Woo for Juanny! Tennessee Volunteers 93, Arkansas Razorbacks 71

by Joel Hollingsworth on Feb 14, 2008 7:38 AM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball


71	Points	93
23/59 - 39%	Field Goals	29/60 - 48%
7/18 - 39%	3-Point FGs	8/18 - 44%
18/29 - 62%	Free Throws	27/37 - 73%
36 (13/23)	Rebounds (Off-Def)	38 (10/28)
14	1st Half Fouls	13
14	2nd Half Fouls	9
28	Total Fouls	22
2	Steals	7
2	Blocks	4
17	Assists	17
16	Turnovers	12
17 / 16	Assist/Turnover	17 / 12
31	Bench Points	19
9	Second Chance Points	16
6	Points Off Turnovers	19

It turned out not to be close at all. Arkansas had been riding high, owning a streak of four, blowing out a third of their opponents, but last night they rode into Thompson-Boling Arena, and nothing good happens to non-paying visitors to TBA. The Vols outscored, outshot, outrebounded, outstole, outhustled, and, yes, even outrebounded the big boys from across the way.

Chris Lofton didn't have the best night. He went 2-8 (25%) from the field and 0-3 from beyond the arc. Nor did J.P. Prince, whose only stats include fifteen minutes and three fouls. Ramar Smith didn't have that great of a game, either. He got six points in 19 minutes, shot 28.6%, and got twos in rebounds, assists, turnovers, and fouls.

Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism, and Duke Crews had decent games, though. T. went 5-8 and 5-6 from the field and the free throw line respectively to put 15 points on the NASCAR Chicken Bucket, Chism put up 15 points, hitting 4-7 field goals, 6-7 free throws, and 1-3 threes, and Duke Crews added 11 points on 4-5 shooting from the field and 3-4 shooting from the stripe. Crews also had 11 rebounds. We really missed him when he was unavailable earlier this season.

But no, this evening belonged to JaJuan Smith:

Players	MIN	PTS	Shooting						Rebounds			AS	ST	BK	TO	PF
Players	MIN	PTS	FG	FG%	FT	FT%	3PT	3PT%	O	D	T	AS	ST	BK	TO	PF
J. Smith (G)	24	32	9-13	69.2	8-11	72.7	6-6	100	1	3	4	4	1	0	3	2

How the basket looks through Juanny's eyes.
Image credit: leeroy09481

Beautiful. 9-13 from the floor, 8-11 from the line, and a perfect 100% three-point shooting percentage. And it's not like he only tried one or two, either. The man hit all six of his attempts.

And that's just shooting the ball. Juanny also had four assists and four rebounds, and, as always, he was an Absolute Pest on defense, grabbing one steal, forcing three turnovers, and getting into the Hogs' passing lanes and his hands on passes all night.

I said last night in the middle of all of this that I thought JaJuan deserved some serious consideration for most valuable player status. Yes, we have some absolutely great players, including one of history's best three-point shooters and the ultra-athletic Tyler Smith. Ramar Smith, Wayne Chism, and Duke Crews are all fantastic players as well. But nobody makes this team go like JaJuan. He's the most consistently excellent guy on our team.

When television announcers (and, shoot, us fans, too) have talked about JaJuan this or any other season, they look at their notes and diligently read them. "JaJuan Smith is a former walk-on, and he's playing as well as the players who were lured here with scholarships." Most comments about JaJuan are tinged with a feeling that he is an overachiever.

It's time to get our nose out of the notes and pay attention to what's really happening. JaJuan Smith is no longer that guy who's surprising everyone.

JaJuan Smith is a star.

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Excellent post

Your take on JaJuan is very well argued. He's had enough games where his performance was one of the top performances on the team that it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. Additionally, when you watch him play, it's not a matter of him taking the shot every time he touches the ball or trying to be the NBA superstar. He's a true team player, and he gets his chances because he works very hard for them. He plays hard on defense, he runs up and down the court all day long, and he's always looking to feed a teammate with a better shot.

Last night, Arkansas overdefended Lofton. They had one guy dedicated to blanketing him at all costs - often to the point of ignoring the rest of the play. When Lofton got the ball, they usually brought in a second defender for the double team and to avoid open shots from a pick. The price that Arkansas paid for the double-team was to free up other players. With a 4-on-3 mismatch on the rest of the floor, the ball usually ended up in the hands of the open guy. Since JaJuan worked the hardest at exploiting the hole, he usually got the ball with a good look.

The future opponents will likely take note of this and back off Lofton in order to balance out the defense. That should open Lofton up a bit more in an effort to keep JaJuan from blowing the doors off the game. Those two are really beginning to provide a 1-2 punch that's going to be really, really hard to stop. Add to that the improved interior play by Chism and Crews, and this team is becoming a thing of beauty to watch. The Memphis game should be very, very interesting.

by David Hooper on Feb 14, 2008 10:15 AM EST reply actions