UGA-ly, but Vols Win in Athens

The great Athenian philosopher Socrates used to teach his students through questioning. After watching the Vols survive a scare in Athens, Georgia yesterday afternoon, I have some questions of my own:

#1 - Where was the vaunted Tennessee press? Georgia had no depth, its starting point guard was suspended and it worked beautifully the five times the Vols got into it, but for some reason Coach Pearl was hesitant to launch his full court attack. If the Vols came out from the opening tip and pressed the holy heck out of the Dawgs, Tennessee wins this game by thirty points.

#2 - Was Pearl keeping his cards close to his chest because of next Saturday's Memphis game?

#3 - Where was the 3-point shooting? The Vols, other than Chris Lofton in the 2nd half, looked hesitant and without confidence as they launched brick after brick from beyond the arch.

#4 - Where was the Volunteer depth? I have not watched a game all year where the starting five played so many minutes. No Josh Tabb. No Ryan Childress (who was cleared to play). I guess the Vols did not need to sub because they were not pressing and were not in foul trouble, but the deep bench is one of their greatest strengths.

#5 - Where is the consistency? J.P. Prince - we never know what we are going to get out of you. Ramar Smith - you drive into the paint and throw up junk far too often for a team with this many weapons around you. JaJuan Smith - Georgia was sitting in a zone and you could not light it up like you did Arkansas.

#6 - Is Chris Lofton mortal? I don't know.


The Vols always seemed to be in control of the game, even during the last possession when the Dawgs had shots to tie the game. I HATED Pearl's decision to foul Gaines at the end of the game (which is going to be a blog article soon). I was impressed with how many good looks the Vols got against the Bulldogs zone and impressed with Wayne Chism's offense inside. It is yet another win for the Vols even if it raised more questions about this team.