Vols Hot Out The Gate: Much Left To Prove

Well it’s official. Two games down, 28 to go. The party that is the regular season marches on.

Bruce’s boys looked great throughout the first win over neighboring UT-Chattanooga. Then they came out hot against UT-Martin and somewhat fizzled out by the time the final horn went off.

However, I think that it is a fair assumption to make that fans are pleased with what they’ve seen thus far out of this young team that is still seeking an identity.

What I liked to see the most thus far was the emphasis on sharing the ball. The players legitimately seem to have just as much fun setting their teammates up for shots as they do getting their own (which is rare these days).

This is evident by the Vols school record setting 32 assists in the season opener, and then following that effort with a solid 23 assists in their second game. Also, the Vols have five players averaging double-digit points through the first two games.

Another interesting statistic to note through the first two games is the high point totals despite a poor three-point shooting percentage.

One of the big questions coming in to the season was how the team would cope with losing two of the most proficient three-point shooters in school history. Fans speculated the impacts of this on the offensive output.

As many people foresaw, the Vols have indeed struggled from behind the arc, but fortunately the offense hasn’t really suffered as a result. Despite shooting 28 percent from the three-point arc, the Vols are still averaging 103 points per game and are still winning by an average of 33 points per game.

On Friday the Vols will face their third straight solid in-state foe that will seek to prove themselves against the Vols. This time the Vols will have to hit the road for their first away game of the season against Middle Tennessee State.

Like UT-Chattanooga and UT-Martin, MTSU is projected to win their conference and they have gotten out to a hot start similar to the Vols.

MTSU is 2-0 and has won their first two games by an average of 29 points per game. They, like the Vols, have four players averaging double-digits in points.

That being said I really see little reason for concern in Friday’s game. Last season in Knoxville the Vols steam-rolled MTSU by a final of 109-40.

I’m not necessarily saying to expect to win by 69 points, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep worrying about this one as the Vols are still a far more athletic and talented team.

If the Vols first two games are any indication of what the rest of the season is going to look like, even with an obvious increase in opponent difficulty, the Vols should be just fine.

Friday’s game against MTSU can be seen by some on Sports South at 8 pm Eastern time.

State of the State of Tennessee Basketball: Part 2

This is the second installment of the State of the State of Tennessee Basketball Address.

What I’ve done here is list each player on the Vols roster by position and then give a little insight into each player and what to expect.

By position

Point Guard
(3) Bobby Maze 6’2” Junior
(25) Josh Tabb 6’4” Junior
(10) Michael Hubert 6’2” Sophomore
(24) Tanner Wild 6’0” Senior
(2) Daniel West (academically ineligible) 6’1” Freshman

Shooting Guard
(32) Scotty Hopson 6’7” Freshman
(23) Cameron Tatum 6’6” Redshirt Freshman
(11) Quinn Cannington 6’4” Junior

Small Forward
(30) J.P. Prince 6’7” Junior
(0) Renaldo Woolridge 6’8” Freshman
(22) Steven Pearl 6’5” Sophomore

Power Forward
(1) Tyler Smith 6’7” Junior
(5) Emanuel Negedu 6’7” Freshman
(34) Ryan Childress 6’9” Senior

Center
(4) Wayne Chism 6’9” Junior
(33) Brian Williams 6’10” Sophomore
(44) Phillip Jurick 6’10” Freshman

Projected starting 5
G- Bobby Maze
G- Scotty Hopson
F- J.P. Prince
F- Tyler Smith
C- Wayne Chism

Bobby Maze

According to Bruce Pearl, “He is hungry. He can lead a team and make other guys better. He is a pass-first, score-second guy, but he definitely knows how to score”.

Maze is quite fittingly nicknamed “the solution”, as he will be just that for a up-tempo Vols team that has been hurting at the point guard position. Maze is a solid true point guard who eerily resembles Allen Iverson.

During the open practices Maze even sported the Iverson arm sleeve to go with his headband. All that said it is important to note that Maze is a true winner. He formerly played on an AAU team with Kevin Durant (2008 NBA rookie of the year) and UNC’s Ty Lawson. I’m excited to see what this guy can do seeing that he is expected to get upwards of 30 minutes per game due to the lack of depth at the position.

He certainly has the work ethic to thrive at Tennessee having been noted for routinely staying late after practice to work with trainers on his shot stating that shooting is “all about confidence”.

Josh Tabb

Defensively minded guy that isn’t flashy but has always come in and played solid consistent minutes. In fact in his last 17 games he has managed to dish out 10 assists while only incurring four turnovers. During that stint he also led the Vols in steals three times.

It is also worth noting that Tabb had the fastest times on the team in both the 60-yard and 300-yard shuttle. What all that should tell you is that Tabb is a solid back up that can come in and not force things. Also keep an eye on him because Pearl sat him for the two exhibition games due to academic problems but he should be good to go for the season opener.

Michael Hubert

This guy is by far the biggest wild card on the team.

Up until the day of the first exhibition game Bruce Pearl had inadvertently deemed the walk-on point guard “Mark” not even knowing his real name. However with Daniel West ineligible, Tabb sidelined by Pearl, Tanner Wild injured, and J.P. Prince injured Hubert ended up backing up Maze in both exhibition games averaging 11 minutes per game.

Another fun fact about Hubert is that last year as a freshman he tried to walk on at UT-Chattanooga and was cut. However according to Pearl he is good enough to be his backup point guard.

Tanner Wild

A walk-on reserve point guard who is going to be sidelined until December with a back injury.

Daniel West

Declared academically ineligible because his test scores got flagged by the NCAA. I’m not entirely sure what all was involved with that but he will either have to remain a student and pay his own way (out of state tuition), or transfer to a prep school for a year.

It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out but West was going to be relied on heavily to back up Bobby Maze at the point.

Scotty Hopson

Hopson is Tennessee’s first McDonald’s All-American since Vincent Yarborough back in 1998.

Hopson was ranked the number five overall player in the class of 2008 by rivals.com. As a senior Scotty averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 assists leading his team to a 30-5 record. He was also the AP Kentucky Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Hopson was offered a scholarship by Kentucky, Louisville, Texas, Cincinnati, and Mississippi State, but Scotty decided he liked Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee system best so he came to Tennessee.

Scotty is a potential one-and-done guy but only time will tell if he’s ready for that. I really liked what I saw from him in the two exhibition games. He has a lot of talent but you can tell a good bit of it is raw and still developing. He is a great all around scoring guard but the biggest problem I see in him is his size. Although he has added 15 pounds since enrolling in June he still looks like he could get pushed around by a physical defender.

Cameron Tatum

Tatum is an exciting guy to watch when he’s healthy. Unfortunately we haven’t seen a whole lot of that yet. After missing all of last season due to knee problems Tatum underwent arthroscopic surgery in October. He appears to be mostly healed though as he played in both exhibition games.

Tatum is a guy that averaged over 20 points per game for three seasons in high school and models his game after Carmelo Anthony. He is a very emotional player who plays with a lot of heart. Look for him to battle with Scotty Hopson for the starting position.

