BigOrangeBasketball.comTennessee Basketball

Wayne Chism

While the 2008-09 basketball season for Tennessee has now been underway for the better part of the last month and a half, we’re about to find out whether these Vols are truly contenders or just pretenders.

With last night’s 89-62 win against Louisiana-Lafayette now in the rear-view mirror, the schedule now strengthens considerably, beginning with Saturday’s matchup versus defending national champion, Kansas.

Like Tennessee, Kansas is a much different team than it was a year ago, but it doesn’t mean it’s not talented.  And with Bill Self  leading the way as head coach of the Jayhawks, the Vols will not face a better-coached team during the remainder of the regular season.  Self is one of the top five coaches in the country, in my opinion.

While young and inexperienced, Kansas will attack Tennessee where it is most vulnerable – with extremely physical play on both ends and a determination to drive the ball to the basket.

The Vols will have to bow their collective backs Saturday in Lawrence if they want any chance of knocking off the Jayhawks.

Kansas will come hard with starting point guard Sherron Collins, last year’s sixth man, who’s averaging 17.8 points per game this season.  Much like Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo, Collins is a physical guard who loves to get the ball to the rim.  Look for Collins and the rest of the Jayhawks to take the ball to the basket until Tennessee proves it can stop them.

Another area of concern for the Vols will come in the post where Kansas features 6-11 center Cole Aldrich.  Aldrich is Kansas’ second leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game and the team’s leading rebounder with 10 boards per game.  Aldrich is a very physically-imposing player in the middle, and he’s also an active shot blocker.

For Tennessee, it will be important that its center combo of Wayne Chism (assuming he plays) and Brian Williams play strong against Aldrich and stay out of foul trouble.  Chism and Williams must at least match Aldrich’s points and rebounding production.

I don’t look for Tennessee to press much in this game, although I think they should.  Aside from Collins at the point, Kansas is shaky with the basketball and vulnerable to full-court pressure.  I would like to see Tennessee test Kansas early with pressure and see what develops.

The Vols should not have to worry too much about seeing zone in this game from the Jayhawks.  Self is strictly a man-to-man coach, and that should help Tennessee.  But the Jayhawks will be the most physical team on defense that the Vols have faced so far this season.  It will be extremely important that the Vols not get frustrated with the physical play and keep their composure, especially playing on the road.

J.P. Prince is back now for Tennessee, and that should help, especially on the road.  Unlike the freshmen trio of Scotty Hopson, Renaldo Woolridge and Cameron Tatum, Prince has been through the road wars, and he will keep his head.

As will be the case for the remainder of the season, the point production that Tennessee gets from its wings will have a lot to do with the outcome of this game.  If the Vols don’t get at least 40 points between Prince, Hopson, Tatum and Woolridge, it could be a long night.  If they do, Tennessee should be in good shape.

Kansas is currently 8-3 on the season and unranked.  They lost to Syracuse and UMass this season, both played in Kansas City, and they lost to Arizona on the road.  They beat Temple at home, 71-59, 10 days ago.

Nonetheless, the game against Kansas represents a solid road test against one of the most storied programs in college basketball with one of the game’s best coaches.  This game  is just what Tennessee needs, in my opinion, before the rematch with Gonzaga in Knoxville and the SEC opener against Georgia on Jan. 10.

RPI Notes

Tennessee is ranked No. 21 in the latest RPI rankings from cbssportsline.com.  The Vols strength of schedule is now ranked 56th.  Ironically, the team with the highest rated strength of schedule in the country is Temple.  The Owls are also ranked No. 29 in the RPI.  All of a sudden, that road loss doesn’t appear as bad as it did a couple of weeks ago.

I never thought I would say this about a Bruce Pearl team at Tennessee, but this Tennessee team is soft.

Emmanuel Negedu

10 games into the season, and this team won’t stop dribble penetration, won’t take a charge for the most part, and doesn’t make the hustle plays that Pearl-coached teams have been known for.

