23-24 Season

Time to get this thing rolling.

Tobe Awaka averaged a double double in 20 minutes average of play at the U19 World Cup in Hungary. Great experience for him to get ready for the season.



I think this is the deepest team Barnes has ever had in Knoxville, even more so than the 18-19 team. We are 10 deep, easily, and a guy or two might even be left out of the shuffle who could contribute. Who starts and plays the most is going to be really, really interesting. Vescovi is a stud, but the most important players next year might be Dilione, Ledlum, and Knecht, as getting some offensive options outside Santi is critical. Those three were brought into the program to score. I can't decide is Knecht will start over Mashack, but Barnes loves Jahmai and his defense. So, it'll surely be him with few complaints from me.

Zakai's status and availability are going to be a question. I can't imagine he's going to be what he was for a good bit, maybe not even fully restored until 2024-25. JJJ's status himself is a mystery, but people thinking he's not a positive are kidding themselves. Otherwise, Carr and Estrella are going to be very good players, but may get locked out this year. Jefferson, too. Phillips is the only project on the team I see.

My guess on the starters/reserves:

Dilione/Zakai
Vescovi/Gainey
Mashack/Knecht
Ledlum/JJJ
Aidoo/Awaka

My biggest fear is a dude like Carr gets frustrated and transfers due to playing time. Jefferson even more so. It's hard to wait, but, damn, there is a ton of talent on this team. I wasn't buying the Vols last year at any point. I am this year.

 

There’s almost too many players. Gonna be hard to keep everybody happy.

 

wtf is this sorcery

 

Lunardi has us as a 2 seed.

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/s...logy-2024-march-madness-men-field-predictions

 

???

 

Basically what I thought about it

 

Season over. 0-whatever coming.

 

Same. He doesn’t look like he shoots as well as Knecht, so he’s just there for drives and rebounding, and JJJ can also do those things but with better defense.

 

He was a grad transfer yeah? I’d rather have JJJ for one more year than a transfer trying to learn this system if those are the options.

JJJ doesn’t really drive though right? I will say we need someone who’s a threat at the cup to loosen up 3 pt defense

 

Geez

 

I don't think it's ideal, but not too worried about losing Ledlum. I would prefer to have him. However, this is the year we really can absorb a loss and be fine.

 

Lol. Feel bad for him. Probably feels lied to.

Wasn’t really high on him anyway. Undersized and mediocre shooter. Not beating SEC players off the dribble. I think he would be better than an injured JJJ though.

 

Can’t trust the VN basketball “insider” anymore. Was saying Ledlum missed practice yesterday due to a minor injury and they were holding him out as a precaution.

 

Maybe Tobe was pushing him around

 

He kinda seems somewhat fringe to me

 

The VN insider is saying Ledlum was struggling a bit to keep up and might have been better for him to find a situation more his level. He also said Knecht is doing really well, which is fortunate. I thought Ledlum made Knecht a luxury and wasn't worried about getting him from Northern Colorado or not.

 

I know Will Warren had been vocal about wanting Knecht over Ledlum (if we had to choose) because Knecht shoots better instead of just getting by on volume.

 

I am not a knowledgeable basketball fan, but Will Warren's analyses seem to me to always cut to the quick. And he's transparent on how he does it and that those kind of quantifications are not necessarily the whole story either.

 

Knecht can play. Ledlum had a chance to be like the Onisicke(so?) kid and undersized to play and guard the 4.