Tennessee 69 Auburn 56 - Men Among Boys
by Will Shelton on Feb 3, 2011 11:23 PM EST
in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball
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PrintWe wondered if we'd miss Scotty Hopson. It took about five minutes to figure out how little it mattered against Auburn.
Make no mistake, it will matter from here. What was supposed to be a four game vacation against the SEC West has been cut short: turns out Alabama can play, and they'll come into Knoxville in a little over 40 hours as the league leader at 6-1. If the Vols want to entertain an SEC Championship, it's a game they have to win.
But what that also means is that the once-inconsistent Vols did exactly what good teams are supposed to do against lesser competition: 22 point win over LSU, 17 point win at Ole Miss, 13 point win tonight...and this really wasn't that close.
Tennessee led by 22 with five minutes to play before we took our foot off the gas a tad. Without Hopson, we got there in the paint, where Tennessee put on one of the most dominating rebounding displays I've ever seen.
Auburn is bad - 283 in the RPI, a number that will cause Tennessee's strength of schedule rating to drop from first to third. But Tennessee was also great inside tonight: +16 in rebounds, including the first ten boards of the game. It took almost eight minutes for the Tigers to get a rebound in this game, plenty of time for Tennessee to build a double digit lead. Offensively, the Vols shot 45.1% and still grabbed 13 offensive boards, getting the rebound on 46.4% of their misses (that percentage was above 50 until the last five minutes). Tobias Harris has an injured ankle? Could've fooled me: 14 points and 5 rebounds. Cameron Tatum added 15 and 7.
And one of the real keys in the Vols' run of five straight SEC wins has been Brian Williams, who did anything he wanted tonight with 15 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes. In the last five SEC games, Williams is averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds.
It's hard to learn a lot about this team against these West opponents, but it also feels like being down 17 in the first half against Vanderbilt was a very long time ago. The Vols are at 15-7, 5-2 in the SEC with nine to play. We cut the vacation short, and hopefully we get Scotty back sooner than later...but if we continue to improve, we'll have what we need to get the job done against the best teams in this league.
We've put ourselves in position to compete for the league title. From here on out, every game is a big one.
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Missed the game, but at least it was comfortable.
That being said, this comment is a cheap excuse to alert everyone to the proximity of the Kentucky game.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
The what game?
Who are they?
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
In the Paint domination
W/o Scotty in there, the team put on a very balanced display of scoring. I wish Scotty was back for Bammer, but I think the boys can pull out a win on Saturday. Stinks to have a Thursday/Saturday sched before facing UK on Tuesday.
Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit
3 games in 6 days....
That’s what that out-of-conference game does to you. Not that I would change it.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
Well, Kentucky goes to Florida on Saturday
They may not have Thursday/Saturday, but they’ll be in a hard-fought road game right before us. I imagine it’ll even out fairly well.
by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 4, 2011 2:39 PM EST up reply actions
Quandry....
Should pull for Florida to lose since they are in first place in the East, but I have an extremely hard time pulling for that other team. Plus if they lose, would they be despondent on Tuesday, or more fired up?
Like it matters who I want to win.
Still….
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
I think it's better for us if UK wins on Saturday night
both for the standings, and because we don’t want to deal with a desperate Rupp crowd
agree
We can pull for a Florida win in the return trip to Rupp, depending on what the standings look like at that point. And we will still have a couple jackass vs. mf’er matchups to agonize over.
by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 4, 2011 3:11 PM EST up reply actions
I know, I know....
it’s just gonna be hard to want UK to win.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
But imagine the crowd
If they lose three in a row?
______________________________________________
That's (333333jorkland)^2 and $$$$$$$$immons to you, chump.
Also...
desperate UK fans are so …. entertaining.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
warms the cockles of my heart to see UK fans desperate and maybe beginning to doubt Calipari???
Hey, bad guys. Look up in the sky. See the UAV? Nope? We see you. "Don't laze me, bro'!"
I thought going into last night that Auburn might be the worst SEC team since the 5-22 Wade Houston debacle
Last night’s game did not disabuse me of that notion. They may actually be worse.
Lou Brock loves Lamp.
disabuse - disrespected and abused
Hey, bad guys. Look up in the sky. See the UAV? Nope? We see you. "Don't laze me, bro'!"
My favorite moment...
was when the Auburn fans started chanting “air ball, air ball” when Tatum put up the mandatory half-court hail mary shot at the end of the first half.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
you know things are bad when. . .
1. Your fans start chanting “air ball” after a halfcourt shot
2. You allow Skylar McBee to get an offensive rebound
by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 4, 2011 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
Did they have LOUD GUY in the stands?
You’d know if he was there. (I wasn’t watching the game though.)
did not hear
Their student section, however, was fronted by two rows of UT fans (per wesrucker, AU grad students who were UT undergrads previously)
by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 4, 2011 3:12 PM EST up reply actions
Not sure...
…but I do think I remember hearing someone yelling individual Tennessee players’ names.
Does anyone else have the problem of not being able to hear the commentators very well because the crowd noise is too loud? I have some hearing loss, and if I turn up the volume enough to hear the commentary, the crowd noise is uncomfortably high.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
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