Tennessee’s narrow 79-77 victory against an inferior-talented Belmont squad was a perfect case in point for all of the above.  Known for its three-point shooting, Belmont scored on many more layups than three-pointers and outhustled the Vols on numerous occasions.  There’s no way this game should have been as close as it was, but it was.  In fact, the Vols were lucky to win it if the truth be known.

Three-plus seasons into the Pearl era at Tennessee and it may quite simply be a reality that Pearl is better coaching overachievers rather than high-profile high-school prima donnas.

Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Dane Bradshaw had to fight for everything they got during their college careers, and it showed on the court.  In 10 games so far this season, I haven’t seen Scotty Hopson and Renaldo Woolridge, in particular, fight for much at all.

Up to this point in the season, I’ve said what this team needs most is experience.  Now I’m not so sure that what this team really needs is a little attitude adjustment and a lot more hustle.

Someone needs to light a fire under this team, and so far Pearl has been unable to do it.

The one guy on the roster who seems up to the challenge to me is seldom-used freshman Emmanuel Negedu.  This guy plays hard every minute he’s in the game.  He fights for every rebound and he contests every shot.

If I’m Pearl, I get Negedu in the lineup, and I do it in a hurry.  Who do you sit to get Negedu into the lineup, you say?  Anybody but Tyler Smith and Bobby Maze, in my opinion. 

Personally, I don’t think the Vols are getting their minutes worth from anyone but those two right now.  I’m surprised that Negedu is getting 9.5 minutes per game, but I would double them at least, and see what happens.  You’ve got 6 players getting more minutes right now than Negedu who probably shouldn’t.

Granted, I don’t see what happens in practice everyday, but I do see what happens in the games.  Negedu’s only two points on Saturday came on a breakaway dunk when he simply outraced the entire Belmont team down the floor.

Chemistry is a delicate science, particularly in team sports.  Negedu seems like the one guy who could light a fire under this team.  If Pearl could get a few more guys playing like Negedu, I believe this team would be a lot better off.  But Pearl won’t get it with Negedu sitting on the bench.

When the Belmont Bruins come calling on the 16th-ranked Vols Saturday, they will come to win.  This is no longer simply a pay-day game.

Belmont (4-3) is coming off its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance where it lost by one point to Duke in a memorable first-round game a year ago.  Belmont head coach Rick Byrd, a Knoxville native and UT grad, is one of the nation’s best coaches.  His teams are as fundamentally sound as any you will see.

If the Vols are to extend their 35-game home court winning streak at Thompson-Boling Arena, they will have to defend the three ball.

Belmont ranks third in all of the NCAA in made three’s, averaging 11.6 per game.  And while they make a lot of threes, they also shoot them well.  Belmont’s 43% field goal percentage from three ranks sixth in all of college basketball.

While Tennessee ranks in the top half of the SEC in three-point field goal percentage defense (32%), it will have to defend the three better than it has in the last two games.  Temple, and Dionte Christmas, in particular, torched the Vols from three last Saturday, and Marquette, while not shooting a good percentage from three on Tuesday night, had far too many open looks from behind the arc.

The Vols will have to do it with half-court defense, and they will have to extend their defense to cover the three.  Belmont runs a Princeton-style motion offense, and the Bruins will test Tennessee’s half-court discipline unlike any team the Vols have faced thus far this season.

Don’t look for Tennessee to make hay against Belmont with the press. In fact, Belmont would likely welcome it.  Bruin point guard Alex Renfroe is lightning quick, and he shredded Duke’s press in that NCAA tournament game last year.

In addition to defending the three, Tennessee will need to make its presence known inside.  Belmont’s tallest starter is 6-8 Matthew Dotson, a former Tennessee signee of Buzz Peterson.  While the Bruins do have some size off the bench, their athleticism is primarily in the backcourt, not the frontcourt.

Wayne Chism, coming off a career-high 26 points against Marquette Tuesday night, and backup center Brian Williams, need a big game collectively on the inside.

