Vols 4 seed vs Louisiana - Thursday 9:40 ET CBS

[movinonup]

Dang, I was so looking forward to this tournament, but from reading first couple of pages we are already out of it and should not even bother watching ( I tend to disagree !)

 

[beachvol23]

Tell me more. Have you watched Duke a lot? I haven’t, but they’ve won something like 11 in a row and beat a good Miami and UVA team. Why do you feel so good about beating them?

The ACC is hot garbage this year, their win streak is grossly overrated.
all the losers that say “i don’t want to play them” or are afraid are weak and forgetting the strengths of this team when it plays good competition and focuses. We will destroy UL too.

 

[Manchester Vol]

Louisiana is 26-7. They are saying we could be upset here.

We will score points. 👍

 

[Col_Cathcart]

What genuinely concerns me about ULL is they have a former 5 Star Big man and a lot of length all throughout their starting five; They seem legit, not like a team I'd normally expect from the Sun Belt, they look more like an AAC team, to me.

Their starting 5 is listed as:

6’11
6’7
6’3
6’1
6’1

That’s “a lot of length?” We’re likely to be longer at every single position. Also might be worth noting that Aidoo has 15 lbs on their big man. I don’t see him throwing his weight around down low against us at 6’11 225.

 

[TNBV]

Sweet 16. Lost to Michigan. That was the Richardson, McCrae, Stokes, Maymon, etc. group. The Elite 8 team was Pearl’s team with Prince, Lofton, etc.

Yep, drove to St Louis from Med school to watch them play Mich St in the elite 8 on a last-minute impulse.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I want Nate Oats. We need a coach who ares nothing about anything but winning.

There are OTHER important things a coach for UT needs to prioritize and he obviously does not value them to keep playing the murder facilitator. Find me a good coach with integrity or pass.

 

[VOLtaism]

None of the teams we face in the 1st 3 rounds have seen a defense like the Vols. Then there's our offense. I would hate to be playing this team because they can beat any of the 1 seeds and lose to any of the teams in the tournament.

 

[RockyTop140]

I hate to let myself get excited, but I just got a feeling we’re due for a tourney run.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

UVA just lost one of their best players in the ACC tournament. That win isn't as impressive as it seems.

Vander Plas is not one of their best players. They arguably played better without him.

 

[TNVOLFN]

Their starting 5 is listed as:

6’11
6’7
6’3
6’1
6’1

That’s “a lot of length?” We’re likely to be longer at every single position. Also might be worth noting that Aidoo has 15 lbs on their big man. I don’t see him throwing his weight around down low against us at 6’11 225.

You don't think that's a big team for a mid major? It's not just that the dude is 6'11", it's also that he can move with it and is a helluva player that we would add to our roster in a heartbeat... To your point, Vols are overall bigger and have the versatility within their depth to attack in multiple ways. I'm just pointing out that we're not exactly playing Longwood again.

 

[VolGee4]

You don't think that's a big team for a mid major? It's not just that the dude is 6'11", it's also that he can move with it and is a helluva player that we would add to our roster in a heartbeat... To your point, Vols are overall bigger and have the versatility within their depth to attack in multiple ways. I'm just pointing out that we're not exactly playing Longwood again.

It's not unusual for a mid major to be guard heavy, but 6'1, 6'1, and 6'3 at the guards is not long. Heck, Princeton's starting 5 is 6'4, 6'4, 6'6, 6'7, and 6'8. College of Charleston's is 6'4, 6'2, 6'1, 6'5, and 6'10. VCU's is 6'0, 6'4, 6'6, 6'8, and 6'9. Just for comparison.

 

[CAVPUT]

Their starting 5 is listed as:

6’11
6’7
6’3
6’1
6’1

That’s “a lot of length?” We’re likely to be longer at every single position. Also might be worth noting that Aidoo has 15 lbs on their big man. I don’t see him throwing his weight around down low against us at 6’11 225.

