Auburn 3/9

That doesn't help anything in your argument. FG% takes into account 3P%. UT has shot better from 3 in some losses and worse from 3 in some blowout wins. Shot selection bad? Sure. Poor offensive execution? Sure. I can't remember a night where I just thought "man, UT is doing everything right and shots just aren't falling"

Taking season averages that include games against poor teams doesn't help either. Anything over 10 turnovers for UT is not good.

 

He should get this post tattooed to his forearm, and frequently refer to it throughout games.

 

Absolutely.

I also believe there's a link between Grant getting less touches on the block lately and us shooting poorly from 3.

Our offense always seemed to go through Grant early in the season, which led to more open looks for our wings. Lately, it seems like we have gone through Grant a lot less, and a lot more through the wings.

 

Alexander has so little strength he gets pushed around too easily.

 

Also, [uck fay] Auburn.

 

That’s the shittiest, most trash-assed basketball that I’ve ever seen in my life. No wonder the basketball gurus here never bought into it.

 

Hey, RHP - [uck fay] Auburn.

But also, GG. They made plays when it mattered, and won. Kudos.

But still, [uck fay] Auburn.

 

Why in the world are we the only team in America that can’t find a way to feed our go-to guy in the middle? He should have had 30 and Barn should have had 2-3 fouled out - at the half.

 

If we're going to use season stats, UT shoots 35% from 3 all season. 32% today. Not a real factor.

 

Agree, but could have done w/o the second line.

 

Yeah but one of the problems today was that the post was open (and almost automatic) and Turner was jacking contested 3's.

 

That was the easiest path to a win and I was surprised they didn’t push it harder.

 

I don't disagree with that at all. Poor play and decision making today

 

It’s not fair to correctly trash him when he tried to refuse giving us our due when Tennessee won in football, and not extend the same to him, when they do.

 

I've pointed it out after the losses! I pointed out the 3 point shooting after we beat Miss St by like 20 because I felt we were beneficiaries of them shooting even worse than us. Even after the UK game, I was thinking to myself "Man, we really didn't shoot very well (outside of Bone)," and we were lucky they shot so much more poorly. I was able to move past it against UK because I felt like our defense was the main cause of their bad shooting night. But when I pointed it out against Miss St., I was ridiculed for it.

My point all along has been that it will come back to bite us at some point, like in an Elite 8 game against a team that is on the same level as us.

I'm not saying it's good to have more than 10 turnovers. I'm just saying I'm not sure it's the difference in the game. We had 14 turnovers against Kansas and took them to OT.

I would agree that turnover differential is a huge deal. Can't turn it over that much and not create any on the other end, though I also a remember a number of turnovers that could have easily been called fouls. Either way, I'd say their taking care of the ball was the bigger deal than our failure to do so.

 

This isn't a fair way to look at the stats. Yeah, we shoot 35% on the season, but that's averaging 19 attempts per game.

We shot 28 today. It's absolutely a factor.

 

So, bad shot selection.

 

No, more shots does not necessarily mean they are all bad shots.

It's probably a mixture of the two. At no point have I said that bad shot selection wasn't a factor.

 

The 3 key plays that stand out in my mind on this one:

1. The "maybe it was a 3, maybe it was a 2, maybe it was a goal tend" that took them to 75.

2. The great defensive possession that led to a nasty swat with 5 seconds left in the shot clock, and the ball just happened to bounce right to a guy for a wide open 3.

3. A possession midway through the second half (I believe) where we played great defense, forced them late into the shot clock, and they threw up a deep 3, which was contested by our tallest guy, Alexander, no less, and somehow managed to bury it. That was the first thing that really made me start thinking this may not be our day.

 

Agree that sometimes it's just not your day. College bball is super random sometimes. And then sometimes the refs just give the other team an extra point for the hell of it.