3. So with John Petty...some of this was just good offense by him. He was in the zone to start the second half. He hit two contested deep three-pointers over Alexander and Fulkerson, which they guarded really well. Whatever, you move on. But Tennessee really struggled to cover off ball screens. Tennessee usually just has the perimeter players fight through screens, but other than Bowden nobody really did fight through those. Not sure if miscommunication was a problem, but that has to be cleaned up. Also, Tennessee might want to consider more switching on wings like Petty in the future.

4. Grant Williams cannot have zero defensive rebounds. That is simply inexcusable. Putrid even. Lazy rotations and lack of effort led to 12 offensive rebounds for Alabama. It's the biggest problem Tennessee has and I don't know if it will get fixed. Every team has a weakness and Tennessee's is the defensive glass.

5. I thought Kyle Alexander had a good game. He got caught in some tough spots defensively but that was some bad perimeter defense too. He had the second-best offensive rating today and his 5 blocks were absolutely huge. He continues to be an elite rim protector. Jordan Bone was efficient today (10 points on 10 shots and 7 assists to 1 turnover) but bad defense and not enough aggressiveness on offense. We need him to do more in the pick and roll and take the ball to the rim.

6. Yves Pons was better today. Rick Barnes said he can struggle defensively sometimes with multiple actions and he got caught lost on some off ball screens. Offensively Pons was more engaged and more decisive. So we are going to give him a good grade for today.

7. Not sure what the issue was but Tennessee struggled with assignments in transition that led to easy Alabama buckets, especially in the first five minutes of the second half. It happened in the first half late too. Not sure if the substitution pattern was different and might have caused that but it needs to be cleaned up.

8. Bernard King Player of the Game: Jordan Bowden. 12 points and 4 assists won't blow you away but he was super efficient and shut down Petty the final ten minutes. He was excellent defensively and he should have had fifteen shots today not seven. That pin down play where Grant sets him an off-ball screen, gets it near the high post area and then dishes to Grant or rises for a jumper produced 10 points today. It was unstoppable.

9. Rick Barnes isn't perfect. Not calling timeout after the 8-0 start by Alabama and waiting till it got to 13-0 is inexcusable. I know he wants the guys to fight through it and having only four timeouts in today's game you have to be a little more judicial. But Tennessee needed something drawn up to get a bucket to stop the run when it went 8-0. He will know for next time.

10. Tennessee had its worst game of the year against a potential tournament team and won. That's all that matters. The second half against Arkansas was sloppy but never in doubt. Tennessee got a wake up call and will be top 2 in the country on Monday. This should easily wake them up for Wednesday against Vanderbilt and I expect a really good game from Tennessee. Tennessee did not get exposed today. Alabama didn't find the key to beat Tennessee. They played really hard and caught Tennessee on a bad night. They do need to clean up some issues and need to get back to guarding hard on every possession. They've gone away from that the last three games. But this is an experienced Tennessee team with a lot of leaders and mature young men. They will get it together.
I thought point 9 was huge. He doesn't make many mistakes, but I thought that could have been a game changer....almost was.
 
#23
#23
Google BRUCE PEARL INBOUNDS PLAYS & SEE THESE Pearl is a recognized master at these
Shaka Smart's 2013 Basketball Coaches Clinic: Bruce Pearl: Pressure ...
https://www.championshipproductions.com/.../Shaka-Smarts-2013-Basketball-Coaches...

Shaka Smart's 2013 Basketball Coaches Clinic: Bruce Pearl: Pressure Defense and Sideline Out of Bounds Plays - Basketball -- Championship Productions, Inc.
Images for Bruce Pearl's Inbounds plays
View attachment 190170
View attachment 190171
View attachment 190175
View attachment 190173
View attachment 190174
View attachment 190172
More images for Bruce Pearl's Inbounds playsReport images
Web results
Bruce Pearl Flex Duck-In | Sideline Out of Bounds | Pinterest | Bruce ...

This is a SLOB play Bruce Pearl had a lot of success with while he was at Tennessee. What made thisplay so effective is that he had a 6'10ā€ Brian Williams and.
How To Defend Out Of Bounds Situations and Plays
How To Defend Out Of Bounds Situations and Plays

We do not practice offense not to score and out-of-bounds plays are a part of our .... Also, Bruce Pearls really aggressive teams at UWM and early at Tennessee ...

I obviously didn't word my post correctly. I meant purely at the end of the game. Maybe I'm the minority, but I never had a lot of confidence in his end of the game planning, including his inbounds plays. I look to the SEC Championship game vs Miss St. as an example
 

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