1. Shelby Huskey made it 2 for 2 on the Anthem. Whoever is finding these singers should be aiding Dave Hart in his search for a new football coach. 2. That was a very mature effort by UT tonight. Despite a small crowd, the Vols came out with a great competitive intensity and maintained it all night. 3. Greg Kampe is one of my favorite coaches in America. He looks like he should be sitting at a table with Paul Sorvino and James Gandolfini discussing "business." 4. Cuonzo Martin has to be thrilled with the defensive performance. Tennessee throttled everything Oakland tried to do and didn't have any late game slippage. 5. Some songs age well, some don't. "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" is still as awesome as it was the day it was released. 6. That's exactly what Tennessee needs from Kenny Hall. His defensive energy and rebounding set the tone for a solid performance team wide. 7. Trae Golden quietly dominated the game. He totally controlled the pace of play and got Tennessee into their offense early in almost every possession. 8. The three point shooting wasn't great, but they got good looks all night. Jarnell Stokes had his best game passing out of the doubleteams. 9. Yemi Makanjuola's effort is infectious and a great teaching point for Coach Martin. His teammates obviously feed off of his nonstop motor. 10. That's a great start to the four game stretch that will define UT's nonconference profile. If they win 2 of the next three, they'll be well positioned for conference play and March.
If Richardson keeps avg. 10 a game this team will be tough beat night in and night out. You'll have another consistent scorer on the floor to go with the defense.
The Georgetown game this week is going to tell us where we really are as a team. If we play like we did tonight, and give that kind of consistent effort, I believe we will beat the Hoyas..
First time I've heard him, and I only got to listen to about 10 minutes of the first half, but I thought Steve Hammer was really good on the radio. Was he just subbing for Bert for this game?
Their size really concerns me, especially with Maymon still out. This is actually one of the few games this season where Tennessee will probably be better served by trying to quicken the pace.
It will be a test of where we're at moving forward. If we can keep it close or even win this game, I'm won't be concerned with Maymon being out till jan-feb. We need him to be 100% for March if we're gonna make a push, imo.
That was the perfect revenge game against a down Oakland team. The defense was intense and never let up, which bodes well for the rest of the season and tournament time.
That is one of the best defensive performances since Martin has been the coach at UT. Oakland was completely dominated defensively. I agree with Hat as Golden did an excellent job running the offense and also contributing offensively. When Maymon returns and the team plays this way consistently, they will be a hard out for anyone they play.
I thought that the stagnant offense we suffered from a couple of games earlier this season was gone. Ball movement for the most part was great, especially the first half. I could even hear Martin yelling "MOVE IT!" as soon as someone held the ball doing nothing. If he keeps making adjustments and keeping these guys disciplined with their assignments for each game.....I think that we could have a very solid team on our hands. Georgetown will tell the tale.
Thanks for the analysis, Hat. Good stuff. It's helping me and others spot things as each game comes up on the schedule. I agree they do need to get 2 of 3. Not only for the tourney profile, but for their confidence in knowing they can play at a higher level without Maymon. It was good to see Hall handle the two man game with Stokes better and hit an 8-10' jumper. The better they play together the better the team will be overall if they can knock down the outside shots. The D is just really good and going to get better. Richardson adding O is great. I hope he will get even better as the year plays out.
They had a tendency to get into "jack up a three" mode, particularly at the beginning of the second half. But there were also stretches with really some really nice passing that broke down the defense. I remember one in particular of Golden to Stokes to Hall in the second half that was beautiful.