Quinn Cannington

If you see Quinn in the game, it is either a really good or really bad sign. This may or may not be relevant, but Quinn was a very good Tyler Smith for Halloween.

J.P. Prince

"P.J." as Memphis coach John Calipari referred to him is the Arizona transfer who is cousin of Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince. J.P. is last seasons reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year. He is a very solid and athletic wingman that has from time to time been forced into running the point.

I went to high school with J.P. and he ran the point one year but that was just because he was the best player on the floor, not because he was a stellar point guard. He led White Station High School to three State Championships and a 142-12 record during his career there. The guy has more talent than he knows what to do with which is why you may have noticed Bruce Pearl being so hard on him.

If J.P. could just harness his abilities and play smart basketball he could definitely play at the next level. He got hurt in practice a few weeks ago but could be ready to return for the season opener.

Renaldo Woolridge

Woolridge sure didn’t waste any time getting his name out there once he arrived on Rocky Top. Renaldo “aka the answer” “aka swiperboy” Woolridge is the son of the former NBA player Orlando Woolridge who played 13 seasons in the NBA. At 6’8” Renaldo definitely has the size and potential to follow his fathers legacy.

It was questionable how much playing time he would see this season before practice started but Renaldo has really hit the weight room and bulked up a little and worked on his outside range and really worked his way into the rotation.

In the second exhibition game against Tusculum Renaldo had a team high 15 points including 3 three point shots. Renaldo also had the highest max jump on the team this fall with a vertical of 43.5 inches. If he can continue to play well consistently look for him to keep finding himself in the middle of the rotation.

Steven Pearl

As Bruce Pearl’s son Steven comes in and plays some tough, hard earned minutes. He is just a guy who works hard and helps those around him perform better. For example Tyler Smith credits Steven Pearl for helping him improve his offensive game because of how tough Pearl is on him in practices.

Pearl will probably never see a ton of minutes under his dad but when he comes in fans should be rest assured that his minutes will be worthwhile. Steven has also really bulked up benching 185 pounds a team-high 25 reps (he could only do 5 when he arrived as a freshman).

Tyler Smith

The former Iowa transfer almost speaks for himself as he is number one swingman in the nation according to rivals.com. He is also rated the SEC’s preseason player of the year and the SEC’s top NBA prospect.

Tyler attended the Lebron James Skills Academy over the summer and has really been working to improve on his three point shot. Early indication from the open practices and preseason games that I’ve attended points to a dramatic improvement.

I would look for Tyler to easily average a double double and find himself a lottery pick in next summers NBA draft.

Emanuel Negedu

“E-Man”, as he tells me the ladies call him, is from Nigeria and is an absolute stud athlete who can play the forward or center position.

Negedu originally committed to Arizona then later backed out and signed with the Vols. He has a 40 inch standing vertical leap and he ran a 3.02 in the three-fourths court sprint, which is the NBA equivalent of the 40-yard dash. If he had locked in that time at a NBA combine it would’ve ranked in the top 10 times ever posted.

Look for Negedu to not get a significant amount of minutes though because of the Vols depth but he should see some time providing a spark off the bench and could be a defensive asset.

Ryan Childress

“Chilly” is a forward who interestingly says he models his game after Wally Szczerbiak. Ryan has been sidelined ever since suffering a dislocated kneecap in a pick up game on June 11th. He is the only scholarship player on Tennessee’s roster that is a senior.

I wouldn’t look for Chilly to contribute too much this season even once he returns from his injury sometime in December. The guy has some skills to offer but ideally by the time he is healthy the Vols will already have a fairly routine rotation.

Wayne Chism

Chism is definitely the funniest player on the team, but more importantly he was voted second team All-SEC team at the center position by the coaches. Wayne generally flirts with double double numbers in each game and I would look for that streak to continue or even progress.

Brian Williams

For a guy that only started playing basketball seriously in 2005, Brian Williams is really coming along well. In that same time frame he has also dropped 107 pounds. The way he plays you would never really now of his inexperience because he plays a very smooth style of offense often looking to dish the ball and also hits the boards well.

I’d look for Williams to see some pretty significant minutes and continue to contribute pretty significantly.

Phillip Jurick

Not to state the obvious but my next-door neighbor, Phillip Jurick, is a very big guy.

Additionally he is a very big project.

Jurick is a solid rebounder and has good shot blocking skills (once had 21 blocks in one game in high school) but he simply doesn’t have the basketball IQ yet to see many minutes.

In fact, don’t really expect him to necessarily be in the rotation at all as a freshman. Jurick didn’t actually ever even play basketball until his freshman year of high school when over the previous summer he grew from 5’9” to 6’3”.

I would look for coach Pearl to continue to work on him and possibly by next season or his junior year maybe start to see some minutes. The Vols finally have enough size where it won’t necessarily to rush his development.

State of The State of Tennessee Basketball Address: Part 1

Arguably the most important figure in America today is Bruce Pearl.

OK, perhaps not arguably, but for a weary group of Vol fans, Bruce Pearl is giving off quite the glow around Knoxville these days.

The decline of the football team has left the surviving true Vol fans feeling like a band of brothers (minus Ron Livingston and Chandler from Friends thus far, though the verdict is still out on them).

Last season, the Vols faced the tough task of meeting expectations; a task most fans gladly embrace. I think that the consensus would be that this was also a challenge that they met very well.

The reason last season's team didn’t ultimately have more success was that they peaked too early in the season. They peaked when they won the Memphis game in what turned into an epic match-up resulting in the Vols first ever No. 1 ranking.

So what are the expectations coming into this season?

The expectations for the Vols are still definitely high (picked to win the SEC), but maybe a little bit lower than last season due to the loss of senior guards Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith.

Chris Lofton finished his career as the SEC’s all-time three point shooter, as well as third all-time nationally. JaJuan Smith actually wasn’t too far behind him either finishing third all-time in Tennessee’s record books.

It will be a tough task for Bruce Pearl to replace the 30 points per game that those two averaged.

The Vols also lost forward Duke Crews who transferred to Bowie State in Maryland and Ramar Smith who transferred to Oklahoma City University.

Those are tough shoes to fill for the SEVEN newcomers to the Vols roster. Last season Tennessee finished sixth nationally in points per game at 82. Can these new guys get the job done? Most signs thus far have indicated that they can.

Clearly the three-point shooting will be less of strength. However, this year’s squad is longer, deeper, and more athletic than any of Pearl’s previous three teams.

As Pearl pointed out, “the talent is there, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to duplicate experience.”

But before you start questioning the legitimacy of this team step back and look at what Bruce Pearl has done during his time at Tennessee.

In his three years, he has taken a mediocre at best Tennessee team past Florida in the Eastern Division of the SEC the year they won the National Championship. He's won a SEC regular-season title and 77 games.

He's also increased home attendance by more than 8,000 fans per game. Not to mention that he has gotten 24,535 seat Thompson-Boling Arena renovated and the very nice new Pratt Pavilion practice facility built.

If anyone can be trusted with shaping this team to meet the high expectations, Bruce Pearl can. Pearl has been quoted saying that he thinks, “the high end of this team could be as high as it was last year.”

