We MUST dictate the tempo Fri and Sun

#1
VolinArizona

VolinArizona

not in Arizona anymore
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Feb 16, 2006
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#1
At my blog, which shall remain nameless, I posted some stats for each of our 3 possible first weekend opponents that correlate to Vol success and failure. They were defensive TO% (turnovers their D caused), their offensive TO% (do they protect the ball?), free throw rate (how often they get to the line), pace, effective height, experience, and % of minutes played by the bench.

After looking at all of those things, Tennessee's match ups aren't as bad as I thought. However, I noticed something today that I didn't notice Sunday night, and here it is:

Bench Minutes
American - 25.1% (294th)
South Alabama - 24.7% (299th)
Butler - 26.7% (262nd)

The three possible opponents this weekend are terribly shallow in their lineups. There are 341 D1A teams, and these guys ranked in the bottom 25% of bench minutes. It's easy to see why:

Pace
American - 60.9 possessions/game (324th)
South Alabama - 66.9 poss/game (175th)
Butler - 60.0 poss/game (330th)

They don't deep benches because they generally play a slow, plodding, half court game. S. Alabama is smack dab at "average" in pace, but nothing like Tennessee's 72.7 poss/game, which ranks 15th.

And there is the crux of the matter. Tennessee has not fared well in slow paced games. Yes, we've won a lot of games in slow paces, but they haven't been convincing. Look at all of our games with a pace of 70 or lower:

@ Georgia Feb 16th - W 74-71; Pace 70
v. Ole Miss Jan 9th - W 82-80; Pace 69
v. Asheville Dec 19th - W 86-73; Pace 68
@ S. Carolina Jan 12th - W 80-56; Pace 68
@ Miss St Feb 2nd - W 86-81; Pace 67
@ Memphis Feb 23rd - W 66-62; Pace 67
@ Vanderbilt Feb 26th - L 69-72; Pace 67
@ Florida Mar 5th - W 89-86; Pace 67
@ Kentucky Jan 22 - L 66-72; Pace 62
v. Kentucky Mar 2nd - W 63-60; Pace 60
@ LSU Feb 9th - W 47-45; Pace 60

As you can see, we don't exactly excel defensively in slowly paced games. We've done well against inferior opponents when we dictate pace and play our controlled chaos gameplan. Now that we're playing 3 teams who aren't deep in the slightest bit, we need to take this to the high degree again.
 
#2
#2
Being as the bulk of those games are SEC opponents, is it really attributable to pace, or familiarity?

Not arguing, just curious...
 
#3
#3
orange+white=heaven said:
Being as the bulk of those games are SEC opponents, is it really attributable to pace, or familiarity?

Not arguing, just curious...
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familiarity is the reason the other teams slowed the pace. you can bet that all of our future opponents, save NC, will try to do the same.

Unless somebody can shoot like us (and there aren't many of those) and run with us, they are all going to slow down as much as possible to stay in touch. We have proven that teams in touch have a chance to beat us. We had Arky put away last weekend, then they clawed it back with a couple of bad TOs and missed FTs from us.
 
#6
#6
PG play needs to step it up and play with more consistancy. If not, I predict we will be out by the sweet 16 if not before. Not to mention finishing inside.
 
#7
#7
Interesting stats, VIA, and they confirm the eyeball impression of the Vols team, which is that its bread and butter is a fast-paced game, where it can get in rhythm and trade baskets, wearing the other team out, and pulling away in the last 6 or 7 minutes.

Where they have struggled the most it seems to me is where either the pace is either controlled by the opposition or where the pace is killed by fouls. The Vandy game comes to mind as an example of the latter.

UT is a fish out of water for a game played in the 60's or 70's. The deep bench is your biggest asset for games where the scores go into the mid-80's or higher. The question is, what will happen when UT plays a bigger and posibly stronger opponent who tries to impose their will on the Vols" pace-of-play strategy?
 
#8
#8
lawgator1 said:
Interesting stats, VIA, and they confirm the eyeball impression of the Vols team, which is that its bread and butter is a fast-paced game, where it can get in rhythm and trade baskets, wearing the other team out, and pulling away in the last 6 or 7 minutes.

Where they have struggled the most it seems to me is where either the pace is either controlled by the opposition or where the pace is killed by fouls. The Vandy game comes to mind as an example of the latter.

UT is a fish out of water for a game played in the 60's or 70's. The deep bench is your biggest asset for games where the scores go into the mid-80's or higher. The question is, what will happen when UT plays a bigger and posibly stronger opponent who tries to impose their will on the Vols" pace-of-play strategy?
Click to expand...

Tons of great thoughts here. You're dead on about the REASONS for the pace control. Fouls kill us, which is a double edged sword, because our half court D isn't good, causing our guys to foul MORE.
 
