The Tennessee men’s basketball team will be pressing when it begins individual workouts at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
Pressing to get better, pressing to get into top-notch condition and pressing when it takes to the defensive side of the court.
Coach Bruce Pearl said UT needs to return to the style that made it most effective his first three years as head coach in Knoxville.
“I do believe we’ve got to get back to playing that way,’’ Pearl said on the News Sentinel’s Sports Page radio show. “I have to recruit to that style, and that gives us an opportunity against those teams with three or four NBA players.’’
Pearl might as well had said “Kentucky’’ or “Kansas,’’ which are two of the more challenging opponents on this year’s schedule.
The Vols didn’t press much last season, largely because of personnel and experience limitations.
“I want to do it, I need to do it, and it was difficult to not do it as much last year,’’ said Pearl, whose uptempo style has enabled his teams to lead their respective conferences in scoring 16 of his 17 years as a head coach. “In order to (press) we’ll have to get a little smaller and quicker.
“It helped us tremendously in my first few years here with the teams that all overachieved.’’
Pearl said last year’s personnel was not the right match for the press.
“Because we were too big and we had inexperienced guards, I still don’t think we could have pressed last year,’’ Pearl said. “Last year we got away with that (not pressing) because the league was down.’’
That said, Pearl said not being able to run his “Controlled Chaos” press caught up to the Vols in the postseason.
“We weren’t unique, we weren’t a tough matchup going into the NCAA tournament,’’ said Pearl, whose team was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Oklahoma State. “We were more like everyone else. ... If we stay like that forever, we’re going to finish third or fourth (in the SEC).
“If we can recruit to our system a little better, and continue to run and press and be a little different ... I do know I’m going to be committed to pressing.’’
The Vols will break down into individual workouts three days a week until Sept. 15, when the team can practice together on a limited basis. Practice begins in earnest Oct. 16.
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Comments » 47
rich182x writes:
Basketball?
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
Ok coach, I still got your back, but I'm still confused with what happened with last year strategies. And now I read, "In order to press we got to get a little smaller and quicker". I'll give you that J.Smith was a great defender, but the losing of Lofton and Howell too ended "contolled chaos"? I had no idea what great defenders those two were. And here I thought last year's players just weren't committed to pressing - I had no idea it was lack of talent following the loss of those players. Ok, so does that mean we are getting away from being longer and leaner? I'm ok with that too - but while we're at it, can we dispense with the launching of the scud missile offense (that also includes post and inside players!) and attack the basket more? Go Vols!
Hounddog writes:
Let's play basketball. Football first. Hounddog
VolinLexington writes:
I'm up for whatever works! Go Vols!
SEC__Headgear writes:
It is good to get a tidbit about the basketball group. I love watching them play because the team generally displays good fundamentals and effort, something Buzz's group seemed to lack. I expect that the football team will display good fundamentals, effort, and a knowledge of the game. A loss never feels as bad when fundamentals are good.
WD, why do some of the posts refer to freshmen as "frosh"? Did I miss something in my education or is that just a pet name used by some?
VolinLexington writes:
I have noticed that in general CBP is able to coach on par with the ELITE! With that being said it is important to remeber CBP is the only coach in the SEC who will be able to compete with Cal's Cats. If CBP can buckle down and recuit his butt off he could easily win NCs with his style of play. As far as I am concerned recuiting is the only weak link for the Vols. Press or no press recuiting has to get a lot better because the reality is that there is an NBA summer league in Lexington that we will has to see at least 2xs a year.
SEC__Headgear writes:
I wasn't sure if it was a grammer problem or a keyboard problem, or a brain problem. Figured I might be in the dark about something you would know about. Who better to ask than the Doctor, especially if it turned out to be a brain problem.
At least I knew I wasn't asking a gator in a coonskin cap!
dvols writes:
i like what coach pearl said about calipari......he could not say on the air!!!
murrayvol writes:
Doc, sportswriters have much company. Butchering the English language has become ubiquitous in recent years.
