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And then there were nine.
After giving all the players their shots - and a shot at playing time - Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl said he's cutting the rotation down to nine.
"It's not a reflection on any of the guys,'' said Pearl, who has 11 players averaging double-digit minutes per game. "It's just to get a couple more minutes for the guys who have been out there the most.''
Pearl hopes the shorter rotation will allow the No. 11 Vols (5-1) to play with more rhythm beginning with tonight's 7:30 tip-off at Thompson-Boling Arena against North Carolina A&T.
"We learned a great deal from the (Legends Classic) tourney,'' said Pearl, whose team defeated West Virginia 74-72 Friday before dropping a 97-87 decision to No. 8 Texas on Saturday night. "Our players realize to you have to defend and beat people in different ways.
"We did a great job defensively against West Virginia … but Texas was a transition offense, and we couldn't have done worse. They got layup after layup in transition.''
North Carolina A&T (4-2) likes to run, too. The Aggies are averaging 77.3 points per game after a 96-93 victory at DePaul on Saturday night.
"They've got seven seniors, 11 returning letterwinners and they beat DePaul,'' Pearl said. "That's all I've got to know about them.''
And all that Tennessee point guards Ramar Smith and Jordan Howell need to know is that the head coach wants more production from their position.
Howell and Ramar Smith combined for five assists and nine turnovers in the Vols' two games in New Jersey.
"Our point guards have to have more than a couple of assists,'' Pearl said. "Of course, (at the Legends Classic) we went up against a couple of the best point guards in the country in (Darris) Nichols and (D.J.) Augustin.''
Nichols had three assists and three turnovers for West Virginia while Texas' Augustin had eight assists and six turnovers.
Rebounding continued to be a problem for the Vols at the Prudential Center, as the Mountaineers held a 42-33 edge on the boards and the Longhorns out-rebounded Tennessee 38-30.
"We've been outrebounded by four teams already, and that's not good,'' said Vols' center Wayne Chism, who leads UT with 6.2 rebounds per game. "Losing like that was embarrassing. We're going to have defense on our mind.''
Texas shot a season-high 63.6 percent from the floor against the Vols.
"That loss just showed if you don't play defense and don't rebound, bad things will happen,'' UT senior Chris Lofton said.
Lofton hit 4 of 8 shots from beyond the 3-point arc against Texas, but he said that served as little consolation.
"That's better, but at the end of the day we lost,'' Lofton said. "That's more disappointing than anything.''
Chilly Weathers: UT junior forward Ryan Childress was limited in Monday's practice by the twisted ankle he suffered against West Virginia on Friday night.
Childress, who averages 6.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in his role as sixth man, did not play against Texas and is questionable for tonight's game.
Charting Lofton: Lofton moved into the No. 10 spot on the all-time scorers list while in New Jersey, passing Brandon Wharton. Lofton (1,655) needs 29 points to pass Carl Widseth (1952-56) for ninth.
Lofton is second in career 3-pointers made, needing 19 to pass Allan Houston (1989-93), and he's sixth in steals (151), four short of passing fifth-place Dale Ellis (1979-83) and 60 short of tying all-time leader Vincent Yarbrough (1998-02).
Show of Hands: Josh Tabb leads UT with a 3.25:1 assist/turnover ratio. Jordan Howell and Tyler Smith each has a 2.71 ratio with 19 assists and seven turnovers apiece.
Worth Noting: Steven Rush leads North Carolina A&T with a 17.3-points-per-game average even though he comes off the bench.
Rush, a 5-foot-11 guard named first team All-MEAC last season, scored 40 points and hit a school-record 10 3-pointers in the Aggies' win over DePaul.
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Comments » 11
bmaples writes:
Lots of Chicken Littles and Kool-Aid Drinkers running around. Looks to me like it's too early to say anything about this team other than "hope they listen to their coach, learn from their mistakes, and find the team within the team." If they do, they'll be fine. And, we won't know until a few months from now.