Fast break points could also be a key for Tennessee.  The Vols should look to run, especially off three-point misses from Belmont.  They will have their opportunities, and they must force the action.

Belmont Head Coach and UT Graduate Rick Byrd

In an era when coaching trees in college sports are all the rage, one highly successful NCAA Division I basketball coach stands alone on his own branch in a lonely tree.

North Carolina has the Dean Smith tree.  Rick Patino has his own tree.  Bob Knight has another.

At the University of Tennessee, where college basketball has been nothing more than a seedling for most of the last 30 years, the school does have one particular branch of a tree that it can be proud of.

Its name is Rick Byrd, head basketball coach for the past 22 seasons at Belmont University in Nashville.

Byrd is a Knoxville native and UT grad.  His father was the legendary sports editor of the Knoxville Journal for many years, and Byrd once served as a graduate assistant on the Vol basketball team under UT’s Ray Mears.

Since that time, Byrd has carried the flag most notably for Belmont, where his Bruin teams have won three straight Atlantic Sun tournament championships and made three straight NCAA tournament appearances.  This man can coach, and his peers know it.

He’s won 545 games, and last March went toe-to-toe with college basketball’s greatest coach of the past 25 years – Duke’s Mike Kryzewski – losing by one point  in the final seconds.

But at the same time, Byrd is a Tennessee guy, and a UT graduate.  He has represented his alma mater well all these years and has worn the mantle of being  the only current NCAA head basketball coach from the University of Tennessee with distinction.

This Saturday, Byrd returns to his roots in Knoxville where he will attempt to defeat the university that granted him his diploma.

To be sure, Byrd will have many friends and family in the stands at Thompson-Boling Arena.  He should also have the respect and admiration from some 20,000 Vol fans as well.  He has represented his university exceptionally well, and we should all acknowledge and show our appreciation to him for that.

N0. 8 Tennessee was waylayed Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia by

Temple's Sergio Olmos Shoots For Two Of His 19 Points Against Brian Williams

unranked Temple in what has to be the worst performance of a Vol basketball team during the Bruce Pearl era.

This Temple team, which decimated Tennessee in the second half Saturday, is the same team that lost at home by 16 points to Miami of Ohio just 10 days ago.

Most certainly, this game was a warning shot to Pearl and legions of Vol fans who heretofore believed this team was capable of defending its SEC championship and making a long NCAA tournament run.  Today’s game produced much more uncertainty than confidence.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s game, Vol coaches and fans have to be alarmed.

It certainly appears that this Vol team, unlike Pearl’s first three at Tennessee, will not be able to overcome poor defense with good offense.

The worst defensive team in the SEC did not get any better against the Owls.  Temple shot 55% from the field for the game and 40% from three.  All the while, the Vols failed once again to stop dribble penetration and gave up far too many layups and easy baskets around the rim.

Meanwhile, the Vols had their worst offensive performance of the season, shooting only 37% for the game and 23% from three.  It was the worst collective performance of the Vol wing players this season.  Without J.P. Prince who did not dress for the game because of an ankle injury suffered yesterday, Scotty Hopson, Renaldo Woolridge and Cameron Tatum combined for 21 points.  Fair or not, this Tennessee team will have to get most of its offensive production from the wings this season, and they didn’t get it against Temple.

Particularly alarming was the fact that the Vols did not look sharp or in sync at all offensively during the game. Pearl’s previous teams have made great strides during the long December break between games, but they didn’t make them today.  The Vols were completely lost today in their half-court offense.

Pearl may have to shorten his bench significantly to get the offensive consistency he is looking for.  It is becoming ever more apparent that the freshmen aren’t progressing as they should while each is playing only about half the game.

It’s also ever more apparent to me that this team needs to renew its commitment to the press that really hasn’t been there all season.  While they gave up several layups in the press in the second half, the Vols still looked more fluid in the press more than any other time in the game.

It’s back to the drawing board for Pearl after this game.  It’s imminently clear now that Pearl faces his biggest challenge as head coach at Tennessee with this team.  What may have looked like a clear path to at least the SEC East title a week ago, doesn’t look so clear now.

So what do you do now if you’re Pearl following this game?  This was certainly a wakeup call.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Get back to playing Bruce Pearl basketball at Tennessee.  This is not a good half-court team.  If you are going to play 10 or more guys, then play fast and press for 40 minutes.
• Move J.P. Prince to back up point guard and move Josh Tabb out of the rotation.  Prince needs and deserves his minutes, but let him take more away from Tabb in the backup point guard role than Hopson, Tatum and Woolridge on the wings.
• Get Tatum and Hopson on the floor at the same time.
• Defensively, the Vols have to get tougher on the perimeter and have to begin taking a few charges.  I can’t remember a single Vol perimeter defender who has taken a charge all season. We allow them to go right to the rim.  In contrast, Temple’s perimeter players took at least four in the game today.  Again, that’s a commitment to defense, and we haven’t shown it.
• Get Emmanuel Negedu more minutes.  Go smaller inside if you have to.  Negedu will play his rear end off at least, and we haven’t seen that kind of play nearly as consistently as we need to from Chism and Williams.

Tennessee’s game Tuesday night against Marquette just got a lot more interesting.  It will be interesting to see how the Vols and Pearl respond.

The pieces and parts are there for Tennessee to have a good basketball team, but they are way out of order right now.

Coming off a successful first quarter of the season by anyone’s standards in which the Vols went 6-1 and reached the finals of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, the second quarter of the season provides Tennessee its last chance to tune up its game before it heads into the meat of the Southeastern Conference schedule in January.

While the Vols went 6-1 during its first seven games, Bruce Pearl’s squad was really only tested in two of those games, both coming in Orlando against Georgetown and Gonzaga.

In this season’s second quarter, the Vols will likely be challenged in six of seven games.  The only gimme is

Cameron Tatum

Louisiana-Lafayette at home on Dec. 29th. Four of the seven games will be played away from Thompson-Boling Arena, including next week’s SEC/Big East Challenge contest against Marquette at the Sommet Center in Nashville.  The second quarter schedule commences this Saturday with a road game at Temple and concludes with the first SEC game of the season on Jan. 10 at Georgia.

So far, we have learned that this team once again under Pearl has the ability to score.  The Vols are ranked first in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 87.1 points per game.  The loss of 30 points per game from last season with the departures of Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith has not been an issue this season, at least to this point.

At this season’s outset, the keys for Tennessee this year were improvements in team defense and rebounding, as well as the successful maturation of the six newcomers.

Thus far, the Vols are a much improved rebounding team, thanks to significantly more length on the roster in general, and the perimeter in particular.  The Vols replaced two 6-2 players at the wings with 6-8 and 6-7 wings this season.

The Vols bugaboo continues to be defense where the Vols rank last in the SEC.  Compounding the Vols defensive problems this season has been a significant dropoff in the team’s ability to turn the other team over.  The press has not been as effective as in previous seasons, and Pearl admitted earlier this week that this may not be a good pressing team.

Three teams the Vols will face in the season’s second quarter are currently ranked in the nation’s Top 25 – No. 4 Gonzaga, No. 24 Marquette and No. 25 Kansas.  Two of those three games (Marquette and Kansas) will be played away from Knoxville.

As is the case every season in the non-conference portion of the schedule, the overall objective is to get your team ready for conference play.