Orangeblood13 writes:
no one is asking you to be here either. What did Tennessee bball do before Pearl.....crickets. So we trust in Bruce, who gives a rats arse what fair weathered fans like you say anyway, your glass is always gona be half empty.
Volfan615 writes:
I just hope that we can get back to the fast-paced game that we're accustomed to playing.Once we get back to that style of play, we're gonna be a tough team to beat.The only bad thing about the press is when you face teams with dominant big men.The press is pretty much irrelevant.
CoverOrange writes:
Origin: 1910–15; by alter. and shortening
Frosh (frŏsh)
n. pl. frosh Informal
A freshman, as in college.
[Shortening and alteration of freshman (perhaps influenced by German Frosch, frog, grammar-school pupil).]
Why go to college when you can just google your education?
SEC__Headgear writes:
Must agree with you here Bloody.
Pearl wins games and sells tickets. Nothing like it (except Lady Vols) in 30+ years. If UT can get to a sustained point of NewYearsDay bowls and be in the Tournament each March I will be a happy fan. Looks like Pearl has us half way there.
SEC__Headgear writes:
I knew there had to be more to it than UT fan poster + beer. Thanks for clearing that up.
Of course now I will have to consult Snopes to be sure.
utFootBallFanatic writes:
BASKETBALL looking forward to a great year. Lots of tallent. Glad to see Pearl is going to recruit a lil smaller at the gaurd spot. Our program is finally getting up enough where we can get some athletic big men. Im just wandering if pearl will ever start makeing Brian williams dunk everytime he tries laying it up instead of flush the ball. He had so many wide open dunks last year and instead tried a lay up and missed. that is just lazy.....
VOLKING writes:
We just knew the lopers would come on here pretending to be Vol fans and give us their insight as to why CBP is a no-talent. Thanks, guys. Got anything new to add or are you just here to bond? I kinda like getting excited about basketball again. Now, lopers, I am ready to be insulted and called kid because I happen to deviate from your pure, blind hatred approach.
newtonrail writes:
We get it that Pearl wouldn't sign your program, and you won't let up DSA. At least get out of the basement of TB Arena. As far as the App State grad Asst., that is usually a coach taking care of one just fired so he can get his Masters. You don't "hire" grad asst's to fix things in BB or FB. This is probably all I'll waste my time on some one who hates Pearl so. I simply got tired of reading your diatribes.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The use of "frosh" for freshmen has been a staple of sports writing for many, many years! Maybe it fell out of fashion for awhile, and maybe it is a bit trite these days, but it is not an unknown word for people who have been reading sports writing for as long as I have.
brentrod writes:
i felt like last year's team was peaking at the right time and should have advanced much further in the ncaa's. i witnessed the slaughter of alabama in the sec tourney and the win over a very good auburn team that should have received an ncaa bid as well. a great coach plays to the strengths of his team and that is what coach bp does. if chism doesn't make that dumb pass against osu i think we win that game.
TunnelHillVol writes:
The coach hired from Appy St. supposedly has strong ties to AAU ball.Exactly what that means I'm not sure,maybe he wears nikes.Is anyone else sorry that Tyler Smith didn't go to the NBA.I personally think he will wind up in Europe.We have too many 6'6" players,too tall for the perimeter and not tall enough for the post.Yes in order to press we will have to have some shorter,quicker players.
Ironcity writes:
WRONG dumbo. He has won D2 title and also the conference Tourney when he was at Wisconsin Milwaukee. If you thought this team last year was stacked with talent it shows how dumb you are. We have some good players and we have some players that are going to get better with age, however other then Smith and Chism and sometimes Hopson, none of the others really were very good.
Prince can't shoot or dribble
Williams bangs hard but he is to slow (is improving greatly every year)
Maze just isn't very good
Woolridge is just learning how to play defense and play near the basket
Tatum is poor dribbling streak shooter with bad knees
Nagadu is just learning the game. He has big upside but for now very little touch around the rim.
If you think all if these guys came into the program ready to be All Americans you are even dumber then I thought which is pretty hard since I thought you appeared to be quite dumb
Ironcity writes:
Funny you never questioned my assessment of the players. Ok. State had a senior point guard that dominated us. By the way we did win the East as predicted. Morristown, your stupidity is exposed every post.