Keep learning, guys! And good luck!
eb502us#225637 writes:
If anyone should have their minutes slashed it should be Duke Crews and Ramar Smith. Both of these guys don't really fit anywhere position wise. Duke is an undersized power forward who can't play facing the basket and has trouble finishing with his back to the basket, especially against bigger guys which he is usually facing. He has very little offensive game. Ramar doesn't have the skill set (ball handling, quickness, passing)to play the point and doesn't have the outside shot to play shooting guard. Not to mention both of them are lousy at the free throw line. I think Pearl needs to give the two freshman (Williams, Tatum) the minutes that are currently given to Ramar and Duke. We need Willams inside presence and rebounding and Tatum's athletic and shooting ability. Also, both play good solid defense and can hit their free throws. IMO, this team will be better off in the long run if these are given the minutes currently taken by Duke and Ramar.
trap2240#1340138 writes:
Pearl will get things worked out. We will be fine. We looked awful in November last year as well. We will be fine and a legitimate final four contender entering March. Go Vols!!!
drwfocus writes:
bmaples you are absolutely on target IMO. This group has a lot going for it, not the least of which is their coach. The "chicken littles" are judging a season on one game. The kool-aid drinkers had the Vols in the final 4 before the season began - on what basis? The sweet 16 last year was over achievement. This year the talent is there to attain great things. Of course the question is, as always, will they? The answer is why I watch.
AlpharettaVol writes:
eb502us -- You're on target with your comments. R. Smith looks like he is still playing playground basketball where you just try to go one-on-one with no idea of what the coach wants you to do. Crews may still be reeling from the negative press he received in the off-season. We need both those guys to wake up, buy back into the system, and make the kind of contributions they did last year.
martinvolfan writes:
I am interested in seeing how Prince will enter into the equation in December. Any ideas Vol Fans?
Orange4life writes:
Bleah, Ramar will be fine, I think he has to much pressure on him to be something he is not. Hes a slasher and I think Pearl is wanting him to do to much. Duke just needs to tuffen up, bottom line. They played soft against Texas and settled for to many outside 3's. Looks like they forgot how to attack. Bruce is the man, this team will be fine if they stick together!
THE_VOL writes:
Orange - what exactly is BP wanting Ramar to do that is "too much?" Is it too much to ask a PG to play under control and get people involved? To distribute the ball and run the offense? To play a little defense? You are right that he's a slasher so why does he insist on throwing up bad shots? And as a slasher, how bout making, maybe, say, 70% of his FT's. If all that is too much to ask maybe he should be playing at some MAC school.
I think JP will give us a huge boost on both ends IF he has his head on right. If he's just another guy looking to "get his" then nothing changes. The current PGs are certainly leaving the door wide open for him.
This may surprise most of you but this team's production has actually been better with Crews on the floor than Chism. I wouldn't be surprised to see Duke's minutes increase.
One question for everybody singing the "it's early" mantra - at what point is it no longer early? One week from tonight we will have played 9 of 29 regular season games - right at 1/3 of the schedule. Seems after a two week trip to Europe, a couple of months of workouts/practice and a third of the season some of the ego/chemistry problems facing this group would have been resolved. And that is something players must do for themselves.
Hoops43 writes:
Attended practice yesterday and it was very focused for the day before a game. Pearl was pretty intense in stressing where improvements had better come. Lots of emphasis on improving the play of the guards. Lofton heating up will cure alot of these ills. Tatum and Williams are improving but not where they need to be yet to earn significant minutes. Not having Childress against TX hurt because of the energy he brings. The guards got away from what was focused on pre-game defensively and paid for it. I would certainly question someones bb knowledge if they didn't think Ramar had quickness-he's just missing a consistent outside shot to be successful. JaJuan's streakiness could be a problem if it runs unchecked. JP's not a pt guard so I think his minutes will come at the 3 with Tyler sliding into a 4 at times.
nickperkinsalc#627224 writes:
Lofton has found his stroke!!!
slambob2#228938 writes:
This team will benefit greatly from the whipping by Texas. They were unbelivably good at times and very sloppy at times. They'll get back to fundamental basketball and become better defenders, better rebounders, better passers.
It was interesting that the coach wasn't concerned about putting up 50 3's on Tuesday. He doesn't coach the way I expect him to, and maybe that's why he's so good.
slambob
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