#9
#9
VolinArizona said:
Tons of great thoughts here. You're dead on about the REASONS for the pace control. Fouls kill us, which is a double edged sword, because our half court D isn't good, causing our guys to foul MORE.
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I agree that UT tends to fould a lot in half court D. Why do you think this is the case? Its a little counter-intuitive, you must admit. I don't understand it.
 
#10
#10
what were the pace counts in the SC and Arky SECT. I see your point but does those games blow a hole in this.
 
#11
#11
I get the impression that Tennessee is playing hard for the ball, all the time. Most teams that are known for good defense do not constantly go for the ball. Or at least not like Tennessee does.
 
#12
#12
lawgator1 said:
I agree that UT tends to fould a lot in half court D. Why do you think this is the case? Its a little counter-intuitive, you must admit. I don't understand it.
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It's the refs calling hand checks in our half-court D. We hand check... all the time.
 
#13
#13
dickens821 said:
It's the refs calling hand checks in our half-court D. We hand check... all the time.
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At first I wanted to slap you for complaining about the officiating. And then I thought about it and realized you're right. I can't give you the numbers, but in a couple of your last games that I watched I remember remarking to myself that I could not recall a team committing (or being called for, shall we say) more fouls away from the basket.
 
#14
#14
lawgator1 said:
I agree that UT tends to fould a lot in half court D. Why do you think this is the case? Its a little counter-intuitive, you must admit. I don't understand it.
Click to expand...

We over commit on screens due to lack of communication, so we have to compensate to catch up to an open player. We also STILL only have 1 capable low post defensive player in Chism, and he's wildly inconsistent. The half court D next year will be the best of Bruce's 4 years so far.
 
#15
#15
lawgator1 said:
At first I wanted to slap you for complaining about the officiating. And then I thought about it and realized you're right. I can't give you the numbers, but in a couple of your last games that I watched I remember remarking to myself that I could not recall a team committing (or being called for, shall we say) more fouls away from the basket.
Click to expand...

I won't complain about them for calling the hand checks. I will complain about the lack of consistency in a referee's calls. Be it in a single game, or over multiple games.

I personally think hand checks should be allowed.
 
#16
#16
Sudden Impact said:
what were the pace counts in the SC and Arky SECT. I see your point but does those games blow a hole in this.
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SC was 78
Arkansas was 72

Keep in mind that West Virginia was 76, Temple was 76, WKU was 76, Xavier was 72, Gonzaga was 71, our Vandy win was 74, Florida win in TBA was 78.
 
#17
#17
I don't get the impression that we are being "called" for hand checks that aren't occurring. I have been assuming they have been told to try and impede ball movement as much as possible, being called for 15 hand checks a game be damned. Maybe I am wrong on that.
 
#19
#19
IPorange said:
I don't get the impression that we are being "called" for hand checks that aren't occurring. I have been assuming they have been told to try and impede ball movement as much as possible, being called for 15 hand checks a game be damned. Maybe I am wrong on that.
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That is EXACTLY what I'm wondering -- have they been coached to be a little too aggressive with it?
 
#21
#21
IPorange said:
I don't get the impression that we are being "called" for hand checks that aren't occurring. I have been assuming they have been told to try and impede ball movement as much as possible, being called for 15 hand checks a game be damned. Maybe I am wrong on that.
Click to expand...

That's not what I was saying. I just want the referees to be consistent in their calls.
 
#22
#22
It is hard for us to force a quicker paced game. Teams that are disciplined and don't want to run just won't run. Even if we press, they can slow up to a half court game.

Against teams that are less athletic, I suppose we could apply more ball pressure outside... but otherwise is it really possible for us to force the quick pace?

I think we are doomed to see ugly scrappy games with the score in the 60s for the first couple of rounds.
 
#24
#24
dickens821 said:
That's not what I was saying. I just want the referees to be consistent in their calls.
Click to expand...

I got nothing against that. From your lips to God's ears.

With stories about Pearl getting his team to be more physical and aggressive in the post season because he feels the refs call things more loosely, I just wonder if maybe that is a mistake. Especially since it is being reported publicly.
 
#25
#25
General Jack said:
It is hard for us to force a quicker paced game. Teams that are disciplined and don't want to run just won't run. Even if we press, they can slow up to a half court game.

Against teams that are less athletic, I suppose we could apply more ball pressure outside... but otherwise is it really possible for us to force the quick pace?

I think we are doomed to see ugly scrappy games with the score in the 60s for the first couple of rounds.
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but if we'll rebound we can run off their misses (even off the makes) and can push at every opportunity. That way we end up with a game somewhere in between.
 
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