What a difference a month makes. This has to be one of the most disappointing teams in my time of being a Tennessee fan because I thought with the talent put together gave this team a final 4 ceiling (Maybe I was just naive). It turns out that this roster is just poorly put together. The post play or lack there of is brutal. We don't have the beef to bang with guys in the post, and I think more importantly, this team just doesn't have anyone who plays above the rim offensively or defensively (ORN does have flashes but not consistently). It looks like we are just not a very good basketball team. I know everyone wants to point to the schedule and say we got screwed but its not like we played lsu or uk close. They punked us. And I know we want to take a moral victory from playing Bama close, but lets be honest. They are a very hot or cold basketball team. The hot one beat Gonzaga but the cold one lost to Iona, MIZZOU, and got run off the court at Memphis. We got the cold version (22% from 3) and still lost. I know it's without KC and JF but I like to think we could beat Mizzou or Iona without them.
Offense: We are not a good offensive team and that's being kind. Part of that has been poorer outside shooting than expected, but we just do not get enough easy baskets from our offense. Part of that is not having much post presence but another part of that is lacking athleticism on the wings. We don't have that guy who when they get downhill can finish thru traffic. Our best efforts at going to the rim typically rely on a good screen/wall off from whoever the post guy is (Uros does an outstanding job of that). Usually we'll get a couple layups a game from KC or ZZ from that and it's a nice wrinkle. KC and ZZ do a good job probing but it hurts them that bigs can help over on them bc we don't have guys are adept at finishing off of catches around the rim. Another disappointing part of our offense is that to be a team who pushes the ball down the floor as much as we do, we rarely get anything off of our secondary break. Whoever catches on the wing typically doesn't make an entry pass or or try to drive to make teams collapse. We waste a lot of energy rushing the ball up the floor to then swing it back to the top and let the defense get set. If we aren't going to get anything out of it, might as well conserve the energy and walk it down. Play that pace and muck it up. Lastly, while I admire the ball fake as much as any body else, we pump fake more good shots into covered shots than any team I've ever seen. Part of that is that most of our players aren't good going to the basket so even if you do get the bite, you're not doing much with it after that, but I would appreciate us letting it fly on the initial look a little more.
Defense: Tennessee is a good/really good defensive team. They typically give good effort and play tough pressure defense. They struggle a little closing out possessions because they're not great at rebounding and also struggle against teams with exceptional athleticism. I like the style that they play, but think the defense could be even better if they had anyone capable of being rim protector on the backline. Again ORN makes the occasional big block, but he's not a consistent deterrent.
Coaching: First off let's start with the positive. Rick Barnes has made this a good/great defensive team without having much rim protection. I understand everyone is going to start chirping about the defense today, but we've played a good schedule and going into today had the 2nd most efficient defense in the country. Are we that good? Maybe not, but numbers don't lie and I'm comfortable saying we're a top 10-20 defensive team in the country at the end of the year. Now to the negatives, when things have gone bad for this team, they've gone really bad. Nova, LSU, and Kentucky were games that Tennessee got punched in the mouth and never responded. As a coach, you've got to have your teams ready to play big games especially on the road. Fair or not, that's on the head coach. Secondly, I think Rick deserves some criticism for the way this team starts games. We never start fast. The one time we've started fast this year was Zona which was our best win of the year. I know basketball is different from football and it's harder to script plays, but you have a little control where you can say alright our first 10 half court possessions, we're going to run these ten plays and this is what I want out of them. I think as much as we struggle, he should consider trying to do something like this where we can get the right guys shots early.
Now to the part where I think Rick has really failed. Aside from questionable roster construction, his roster management has been rough. I think everyone on this board knows that BHH should be further along in his development than he is. He should've been playing 20-25 minutes a night in the non conference. While maybe not a true rim protector, he would give you more beef than you have down there and Rick should've been doing everything he could to get him ready. Also, I think his JP management has been bad although I'll admit he's been a disappointment at times.
Blurbs on players:
KC- He's special. He has struggled with finishing at times, and he has freshman moments but he is a very good player. I think his size is the biggest thing holding him back and think he's one of those guys who will really benefit from the space on an NBA floor.
