Tennessee Talk for February 27, 2008

During the Revolutionary War, British General William Howe initially dominated George Washington and the rag-tag rebels. Historians believe Howe enjoyed these victories a little too much and too long, allowing Washington to get his bearings and figure out how to successfully win the war.

After rising to #1 in the polls this week, I wish we had had a little longer to enjoy it and Saturday night's victory. Instead, we walked into The Battle of Trenton and got ambushed.

#1 - Fun, But Done

Yesterday, I convinced myself that the Vols would play well and defeat the Vanderbilt Commodores. From the opening tip, I did not really believe it. There were so many things working against the Vols, it felt like an insurmountable task. First, there was the letdown factor after the much-hyped game against Memphis. There was the fatigue factor after playing such a physical, intense game on Saturday night. There was Memorial Coliseum, a weird, wild environment that is so tough on opposing teams. There was the revenge factor after the first Vanderbilt meeting. There was the fact that Vanderbilt is a really good team.

In the end, the Vols lost by 3 in a game it should have won. I am disappointed, but only mildly so.

It is funny how statistics can prove your eyes wrong. I expected to write about how poor free-throw shooting killed the Vols, but the reality is that Tennessee was just under 70% from the line.

Another fallacy is that the officiating killed Tennessee. I didn't think it was terrible, but a little shaky at times. The numbers show that team fouls were pretty much even. If Vanderbilt had lost the game, I imagine Commodore fans would be shouting about Ogilvy's foul trouble (What did he do to earn his 3rd? That is called "posting up.").

The biggest factor was Tennessee's terrible shooting - 32% from the field. Give Vanderbilt credit - they defended Tennessee well throughout. Lofton had tough looks, JaJuan never got going, they kept Prince out of the lane and challenged everything inside.

They also took care of the ball. Eight turnovers means Tennessee was not running the other way with numbers for easy lay-ups. If you have to score with your offense every trip down, your shooting percentage will be lower.

Tyler Smith was a beast despite his flu problems and Chris Lofton was fantastic as usual. The rest of the guys...

Tennessee is getting nothing from the point guard position right now. Ramar Smith makes bad decisions with the ball and is not a threat to shoot from outside of five feet. Jordan Howell is not a threat to drive the ball and his shooting looks terrible right now. Luckily, Tennessee's offense does not rely too much on the point guard position, but the lack of efficiency there is concerning.

Wayne Chism continues to improve, but Duke Crews still looks slow and sluggish. He missed a few chippies inside (he was not the only one) and got pushed around by the Vandy bigs. Ryan Childress offers nothing right now off the bench. In a game where Vanderbilt was harassing the perimeter and its best post-player was saddled with fouls, there was an opportunity for Tennessee's posts to play big. They did not.

Other observations:

*Anyone know why the Vanderbilt crowd consistently booed Jordan Howell? Or was that the Tennessee crowd?

I'm not ready to give up on Howell yet, but he needs to play better. He was bad against Memphis and a liability last night. The most glaring example was when Tennessee tried to hold the ball for the final shot of the 1st half. Howell's job was to dribble down the clock, but he panicked with the ball and drove into a dribble handoff with Lofton next to the sideline. A quick Vanderbilt trap meant Tennessee had to burn a timeout - a timeout that would have been nice to have after the Vandy freshmen missed two free throws at the end.

If your senior point guard cannot handle the ball for 20 seconds in that situation, there is a problem. Furthermore, what does it say about Ramar's play that Howell is getting so many minutes?

*Basketball is a tough game to officiate, but there were far too many, "What was that?" calls last night on both sides.

*Am I the only one who thought UT looked softer and whinier than the private school 'Dores? There was a lot of crying going on from guys like Chism, JaJuan and Prince.

*The announcers did a great job of emphasizing just how tough it is for visiting coaches at Vanderbilt. It is a totally unique and different set-up that causes lots of problems. I love it.

*The announcers, however, won't escape without some scolding. Chris Lofton is one-dimensional? The guy is one of our best on-ball defenders, rebounds well from the guard spot and has a weird knack for finishing inside. "Hot" press got old too.

*Anybody see Kevin Stallings' post-game interview? He is impossible not to like. He talked for a good minute about how difficult the game was for Tennessee and yet they almost won. That guy had every right to pound his chest about beating a rival team and he did not.

I heard this once - no idea if it is true. After Kevin O'Neill bolted Knoxville, Kevin Stallings was a candidate to be the next UT head coach. The story I heard is that Stallings' wife was upstairs while the coach met with Tennessee officials about taking the job. She heard a conversation in one of the rooms between a Tennessee official and some other coach, the gist of which was, "We are about to offer the job to Stallings, but are you sure you don't want it?" Stallings' wife told her husband what happened and Tennessee ended up with Jerry Green.

No idea if that is true or not.

Candace Parker Turning Pro

This is not a shocker. She red-shirted with an injury, so she will have her degree by the time she leaves. I love Parker and her contributions to the Lady Vols, but it bothers me that she will be including in senior ceremonies. She is not a senior. If she wants to turn pro early, fine, but something about being treated the same way as a senior bothers me. I'm not sure it is a rational annoyance, but it is one nonetheless.

Fulmer Responds to Criticism

Coach Fulmer decided to respond to this column in The Knoxville News-Sentinel with this retort.

Fulmer is correct in many regards, though I don't think Adams' article is terribly off-base either. It is embarrassing to see so many current and former Vols in trouble. I wish Fulmer would acknowledge that while also holding up the Vols who have done great things after football.

Does it do any good for Fulmer to publicly engage this debate? Does anyone take a reactionary journalist seriously when he calls for the coach's head after a few off-season arrests? I wish Fulmer had stayed above this debate.

Good ole Rocky Top
Rocky Top, Tennessee