Everything they do goes thru that big man. If the refs let us play our style, I think we can wear him down and be a bit disruptive to their offense. If the refs get whistle happy...and to protect a blue blood, they likely will, it might be a tougher game than we'd like.

 

[KoolVolFan5249]

Louisiana is 26-7. They are saying we could be upset here.

They are ranked in the 300s in free throw shooting.

 

[CAVPUT]

None of the teams we face in the 1st 3 rounds have seen a defense like the Vols. Then there's our offense. I would hate to be playing this team because they can beat any of the 1 seeds and lose to any of the teams in the tournament.

Problem is that we've not been that great defensively of late. Kinda hit and miss. We should be pretty healed and rested for this first game. Fingers crossed we show up to play.

 

[docholiday]

The ACC is hot garbage this year, their win streak is grossly overrated.
all the losers that say “i don’t want to play them” or are afraid are weak and forgetting the strengths of this team when it plays good competition and focuses. We will destroy UL too.

Your talking to the wall.

 

[VOLtaism]

Problem is that we've not been that great defensively of late. Kinda hit and miss. We should be pretty healed and rested for this first game. Fingers crossed we show up to play.

I think the main reason for this is the lineup changes related to ZZ being out. All new rotations but they can all still play defense so it's just a matter of practice time and tweaking. Hopefully they can be ready by Thursday.

 

[Volador]

Louisiana is 26-7. They are saying we could be upset here.

For decades, I cannot remember an NCAA tournament opponent that didn't have the ability to beat us.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Should be able to dominate inside on this team with only one player over 6-7. If the perimeter shooting is just decent we win by double digits. Duke will take a more complete effort. Not sure if this team is capable of that.

 

[TNVOLFN]

There are OTHER important things a coach for UT needs to prioritize and he obviously does not value them to keep playing the murder facilitator. Find me a good coach with integrity or pass.

At a bare minimum someone who doesn't harbor individuals involved in murder!

 

[TNVOLFN]

Should be able to dominate inside on this team with only one player over 6-7. If the perimeter shooting is just decent we win by double digits. Duke will take a more complete effort. Not sure if this team is capable of that.

I hope so, that dude over 6'7 is an absolute stud; Reminds me of when Tennessee played Buffalo in football and Buffalo had Khalil Mack on their team - dude was way out of place and playing for the wrong team.

 

[VolArmy74]

I wouldn't say VERY bad have we looked bad at times yes but to emphasize it with very is a bridge too far. All our games have been close and we are playing in what IMO is best from top to bottom conference. Add to that superior coaching from top to bottom and teams in SEC know and scheme & game plan for each team to the point they know your plays better than theirs. So IMO will be great to get out of conference for a while and put this smothering D on unsuspecting teams.

We lost badly to Florida and played dreadfully that entire game. Very bad. We lost every time we stepped outside of TBA in the month of February and each time we had a massive FG drought where we looked like a team that had never played basketball. When you're good enough as a team to beat #1 at home but fall apart so badly you can't do much of anything right vs teams that are in the NIT on the road. I'd qualify that as very bad.

 

[GregAmsler]

Yep, drove to St Louis from Med school to watch them play Mich St in the elite 8 on a last-minute impulse.

We lost on a clean block by JP Prince that was called a foul. Still ticks me off. Should've been in the Final 4.

 

[overseasorange2]

Dang, I was so looking forward to this tournament, but from reading first couple of pages we are already out of it and should not even bother watching ( I tend to disagree !)

But at least we can say we were the only SEC team to beat bama this year!

 

[VolAmerican]

The fact that Louisiana hasn't seen a defense like ours all year, will likely get us past the first round. Duke on the other hand is as beatable as they have been in years, but their inside game will definitely challenge us.

 

[DuckInAPen]

You’re right. Year after Lofton, maybe?

Two years. Lofton's last season was '07-'08. We advanced to the Elite Eight (sorry @Hulavol) at the end of the '09-'10 season.