#1 Ranked Vols?

Here, let me crank up and enshrine the shouts of my world-champion status as the overreactionary King of all NegaVols, get the harrumphing going strong amongst the tomato throwing crowd and give everyone a chance to call me insane - particularly as Tennessee is ranked #1, and riding a 14-game winning streak.

1. Tennessee doesn’t strike me as the best team in the country.

2. I think that there is more than ample and steady ground to argue that they’re not even amongst the Top 4.

3. They wouldn’t be favored on a neutral court versus Duke, UVA, KY, Gonzaga, Michigan St., and maybe a few others. Better, they shouldn’t be favored. If they played 10 games versus Duke & UVA, they’d be lucky to win 2, at tip-top most. If they (re)played Gonzaga, Michigan St., Michigan...they’d be lucky to win 3-4.

4. We have a truly excellent team. Excellent. But we don’t have the explosive athletes of those other schools, or even those who are consistently above-average. We don’t have anyone who can consistently put the ball on the floor, attack and hurt a defense, or players who can consistently bomb it from outside, at least with the consistency and skill of those other teams. Too often, we’re far too content with just passing the ball around the perimeter before rushing an ill-advised shot or one-on-one matchup. There’s going to be a game against a quality team where they’re content to stand around on offense, and look up to find themselves down by 20. And then they’ll get buried.

5. With a #1 seed and favorable matchups, Tennessee is an Elite 8 team, at absolute best. Best case scenario is having their bracket filled with upsets, and then squeaking and backing into a Final Four. But if they play any of those teams mentioned above, and barring a statistical miracle, they’re almost certain to lose.

6. Consistently competing with those teams will likely require not only our signing 2-3 more of the best classes in our program’s history, but back-to-back-to-back. That’s possible, I guess. Not likely, but possible.

7. Depending on how this year shakes out, I’d give Barnes another 2-3 years, tops. And on his way out, he’s going to want one of those lifetime assistants to be named as his successor...and I fear we’ll not only see a redux of Holly Warlick, but it will evaporate all of what Barnes has done, and we’ll then be right back to hiring third-tier schleps like Donnie Tyndall.

Happy Monday, and Go Vols.

 

KenPom has us at #6

ESPN's BPI has us at #5

 

Do you believe that those are a better and more accurate assessment of where this team really is?

 

I believe there are 6 teams that can win it all and Tennessee is one of them.

Virginia and Tennessee, imo, are the most consistent in the country, night in and night out.

Duke’s ceiling is highest, but they’re also more prone to letdowns.

Kentucky may be the hottest, at the moment, but it’s a long season and we’ve seen them look like shit.

 

This is where I'm at pretty much. Of the Top 6, Tennessee is 3rd in 3 PT%

3rd in adjusted offense (KenPom) and 25th in defense (which is our biggest problem)

 

I stopped at "we dont have anybody who can put the ball on the floor". Bone arguably the best pg we have seen from dribbling aspect and asst/to ratio

 

This team is fully capable of winning it all.

There will be about 10 at end of year. The 5 JT mentioned, Michigan State, and don't look now but Villanova is currently on fire, and 2 or 3 others will show signs of potential.

 

Michigan St got boatraced by Purdue yesterday. That’s worth mentioning.

 

I'm never met a fan before who seems to want misery and to complain as much as you.

 

He’s got some hot takes alright.

 

I could see this team dropping 3 or 4 more on the way to the tournament.

They’ll be humbled and there will be losses. But we’re experienced enough, deep enough, skilled and physical enough to make Minneapolis.

 

There's no way to ignore Barnes' inability to be consistent in March. This group seems special, though.

 

And if you've watched more than that, plus Izzo in March, then you know that's the outlier and not the norm.

 

Yep, but a good reminder that it’s basketball and there will be off-nights.

Which puts into perspective just how good this Vols team is that, through 19 games, their only blemish is an OT loss to a top 10.

And a reminder that we need not panic when these guys eventually fall to a team they’d beat 8 out of 10 times.

 

And it darn well may happen tomorrow night.

 

Yeah, I fully expect them to be in the conversation at the end of March. Mostly the point is losses happen through the season, but aren’t indicative of the overall picture.

 

Fair. But for a program who seems to routinely go years without a single true D1-level point guard on its roster, I wonder if Bone’s contribution to Tennessee is any suitable standard.

Is he preferred to the other guys we’ve recently had? To be sure, yes.

But we won’t be playing ourselves from the recent past, come March.

Maybe a better and more telling question is to see how Tennessee and Bone stack up versus who we’ll actually play, and will need to beat, instead.

So, with that...of the teams mentioned - Duke, UVA, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan St. & Gonzaga, which of those would have Bone as their starting point guard?

Further, let’s say that I give you Bone as an elite difference-maker, possessing the ability to get his shot and punish a defense.

1. Does he do it consistently well enough, night in and night out? When was the last time you checked his stats?

2. Of the teams mentioned, how many have better and more consistently explosive players, than Bone? Who else do we have that fits that definition, and how do they also add up? Add them up for me, and let’s see.

(Spoiler Alert: I have no idea who plays PG for any of these teams, or how good any of them are....maybe Bone starts for all of them, as far as I know)

 

Yep, or A&M on Saturday. Road is tough in college hoops.

 

Bone is playing as well as any PG in the country right now.

 

Bone looks to be headed to the NBA in 2 years. His quickness and speed with the ball in his hands is among the best in the game, college and pro