SV- He's been our most consistent player. Has been a much more willful scorer and works his ass off defensively to try to overcome his athletic limitations. Of note, he never needs to bring the ball up the floor unless we're in an absolute emergency. Got ripped twice by UK players today in 1 on 1 situations just in trying to get it up and he has to work much harder than either KC or ZZ to get it up the floor. He's beyond serviceable as an sec guard but is definitely limited athletically.
ZZ- Makes plenty of freshman mistakes, but hate to imagine where we'd be without him. Don't think you could ask for much more. Hopefully he's here the next 3 years.
JP- been disappointed in him overall but shows flashes of why he could be good for us. Good shooter when we get him the ball and I think he's the best playmaker on the team after the 3 above. Hope he gets more opportunities not only to be on the floor but to be a significant part of the offense moving forward.
ORN- Think he's been a pleasant surprise. Definitely much better as a player than last year and his athleticism and bounce is something this team sorely lacks. One of the only guys on this team that has potential of playing above the rim.
JF- Is who he is. I love him. But he's a role/hustle player who looks like covid is negatively effecting him yet again. If it's not that, then maybe his body is just breaking down from years of tough luck injuries and general frailness. Thankful for all of his effort and glad he was a Vol.
JJJ- He's just having a tough year. Really sucks for a guy who supposedly put a lot of work in on his shot in the offseason. Also sucks that to be as big and strong as he is, it doesn't look like he has any interest in taking the ball to the rim. Another case of he is who he is.
Uros- Nothing but positive things to say about him. He does his job when he's in the game. Wish he wasn't having to play over 10 minutes a game.
VBJ- I feel for this guy. The only positive thing he is going to give you is if he gets hot and he isn't going to have the opportunity to get hot on this team.
I've typed all of this out to say this Tennessee basketball team is in a very dangerous place. Making the tournament no longer is a slam dunk. They have not played what I would consider a good game since conference play started. Outside of the Arizona game (which is going to be the win that keeps on giving) they haven't beaten a team that has a pulse. Looking at the schedule how confident are we that they get 10 more wins? Does anyone feel good about LSU, UK, or Auburn at home? What about Arkansas either place? Texas on the road? I even think Vandy could give us trouble from the way they've played early in conference play. I was the person who asked Rob in the chat if he would be more surprised by an elite 8 or a second round exit. I honestly now think the question is would you be more surprised if they didn't make the tourney or made it out of the first weekend. With all that being said, I still think they make the tournament, but from all of my observations, they're going to make it a lot closer call than it should've been.
Offense: We are not a good offensive team and that's being kind. Part of that has been poorer outside shooting than expected, but we just do not get enough easy baskets from our offense. Part of that is not having much post presence but another part of that is lacking athleticism on the wings. We don't have that guy who when they get downhill can finish thru traffic. Our best efforts at going to the rim typically rely on a good screen/wall off from whoever the post guy is (Uros does an outstanding job of that). Usually we'll get a couple layups a game from KC or ZZ from that and it's a nice wrinkle. KC and ZZ do a good job probing but it hurts them that bigs can help over on them bc we don't have guys are adept at finishing off of catches around the rim. Another disappointing part of our offense is that to be a team who pushes the ball down the floor as much as we do, we rarely get anything off of our secondary break. Whoever catches on the wing typically doesn't make an entry pass or or try to drive to make teams collapse. We waste a lot of energy rushing the ball up the floor to then swing it back to the top and let the defense get set. If we aren't going to get anything out of it, might as well conserve the energy and walk it down. Play that pace and muck it up. Lastly, while I admire the ball fake as much as any body else, we pump fake more good shots into covered shots than any team I've ever seen. Part of that is that most of our players aren't good going to the basket so even if you do get the bite, you're not doing much with it after that, but I would appreciate us letting it fly on the initial look a little more.
Defense: Tennessee is a good/really good defensive team. They typically give good effort and play tough pressure defense. They struggle a little closing out possessions because they're not great at rebounding and also struggle against teams with exceptional athleticism. I like the style that they play, but think the defense could be even better if they had anyone capable of being rim protector on the backline. Again ORN makes the occasional big block, but he's not a consistent deterrent.