Its funny I haven't heard you praise Pearl the first year when we were predicted to come in last in the SEC,the so called experts said we had no talent and then we went on to win the East over the eventual NC Florida.
Keep writing down your idiotic thoughts, they are starting to become more entertaining everyday.
Ironcity writes:
So no one else in the SEC is recruiting talented players? Wow! In the same list of posts you say that all of our players were super talented when they got here, now you say its Pearls fault that they were not 10 talent when they got here which is it?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Actually, the press is one of the MAIN ways you try to defeat a bigger team. If you can make the other team turn it over in the back-court, they can't feed the big guys in the post, and if you are playing fast end to end, you beat the big guys down the court on offense. A faster tempo means everybody is more spread out so there is less value in being able to carve out a space under the basket, and quicker guys have more of a chance to run down long rebounds. Faster play also tires out big guys, causing them to reach on defense which gets them in foul trouble.
The main problem with UT last year, IMHO, is that since they couldn't press and didn't have reliable long-distance bombers like Lofton and J. Smith, they had NO way to score consistently. The half-court offense was hardly worthy of the name. And while pressure defense and fast play gives a team an advantage over opponents who can't match up in speed and depth, a half-century of NCAA tournament play has shown that it is easier to slow down a fast team than it is to make a team with good guards and adequate depth play faster than they want to. Then the game becomes a half-court game in which size and, more importantly, precision and confidence in the half-court offense become important again.
Ironcity writes:
Very good post. I would add the only area I would like to see Bruce do a better job is the end game plays. Our style seems to conflict with us having a resemblance of an offense in the final 10 seconds of a game. C Lo could overcome the double and triple teams.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Fancher also replaced Peterson when Buzz came to UT. Ap. St. had quite a good 4-year run under Fancher, though they did fall off last year. The way I hear it, Fancher is indeed a good X-and-O guy but not much of a recruiter, apparently. Maybe he CAN help CBP in game coaching and setting up a half-court offense.
Ironcity writes:
Never said that. What I said is the talent was never as good as the experts thought. With our thin backcourt we were never able to press (what the article talks about) like our coach wanted to.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Agreed. He was smart, knew how to get in front of guys, and, with his surprisingly long arms, he was always in the passing lanes. That just shows that speed is not necessarily the ONLY trait one needs to press effectively.
oldsmokey67 writes:
morristown is praising vanderbilt.in case you missed it tennessee beat candy twice.and i hate to bust your bubble.they will do it again this year.vandy lost a few guys from a N.I.T squad.we have everyone back from a ncaa tourney team.GO VOLS.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Well said. Agree with all.
oldsmokey67 writes:
Guard play is all we lacked last year.consistant guard play.If we get better production from our guards we will have a better year.I would like to see tennessee get a shot blocking and rebounding big man also.we don't need a big man that can score we have plenty of scoring.we just need a big man that can block shots and rebound.
Ironcity writes:
Never said our players were bad. What I said is some had shortcomings. Most of the shortcomings related to youth, some related to injuries and others to the fact that the players were not as good as advertised.
Not all Freshman come in and dominate. Sometimes you get a Rose most of the time you get guys who develop over their careers to become good or great players. If you asked the experts since you brought them up, they would tell you that UT was not as talented as they thought. They would also tell you to a man that UT is lucky to have a coach like Bruce and that 98% of the D1 programs would trade their coach for our in a heartbeat.
VOLDoll writes:
I had to laugh when I read this post. My husband says I am a Pearl homer but not even I am this bad. If it wasn't so early in the day I would think you had a little to much to drink. lol!
Ironcity writes:
You are probably right but 90% would do it in a minute and between 5-8 additional percent would give it serious thought
johnlg00#206211 writes:
98% may be a little high, but 90% would be in the ball-park, so to speak. There are something like 360 schools in Division I in basketball. I am pretty sure there haven't been 36 teams with a better record than Pearl's during his tenure, even INCLUDING his NCAA tournament record.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
HA! You beat me to it! I should have scrolled down to the end before replying!
