Dear Us, Us Wailers and Gnashers of Tooth. We think we got it bad? Poor Dawg Sports hasn't posted anything in its Basketball category since July 5th, 2008, and that was to blame basketball for Georgia not being ranked higher in the Rivals' combined sport rankings. No, instead, they're imploring readers to follow women's gymnastics. Yeeeahhhh.
In contrast, Vol fans must feel like their basketball team has just completed the NCAA Tournament and still has season left. We played a bunch of Tournament teams (Georgetown, Gonzaga (twice), Marquette, Belmont, and Kansas) and lost the last game of the "season." Shoot (woo for basketball exclamations!), beginning the SEC season almost seems like a break or preseason or something.
Look at the Players to Watch chart below. See anything interesting? I'll give you a minute. It's like Georgia has none. None more players to watch. Really that just means that they don't have any players ranked in the top 100 of any of those categories, but still, this is the first time this season that that's happened. Gonzaga had something like four players in that chart. I hate those guys, especially the furry one.
And which SEC teams not dressed in offensive (to everyone else) orange are in the Top 25? Once again, I'll give you a minute because proving negatives takes time. And again, the answer is none. None more SEC teams in the Top 25.
So maybe today is the day that we see what we've been waiting to see. Aggressive, in-your-face, chaotic defense. Fast break slams. Multiple out of bounds turnovers. The patented Bruce Pearl post-time out guaranteed bucket designed plays.
Maybe. Or maybe the brutal pre-SEC schedule has shaken the confidence of this young team. Maybe the losses and struggles have caused the team to look for answers elsewhere when we should have just realized that we were young, the competition was strong, and we just needed some time. Maybe.
Anyway, I have only one Joel's Key to the Game today. (Hey, if Jay Biles can do it, so can I.) Don't even bother with the three-point shots. Look, it's not really our strength this season, okay, Cam Tatum's first half against the 'Zags notwithstanding. And if Georgia does one thing well, it's defend the arc. I don't really know who all they've played (um, a bunch of church leagues, by the look of it), but they have generally good defensive numbers across the board (woo for basketball puns!), so you know.
Aaaaand now that I've completely disregarded the Georgia Bulldogs thereby destining (woo for gerunds!) our beloved Vols to look something like this at noon . . .
. . . I'll leave you with the stats:
KEY STATS COMPARISON |
 |
 |
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| Category | Rank |
Actual |
Rank |
Actual |
| Scoring Offense | 7 |
84.2 |
174 |
68.4 |
| Scoring Defense | 297 |
75.0 |
107 |
64.4 |
| Scoring Margin | 72 |
9.2 |
138 |
4.0 |
| Field-Goal Percentage | 95 |
45.5 |
170 |
43.6 |
| Field-Goal Percentage Defense | 228 |
44.0 |
58 |
39.9 |
| Three-Point Field Goals Per Game | 118 |
6.8 |
194 |
5.9 |
| Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage | 244 |
31.0 |
128 |
35.2 |
| Three Pt FG Defense | 223 |
0.349 |
31 |
0.297 |
| Free-Throw Percentage | 117 |
70.3 |
309 |
62.0 |
| Rebound Margin | 17 |
8.2 |
123 |
2.5 |
| Assists Per Game | 13 |
17.7 |
123 |
14.3 |
| Assist Turnover Ratio | 44 |
1.19 |
229 |
0.85 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 91 |
4.0 |
29 |
5.2 |
| Steals Per Game | 141 |
7.2 |
72 |
8.2 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 214 |
14.9 |
298 |
16.9 |
| Turnover Margin | 149 |
0.6 |
||
| Personal Fouls Per Game | 290 |
20.8 |
67 |
16.9 |
| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |
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| Category | Player | Rank | Actual | Player | Rank | Actual |
| Points PG | ||||||
| FG% | ||||||
| 3-Point FG PG | ||||||
| 3-Point FG% |  |
|||||
| FT % | ||||||
| Rebounds PG | Wayne Chism | 34
|
9.3
|
|||
| Assists PG | ||||||
| Blocks PG | ||||||
| Steals PG | ||||||
| Assist-TO Ratio |
Bobby Maze | 52
|
2.21
|
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