NCAA: Tennessee Volunteers - American Eagles Postgame

by Hooper on Mar 21, 2008 3:03 PM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball Comment 8 comments

Aaaahh!
Photo credit: dizznbonn

Well, that was a wilder one than we had hoped for, wasn't it?

Even after the nailbiters in the SEC tournament, and the Duke squeaker (which, by the way, makes our squeaker look like a pleasure cruise in comparison), I don't think any of us were truly prepared for a 1-point difference with 5 minutes to to.

Joel and Jackson are taking in some of the action of the later games, so their comments are not likely to be seen until this evening or tomorrow sometime. But I'm sure Joel will have a lot to say about the atmosphere inside the arena, and Jackson will likely have something to say about the ADA-compliance of the seating in the arena. (ADA -> Americans with Donkeys Act. It covers mules too.)

It's a little difficult to know where to start (mostly due to home projects that are making it difficult for me to spend adequate time on this post), so here's a bullet list of a few of the game pros and cons. I'll update with a table if I get a chance to make one later on.

Pros

Score: The only truly important note is that UT won, 72-57. The difference was inflated by the late foul-fest that was American's attempt to catch up. But the Vols advance.
Turnovers: The Vols had 12 steals to American's 5, and AU turned the ball over a total of 21 times to UT's 14. That partly made up the difference in...

Cons

Rebounds: Gah. AU had 37, we had 25. In particular, they had 16 offensive rebounds to our 4. Not acceptable, for certain. What I saw was a team that watched the ball on its way to the rim rather than work to box out the AU rebounders. A lack of focus? Presumption that they would win? Perhaps, but a habit formed is hard to break.
3-PT shots: This can be summed up in one simple observation. Chism was our best 3-point shooter on the day. JaJuan had more makes, but only because of having more attempts. Howell tried a couple and realized it was a bad idea. (If anybody knows where Howell left his shot, please return it to him in Birmingham ASAP.) Lofton went 0-fer-5.

A side note on Lofton: on the Knoxville local sports radio, there was rumor of Lofton having grabbed at his thigh during warmups and being taken back to the locker room for about 5 minutes. Nobody was able to substantiate anything, but speculation of a hamstring tweak was on. I wasn't able to watch the game consistently enough to track Lofton and see if that was an issue; if you have any thoughts on that, please share them. We'll need Lofton to shoot just a bit better than that if we want to make the Sweet 16.

But again, a win is a win. Bring on the next round!

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SLOPPY BALL

This was a sloppy ball game by Tennessee,Vols almost beat their selves. Bad passing,shooting,rebounding,bad defense. Where were there heads?,at Arbeys, give me a break. If they don't get their heads on right it's gonna be a quick trip home. Oh well a win is a win they always say. GO VOLS!!

OLD SMOKEY

by old smokey on Mar 21, 2008 3:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

game thoughts

As an AU fan I probably didn't deserve to expect a whole lot better than what AU put up. My Eagles acquitted themselves well and the final score is definitely not indicative of the fight AU put up. AU definitely shot themselves in the foot missing several point-blank shots and while they turned the ball over a lot, a big reason was the Tennessee athleticism. All in all, I'm disappointed to lose, but happy it was a respectable performance.

by Fooch on Mar 21, 2008 3:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Be Proud

Thanks for all of your input this week, Fooch; espeically in Joel's self-proclaimed trainwreck of a podcast thingy. While losses are always disappointing (let alone losses that end a season), the Eagles put up a heck of a fight and that's something to be proud of.

I know that THIS Volunteer (and others alike) were extremely worried as the clock continued to run down and we weren't doing anything to seal a victory for us. With the exception of a few players, our team seemed to have sleepwalked through that game with a non-chalant attitude towards winning. It nearly cost us.

Again, thanks for stopping by, and best wishes!

by Aerobab on Mar 21, 2008 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Your team played a great game.

And I think you nailed the difference; UT was a deeper team in terms of athleticism. I don't think they won due to cohesiveness and quality of play today. AU made for a very entertaining game, and the reports are that the AU contingent of fans were loud and very supportive. Kudos all the way around to your alma. Thanks for the interview with Joel earlier, by the way. It was a lot easier to follow AU's play when we knew who to watch for.

by Hooper on Mar 21, 2008 5:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And also of this

Be proud, too, of this: the American fans put us Tennessee fans to absolute shame. They were loud and organized the entire time, never getting down. We had more people, but were spread out, dotting the arena, and we didn't get interested until we got really uncomfortable. I thought maybe it was b/c American was there for the first time, but Butler and South Alabama fans were much better, too. Shame on us, but bully for you. Fine school, fine program. Best of luck.

Go Vols!

by Joel on Mar 21, 2008 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Box Score: Bizzare

Something was definatly wrong with Lofton. 1-7 from the field to finish with 5 pts? Not even a single assist? Couldn't hit from deep and couldn't get to the bucket. His lone FG was a 13-ft jumper.

JuWayler was about the only good thing going on out there today, but the trio did just enough. By just enough, I mean 49 pts on 17-30 shooting (56.5%), 9-13 from the stripe (69.2%), 15 rebs, and 8 assists (6 by Tyler). PJ put in some meaningful minutes, but I think he played a bit out of control by trying to do too much himself, but that's not necessarilly a bad thing. (to do too...good lord!) At least he was out there wanting to make a difference-maker.

I'm very curious about what's been happening at practice. Both Ramar and B. Williams were held out of the entire 1st half due to a "Coaching Decision". Did they get into a scrum? Did Coach Hulk believe success could be found by their random benching? Who knows. Howell continued his shooting slump by going "o-fer" with 0 pts and 2 assists in 13 minutes. Ramar can at least get to the hoop a few times during the game and knock down a few FTs. Jordan is really nothing more than another body on the floor. Sad, but true.

As a team, the FTs continued to be excellent 71.0% on 22-31 from the stripe. Unfortunately, the team allowed 14 turnovers (most were not forced by AU, rather just supidity), and was outrebounded by 12 (37-25) with 16 of AU's rebs comming on the offensive glass!

I guess this was just another classic example of a "Pearlfect" game.

by Aerobab on Mar 21, 2008 5:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs