BigOrangeBasketball.comTennessee Basketball

The UT and UConn men will renew in 2010 a basketball series that has been previously made famous by the schools’ two women’s programs.

The schools have reached an agreement on a two-year, home-and-home series that will commence during the 2010-2011 season.  The first game will find the Vols travelling to Storrs in 10-11, with the Huskies making the trip to Knoxville in 11-12.

You have to give Bruce Pearl credit for continuing to schedule, particularly after last season, when it seemed the Vols were penalized for their strength of schedule by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee when they received a No. 9 seed.

This is great for the men’s program, and great exposure to boot.  Now if the Vols can only get North Carolina or Duke on the schedule.

In baseball parlance, Bruce Pearl is four for four.  Four seasons at Tennessee.  Four new contracts.

Pearl’s latest contract, however, and the circumstances surrounding it, is the one that is the most interesting.

There’s no denying or arguing the fact that each of Pearl’s new contracts after his first three seasons at Tennessee were justified.  For Pearl quickly took Tennessee from a basketball afterthought to SEC Eastern Division Champions and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament in his first season.  He followed that up with back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, including an SEC Championship and the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking in 2008.

Last season was a little different, though.  The Vols, who were picked in the preseason to win their second straight SEC championship, failed to do so, sputtered down the stretch, and lost in the NCAA’s first round as a No. 9 seed to Oklahoma State.

Based on last season’s results, Pearl was not about to receive a new contract from athletic director Mike Hamilton.  But then Memphis came calling and that changed everything.

All of sudden, the Vols faced not only losing their basketball coach, but to one of its fiercest rivals also.  Hamilton, to his credit, didn’t let Memphis’ courtship of Pearl last very long, agreeing in principle with Pearl to a new contract just a couple of days following Memphis’ initial expression of interest in Pearl.

As it turns out, Pearl’s new contract is not great shakes in terms of additional money or years.  Pearl received a 9.5% raise and a one-year extension over his previous contract.  Over the course of the new six-year deal, Pearl will average  making about $2.32 million per year, compared to John Calipari’s $3.7 million per year at Kentucky and Billy Donovan’s $3.5 million per season at Florida.  Not chump change, but not a huge increase, either.  Memphis was reportedly prepared to offer Pearl approximately $3 million per year.

What Pearl’s new contract appears to be more about is his assistants.

With Lane Kiffin’s arrival has come an astronomical increase in assistant coaches salaries for the football program.  Monte Kiffin will make $1.2 million this year and Ed Orgeron will make $650,000, to name a couple of examples.

With that kind of money being thrown around by the athletic department for assistant coaches, it’s no wonder that Pearl wanted a bigger piece of the pie for his assistants.  After all, his assistants have at least been part of a program that has coached and won a game.

Pearl’s new deal reportedly calls for his assistants to receive a raise commensurate with Pearl’s 9.5% raise.  Given Pearl’s and the basketball program’s success during the last four years, it’s hard to argue that one.

The best thing about the Pilot Rocky Top Summer League is that it’s over.  The second best thing about it is that it’s only three weeks long.

I question how effective the league is for the players when the scores are routinely triple digits with no defense being played.  Defensively, it looks a lot like the regular season Vols.  Any organized basketball activity that encourages such poor defensive play should be eliminated.

UT point guard Bobby Maze was the second leading scorer in the Rocky Top League this summer averaging 35.7 points per game.  Last season, he averaged 8.2 points per game.  Scotty Hopson was the leading scorer in the league this summer with a 37.1 ppg average.  Last season, he averaged 9.2 ppg.  Brian Williams broke out by scoring 18.6 ppg in the summer league.  Last season, he averaged five ppg.  You get the point.

I can think of a lot better and more productive ways that the Vols could be spending their time this summer, and hopefully they are.  Here’s a rundown on a few of the key returning Vols next season and how they should be spending most of their basketball time this summer…

Wayne Chism – Should be working primarily on a low-post, two handed jump shot (fade away acceptable) pivoting to the left when he shoots.  Wayne does have a nice lefthanded jump hook, but he would be more consistent with a two-handed shot.  And he has the size and athleticism to get the two-handed shot off.  I’ve seen him shoot perhaps one of these in three years.  It should become one of the key shots in his offensive repertoire.  Could enhance his points per game average by at least six.

Scotty Hopson – Weights, weights and ballhandling.  Scotty’s biggest drawback last season was his lack of physical strength and his propensity to lose the ball in traffic when defenders challenged his outside shot.  He needs to get much stronger to fend off defenders in the lane to get the ball effectively to the square. Scotty is athletic, make no mistake, but he needs to get much more physical.

Tyler Smith – Needs to work primarily on his mid-range game, eight to 10 feet from the basket.  Needs to be able to shoot a quick shot from this range facing the basket.  At his size, he needs to utlize his quickness more and become more of an offensive threat from mid-range, not under the basket, and not behind the three-point line.

Cameron Tatum – Needs to put up a minimum of 500 perimeter shots per day.  Needs to refine and refine his outside stroke.  Consistency, consistency, consistency.  Only comes from repetition.

Bobby Maze – Needs to work on going to his left, beating pressure with his lefthand, and improving his passing skills.

No question about it, all of the Vols have work to do.  And they are better served honing those skills in disciplined workouts.  Scrap the summer league.