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Question on Tennessee

MdWIldcat55

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,293
84,963
113
I had a cold this weekend so I took some time to watch the SEC championship game last year. While doing so, I compared the players on the court with recent Tennessee box scores, and with what I remember of seeing them play in the past few weeks.

As near as I could tell, their minute distribution is very similar to last year. And the couple times I watched them, they looked to run the same defense and try to score the same ways.

So, what has anyone else seen that makes this a better team than last year - aside from more experience (by the end of last year most of these guys had already played together two full seasons, so they were pretty cohesive last March.)

What are they doing better than the team that lost to Kentucky in the SEC tournament, then lost to 11-seed Loyola in the Round of 32?

(By the way, it was revealing how much of Cal's game plan in that SEC tournament final Bryce Drew used in that game where Vandy had UT beat. Obviously, he didn't have a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander but they got lots of the same shots.)
 
A

akaukswoosh

Hall of Famer
Jan 14, 2006
80,604
123,677
93
The_Answer1313 said:
It's the offense.

Mainly shooting

Under Barnes:
Effective FG%
2016 48.0% (254th)
2017 46.8% (313th)
2018 50.8% (176th)
2019 57.1% (6th)

It's amazing. Everyone on that team has drastically upped their shooting %.
Click to expand...
That is impressive and the jump from last year to this year particularly so.
 
T

The_Answer1313_rivals

Heisman
May 27, 2007
31,899
24,996
113
They are actually shooting lower % from 3 this season than last. It's all coming from 2 point shots.

Last year they shot 47.3% from 2. This season 58.3%

Williams went from 50% to 62%
Admiral went from 48% to 53%
Bone went from 40% to 51%
Bowden went from 39% to 58%
 
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JC43

All-Conference
Oct 6, 2006
3,807
2,956
0
The_Answer1313 said:
It's the offense.

Mainly shooting

Under Barnes:
Effective FG%
2016 48.0% (254th)
2017 46.8% (313th)
2018 50.8% (176th)
2019 57.1% (6th)

It's amazing. Everyone on that team has drastically upped their shooting %.
Click to expand...
This suggest taking better shots, are they still taking the same amount? Know tha Grant primarily gets his points 2 ft in and at the line. Bone/turner/admiral all have improved as well.
To be honest I can't watch them play, is it just me or is someone always on the floor getting up, or flailing when touched. Hate that and that stupid orange makes me nauseous
 
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JC43

All-Conference
Oct 6, 2006
3,807
2,956
0
The_Answer1313 said:
They are actually shooting lower % from 3 this season than last. It's all coming from 2 point shots.

Last year they shot 47.3% from 2. This season 58.3%

Williams went from 50% to 62%
Admiral went from 48% to 53%
Bone went from 40% to 51%
Bowden went from 39% to 58%
Click to expand...
Thanks, really good stuff! So we force them into shooting more threes perhaps?
 
M

mjj_2K

All-American
Jul 11, 2010
12,439
7,007
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MdWIldcat55 said:
That is a very interesting stat. It's unusual for an entire team to become better shooters/scorers -- for a whole season. I wonder if it has to do with the toughest part of their schedule still being ahead of them.
Click to expand...
Partially yes. Offensive stats generally get worse in conference play.

I think a lot of it has to do with all their guys being comfortable in their roles, a luxury of experience. They're passing the ball a lot better. Jordan Bone has gone from 3.5 to 6.6 assists per game, and they're getting assists on a higher % of FG's than last year while playing at a much faster pace.

And Grant Williams has simply made a leap. He was slightly under 50% on 2 pt attempts last year, often bothered by length. This year, he's at 62%.
 
revcort

revcort

Heisman
Feb 20, 2003
32,522
30,904
113
The_Answer1313 said:
It's the offense.

Mainly shooting

Under Barnes:
Effective FG%
2016 48.0% (254th)
2017 46.8% (313th)
2018 50.8% (176th)
2019 57.1% (6th)

It's amazing. Everyone on that team has drastically upped their shooting %.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's confidence. They've been playing with confidence all season. I think that's the answer. They don't have anymore talent or athleticism than they had last season, but they believe in themselves and each other more.

And can we beat them? Absolutely, we can. I think we're as well equipped to beat them as anyone in the SEC. We have multiple guys who can defend Grant Williams. PJ Washington proved he could do it last season, and I'm sure he's ready for the challenge. Reid Travis will also be a load for Williams to defend and try to score on. Aside from this, we have help coming from the bench if those guys get into foul trouble. We also have tall, long wings in KJ and Herro who can cause Schofield some problems when he's playing the 3 and we have multiple guys who can guard him down low when he's playing the 4. As for their guards, here again we have guys who are stopping dribble penetration and forcing opponents to take tough 2s. Our guards are all bigger than theirs, which gives us an edge in defending the perimeter.
 
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C

Catzman

Heisman
Apr 29, 2002
17,144
13,774
113
The_Answer1313 said:
It's the offense.

Mainly shooting

Under Barnes:
Effective FG%
2016 48.0% (254th)
2017 46.8% (313th)
2018 50.8% (176th)
2019 57.1% (6th)

It's amazing. Everyone on that team has drastically upped their shooting %.
Click to expand...


It's called development and my hats are off to them for it. Seriously. As a freshman, Admiral Schofield was a 6'4, 245lb drastically undersized Power 5 conference 4 man. He played with a massive chip on his shoulder, brute strength and some cunning to become a decent player. Fast forward and he's now a true perimeter player who can back down and dominate smaller players on the low block and is a real dual threat. He shot 83 times from beyond the arc as a freshman for 30% in 32 games. This year, in only 21 games, he's taken 101 and hit 39% of them.

Look at Grant Williams, another undersized big man. At one point he was listed at 6'5 and Schofield at 6'4. Now all of a sudden they're 6'7 and 6'6. I think they're both getting the Charles Barkley treatment. Williams was a average to below average free throw shooter as a freshman at about 67%. Knowing he'd have to develop as more of a threat from the line if he was going to try and draw fouls inside, he worked his way up to 83% this year as a Junior and even had a game where he went 23 for 23 or something dumb like that.

They're a team that is full of scrubs that have 100% maximized the potential they have to compete with teams who haven't quite put the pieces together yet. By all accounts none of their players should be able to hold any of our players jocks or even some of the players from USCjr, LSU, UF from over the past few years. If they were a 9 out of 10 on the maximized potential scale last year, this years a 10.
 
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The_Answer1313_rivals

Heisman
May 27, 2007
31,899
24,996
113
FWIW one thing that's turned negative on them is their defense isn't as good. Last year it was like 6th.........this season 44th.

Of course when you're offense is 2nd, you can afford to be slightly worse on defense than the previous season.
 
F

fedex

Redshirt
Aug 8, 2001
9
4
0
Individually each of the top six guys have improved. Williams had a lot more variety in his game down low than he did last year and Bone and Bowden have improved pretty dramatically. Unfortunately as a UT fan the bigs off the bench have perhaps regressed and Pons who started a few games at the wing has completely lost his confidence. The defense has been inconsistent but it hasn’t matter much because offense has been really good even when Scholfield and Williams have had off nights.

We have not been a great rebounding team and have been vulnerable to foul trouble. Those area and of course a decent shooting night will be your keys to winning. UT’s keys in my opinion will be to stay out of foul trouble, stay somewhat competitive on the boards and get some easy baskets in transition. We should have a great couple of games
 
C

Cardsstink

Heisman
Mar 20, 2017
7,791
11,201
0
akavff said:
.........jordan bone


playing at a very high level.....taking control of this team
Click to expand...

You beat me to it. I've watched Bone carry them through several rough patches of games. Shut him down and the are quite beatable.
 
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akavff_rivals

Sophomore
Jul 30, 2013
68,724
166
0
Cardsstink said:
You beat me to it. I've watched Bone carry them through several rough patches of games. Shut him down and the are quite beatable.
Click to expand...

bone has 139 assists with only 39 turnovers.......he is extremely difficult to turn over.....and impossible to press......too fast
 
L

Looksbetterinblue

All-Conference
Mar 25, 2018
1,084
1,412
98
It’s hard to compare a full season to a YtD season as most of the games at the end get progressively harder and schedules vary.
The appearance of the stats says they are shooting better and defense is better, but how will they compare when they face a real challenge. If I could pick highly ranked teams to play Kansas, Gonzaga and U6 would be on my list.
We will know soon if they are any better than last year because I believe we sure are.
 
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akavff_rivals

Sophomore
Jul 30, 2013
68,724
166
0
Looksbetterinblue said:
It’s hard to compare a full season to a YtD season as most of the games at the end get progressively harder and schedules vary.
The appearance of the stats says they are shooting better and defense is better, but how will they compare when they face a real challenge. If I could pick highly ranked teams to play Kansas, Gonzaga and U6 would be on my list.
We will know soon if they are any better than last year because I believe we sure are.
Click to expand...

when we played them that had azubuike.....different team without him
 
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