As I see it, here is what Tennessee needs to accomplish by the end of the second quarter of the season prior to entering into the heart of conference play…

• Improved team defense – Again, Tennessee ranks last in the SEC in scoring defense.  Tennessee must get better in this area, if not for conference play, but for any potential long run in postseason play. Fundamentally speaking, Tennessee must do a better job of stopping the ball and allowing easy penetration to the basket.
• Beating The Zone – Gonzaga was the first team to employ a zone against Tennessee in any meaningful way, and the Zags won the game.  Look for the Vols to see a lot more zone based on the success the Zags had.  The Vols must prove they can score against a zone and score consistently. Scotty Hopson and Cameron Tatum, in particular, will have to demonstrate that they can bust a zone on a consistent basis.  Otherwise, the Vols will see a lot more of it.
• Improved turnover margin - Tennessee may not be a good pressing team this year, and consequently may force fewer turnovers than in past seasons under Pearl, but the Vols need to reduce their own turnovers.   To date, the Vols are averaging 16.9 turnovers per game and have a negative turnover margin, which is virtually unheard of from a Pearl-coached team.
• Offsetting Opponent Post Play – For the season, the Vols’ center tandem of Wayne Chism and Brian Williams are averging 17 points between them.  However, in two games in which the Vols faced solid big men such as Georgetown’s Greg Monroe and Gonzaga’s Josh Heytvelt, Chism and Williams  averaged just 10 points between them, while giving up an average of 16.  The Vol center tandem must be more effective offensively against good post players, and they must do a better job staying out of foul trouble.
• Freshmen Progession - One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about this season so far is watching the maturation of the freshmen.  You can throw juco transfer Bobby Maze into that group as well.  It will be interesting to watch how this group responds as the competion heats up.  If the Vols are going to have the kind of season we all hope they will, this group will have to continue to make progress…on both ends of the floor.

I expect the Vols to repeat their performance during the first quarter of the season by going 6-1, the only loss coming at Kansas.  Kansas has a young team this year, but they’re big and physical and well-coached, and they’re playing at home.

If the Vols can in fact go 6-1 during the quarter, they will be 12-2 through the first half of the season.  That record will be good enough to keep the Vols in the Top 10 at the halfway mark of the season which will give them an excellent opportunity to position themselves as a top 4 seed in the 2009 NCAA tournament.

In an article published this morning in Nashville’s The Tennessean newspaper, it claims that three starting

Bobby Maze Leads SEC in Assist/Turnover Ratio

spots in the Vols’ lineup will be up for grabs this week in practice, including the point guard spot.

The article alleges that Bobby Maze and Josh Tabb will compete in two scrimmages this week with the starting point guard position up for grabs.

In the immortal words of one John McEnroe, “you can’t be serious,” Bruce!

Maze currently is in the top 10 in the SEC in three statistical categories including assists, steals and assist/turnover ratio.  His 4.5 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio is incredibly good, and leads the conference by a wide margin.  Moreover, in 7 games so far this season, Maze has committed a grand total of eight turnovers.

I don’t care what happens in scrimmages, but I hope the Tennessean beat writer has his facts mixed up on this one.  If not, Pearl is out of his mind.  I have to believe the former is true.

Without Maze, there’s no way the Vols are 6-1 and ranked No. 8 in the country right now.

In fact, Pearl said Monday evening that Maze had been the most pleasant surprise of all the newcomers on this year’s squad.

In this particular case, I’m going to subscribe to the old adage, “you can’t believe everything you read.”

I expect to see Maze starting at point guard Saturday versus Temple.

Don’t scare me like that again!

The first quarter review of the Tennessee Vols’ 2008-09 basketball team is in.

Tyler Smith

My exit poll interview at this stage of the season would reveal that the Vols have exceeded my expectations in terms of wins and losses.  I had them at 4-3 at this juncture, which included two losses in the Old Spice Classic.

Instead, the Vols are 6-1, ranked No. 10 in one major poll and 13th in the other, and just played in the finals of the Old Spice Classic.

As he has done in each of his first three seasons at Tennessee, credit Bruce Pearl for exceeding expectations once again.

The Vols were acknowledged to be young this year with six new faces on the roster who had never suited up in an actual game for the Orange and White.  Individually, this group is still raw and inexperienced, but collectively they’re pretty good…good enough in my opinion to make a serious run at defending last season’s SEC championship.

