Theory + a couple of observations

#1

C-town Vol

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#1
1. This team was better BEFORE the freshmen moved into the starting lineup. The team ran through Fulky, Yves, and JJJ. At around the time the freshmen entered the starting line-up, the offense started bogging down and we played roughly .500 ball.

Theory:
Starting the freshmen botched the on-floor chemistry. I think everyone on the roster are great kids and outstanding teammates. However, the older guys don’t seem to be “alpha” personalities. As the freshmen were pushed forward, those veterans shrank back. Keon seems like an “alpha”, and I think guys like Fulky/Yves/JJJ slipped into more comfortable secondary roles and as a result regressed. It felt like Fulky reverted to Grant/Admiral years Fulky. I really believe much of Fulky’s regression came as a result of the two freshmen being pushed forward.

2. It’s tough to keep future lottery picks on the bench. I don’t necessarily fault Barnes, because they are better players. But I think the timeline would reveal that change altered the trajectory of the season for the worse.

3. I think Barnes skipped a step. It’s fun seeing the spotlight that came to our program when we signed Keon / Springer. I enjoyed cheering for them and I’m glad they came, BUT, I think college programs are better served trying to sign guys ranked between 25-75. Now we have gaping holes on the roster, and lower ranked guys on the roster have lacked the minutes necesssry to actually develop.

4. Everyone has said it, but I’ll confer...Barnes has to recruit / sign some pure shooters. We have a bunch of legit athletes, who are not natural shooters and are trying to develop a shot. Gotta sign a couple of guys who came out of the womb bombing 3’s. Bowden, and Vescovi to a lesser degree, are the only two pure shooters I can recall on our roster in the Barnes years.

5. All that said, this was my least favorite of Barnes 6 teams in Knoxville. They were painfully frustrating to watch. I love the individual parts, but the sum of those parts was not a fun team to follow.
 
#3
#3
You know, this is a very in depth analysis. The irony is that I've been saying for a long time that uf needs less shooters, more inside bulk. Tale of two teams.

You get by round 1 and imo elite 8 is in the picture.

But absence of offense = early exit

The story of our lives in basketball, it doesnt matter how easy you make our road in the ncaa tournament we will not take it. I mean heck a few years ago all that stood between us and a final four was a little mediocre team named loyola chicago. Im convinced you could give us the worst teams in basketball time after time and we still wouldnt make it to the final four. I know im just being pessimistic but man nothing good ever happens for UT, at this point im convinced its not just bad luck.
 
#4
#4
I’m also a Carolina fan. Who also lost big today. The difference in a good team and a great team is experience. When you have inexperienced guards it’s further compounded. Unless you have great one and dones it is hard to win consistently. Look at Duke and Kentucky this year. The key is the right mix, having experienced backcourt I believe is a most. Both Heels and Vols are very young and that was the difference today. No coaching can compensate for that.
 
#7
#7
I see it that as the competition got better, Fulkerson looked worse and worse and that forced the freshmen into bigger roles.

The problem with that theory is that Fulkerson proved over the course of the SEC season last year that the conference competition didn’t cause him to wilt. So your theory doesn’t hold water.

Granted, Fulkerson does not have as high a ceiling as Grant Williams, but he held his own last year against the conference.

This year the chemistry took a nosedive in the middle of the season.
 
#9
#9
The problem with that theory is that Fulkerson proved over the course of the SEC season last year that the conference competition didn’t cause him to wilt. So your theory doesn’t hold water.

Granted, Fulkerson does not have as high a ceiling as Grant Williams, but he held his own last year against the conference.

This year the chemistry took a nosedive in the middle of the season.

He had covid, lost 20 pounds and the SEC had a book out on him this year. I.E play rough with him and he doesn't respond well.
 
#12
#12
There is some very good analysis in this thread.

I agree that we need to spend more time recruiting in the 25 - 75 range, rather than the one and done range. Our two best players do not get a chance to not be freshmen. So, it's kind of like what's the point of investing a year in them?

I understand that guard-oriented teams do well in tournaments, but I think your best guards usually are going to be upper classmen, if you expect to make it very deep.

