Tennessee Volunteers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys: game preview

If their percentages are off the charts, UT is in trouble in this one. Otherwise, the rebounding edge should work well in UT’s favor.

A team that runs our tempo is usually beneficial, but the numbers would strongly, strongly suggest that if we get into a three point shooting contest with these guys, we’re in big trouble. And I worry that we won’t have what it takes to resist that temptation.

This is the perfect chance to bang away on these guys inside – four of our starters are taller than anyone they’ll put on the floor. Instead of jacking threes, can we be patient even in the up-tempo and get the ball down low to Chism and Tyler? And, can we finish well at the rim – we haven’t done this well in recent memory, and if we don’t do it well on Friday, we’re going home.

is Tennessee’s defense. Not to say that it isn’t good that it hasn’t progressed throughout the course of the season, but the style is not a good matchup. The defense sags off of the perimeter and clogs the lane, helping against dribble drive and grabbing rebounds. But against a good shooting team the defense must stay close to their man, and in turn, the 4 guard set will create speed mismatches and open up driving lanes for the Pokes. This is a bad matchup for us, especially because of the cheap fouls we get when we don’t move our feet and begin to reach in (I’m looking at you JP). And as you can see, OSU makes their free throws.

I don’t know what Bruce is going to do, becuase our size advantage will be great on offense (we should have 50 points in the paint), but could be of detriment on the defensive end. But then again, this is why he is a great coach and gets paid the big bucks.

I don’t think Tennessee played that poorly against MSU. It was either fatigue or distraction, I feel, that plagued us. That or just a head-scratching question mark as to why we couldn’t finish so many shots at the rim. I mean, honestly, go back and look at that game. We missed a lot of points in the paint that game, and not because Varnardo was swatting all of them away.

So I think it really just comes down to this: can Tennessee stay focused? Tennessee played very good defense overall against MSU but we were plagued by a few bad switches by our big men off of shooters who would then drain a big three-ball. And the problems weren’t that numerous but when our shots aren’t falling we can’t give up a trio of bad switches for 9 points.

I’m thinking Bruce will play JP, Maze, and Tabb against Eaton, as he’s a big part of their offense. He’s a senior guard averaging a lot of assists each game and the ball pressure that those three can play with should help get him out of his game.

The biggest thing with our rebounding edge is this, I think: we need to win the one on one rebounds, like we did against Auburn. Hustle will end up deciding this game, as it does so many times. That and how well we play inside, of course.

As usual he was a great interviewee. Worth watching if you can find it online or something…