In my mind, the player who has made the most impact so far this season is junior college transfer Bobby Maze.  Without Maze’s calming influence at the point, the Vols probably are 4-3.  His  4.5 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the SEC by a wide margin.  As a team, though, the Vols’ turnovers are a concern.  Without Maze, the Vols’ turnover problems would be an even bigger.

I think most would agree that the play of the freshmen cast has been very encouraging to this point.  Aside from center Philip Jurick who seems destined for a redshirt, the other four have been quite impressive, each displaying their enormous potential on one occasion or another this season.

I said prior to the beginning of the season that defense and rebounding, not offense,  would be the keys to how far the Vols go this season.  After seven games, I haven’t changed my mind.

Predictably, the Vols lead the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 87.1 points per game.  The Vols have had very balanced scoring so far this season, with four or five players in double figures in most games.  This is a very positive trend, particularly with such a young team.  The Vols certainly aren’t depending on one or two players to carry the load, at least to this point in the season.

As for rebounding, the Vols appear much improved. They are second in the league in rebounding margin with a +13.1 over their opponents.  Last year, the Vols finished the season ranked eighth in the SEC in rebounding margin with a +0.6.

Defensively, the Vols have issues, which is not new to Pearl-coached teams. The Vols are last in the SEC in scoring defense and are giving up an average of 71.3 points per game.  The Vols are 11th in the league in field goal percentage defense with opponents shooting 42.2%. The Vols have had some good individual defensive efforts, but collectively they have not been very good.  Pearl has said that the Vols are a better defensive team in the first half of the games when they are playing defense in front of their bench, and worse in the second half when they’re in front of the opponent’s bench.  That may be true, but there’s no reason for that to be the case throughout the season.

If this young Vol team can lead the SEC in scoring, this same young team should be better on defense.

Another area of concern which is somewhat of a surprise for Pearl-coached teams is turnover margin.  The Vols are ninth in the SEC in turnover margin this season.  They finished No. 1 in turnover margin a year ago. 

There are two underlying issues involving Tennessee’s turnover problems.  No. 1, aside from Bobby Maze, the Vols simply aren’t taking good care of the basketball.  In fact, five of the Vols’ top seven players in minutes played have negative assist-to-turnover ratios. Even Tyler Smith is having turnover problems.  While his assist-to-turnover ratio is positive for the season, it’s less than 2 to 1. In my opinion, he’s playing too much away from the basket.

The other issue involving Tennessee’s turnover problems is that the Vols simply are not turning teams over with the press as much as in previous seasons.

From a technical standpoint, the Vols have not been very effective in executing their initial trap off the inbounds pass and that has lessened the effectiveness of the press significantly.

In addition, the Vols haven’t pressed as much this season.  Pearl doesn’t seem as confident in his team’s ability to execute it.  He indicated prior to the season that he thought this team might not be as good a pressing team as he has had in the past because the players were bigger and not as quick.  Through seven games, I haven’t really noticed that.  Besides, I think the extra length of the players could in fact make the press more effective.

On the one hand, it’s hard to be critical when a basketball program has been resurrected from the dead like this program has in the last 3+ years.  The good news is that the Vols, in my opinion, are a legitimate top 15 team already at this stage of the season.  The other piece of good news is that I believe this team will get even better.

On the other hand, for those of us who aspire to see this program advance beyond the Sweet 16 in postseason play, there are definitely some areas that need to be tightened up between now and March.

The Vols are ranked No. 50 in the latest RPI rankings by CBSsports.com through games of Dec. 1st.  Their strength of schedule is No. 76.

Interestingly, Gonzaga, who just defeated Tennessee in the finals of the Old Spice Classic, is ranked No. 2 overall in the RPI.  Butler is currently ranked No. 1 in the RPI, and Florida is the highest-rated SEC team at No. 27.

The Vols RPI ranking should go up some in the next couple of weeks with games against Temple and Marquette.  Wednesday’s home game against UNC-Asheville won’t help UT’s RPI, however.

The NCAA has yet to release its first official RPI rankings for this season.