I will add that this team was not a team today. They were just a collection of players. I just don't think they had an identity, or a natural leader - other than freshmen.

I'm not sure this all makes sense. Like this year's roster, it is a collection of disconnected parts.
 
#13
#13
This was a crazy year. Seems crazy that we only had two close games all year; Bama and Ole Miss; and of course we missed the free throws at the end in both.
 
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#14
#14
Agree with all the comments. I still don’t know today’s game plan nor the identity of the team. At one point in Jan we worked it inside and then kicked it back out. Pons would score from mid range or Vescovi from three. But then we started passing the ball around the perimeter and settled for a poor shot or turnover. Just a strange season.
 
#16
#16
This was a crazy year. Seems crazy that we only had two close games all year; Bama and Ole Miss; and of course we missed the free throws at the end in both.
I think its crazy that in games we were favored in this year we only won at a 70 percent clip for the year and we lost the only game we were the underdogs in. Thats what irritates me about UT sports, we lose all the time to teams we are supposed to beat but my goodness its like moving a mountain to ever beat anyone that we arent favored to beat.
 
#17
#17
I think its crazy that in games we were favored in this year we only won at a 70 percent clip for the year and we lost the only game we were the underdogs in. Thats what irritates me about UT sports, we lose all the time to teams we are supposed to beat but my goodness its like moving a mountain to ever beat anyone that we arent favored to beat.

Sports are weird entertainment.

Unfortunately, Tennessee is just one of these programs that suffers from conflict non-stop on a Dailey basis.

I’m getting too old to care anymore. I enjoy watching us play basketball and football. However, I never expect anything to go our way.
 
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#18
#18
I think its crazy that in games we were favored in this year we only won at a 70 percent clip for the year and we lost the only game we were the underdogs in. Thats what irritates me about UT sports, we lose all the time to teams we are supposed to beat but my goodness its like moving a mountain to ever beat anyone that we arent favored to beat.

Simple solution is to not worry about what the ‘expert’ handicappers are predicting.
 
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#19
#19
Simple solution is to not worry about what the ‘expert’ handicappers are predicting.
Oh i agree with you, countepoint to that though would be that everytime we lose a game in football or basketball that we arent favored in the apologists quit immidiately going to the " well we werent favored by the professionals for a reason" approach. Im just kidding I know the excuse makers will never quit with the excuses, especially the easy ones.
 
#20
#20
The problem is the offense. We haven’t recruited any players who can post up, drive to the rim, or create a 3 for themselves. We also don’t have a point guard to get any of those shots for others.. It’s crazy the modernized game is driving to the rim or shooting a 3 with spacing. We don’t do either of those things at all.
 
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#22
#22
It wasn’t the freshmen taking in a bigger role or being put in the starting lineup. It was we played a weak schedule before SEC play and then we got exposed
I don’t agree. We actually looked really good despite our competition. It’s pretty clear in our efficiency #s the inflection point happened when Keon moved to the starting lineup. Who starts in this offense doesn’t matter so much, but I think it’s pretty clear that Keon struggled for a number of reasons. Most of them are coaching related. The staff mismanaged this team.
 
#23
#23
I don’t agree. We actually looked really good despite our competition. It’s pretty clear in our efficiency #s the inflection point happened when Keon moved to the starting lineup. Who starts in this offense doesn’t matter so much, but I think it’s pretty clear that Keon struggled for a number of reasons. Most of them are coaching related. The staff mismanaged this team.
How dare you sir!!! This team had the same fatal flaws all year and never did anything to fix them!!! If we had a good shooting night from 3 we were good and if we didnt we were screwed!!! How dare you say that anything could have possibly been done to adjust to our weaknesses or the obvious gameplans that were out on us after the first handful of games!!! Listen be thankful for what you have because if Rick Barnes the god of college basketball ever leaves we shall literally never win another game I tell you!!!! Not another game ever, we never won one before Rick Barnes and we shall never win one after Rick Barnes.
 
#24
#24
I think Barnes puts too much on the players to figure out for themselves. Worked ok when you had guys like grant and admiral. But some teams he’s got to make it happen.
 

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