I think this is an upside barometer kind of game. Lose by 15 or so and it doesnāt mean weāre bad- Tennessee is an E8 type of team. If we compete and lose by a few possessions (or win!) we should all probably (and appropriately) completely recalibrate the doom-and-gloom here.
I am most interested to see if the looser offense and greater level of confidence maintains against a very tough opponent. Given the Louisville result vs Tenn at home- competing should also recalibrate where we can land after the Duke/UNC top 2 in the ACCā¦
Only chance we have is if Saunders, Cofie, and Power knock down shots and can carry the load offensively. Zeigler and Mashack will smother our guards.
We also need to push the ball any chance we can get to try to get IMac some open looks in transition before Tennessee sets its defense, and heās going to have to try to make some plays off the dribble because they are 100 percent going to run him off the line.
Tennesseeās weaknesses:
-not much depth, with Carr and Dubar with injuries
-Zakai is their only pg. Seen their fans mention the drop off in play when heās not on the floor
-Front court has size but is nothing special offensive talent wise vs better competition. Very much a team that runs its offense through Zakai and Lanier
@Hooandtrue keys to the game
-Punish Tennessee pressure d whether it be breaking the press or mckneely hitting the open big man when he gets doubled and attacking them 4 on 3 in the half court
-When they switch, get the ball to Saunders or Power down low (Power drew a foul and then also hit his midrange jumper on a switch)
-Tell Buchanan and Cofie to be ready to score when near the rim, they will have opportunities there if they go up strong when they catch it
-Drive and post up on Zakai. Find a way to get him in foul trouble whether it be Dai Dai driving on him or Rohde posting him up (we did this a little bit last year but went away from it when we fully embraced mover blocker). Use this also as an alternative to feeding bigs in the post, to get the ball inside the perimeter and get the defense to collapse a little to get McKneely an open 3. (preferable to do this with Saunders Cofie at the 4-5 since they can also catch and shoot 3s)
. Need to both protect the ball while also moving it, and having every guy on the floor be ready to shoot when open. If we donāt turn it over, and arenāt passive, weāre going to get open shots. Also, foul trouble in general. In addition to only having 1 PG, theyāre thin up front.
I agree with your overall point, but the specific details are wrong and interesting.
Joe was the best player his FR and JR years but not SO (Mike Scott) or SR (Brogdon) even though he did get better every year.
Mike Scott only played 10 games Harrisā FR year, so Harris was the immediate alpha. (Mu might have scored more raw points, but I already thought it was Joeās team that year.)
Combing through some Tennessee sites and barely any mention of UVA. Mostly talking about the potential for a Baylor match up. Only UVA comment was āUVA might not score 50ā
Really wish we had Warley. He was the primary possibility weād have to get Z in foul trouble and shut down their guards, allowing us to win something like 42-38.
I like the idea of posting up Rohde. Heās got 9ā (9!) on Zakai and is a pretty good passer as well. My only issue is this would only work with Dai Dai off the floor unless we can force the switch on D. And I donāt like Rohde bringing the ball up consistently against Zakai.
Posting Rohde makes sense - in theory - I just donāt see him doing it effectively. Rohde wears down in games so quickly and posting him up only speeds that process up.
I think some of the terrible turnovers Rohde has are almost always fatigue related. Just gets tired.
He did it some at st thomas, and the few times we did it last year he looked competent enough (looked better than the backwards dribbling on the perimeter)
Agree that he gets tired and uncorks some head-scratching turnovers at times. But agree with @Hooandtrue that this isnāt related to posting up. And given the huge height advantage, it would likely be a lot less stressful.
I mean can you really count Elijah and Bond? They played like 20 mins all season last year and were non contributors.
I get Ryan and Reece. They are all time great Hope but they arenāt all time great offensive Hoos. I believe we have loss defense and gained offense imo.
. Need to both protect the ball while also moving it, and having every guy on the floor be ready to shoot when open. If we donāt turn it over, and arenāt passive, weāre going to get open shots. Also, foul trouble in general. In addition to only having 1 PG, theyāre thin up front.