Bold words Bruce.

To complicate things, the Vols are looking at the toughest schedule in the country for the second year in a row.

The Vols open the season with UT-Chattanooga, UT-Martin, MTSU, and Siena. Not huge names, but all are picked to win their conference. These are all the types of teams that are often bracket busters come March.

If the Vols get past Siena in the Old Spice Classic, they face the winner of the Georgetown vs. Wichita State game. If they can advance past the second round too, they will face either Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, or Gonzaga.

Next they face UNC-Asheville and Temple who is always a tough team to face.

After those two the Vols travel to Nashville to play Marquette in the SEC/Big East Challenge.

Next up is Belmont who almost ousted Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. They follow that up with on the road at defending National Champions Kansas, and then back home against Gonzaga.

And then conference play starts…

So in addition to playing Florida, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt twice each, Tennessee also hosts Memphis this year. If you’ll remember, Memphis also played in the National Championship this past season.

Look for the Vols to win most of their games early on, but not necessarily impressively. I think that expectations are going to be a little too high going into the season for most fans who have just heard about all the new talent, but don't really have reasonable expectations for such a young team.

And as I alluded to in opening the article, the abysmal football team is going to do nothing but put more pressure on the basketball team to succeed.

Ultimately I think that the Vols will repeat as SEC Champions and probably thrive in Atlanta as well in the SEC Tournament. I'm not ready to put the Vols past the Sweet 16 yet though. I think it's too early to make such a judgment call because of all the factors involved in such a prediction.

Why Oh Why Wyoming?

I walked into the student ticket office early last Thursday and picked up two tickets for the Wyoming game. To be honest, I was somewhat indifferent as to where I sat.

I sweet talked the lady though for a few minutes and ended up on the 40-yard line, and on row one. I now had a reason to be excited about the Wyoming game.

The week leading up to the game was certainly a unique one for any student currently enrolled at the University of Tennessee.

On Monday, Phillip Fulmer, who had been at the helm of the team for literally our whole existence as Vols fans, was kicked out the door. Everyone debated the fairness of the decision. The campus was a riot. I didn’t know where I stood to be honest.

Saturday morning I rose at 10 a.m. and tried to get excited. It was a little tough until I put myself through a re-watching of the Fulmer press conference. I again got a little emotional while recognizing that the man who embodied Tennessee football for me was about to be gone.

I managed to get the fire lit. I was pumped. I knew my team would go out and seek redemption; I knew they would carry the fight.

As the game kicked off, it quickly became apparent that the Vols were flatter than a new HD TV. A new HD TV which fans should've opted to stay home and watch a different game on.

At one point early in the first quarter, Fulmer gathered his offensive troops and tried to rally them. He tried to focus their attention. He definitely failed to.

I had a word in mind to describe the offense, but I’ll honor the women and children who may read this and use a euphemism instead, I’ll go with abysmal. The offense, to no ones surprise, was abysmal.

Consequently, the defense was only better because the offense set the bar so low.

Wyoming is a team that came into the game ranked 112th in total offense. The defense just allowed Wyoming to convert too many key first downs, too many “big” plays.

The Wyoming game is one that you don’t have an excuse for, no many how many pages you flip through in the excuse book. Wyoming is a team that beat North Dakota State by three points. Wyoming is a team that squeaked by Ohio by one point. Wyoming is now a team that beat Tennessee by six points.

Would you like to comment Kevin Garnett?

“Anything is possibleee!”

Great, thanks.

I have examined the box score. I have looked through the play by play. I simply wanted to pinpoint how to explain the loss. And quite frankly, I’m speechless.

I don’t know how you lose to a Wyoming team that was 3-6 in the Mountain West Conference.

Do you point to the high emotions that lingered in the stadium from Monday’s press conference? I guess. But that is quite the cop out. If as a player you’re so concerned with your coach getting fired unjustly, you don’t prove your point by losing to Wyoming at home.

It’s a sad day to be a Tennessee Volunteer. I don’t want to be embarrassed of my team that I’ve worked so hard to defend all season. But I have nothing in my repertoire for this.

Why Wyoming, why? I blame you Kevin Garnett.

What a waste of an amazing ticket.

Election Coverage: Tennessee Style

It’s speculation time in Tennessee!

That’s right, it’s time for everyone to once again get in line and cast their vote, this time on who shall replace Phillip Fulmer as the Vols coach. What a responsibility it is for Tennessee Athletic Director, Mike Hamilton who holds 270 of the 538 votes here that actually count (see: electoral college). His vote not only greatly determines the future of the program, but also of his own job security.

This is the first time that the University has had a true election since 1926 when Robert Neyland was recruited from West Point to coach the Vols. Ever since Neyland held the reigns, the coaching position has stayed within the Volunteer family with one exception, Doug Dickey. Dickey, the former Florida quarterback, was hand selected, however, by then Athletic Director Bob Woodruff.

So, uh, what do we do? Where do we look this time to replace a legend? How do you make sure Tennessee doesn’t go through a significant down period like many other prominent schools have?

These are the questions that are being discussed around Knoxville just as much, if not more than, that other recent election…something about a new President?

Mike Hamilton is now following the Phillip Fulmer business model to find a new coach. That is, he is “workin’ like heck."

Before we begin speculating about some candidates, I’ll briefly discuss what to look for in a candidate and how to get the process started.

The first order of business for Hamilton will be to hire a search firm to scout the potential coaches out there. Expect that to be done in the next couple of days and look for Hamilton to hire The Parker Group out of Atlanta. This is the group Hamilton went to in order to find current baseball coach Todd Raleigh.

What such a firm brings to the table is the ability to do all your background checks, and additionally they can begin conversations with potential coaching prospects.

At this point in the mid-season Mike Hamilton will not have access to speaking to any other collegiate coaches and he cannot speak to any NFL coaches until after the NFL season. So what the firm would be able to do is go ahead and speak to some coaches and gauge interest in the Vols open coaching position. They can then create a list of possible candidates accordingly.

Now that all the groundwork is set I’ll point out what I would look for in a candidate based on Hamilton’s past.

Hamilton’s first hire was Bruce Pearl from Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A grand-slam selection. Note that he looked to a small school. However, also note that Pearl was always regarded as a great coach with a great record but he had been somewhat blacklisted because he turned in the coach at Iowa for violations.

Next Hamilton hired Todd Raleigh from Western Carolina. A good selection thus far. Also note that he again looked to a small school.

Based on these two selections logic points me to believing that Hamilton will once again look to a smaller school, and that’s what I’ve been hearing from some sources. However, I personally think that the Tennessee football program is a completely different situation.

When you are at a small school, you are creating something out of nothing and you’re doing it against weak competition. Both Pearl and Raleigh came from programs where they were successful with little talent, but each also took a Tennessee sport with mediocre talent and then translated it into success. That is not what the Tennessee football job is.

I would say to look for a few smaller school coaches to be in contention but also look for Hamilton to get the biggest and best name he can. As I opened the article pointing out, we are replacing a legend and it looks bad if you don't make it worthwile.

