With the news of Pons returning, the '20-21 squad will not have heavy reliance on Uros and I don't see him getting big minutes.
That said, I do think his talent level as a legit 7-footer is under-appreciated and that Uros will have a fairly big role on the '21-22 squad. The situation he was placed in last year, being in limbo until January (if memory serves me correctly) was extremely unfair to the kid and took away any chance to get some actual game experience under his belt prior to being in the heart of the SEC squad where every other player on the court (sans Vescovi) had had a chance to get going early in the season and get some game speed action against real opponents. Adding to that unfair situation, Uros had a number of rough calls go against him (unfairly in some of the cases) which limited his minutes in some games and caused him to feel the need to play far more timidly than would normally have been warranted. Part of that is certainly on Uros, but having early season minutes in non-conference games would have aided in preventing some of that issue.
As I have said since well before he got any action as a Vol, Uros is not an elite rim protector. Also, he clearly has a ton of room to improve at rebounding. Having to practice against Anosike, along with Pons and Fulky, should help him out in that regard. I am not saying he's going to be all-conference in '21-22, but with Fulky, Pons, and Anosike all being gone from that squad, Uros could have a big, big role as a RS Junior. He has some nice offensive skills for a 7-footer, looking to feed teammates and a soft shooting touch with a bit of range. With this opportunity for effectively a "playing redshirt year" here in '21-22 (as probably the 10th/11th/12th man along with Gaines and Pember), I would simply tell Vol fans not to sleep on Uros.
Top-9 guys:
Fulky, Pons, James, Johnson, Springer, Vescovi, Bailey, Walker (may be MASSIVELY being slept on), Anosike
They gotta make sure to find a way to play this '20-21 season!
That said, I do think his talent level as a legit 7-footer is under-appreciated and that Uros will have a fairly big role on the '21-22 squad. The situation he was placed in last year, being in limbo until January (if memory serves me correctly) was extremely unfair to the kid and took away any chance to get some actual game experience under his belt prior to being in the heart of the SEC squad where every other player on the court (sans Vescovi) had had a chance to get going early in the season and get some game speed action against real opponents. Adding to that unfair situation, Uros had a number of rough calls go against him (unfairly in some of the cases) which limited his minutes in some games and caused him to feel the need to play far more timidly than would normally have been warranted. Part of that is certainly on Uros, but having early season minutes in non-conference games would have aided in preventing some of that issue.
As I have said since well before he got any action as a Vol, Uros is not an elite rim protector. Also, he clearly has a ton of room to improve at rebounding. Having to practice against Anosike, along with Pons and Fulky, should help him out in that regard. I am not saying he's going to be all-conference in '21-22, but with Fulky, Pons, and Anosike all being gone from that squad, Uros could have a big, big role as a RS Junior. He has some nice offensive skills for a 7-footer, looking to feed teammates and a soft shooting touch with a bit of range. With this opportunity for effectively a "playing redshirt year" here in '21-22 (as probably the 10th/11th/12th man along with Gaines and Pember), I would simply tell Vol fans not to sleep on Uros.
Top-9 guys:
Fulky, Pons, James, Johnson, Springer, Vescovi, Bailey, Walker (may be MASSIVELY being slept on), Anosike
They gotta make sure to find a way to play this '20-21 season!
