The Tennessee Vols

Another great breakdown of Cuonzo Martin’s Vols by nashvol in Volquest’s General’s Quarters:

“Good shooting comes from being in shape, getting good looks, and being confident. We’re better in all categories this year. We’ll have off nights, but we’ll have more good nights than bad nights. No doubt. Cuonzo won’t ride the guys unnecessarily when we have off nights behind the arc or at the line which will breed more consistency. He saves his screaming behind closed doors for defense.

Nice to have accountability back in the program. If you ain’t gettin it done defensively, take a seat.

I’m not sure our fanbase fully understands a) how different a motion offense is from the Dr. Tom Davis flex, and b) how differently a motion offense meshes with certain players skill sets. McBee is the prime example. If you move your ass around, play smart, and stay within the simple framework of the O, shots will come. OUR INCREASE IN SHOOTING PERCENTAGE IS IN LARGE PARTS DUE TO THE SIMPLE FACT THAT WE’RE GETTING BETTER SHOTS. WE’RE NOT WAITING AROUND TIL 10 SECONDS ON THE SHOT CLOCK SO WE CAN RUN WEAK ASS HIGH SCREENS AND SHOOT CONTESTED SHOTS. Shooting percentage is derived from the quality of shots that you get. Add in a PG with an ability to shoot the rock and create space + opportunities when things get dry, and we’ll score some points this year. Richardson is another example of a guy who’s benefiting. You could see it from the first second he hit the court. He keeps moving. I don’t know this for sure, but I’d bet a ton of money Richardson comes from a solid half court program. He knows when to hold it up and when to push it. He values the ball for a young kid and can handle. GREAT 4 year pickup. He has some DeAndre Liggins in him.

It’s a misconception that half court teams don’t run. There are half court teams who push and half court teams that don’t. If we have a run out, Cuonzo is fine with our guys pushing the ball up the court and gunning. Some coaches don’t allow this (O’Neill for example, but at the time that was more due to lack of talent and I understood it)… these type of coaches demand that you hold it up and generate points out of half court sets. That’s not Cuonzo’s style. Motion/Push is how UNC plays, Duke plays, Texas plays, hell a lot of motion teams play this way.

I didn’t think our defense looked good at all in the first half. We got it corrected through attitude and personnel, but nonetheless, it can’t make Cuonzo happy. Keep sending messages and keep running their asses if they come out like that again.

I said this the other day but Golden has a lot young Chauncey Billups in him. The Chauncey at Colorado. Strength and balance. Whether it’s out of sets, creating on his own off the dribble, or out on the break, Trae knows how to get his shoulders square and finish. Some kids just know how to put it in the hole. He’s one of those kids. He also seems like a kid who’s willing to lead… he still has steps to get there, but i noticed him really barking at some guys the right way last night. Firm but encouraging. His post-game quotes about McBee show me his leadership potential. You pump up your shooters and they’ll return the favor. High assist numbers are a 2-way street.

It really hit me last night that we’ll compete in the SEC. Outside of a few teams, the league isn’t exactly murderers row. With a solid PG and some players around him, I think we can make more noise than people originally thought. Post defense has GOT TO IMPROVE, but if it does (and i think it will), we’ll be in a lot of ballgames this year. We have mid-level SEC talent, and we have good coaching. How we react to some adversity that’s coming up will be interesting, but i think by conference time, this team will be able to compete. That’s more than i expected 6 months ago.

I’ve got some thoughts on Duke but i gotta run. Our guards better be ready to get down and defend, and our bigs better be ready to get physical. And we better be ready to play for 40 minutes. Duke is ridiculously good. The self-fulfilling ESPN love fest is annoying, but there’s no doubting Coach K is still the best coach in the game. They’re an organized military unit.”