Now for my top four candidates to watch in a ballot of sorts (not necessarily MY favorites):

1. Lane Kiffin

Kiffin will be a college coach next season. He is the “sexy” selection. The question is if it will be Tennessee, Clemson, or Washington that lands him. Also, the rumor mill is cranking out news that Kiffin is in Knoxville today and playing golf with a prominent booster. This has also been confirmed by a Knoxville local news station.

2. Jon Gruden

I am somewhat contradicting some previous comments I’ve made here but from what I’m hearing he is still being talked about. Gruden has lots of connections to the Tennessee area. His wife was a cheerleader at Tennessee and he bought land nearby Knoxville in 2005. Even with those facts I still cannot see a likely playoff bound NFL coach leave his position for a college job.

3. Will Muschamp

Muschamp is a fiery guy that is an exciting defensive minded coach. I think he’ll be high on the Vols list, but won’t top the list. I also think that if Tubberville is out in Auburn, Muschamp could return and take over the head position there.

4. Mike Leach

Leach is a hot option right now in the coaching realm and if he doesn’t get a new contract after this season he could end up jetting. However, I just can’t see his system or coaching ideology working in the SEC. He has been quoted however saying that he would like to prove his worth on the top level.

There are others that I could name or discuss, but those are the four that I would consider the ones to watch the most. Happy voting!

I Have a Dream

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our Vol Nation.

It would be fatal for the Vol Nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.

Five Bama scores ago, hope still remained. Not the original hope for which we hoped for. Instead, a hope of crushing someone else's hope. Bama’s hope. However, in turn, it was our own secondary hopes that were then crushed.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of Rocky Top, they were signing the proclamation of a wish, nay, a dream.

This song was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of tradition, fight, and the pursuit of victory.

But let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for victory by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred or that of the big orange Kool-aid. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of the Vols, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Vols are the victim of the unspeakable horrors of Bama brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by Gameday signs stating, "Fire Fat Phil."

You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the Volunteer dream.

I have a dream that one day this Vol Nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. To carry the fight.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day be a part of a Sports Nation where they will not be judged by the color of their jersey but by the content of their character.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its trashy, ignorant fans, with its coach having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; One day right there in Alabama, little Tennessee boys and Tennessee girls will be able to join hands with little Bama boys and Bama girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream where anyone who agrees with the previously mentioned statement also suffers much harm.

Yes, I have a dream today.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "Rocky Top you’ll always be, home sweet home to me. Good ole Rocky Top, Rocky Top, Tennessee."

Whether you are still drinking the big orange Kool-aid or not this is a time to unite as Vols fans and stand behind our team instead of bickering over whom can find the best stat proving Fulmer should be fired.

There are people in place who get paid a good deal of money to make these tough decisions and do what is in the best interest of the program. While Fulmer’s days may and appear to be numbered, I don’t think that this is a time where any of us are going to be the ones to discover the next ultimate solution.

I am not here trying to advocate that the man should stay or go, instead that he is not the sole source of our teams struggles and us dividing our support can only work in counterproductive ways to what we are really striving for in our complaints.

I mean come on people, the man is 'workin' like heck' to turn things around. So let us do as those who have carried the fight before us have done and carry the fight together, as one Vol Nation, under God, indivisible, with the unified desire to seek and destroy all others.

I hope that many of you will join me in the sharing of my dream.

Summer Movie Scores

(Now probably the final copy)
Also note that I didn't pay to see some of these, I found them online or used other resources...

1. The Dark Knight (Expectations 8.5, Actual 9.0)
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Expectations 7.6, Actual 8.2)
3. Wall-E (Expectations 8.4, Actual 8.0)

4. Son of Rambow (Expectations 7.5, Actual 7.8)
5. Pineapple Express (Expectations 8.2, Actual 7.7)

6. Tropic Thunder (Expectations 7.4, Actual 7.6)
7. Iron Man (Expectations 7.0, Actual 7.5)
8. Step Brothers (Expectations 7.5, Actual 7.4)
9. The Incredible Hulk (Expectations 7.0, Actual 7.4)
10. Kung-Fu Panda (Expectations 7.4, Actual 7.3)

11. Hancock (Expectations 6.8, Actual 7.2)
12. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Expectations 7.7, Actual 7.1)

13. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Expectations 7.8, Actual 7.1)

14. X-Files: I Want to Believe (Expectations 6.5, Actual 7.0)

15. Get Smart (Expectations 6.8, Actual 6.8)

16. Wanted (Expectations 6.5, Actual 6.5)

17. Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (Expectations 6.4, Actual 6.4)

Boom, there you have it.

Remember the Alamo(dome)

First off I want to genuinely congratulate on Memphis’s great season. I know I have been a hater somewhat but 38-2 is quite the feat. Most wins ever, I can’t knock that. And the Tigers also made it to the national championship, thus you automatically win the “which team is better” argument with most fans by default (except of course my Vols, I am willing deem it a split vote).

So what went wrong? The entire city of Memphis was united behind their Tigers. They were all sporting enough blue on Monday to even make the Smurfs a little uncomfortable. Everything was fine until 3 seconds remained in the game and Mario Chalmers sank a three point shot that eerily resembled a dagger flying through the air.

The Alamodome = The House of Flying Daggers, write that down.

It was not a murderous dagger though; it was more of a very deeply wounding dagger. Hey John, describe the dagger, “Ten seconds to go, we're thinking we're national champs, all of a sudden a kid makes a shot and we're not.” The dagger ultimately led to an uncontrollable loss of blood. “It hurts”, said CDR. The 43,257 fans in attendance at the Alamodome in San Antonio were witnesses. I feel like we’re about to play Clue and I already know that I will win.

After the game Coach Calipari was further asked his thoughts on the end of regulation; his reply, “we tried to foul them.” Ahh I see, good coaching there Cal, I agree with that decision too when you’re up by 3. Sorry it didn’t work out. Jay Bilas, Bob Knight your thoughts? Jay you first, “they had multiple opportunities to foul and did not”. Ok so you disagree with Coach Cal’s statement. Bobby Knight, you’re up, “they clearly didn’t know what to do, whether they should foul or not.” Whoops.

Ok, we’ll look past that, so you go to overtime. Big deal, it happens. Except it had been 10 years since Arizona and Kentucky last took a championship game into overtime. Why does that matter? It doesn’t. What does matter? Umm Coach Cal think fast, “it hurt us having Joey on the bench”. Correct you are sir.

Joey Dorsey, whom you can’t help but love according to a recent Geoff Calkins article which I will refer to again shortly, fouled out with several minutes remaining in the second half. Yes he was also 40 feet from the basket but that’s not the point, kind of. Shortly after he made his exit as only Joey Dorsey can, Kansas went on a 12-3 run, enabling the Jayhawks to overcome a 60-51 deficit with less than 2 minutes remaining. Coach Cal went on to add, “In overtime, they kind of beat us down…I didn't sub a whole lot, because I was trying to win the game at the end.” That’s a good time to try to win it John, I respect that. If only you still had Dorsey.

