Tennessee vs Bama?
- Thread starter howercat
- Start date
A meteor to hit the building
We're likely the 4 or 5 seed in SEC tournament. I'd rather play Bama in the semifinal and hope Tennessee loses before final. And, ^$#*# Tennessee. So go Bama.
This. We aren't gonna all finish 13 and 5. Bama or UT will finish with 4 losses. I'd rather bama win
Does Barnes recruit better defensive players than us? Or, does he just demand in your face defense all the time? Their players do not look physically more dominate than ours. We are taller all over the floor. Every time I watch them their defensive pressure seems to push offensive players out further than we do.
just looking at Barnes offense and defensive efficiency numbers past four years.......top 10 defenses.
However, his offenses have been not great. This season it's better in large part because of Kneht
In fact in terms of raw efficiency on offense in SEC play, UT (1.17) isn't much behind elite offenses like UK (1.18) and Alabama (1,20). Difference between the three........the defense.
However, his offenses have been not great. This season it's better in large part because of Kneht
In fact in terms of raw efficiency on offense in SEC play, UT (1.17) isn't much behind elite offenses like UK (1.18) and Alabama (1,20). Difference between the three........the defense.
Does Barnes do anything different defensively than us other than demanding in your face pressure?
Yeah the combination of in your face defense (opponents do not shoot well vs them at all) and they force quite a bit of turnovers.
That's something I wish we did a bit more. Especially with guys like Reed who seem to have a knack for the ball.
Guess what I am getting at, how does Barnes get his players to play that way but we can't?
I think it's a combination.
I guess what I'm wondering is say Barnes had the exact same roster Cal has?
Where would our defense be?................where would the offense be?
Is this more about coaching and prioritizing defense or is it more about having the right personnel to be able to be efficient on defense.
Probably a little bit of both if we are being honest here but I tend to think we have more of a personnel issue on defense than a coaching issue. We've had top defenses in the past. We also had elite shot blockers at that point and we suppressed opponents 2 pt FG% . We still block shots but teams are shooting an insane % from 2 vs us compared to early Cal years.
We have no rim protection. And we haven't post 15. Defenses cannot be efficient without that.
It has nothing to do with recruiting. Tennessee is one of the oldest teams in college basketball. This makes a huge difference in defense.
Knecht --> 5th Year Senior
Aidoo --> Junior
Ziegler --> Junior
James --> 5th Year Senior
Vescovi --> 5th Year Senior
Gainey --> Junior
Awaka --> Sophomore
Mashack --> Junior
It doesn't matter to me which one we might have to play, neither one is going to be as tough on a neutral floor. I would imagine either one of them doesn't want to see us either.
If that is the biggest thing then we need to edge toward the portal a little more. A couple of older guys for us is not enough. Balance the roster more with frosh and portals. We are all tired anyway of hearing 'they are young' year after year. If that is the problem shouldn't have an excuse of not getting enough older players to win championships.
I don't think it is as simple as getting 5th year guys in the portal.
If you want to model Tennessee's defense, they have a bunch of 5th year guys that have been in the program playing together + a 5th year portal guy. Zeigler, Vescovi, James, Aidoo, Mashack, etc. are all guys that have been in the program for 3-4-5 years. Knecht is a portal kid...and the only reliable scorer.
Consider what Tenn has won in the last 3-4-5 years with those kids. I've been saying this from day one...Do you want 4 year players? If so, recruit further down in the rankings. But, consider and plan that it will take 3 years for those players to develop. In rare instances, a player ranked in the 70's will develop quicker - but as soon as he is a draft pick, he is gone.
Tenn players that will get drafted - none...maybe Knecht - but he is a portal player.
If you are looking for top 5 recruits that will stick around 4 years, good luck.
If you put Kentucky jerseys on them they would be called for a record number of fouls in a season. Not even being a Homer because it would be true.
Similar threads
