Something is Different / Wrong

Discussion in 'Keith Hatfield Memorial Vols Hoops' started by Tenacious D, Mar 22, 2019.

  1. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Something is amiss with this team. I neither know what it is, nor could probably even recognize it even if I knew what to look for, but something is different now.

    Chirping at each other, being listless at the start or during large sections of the game, getting increasingly sloppy, etc.

    They look like a boxer who’s just punched themselves out, and are more and more desperate to get the fight over with.

    Their body language is entirely different, like a team that doesn’t fully believe in themselves or each other.

    I saw at least two separate times where Bone went out to cover a guy shooting a three, fell for the pump fake and flew by, and literally just stood there and watched - unmoved - while the shooter gathered themselves and took an uncontested three.

    I don’t know how many times we had 2-3 guys rush out to a shooter, only to watch the other team casually reverse / skip pass the ball to a wide open shooter from 3. And with each three they hit...you could see us just get more and more demoralized.

    I don’t know if they’re still shell-shocked from that emotional roller coaster of the SECT, if it’s something else, or some unknown combination.

    The last few games have been largely the same - completely shut down Grant, and bomb us from three, while we pray that our role players can win the game. I don’t think that anyone can explain to me as to what’s different in these last several games from the rest of the season - I’m sure that the teams in those earlier teams were also trying to deny the ball to Grant.

    Barnes just said that he felt like the whole team was nervous / tight for the entire first half, and even if true, I wonder how we’ll do against much (MUCH) better opponents - starting Sunday - if we struggled so mightily against a 15 seed Colgate, and even after having built a 16 point lead - and then subsequently lost, and almost permanently.

    This teams seems like a house of tenuously held cards. If whatever is amiss isn’t corrected, Sunday is it for this team. Iowa will beat them, and easily.

    **IMPORTANT NOTE**
    Look - rant, rave, shout, scream, call me an idiot, a Nega-Vol, accuse me of nitpicking, of being baslessly worried, whatever, man.

    BUT, before you do....start with the fact that a 15th ranked Colgate team who was half - HALF - our size and speed, were able to overcome a 16 point first half lead, but went on a 24-2 run to open the 2nd half, actually took the lead, were only down 2 with about 5 minutes to play - AND WHO WERE MISSING ITS BEST SCORING THREAT FOR HALF OF THE GAME - had a legit chance to win that game, and probably would have, had Admiral not hit two back-to-back three’s.

    Start there, then call me whatever, afterward.
     
  2. Ssmiff

    Ssmiff Went to the White House...Again

    I dont get into the we "woulda lost if we didnt hit shots" stuff. Thats every game of basketball
     
  3. YankeeVol

    YankeeVol Member

    Survive and advance. It's March "Madness" and we won.

    Now our perimeter defense was bad, but that's nothing new.
     
  4. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    Stop overreacting to every single game.
     
  5. Beechervol

    Beechervol Super Moderator

    Pretty much.

    We had stretches where we guarded well and found the gaps. Other times we didnt and they had a guy have a career day shooting. Grant didnt touch it enough from 15 ft. Our best looks come inside out.

    We played better with the smaller unit on the floor.
     
  6. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Right, and how many games in the last few weeks has the opponent totally taken Grant away? Now name the games where they didn’t.

    If we can’t dump it down to Grant, and it’s not a set play coming out of a TO, we’re hoping for a long three or a foul.
     
  7. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Tell me where I’m wrong.
     
  8. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    I didn’t read your entire post, and I don’t know that I’d necessarily disagree with anything you saw today. My problem lies with your analysis of what you saw, and what you think it “means.”

    I just think that sometimes, the simplest answer is the correct answer. We sleep walked through a game against an opponent we knew was far inferior to us, and who had a guy get hot. It happens. Sometimes you get caught and lose those games, and sometimes you pull through.

    I don’t think it points to any underlying issues. I don’t think it guarantees we will struggle against Iowa or fail to make it to the Elite 8 or Final Four. This site overreacts every single time we have a bad game.
     
  9. Savage Orange

    Savage Orange I need ammunition, not a ride. -V Zelensky.

    No, you’re spot on. There’s something this team had earlier in the season that has gone away. Like you, I know less about basketball than football (which for me, means I know nada...) but this team doesn’t really inspire confidence that they can get much further in this tourney. Of course, as soon as I say that, they could also go on a tear and win the whole thing but I suspect we’ll see them exit for home shortly...
     
    Daddy Gee likes this.
  10. Volst53

    Volst53 Super Moderator

    I’m not buying the sleep walk stuff.

    This is a really great team that punches above their weight but we’ve been exposed a bit and are struggling with it.
     
    A-Smith, Tenacious D and lylsmorr like this.
  11. Savage Orange

    Savage Orange I need ammunition, not a ride. -V Zelensky.

    Chemistry is a funny (and apparently fragile) thing... whatever this team had two months ago seemingly isn’t there any more.
     
  12. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    I don’t understand how comments like this make sense after our game against UK literally a week ago. The first half was the best half of basketball I’ve seen any two teams play for the entire season.
     
  13. Savage Orange

    Savage Orange I need ammunition, not a ride. -V Zelensky.

    If they’d quit forcing 3 balls and just drive to the basket they’d likely have won today’s game by 20.
     
  14. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    Again, did you miss the best half of basketball we have played all season, literally a week ago?

    What about the multiple very solid defensive outings we’ve had in the last month?
     
  15. Savage Orange

    Savage Orange I need ammunition, not a ride. -V Zelensky.

    And then they completely pooped their shorts in a very winnable championship game against a mediocre Auburn squad.
     
  16. Savage Orange

    Savage Orange I need ammunition, not a ride. -V Zelensky.

    See above post.
     
  17. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    Your comments don’t make any sense.

    You claim we had something 2 months ago that we don’t have now. I point out that we played our best half of basketball of the entire season a week ago as proof that we still have whatever we had two months ago. Then, instead of refuting that, you just point out the game immediately after, as if it erases our best performance of the season.
     
  18. Savage Orange

    Savage Orange I need ammunition, not a ride. -V Zelensky.

    What I’m saying is that this team is inconsistent at best. Championship teams don’t play the way we have played. I will say that so far, there have been a lot of close games involving high/low seed matchups. I don’t have very high confidence that we’ll get much further in this tourney but I also freely admit that I don’t know squat about basketball. I said that to begin with.
     
  19. Ssmiff

    Ssmiff Went to the White House...Again

    whats wrong with Duke. What was wrong with UVA for 30 minutes. Both those teams trailed lesser teams longer than we did today vs a kid playing like Jordan.
    Its March. Not everybody can handle what it is.
    30-5.
     
  20. Indy

    Indy Pronoun Analyst

    Exactly. We played poorly. Didn’t shoot it well. They had a guy go off. Shit happens.

    If we play our game, the earliest we lose is the Elite 8 against UVA. If we shoot that poorly again, or if anyone else goes for 30+ against us, we could lose to anyone. It’s March.
     

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