But lets back up a little further and look at the apparently controversial Derrick Rose three point shot, that clearly was not a three point shot. The officials reviewed the shot once and agreed it was a three, somehow. Then they viewed it again during the timeout and deemed it a two, which it clearly was. And so after the game when our newest contestant of 21 questions was asked about this call John Calipari said with a smirk on his face, “I don't like this being able to go to the monitor, I’m going to work on getting that changed.” He wasn’t a fan of the review that took a point off the board for his team, and understandably so. But if it were the other way around ole Cal and his boys would be over at his steakhouse a week from now yuckin’ it up about how they got away with one. They could be talking about how stupid people are for emphasizing fundamentals and free throws. Too bad that conversation will never happen.

I decided to save my biggest point until last because it is the most controversial and you all know exactly what it is. It’s the same thing your coach/friend’s dad harped to you in 4th grade when you stopped picking up one leg to dribble through your legs; that is of course, free throw shooting. I feel so cliché right now drawing back on this quote but hang in there because it really is essential.

Mid-season Coach Cal, please tell us your thoughts on the teams dismal free throw shooting.

“We’ll make them when it counts”. Remember back to the game against Texas? Memphis made them when it counted.

Well how about tonight John, you went one of five there at the end of regulation, and you only needed one point to win the game, your thoughts?

“Did we have our guys at the line shooting them that we would want?”

Ooh nice rhetoric John, I like that. Turn that around on us to think and redirect the emphasis. Yes, Memphis did have the guys they would want at the line. What else you got for us Cal?

“These kids are not robots…they miss them sometimes”.

I like the sci-fi feel there too. I like to think that the infamous Star Wars kid was glued to his TV the entire game and post-game and would probably agree with Cal’s statement, citing his five perfectly created robots as examples of what mere mortals can’t do.

But all joking aside, I agree with that statement in one sense. CDR is indeed not a robot. In every other sense though, I disagree with the idea behind his statement. I bet Coach Cal’s elementary school basketball coach is cried himself to sleep Monday night for having failed him as a human and coach. And all season long I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he just says that free throws aren’t a big deal to the media so that his players don’t continue to let it get to them mentally. I would be able to rationalize that, and maybe even support the logic. But then the other day I read the Calkins article referenced earlier. Here’s a little excerpt…

“It happened at the 2007 Conference USA Tournament. After hitting a foul shot, Dorsey pointed up into the stands.

Who were you pointing at, Joey?

‘A guy who was telling me what to do on my foul shots,’ he said.

Oh. Of course it was.”

Maybe it is best not to be hard on your players for missing free throws more often than I do, but the evidence displayed Monday night points to the contrary. The team had done very well in shooting them all tournament long to his credit. They had certainly shut me up. And then Monday night happened and all of the fans like me who had been making a mockery of Calipari’s free throw logic crawled back out from under the couch. Really John? It’s not a big deal? We’ll make them when it counts? Guess not.

I was really annoyed by the way that after the game he then tried to continue the charade of acting like it wasn’t the free throws that cost them the game by naming other reasons why they lost. Fact is that free throws are the most logical and simple reason why they lost.

I’d like to see how Calipari would fair on a 1 question coaching exam…

You lost the game Monday because of:

A. Free throw shooting at the end of regulation
B. Only 4 fast break points the whole game
C. Your starters averaging 38.8 minutes each and Derrick Rose not getting one break
D. None of the above

I honestly think the man would pick D. Free throw shooting may not be the only potential reason why the Tigers lost, but it certainly is the primary one. To say anything else is foolish. Had they made even 2/5 this whole post wouldn’t exist. I think brother John just didn’t want to admit he was made to look like an idiot on the grandest stage in college sports.

I’m not advocating that Calipari should have locked his team in the gym until they were so good at free throws that they physically couldn’t miss one even if they tried. I just think that they should have actually made it a point of emphasis to the point where the players are mentally tough enough with them to do better than 1/5 at the end. And I know the guys aren’t robots and even good shooters miss them under pressure (see: Darius Washington Jr., or don’t if you aren’t a fan of tear jerkers), but for heaven’s sake Dorsey is taking pointers from fans. I’m surprised that Shaq didn’t retire and join the staff as the foul shooting coach as lightly as Calipari seemed to take them. How many games have we all watched through the ages where time after time it comes down to which team makes free throws at the end of the game? It just blows my mind that a coach at this level can be so successful and have overlooked that aspect of the game the way he does. And I’m sure he does think they are important, I know he isn’t that naive, but he treats them as a nice potential added bonus if he gets guys that can shoot them well as opposed to a key to winning.

Finally, I really am sorry for Memphis and their fans who had so much emotionally invested in the Tigers. I even wore a blue shirt all day in my support for them. And although I had picked Kansas beating them in the championship before the tournament ever started, I truly wanted Memphis to win. Unfortunately the team that went 14/15 from the line beat your guys that went 12/19, while your coach dismissed free throw shooting and instead complained about having a two point shot only count for two points.
As anticipated…

Clue scoreboard:
Me- 1
Coach Cal- 0

Winning guess:
Suspect- Kansas
Weapon- Duel attack, free throw shooting and a very sharp dagger
Room- Alamodome

Losing guess:
Suspect- John Cahill, Ed Hightower, and Ed Corbett
Weapon- Replay screen
Room- Alamodone

The Joey Dorsey article referenced can be found at:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/apr/05/dorsey-earns-lasting-place-in-our-hearts/

It's a sad day in God's country...

Let me first address the statement I’ve heard going around of “well I guess that proves Tennessee didn’t deserve a one seed”. That is quite simply erroneous on all accounts.

Tournament play happens after seeding is set. The Vols may have struggled some after the Memphis win but their overall body of work still should have made them a one seed, plain and simple. This is not me making excuses, I can’t make excuses after the performance last night, I hardly even know how to describe it.

But getting back to my first point, the East region featured the best one seed, best two seed, and best three seed. I’m not sure I can explain why that happened but the explanation from the committee was that they wanted to put Tennessee as close to Knoxville as possible. Gee thanks.

Last nights game did not prove that Tennessee didn’t deserve a one seed. Frankly I’m not sure what last nights game proved. I honestly can’t think of a game I’ve ever watched in any sport that made me more frustrated. I don’t know what happened to this team. They still had the heart to win, but something was just off.

I don’t want to jump to conclusions here because I admittedly aren’t thinking completely rationally yet but upon my initial viewing of the game I would have to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Bruce Pearl. I am about to elaborate and then defend him, which should further demonstrate why I am so torn up inside.

Guard play is essential in the tournament, it is argued by some to even be more important than post play. Prior to the tournament games Tennessee was 29-4. Things were working. Maybe not to the maximum capacity but they were working.

Our guard play was a little inconsistent to say the least but I felt like the team knew how to manage other aspects of the offense to minimize the loss at that position. Once we got into the tournament however Bruce moved JP to point and rotated Ramar in some. His reasoning was that he wanted to have his best playmakers on the floor the most time possible. That’s great, and I even agree with that logic, but you simply don’t wait until the tournament to start trying that. Granted it got us through a couple games, barely. But I don’t think anyone was too confident in the scheme, including the players.

