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Andy Katz's Power 37. Vandy moves ahead of Kentucky

Smashcat

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Mar 13, 2012
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Ouch.
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We're definitely not the #17 team in the land (top 25 this week would be a nice reward though) and our present résumé's nowhere near Kentucky. No idea what criteria Katz is using, maybe momentum?
 
We're about where I thought we'd be, but got there a lot differently than I would've suspected.
The biggest concern for the rest of the season, it seems to me, is the health and physical condition of our team.
We definitely need all hands on deck ...
GO CATS !!
 
I think Katz probably knows what we do.. in that this team is sort of riding on fumes. Our resume to date might make us a the 17th team in the nation.. but roster at present construction and health is not 25 IMO.. honestly, it might be closer to the 50's than it is to 25.

Injured Butler, Amari Williams, Oweh, Chandler, Garrison, Almonar, Perry, Noah.. That's a mid major roster IMO, or a low P5 school at best.
 
Vanderbilts coach has to be considered for SEC coach of the year
That's going to be hard with Dennis Gates in the mix unless Mizzou crashes. (They weren't as bad as their record last year, because their statistical "luck" was terrible, but they were still awfully bad.)

I can make a case that Gates and Byington should be in the top 5 nationally, maybe the top 2, given where Stackhouse left our program. Also a first-year coach should get a little credit since it wasn't his mess.
 
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The home loss is what will ultimately hurt. Hopefully no others. Most of the SEC teams at home will be tough to beat which is why losing away to a very good Vandy team was not the disaster people were making. If we played Vandy at home with Carr I am confident we would have won. So, it is more about balance.
 
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Yes, but until they beat someone of relevance on the road ill continue to see them as a one trick pony. That floor of theirs, which shouldn't even be legal, gives them a huge home court advantage.

I think Vandy is 5-3 away from Memorial Gym, pretty good, not great. Lost at Mizzou in a 1 pt game late, lost at Bama and lost in the finals of the Charleston classic in a game we played horribly to Drake (who is 18-2).

We beat Nevada, at Virginia Tech, TCU in Dallas and at LSU. The TCU and LSU wins were good wins. We’ve also beaten UTjr and UK so the resume isn’t horrible sitting at 16-4.
 
I think Katz probably knows what we do.. in that this team is sort of riding on fumes. Our resume to date might make us a the 17th team in the nation.. but roster at present construction and health is not 25 IMO.. honestly, it might be closer to the 50's than it is to 25.

Injured Butler, Amari Williams, Oweh, Chandler, Garrison, Almonar, Perry, Noah.. That's a mid major roster IMO, or a low P5 school at best.
I think we were fool's gold in the beginning. When teams determined how to play us, it was obvious we are somewhat one-dimensional. No consistent low post threat. We're still going to win a game or two we aren't supposed to win. And lose another we should've won.
 
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I think we were fool's gold in the beginning. When teams determined how to play us, it was obvious we are somewhat one-dimensional. No consistent low post threat. We're still going to win a game or two we aren't supposed to win. And lose another we should've won.

What really worries me, is that this is a team that I 100% can see losing 1st round.. even if we somehow got a 4 or 3-seed.. I can see them getting punked by a 14-seed 13-seed.

We're going to lose some more games for sure, so I think we're gonna wind up in the 5-8 range. But what I really want to see is if we can just make it to the 2nd weekend. That would really kind of set the tone for going forward. If Pope can get a Sweet16, that's a success for me in his 1st year.
 
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I think Vandy is 5-3 away from Memorial Gym, pretty good, not great. Lost at Mizzou in a 1 pt game late, lost at Bama and lost in the finals of the Charleston classic in a game we played horribly to Drake (who is 18-2).

We beat Nevada, at Virginia Tech, TCU in Dallas and at LSU. The TCU and LSU wins were good wins. We’ve also beaten UTjr and UK so the resume isn’t horrible sitting at 16-4.
As a sign of how bonkers the SEC is, I think at LSU is our third Q1 win, so any road win except maybe SC would be Q1 at the moment.
 
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I think Vandy is 5-3 away from Memorial Gym, pretty good, not great. Lost at Mizzou in a 1 pt game late, lost at Bama and lost in the finals of the Charleston classic in a game we played horribly to Drake (who is 18-2).

We beat Nevada, at Virginia Tech, TCU in Dallas and at LSU. The TCU and LSU wins were good wins. We’ve also beaten UTjr and UK so the resume isn’t horrible sitting at 16-4.
And others said you only post after your team wins.
 
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I think Vandy is 5-3 away from Memorial Gym, pretty good, not great. Lost at Mizzou in a 1 pt game late, lost at Bama and lost in the finals of the Charleston classic in a game we played horribly to Drake (who is 18-2).

We beat Nevada, at Virginia Tech, TCU in Dallas and at LSU. The TCU and LSU wins were good wins. We’ve also beaten UTjr and UK so the resume isn’t horrible sitting at 16-4.
As I said, you haven't won a game of relevance on the road.
 
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I think Vandy is 5-3 away from Memorial Gym, pretty good, not great. Lost at Mizzou in a 1 pt game late, lost at Bama and lost in the finals of the Charleston classic in a game we played horribly to Drake (who is 18-2).

We beat Nevada, at Virginia Tech, TCU in Dallas and at LSU. The TCU and LSU wins were good wins. We’ve also beaten UTjr and UK so the resume isn’t horrible sitting at 16-4.
Vanderbilt plays tough as nails, that coach has done a phenomenal job turning that program around immediately in a better than average SEC. He takes away the other teams strengths, with two 7 footers UK should have destroyed VU inside...but nope it was a non factor.
 
Vandy should be ahead. They are way more disciplined on offense, they set picks and screens, do cuts, move the ball.

This team used to do that earlier in the year, but stopped doing it and looks like they stopped even caring.

And forget 50-50 balls or rebounding. This team wants none of that.


We have to hope Tennessee gives us wide open Looks to get a shot off or we’re beat by 25.
 
We're about where I thought we'd be, but got there a lot differently than I would've suspected.
The biggest concern for the rest of the season, it seems to me, is the health and physical condition of our team.
We definitely need all hands on deck ...
GO CATS !!
This. We are a legit 8-15 type team when healthy.

This current version of us….maybe 20-35
 
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Whatever seed we get in the SEC tournament or the NCAA tournament will take a solid team effort from anybody to beat these guys. Getting Noah, Perry, Chandler working and in the mix, in lieu of Butler and Robinson on the floor AT ALL, and handling Vandy like that showed me some moxy and grit. From the fryin' pan and into the fire.

Go ahead and just give ALL these high seeds to the SEC this year ( and watch them all collectively crap the bed and Kentucky be one of the few still standing when it's all said and done, the cynic in me says - but maybe not this year )

The SEC has been great to watch this year, guys like McGlockton and Edwards are good for Vandy, good competition. They have some good players, a well coached Vandy team. They are one NCAA tournament team for sure in my book this year. If the SEC DOESN'T get 12 teams in from the league this year, it will be a slap in the face for the entire league.

And we've seen the gauntlet, which continues at Coleman Coliseum for a, now suddenly angry and determined to get a win, Bama team. Hoo-boy. NO Butler or Robinson again ? Looks like it.

Gonna need Perry, Chandler, Noah, ... and Err'BODY else up in there to get up and get it done.
All hands on deck.

Trust in Coach Pope

Go Big Blue !
 
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