Coaching: First off let's start with the positive. Rick Barnes has made this a good/great defensive team without having much rim protection. I understand everyone is going to start chirping about the defense today, but we've played a good schedule and going into today had the 2nd most efficient defense in the country. Are we that good? Maybe not, but numbers don't lie and I'm comfortable saying we're a top 10-20 defensive team in the country at the end of the year. Now to the negatives, when things have gone bad for this team, they've gone really bad. Nova, LSU, and Kentucky were games that Tennessee got punched in the mouth and never responded. As a coach, you've got to have your teams ready to play big games especially on the road. Fair or not, that's on the head coach. Secondly, I think Rick deserves some criticism for the way this team starts games. We never start fast. The one time we've started fast this year was Zona which was our best win of the year. I know basketball is different from football and it's harder to script plays, but you have a little control where you can say alright our first 10 half court possessions, we're going to run these ten plays and this is what I want out of them. I think as much as we struggle, he should consider trying to do something like this where we can get the right guys shots early.
Now to the part where I think Rick has really failed. Aside from questionable roster construction, his roster management has been rough. I think everyone on this board knows that BHH should be further along in his development than he is. He should've been playing 20-25 minutes a night in the non conference. While maybe not a true rim protector, he would give you more beef than you have down there and Rick should've been doing everything he could to get him ready. Also, I think his JP management has been bad although I'll admit he's been a disappointment at times.
Blurbs on players:
KC- He's special. He has struggled with finishing at times, and he has freshman moments but he is a very good player. I think his size is the biggest thing holding him back and think he's one of those guys who will really benefit from the space on an NBA floor.
SV- He's been our most consistent player. Has been a much more willful scorer and works his ass off defensively to try to overcome his athletic limitations. Of note, he never needs to bring the ball up the floor unless we're in an absolute emergency. Got ripped twice by UK players today in 1 on 1 situations just in trying to get it up and he has to work much harder than either KC or ZZ to get it up the floor. He's beyond serviceable as an sec guard but is definitely limited athletically.
ZZ- Makes plenty of freshman mistakes, but hate to imagine where we'd be without him. Don't think you could ask for much more. Hopefully he's here the next 3 years.
JP- been disappointed in him overall but shows flashes of why he could be good for us. Good shooter when we get him the ball and I think he's the best playmaker on the team after the 3 above. Hope he gets more opportunities not only to be on the floor but to be a significant part of the offense moving forward.
ORN- Think he's been a pleasant surprise. Definitely much better as a player than last year and his athleticism and bounce is something this team sorely lacks. One of the only guys on this team that has potential of playing above the rim.
JF- Is who he is. I love him. But he's a role/hustle player who looks like covid is negatively effecting him yet again. If it's not that, then maybe his body is just breaking down from years of tough luck injuries and general frailness. Thankful for all of his effort and glad he was a Vol.
JJJ- He's just having a tough year. Really sucks for a guy who supposedly put a lot of work in on his shot in the offseason. Also sucks that to be as big and strong as he is, it doesn't look like he has any interest in taking the ball to the rim. Another case of he is who he is.
Uros- Nothing but positive things to say about him. He does his job when he's in the game. Wish he wasn't having to play over 10 minutes a game.
VBJ- I feel for this guy. The only positive thing he is going to give you is if he gets hot and he isn't going to have the opportunity to get hot on this team.
I've typed all of this out to say this Tennessee basketball team is in a very dangerous place. Making the tournament no longer is a slam dunk. They have not played what I would consider a good game since conference play started. Outside of the Arizona game (which is going to be the win that keeps on giving) they haven't beaten a team that has a pulse. Looking at the schedule how confident are we that they get 10 more wins? Does anyone feel good about LSU, UK, or Auburn at home? What about Arkansas either place? Texas on the road? I even think Vandy could give us trouble from the way they've played early in conference play. I was the person who asked Rob in the chat if he would be more surprised by an elite 8 or a second round exit. I honestly now think the question is would you be more surprised if they didn't make the tourney or made it out of the first weekend. With all that being said, I still think they make the tournament, but from all of my observations, they're going to make it a lot closer call than it should've been.