I think this is a classic case of over-coaching. I feel like as the season wrapped up Bruce got harder and harder on the guys and saw potential for improvement (further evidence given in press conferences where Bruce repeatedly would say that we “have yet to play our best game”). He was right, there definitely was further room for improvement.

However he was wrong to wait until when he did to start trying to mix things up. And I’m not only referring to the point guard position. What was with Steven Pearl and Ryan Childress seeing minutes in the first half? For someone who justifies starting JP at point by wanting to have the most talented playmakers on the floor he sure did contradict himself. I realize we had foul trouble but we have good enough players to play smart. Steven Pearl and Ryan Childress are not a solution to anything.

Additionally I thought we made the same coaching mistake we have made the past several games. We over pressed and/or insufficiently pressed. I’m all about the full court pressure defense, and it does force a lot of turnovers and force opponents to play into our style of play, but when it is exploited over and over you have to pick and choose your times better. We gave up way too many easy baskets because of the full court pressure. I know we forced a lot of turnovers but I think that us pressing like we did also forced a lot of turnovers by us.

How many times did we steal the ball and then throw it away? A lot. I think we got too rushed and panicky early from the press and having JP running the point. Then Ramar would come in and play out of control. Ramar cutting to the basket is his strength, but that strategy was not what we needed when it was implemented. Padgett knew what was coming every time. Rammer is effective when we had been shooting well already and were in a rhythm. People would have to contest the outside shots harder thus opening the lane for him to slash.

I am just so disappointed in the overall performance. And I’m sure that Bruce isn’t solely to blame but the only other players I could look at and blame would be JP and Ramar and I thought that they were insufficiently guided at their position…or they played like it anyway. And what is with Jordan Howell not seeing one minute of playing time in his final game? I know the guy has been struggling, but if Steven Pearl and Ryan Childress are going to play in a game Howell should too. Bad streaks eventually get broken. What if it would finally have been the time? I just don’t know I agree with hardly any of your game plan Bruce…

Finally in his defense, I watched his pre-game press conference on Wednesday and he was talking about the amount of time and effort he and his staff had put into preparing for this game. He said it felt like they had matched the amount of effort put into every other game combined in just this one game. I know that he was confident in what he was doing was the right thing. And I trust him and his judgment. I certainly can’t argue with his record and accomplishments. But I think he may have outdone himself this time. I think they over analyzed this Louisville team and had the players up tight coming into it. They weren’t playing in any sort of rhythm and didn’t seem to be having fun like they were early in the year. I’m sure going to miss Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Jordan Howell. It’s a sad day in God’s Country.

Motivators

I got bored and thought I would be creative...










More potentially to come...

If Only Glass Slippers Came in a Size 12...

The first two rounds are in the books. For the first time ever I watched more basketball in one week than I slept, literally. I’ve been told that’s nothing to be proud of. I say nay. The tournament provided what it always does; it dealt its share of upsets, leading to busted brackets, leading to the exposing of ignorant “experts”.

On the other hand I was quite pleased with my picks. In my official Sports Illustrated bracket I make every year I was 26/32 in the first round and 13/16 in the second round making me 81% so far. That’s not bad at all. Also most notably I had both Davidson beating Georgetown and West Virginia beating Duke. I still have all 8 of my elite 8 in. I’m rollin’.

In the Sweet 16 I would look for:

1. UNC to struggle some with Washington State but ultimately pull it off.

2. Tennessee to definitely struggle with Louisville and quite possibly lose even though it kills me to admit. On the contrary to the Tennessee negativism floating around the media, Louisville has only beaten Boise State and Oklahoma to get to where they are. Both were blowouts but Louisville has shown signs of inconsistent play over the season losing at home to BYU, Dayton, and Cincinnati as well as on the road at Seton Hall. That may be a little far fetched of an argument seeing that they've also now won 12 of their last 13 games (with the one loss being at Georgetown) but who knows. I'm just saying it happens. And maybe Tennessee's luck streak will continue to thrive and Rick Patino will collapse from malnutrition over on the sideline...I'm just sayin'...(I started to make a white suit joke here but Bruce likes to sport the orange sport coat a couple times a season so I'll refrain)

3. Kansas to manhandle Villanova after a close first half. Scottie Reynolds is terrific but he doesn't have enough of a supporting cast to get past a very deep and talented Kansas team.

4. Wisconsin to probably slide past Davidson but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Davidson slip into the Elite 8. Stephen Curry is obviously going to be the key. As he has proven it won’t matter how the first half goes. That kid can turn it on and shoot the lights out when it comes time for it.

5. Memphis to beat Michigan State fairly convincingly. The score may be fairly close (under 10 points) but I think Memphis will control the tempo and thus the game. Free throws once again will be the only thing keeping this game within reach for Michigan State but Memphis will be too powerful aside from that for the Spartans to find an upset.

6. Texas to squeak past Stanford in a very close one. The Lopez brothers will be just about enough to give Stanford a huge win, but not quite. The guard play for Texas is just too strong and too consistent for Stanford to be able to pull it out.

7. UCLA to cream Western Kentucky because, well, it’s UCLA verse Western Kentucky and Cinderella doesn’t wear a size 12 very often (though I would be thrilled to no end to see UCLA beaten by WESTERN KENTUCKY). If UCLA were to lose this game I would think it would have to be one of the biggest tournament upsets ever given UCLA’s joke of a path to the Final Four.

8. Xavier to roll against West Virginia. Coach Huggins and West Virginia put up a valiant effort and knocked out Duke but this Xavier team is much better than Duke in my opinion. Duke was a 2 seed because their jerseys say “Duke” and they had a “successful” season. Xavier should win in a similar way to Memphis beating Michigan State.

If you survive another couple rounds of the same mind numbing commercials over and over then it should be quite an interesting Final Four shaping up.

And what a Sports Illustrated cover if I do say so myself...

Dancing With the Stars

I’m glad it’s finally done. It’s official. Teams are no longer on “The Boeheim”. Man I hate that phrase. I hate ESPN’s relentless coverage of a mediocre Syracuse program. No one cares. I apologize for this tangent but really I’m just very happy the speculation is done and the teams deemed worthy can begin playing.

I could take the approach of griping about Tennessee getting the last #2 seed essentially, but I don’t really agree with that. I initially was shocked and frankly pissed. That did not seem fair and I hated the justification of the Vols started out in Birmingham and then going to Charlotte, both relatively close to Knoxville. I appreciate the thought by the committee I suppose, but Tennessee fans are legit and travel. Ultimately I’ve come to acknowledge that in the tournament the best team is going to win no matter how they got there. You are going to have to beat great teams eventually if you want to win the tournament. You are eventually going to have to either beat North Carolina or another team that was at least good enough to beat North Carolina. Honestly any of the other one seeds seem just about as dangerous to me too. So I’m not going to go that route. Had Tennessee beaten Arkansas in the SEC Tournament and then Georgia like they absolutely should have, they wouldn’t be in the situation to begin with. You earn your positions this time of year.