Ironcity writes:
Sometimes I get carried away in my appreciation of coach Pearl. After suffering through the last couple of years of Devoe, then the Houston mistake the O'Neal debacle, The Green years ( I actually liked the team then other then all the thugs we had)and then the Buzz disaster, who could blame me. Instead of just dreaming of an NCAA berth, we talk of seeds and rankings. Were upset because were not in the top ten. Were upset because we could only hold the number one ranking for one week. Were upset because we lose to a final four team virtually on their home court on a last second shot in the sweet sixteen. If we suddenly start losing to ETSU, Tennessee Tech, finish on a regular basis in the cellar of the SEC and have to fight for NIT bids, then I will start to worry about about the program and where it is. Until then, I think I will sit back and enjoy UT basketball.
PoochPuntOn3rdDown writes:
Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that all you guys with Vol in your name are right. Morristown, Doll, Tater, Rocky Mtn, GreyHair, etc, etc. You are completely entitled to your opinion and I think it's great that you all grace us with your insight on every article.
Although I did notice, Morristown, that you forgot to post your take on the article about Jones's father getting murdered. I figured that you would have, at least, taken the time to say you were sorry to hear it, being that you always take the time to voice your displeasure with the coaching staff. You are a Vol Fan first, right?
I also noticed you took back your comment about how Bruce Pearl was a terrible coach on an article about the team relishing it's role in the Hoops for Hope Program. That was really classy of you, Morristown, to ask that your comment be removed! I'm sure the parents of all the children with Down Syndrome that read the article were really heartened by that. Having grown up with a cousin that has DS, I know I was initially thrilled to read the article and the involvement of the Tennessee B-Ball team. When I read your comment, let's just say I wasn't very happy, anymore. That's when I decided to let it go. I was getting angry over nothing.
The reason I declare a truce with all the Pearl Trolls is that, although you rant and rave and go on and on, it doesn't matter what you think. You can complain and vent until the end of time, but it doesn't now and never will matter. You have no control, at all, over what happens with the basketball team, and you never will. The rest of the fans that just enjoy the games and like the excitement will continue to do just that. And those cheers are proven to help the team towards it's goal of victory. We actually make a difference, whereas y'all and y'all's opinions do not...
VOLKING writes:
Ya see, Morristown can't defend his views without insulting someone. Call them kid or stupid or something else. I say this. You are a creature of hate and you shall reap what you sow. Try actually agreeing to disagree without some insults. You hate Pearl and are a Memphis fan. Anyone who disagrees with you is a kid. I guarantee you I am older than you, smarter than you and not a coward...like you.
VOLKING writes:
Let's see ....you call him immature for hurling personal affronts and insults. Hello Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. What time do you get home the detention center, kiddo?
VOLKING writes:
Amen, brother. They guy probably got beat up a lot in school. You, on the other hand, represent 99.9% of Vol fans. MTV is a loper anyway. He's good for laughs...nothing else.
VOLKING writes:
Memphis trolls. I am sorry for your loss. Good luck with Josh. Maybe you can come back and taunt us when you are relevant again. UT owns Tiger High.
VOLDoll writes:
What does the SEC tournament last year have to do with the NCAA tournament over the years?
Is the education system in our state not working for these kids or what?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Once again, I agree completely. We were only disappointed with how the team did last year because CBP himself had given us reason to hope for more. That is to say, his and the team's performance in previous seasons led US and the national media to EXPECT more. Few seem to remember that CBP himself repeatedly tried to downplay those expectations in the pre-season. However, I must say that I think this is a pivotal season for the program. It may well establish the program's direction for several years to come.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
"Frosh" was used when I was a "frosh" in the 70's? I've heard the term since I was a "frosh" in high school ('69-'73).
I hope our "frosh" are better than last years "frosh". I hope our sophs. are better than they were as "frosh". I hope our football "frosh" live up to their expectations. "Frosh" are very unpredictable creatures.
Ironcity writes:
Read my other posts before you ask a question that's already been answered.
halloffamebowler writes:
Good advice.Now,let's see if you can take your own advice.
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