Quickly I would also like to mention something about the SEC Tournament that has been greatly overlooked. Had the Alabama player that hit the three to send the game into overtime that was being played when the tornado hit the Georgia Dome missed the shot…thousands of people would’ve been outside when it hit. Lots of people could have potentially died or been injured. I don’t know how that fact has managed to fly under the radar but I think that’s really interesting/scary. I would also like to say that I’m thrilled for Georgia. What they did was quite the accomplishment. Obviously I wanted Tennessee to win it but what Georgia did is what this part of the season is all about and it was exciting to watch. Way to rep the SEC.

Ok what I’m going to do now is pick my Elite Eight here, give a couple other little guys I think to watch for, and mention a few other games to really watch for surprises in.

The reason I didn’t post this last night is because honestly this is the first season that I have been dumbfound as to who to select in my bracket. I usually take a little while to really look through it all and compare different aspects of teams, then I eventually feel confident…but this season there are so many great teams. Not just as excess of good, competitive teams, but this year there are an excess of great teams.

My official Elite Eight are as follows:

1. East- UNC, Tennessee

2. Midwest- Kansas, Wisconsin

3. South- Memphis, Texas

4. West- UCLA, Xavier

Yea I know…lots of shockers. Honestly speaking, the biggest mistake people make in picking their brackets is picking lots of upsets. You are far more likely to succeed picking fewer. Especially once you get down to the Elite Eight. I think it’s a bad decision 100% of the time to pick an upset team to be in the Final Four. I would only have teams seeded 1-4 in the Final Four personally. That being said I’m a fan of upsets just like everyone else. I want to root for the little guys to get in there and stir things up too. Obviously I didn’t pick any to make it to the Elite Eight but that doesn’t mean I don’t think some have a chance…

Keep an eye on (and maybe pick to thrive):

1. East- None.

2. Midwest- Sienna (I think they’ll beat Vandy), Davidson (I think will beat Gonzaga AND maybe Georgetown…I’m still undecided on Georgetown but I’m considering picking that.)

3. South- St. Mary’s (I expect them to beat Miami.)

4. West- Drake (Drake was a team that I have playing in the Sweet 16. I want to have them beating UCLA but I just can’t logically do that to UCLA. I know Drake hasn’t really been under the radar this season but they still overall have no tournament experience at all and are likely to still get overlooked. I love their coach-Keno Davis-and their style of play. They definitely are a team I’d keep an eye on.) I'm also thinking that as always UConn is vulnerable to lose in the first round but I don't know if I'll pick that.

Other games worth noting:

1. Butler vs. South Alabama- I have no idea who to pick here. I want to go with South Alabama but Butler has an experienced Senior-led team and 29 wins on the season.

2. Gonzaga vs. Davidson- Should be a great game. As I mentioned above I’m going with Davidson here because I like that they have the point guard leading the nation in assists and Dell Curry’s son who can shoot lights out.

3. Marquette vs. Kentucky- Don’t underestimate Kentucky just because they lost Patterson. As a matter of fact don’t EVER underestimate Kentucky. Marquette is a streaky team and you don’t know who will show up. I think you can be sure that Kentucky will show up to play. I’d look for Kentucky to slow Marquette down and force them to play in a half court set. Free throws will be key here in my opinion and Kentucky has proven to be able to knock them down late when it matters most.)

4. Xavier vs. Georgia- Yep I’m going there. I personally have Xavier in my Final Four but at the same time Georgia is HOT and I have no clue what to expect from them come tournament time. I expect them to put up quite a fight but I doubt they'll win really...however I would be willing to sacrifice my bracket if Georgia could go as far as beating UCLA...that would essentially complete my life.

The five teams to represent Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament

I like to imagine that there is an email currently awaiting Kevin Stallings in his inbox that reads as follows:

Dear Vanderbilt,

Best of luck against Arkansas. Oh and beware the Ides of March. Seriously.

Sincerely,

Bruce Pearl

As we are approaching March Madness, a beloved time of year for sports fans, I would like to take the time to break down the potential teams representing the state of Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. While some of this is a repeat of a former entry from facebook, I have updated it all and shifted more of my focus on what is to come instead of what has already happened because it hardly matters what happened in the first 30+ games of the season at this point.

The following 5 teams will be in the NCAA Tournament from the state of Tennessee:

1. Austin Peay

2. Belmont

3. Memphis

4. Tennessee

5. Vanderbilt

We’ll go in alphabetical order to ensure that the little guys get their due justice.

1. Austin Peay- Representing the Ohio Valley Conference in the NCAA Tournament, Austin Peay is hoping to be the little Cinderella that could. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but I have no doubt that they will soon prove that, well they couldn’t. For those of you who don’t have the slightest clue where Austin Peay is located, it’s in Clarksville, Tennessee, (North/Central Tennessee) hometown of Lady Vols coach Pat Summit.

The Governors are in the tournament for just the second time in the past twenty one years, with the most notable appearance occurring back in 1987 when their victory over Illinois caused ESPN commentator Dick Vitale to stand on his head (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zr0271a6U8).

The one and only positive thing I see about this Austin Peay team is that all five of their starting five average over ten points a game. There appears to be good balance there, however if you keep going down the roster you soon realize that as soon as a starter is subbed out the game, production drops off big time. They have one of the shallowest rosters I think I’ve ever seen.

They have only won on game against a top 100 RPI team this season was back on December 19^th when they won at Belmont. Their only other noteworthy matchups were at Vanderbilt in the season opener where they lost by 14, and at Memphis where they lost by 22. So obviously the Governors aren’t a favorite to succeed in the Tournament at a projected 14 seed in the East Region of the bracket. Some optimists may say “you never know”, but that doesn’t really apply in this case, as I think we do all know they won’t have a chance in the world.

2. Belmont- The Bruins have made the field of 65 again for the third straight year after winning the Atlantic Sun title this past Saturday. They went 25-8 overall but their only somewhat noteworthy win was on the road against a mediocre at best Cincinnati team in their home opener. While Belmont may have a little bit more depth than Austin Peay, they absolutely don’t have the size or athleticism to compete with other teams that will be in the field of 65. Belmont has one “big guy” at 6’11” but he doesn’t even see significant minutes. Not to mention the fact that the majority of their team is white. Not to offend my fellow white folk, but come now…

At a probable 15 seed for the third consecutive year, Belmont will have to rely on the luck of the underdog to return this tournament after apparently seeing its shadow last season as there were a very very minimal number of upsets last year.

Maybe they should get this kid a jersey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5J8brca4M8&feature=related). He obviously can hit the high pressure shots in front of HUGE crowds.

Sorry Belmont, I just can’t imagine you beating or even competing with any of the projected 2 seeds no matter how well you look in Cinderella’s shoes.

3. Memphis- Let me preface what I am going to say by saying this, I too grew up a big Memphis fan. Yet I have never disguised the fact that I am a Tennessee fan first; and Memphis fan second. The majority of Memphis fans that I have known through the years are unable to comprehend that concept. However I will try to be as rational as possible in discussing the Tigers.

First let’s now look at Memphis’ resume that their fans so avidly defend without knowing any of the facts… Memphis has played the following games on the road (literally meaning on the opposing teams home court) at: MTSU, Cincinnati, Marshall, Rice, Tulsa, Houston, UAB, and Tulane. Not once against a tournament team. I am however willing to consider the contest at UAB to be legitimate. But still, that’s one, with me being nice since UAB is after all ranked in the RPI top 50, at 48. You’re pushing it Memphis. And once again in the spirit of fair competition I will acknowledge that Memphis did win against Oklahoma, UConn, and USC on neutral courts.

Memphis does have a handful of impressive wins at home as well including: Georgetown, Arizona, Gonzaga and UAB. However I would really only consider two of those, Georgetown and Gonzaga, to be noteworthy. Arizona finished the regular season 17-13 going 8-10 in the Pac-10 and had multiple bad losses to Virginia at home and at Washington. And UAB once again is sort of a toss up but I do consider them a worthy opponent even though they are in the Conference USA.

All that being said, the vast majority of Memphis’ wins against Conference USA opponents mean little to nothing. That is a very much validated argument because of the fact that Memphis is likely to be the only team representing the conference. I know the argument that all teams at this level of competition today are athletic enough and somewhat talented enough to beat anyone on any given day, and I agree with it, but still…Memphis would have had zero excuses that I would have listened to for losing any one of their in conference games.

To their credit Memphis has also tried to join any bigger conference that will take them...but there have been no takers. Probably because of the whole Tiger High issue and the fact that the football team has both the success and popularity ratings of a Bush.

I admittedly have been very negative towards Memphis for the majority of the season but that is only because of the constant Red Herring using nature of their fans and my frustration in that regard. Honestly speaking though I think that the Tigers are in a good position having lost to Tennessee in the regular season because now all the focus has shifted from them, and their strive for perfection, to North Carolina and UCLA. That loss has nearly allowed Memphis to slip in under the radar. People have forgotten already just how much talent and depth the Tigers have and I think that they will continue to use that to their advantage come tournament time. As I have tried to say all along, I don’t necessarily think that Tennessee is a better or more talented team than Memphis, I just think that they are a more proven team. I also think that while Memphis may have a better five (starting five), Tennessee has a better overall ten.

And just for the heck of it continuing with the throw-back footage trend, here is a clip from the 1992 NCAA Tournament when Memphis had Anfernee Hardaway and David Vaughn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF52Rb36xns).

4. Tennessee- As coach Bruce Pearl said in his press conference Monday, “I don’t know if we’re one of the top four teams in the country. But I guarantee you that we deserve the ranking.” Tennessee currently has the RPI “triple crown” as ESPN’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi points out; they are number one in RPI, SOS, and Non-Conference RPI.

The Vols have road wins at Xavier (#9 RPI), at Memphis (#3 RPI), and at Mississippi State (#40 RPI). They also won on neutral cites against West Virginia and Gonzaga, although the Gonzaga game was basically a home game for the Zags since it was played in Seattle.

On top of those wins the Vols also won five other home games against teams in the RPI top 50 including: Vanderbilt (by 20), Ole Miss (when undefeated), Ohio State, Arkansas (by 22), and Kentucky. They also beat Florida at home by 22 points.

On the other side of things Tennessee’s only losses on the season were against Texas (neutral site early in the season), at Kentucky (against a finally healthy Kentucky team in need of a signature win), and at Vanderbilt (who didn’t lose a home game all season). Those are justifications, just notes that I consider worthy of mentioning.

Also taking a closer look at the Vanderbilt loss and comparing the two teams, let us not forget that on January 17th when it was Vanderbilt’s turn to first come to Knoxville, Vanderbilt got rocked 80-60 after shooting 37% from the field. Shane Foster struggled going 6 for 17 from the field including 1 of 11 from behind the arc. Call it what you’d like, but I would consider that a train wreck of a game for Vanderbilt. It was written off as just Vanderbilt having an off night and I was willing to settle for that because it happens.

Looking at the matchup at Vanderbilt where the Vols lost however Tennessee lost by three to a Vanderbilt team with revenge on their mind and a lot to prove. What was Tennessee’s field goal percentage? 33%. The Vols shot worse at Vanderbilt than Vanderbilt did in Knoxville and managed to lose by 17 less points. Chris Lofton was the only player on the team that met or exceeded his average in points. He tried to carry the team but one player can only get you so far. Not to make excuses but the team was clearly exhausted still from the hard fought Memphis game where you can't argue that they didn't leave it all out on the court. They had two days off before having to face Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt on the other hand hosted Georgia over the weekend...you do the math...

Since youtube videos have apparently become a part of this post, here is my favorite Chris Lofton highlight video, if you can find me a better college highlight video of any player in the country I’ll stand on my head like Dick Vitale (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuPpsYfY6Kc&feature=related).

5. Vanderbilt- Well since the win at home against Tennessee, Vanderbilt has again showed their true colors in my opinion losing at Arkansas and at Alabama. The Commodores have proven that they simply cannot win on the road. They finished the regular season at 25-6 and yet all six of their losses came on the road this past season. Coincidentally most of the six were against the best teams on their schedule. In one sense that fact can be used to say that Vanderbilt lost very tough games on the road as most teams do. However it also means that they didn’t prove the ability to beat a good team away from home once.

Further, aside from both times Tennessee and Vanderbilt faced off, Vanderbilt has played only two other ranked teams, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Vanderbilt lost by 16 in the game against Ole Miss. And that is to an Ole Miss team that is 7-9 in the SEC, no longer ranked, and that has loses to Auburn twice, Alabama, and LSU. Vanderbilt caught every possible break at home to beat Mississippi State at home in over time by one point. In addition to those two, the only other better than average team Vanderbilt has played would be Florida and they lost on the road by 22 to them (Tennessee beat Florida by 22 already).

While all of that sounds very negative, I kind of like Vanderbilt’s team. I want to say that I expect them to surprise people and really step up and play well in the Tournament but they simply haven’t proven the ability to leave home and win.

The Commodores have a great and talented starting five led by senior Shan Foster and freshman A.J. Ogilvy. However they lack enough depth to really be able to keep up with the deeper teams they are sure to face in the Tournament. This could also explain why they have been so unsuccessful on the road where you won’t catch as many calls in your favor.

Here is a very impressive video of Shan Foster’s 42 point game against Mississippi State near the end of the Commodores season (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qUQyS6M2DAA).

Also, provided that Vanderbilt can win it’s first two games in the tournament, and Tennessee can beat either South Carolina or LSU, there would be a third and final match up between the two teams on a neutral court that could once and for all settle things. As I first noted in my letter to Kevin Stallings from Bruce Pearl in the opening, I feel like the Vols are chomping at the bit for another shot at the Commodores.

That’s all for now, I just wanted to share my thoughts on each of the teams representing Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament. I think that overall Memphis and Tennessee are equally most likely to succeed, followed by Vanderbilt, Belmont, and then Austin Peay.

I’ll do another entry soon either commenting on the SEC Tournament or just breaking down the brackets with predictions after selection Sunday.