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Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl referred to freshman Scotty Hopson's recent emergence as an "evolution."
And that evolution is a part of Pearl making his final tweaks to the Vols as they make their run into and through whatever postseason awaits them.
Tennessee (17-10, 8-5 SEC) has an RPI of 25 according to RealtimeRpi.com and a schedule that's ranked No. 2 heading into Sunday's 2 p.m. game at Florida (TV: WVLT).
It's a respectable record and RPI rank when one considers Pearl is working with five new players in his 10-man rotation.
But respectable doesn't not equal playing at a peak level.
That's where Hopson could come into play.
Hopson has led the Vols in scoring each of the past two games, playing more than 30 minutes in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
He has scored 35 points on 13 of 24 shooting, 5 of 12 beyond the arc, against Kentucky and Mississippi State.
Pearl explained Hopson's newfound assertiveness and production have brought him increased minutes and a bigger role.
"What happens is, you're on a team with a few veterans - Tyler (Smith), Wayne (Chism) and J.P. (Prince) - and you want to let those guys lead and you want to fit in,'' Pearl said, approaching the situation from Hopson's freshman point of view. "Then we struggle some, and we've been encouraging Scotty to be more aggressive and he absolutely was. He was more active; tonight, he had six rebounds."
Hopson, who scored a career-high 21 points in the win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday, has embraced his new role.
"I think that's when I play my best; when it's showtime and it's time to step up,'' Hopson said. "I'm a lot more comfortable. The guys have been telling me to shoot the ball more all year.''
Pearl has been telling Hopson that, too, but the freshman had to be comfortable with it himself.
"That's something that happens with an evolution of newcomers,'' Pearl said. "Tyler Smith went through the same things last year when he came.''
Even Chris Lofton, the SEC's all-time leading 3-point shooter, had to grow in his role for past UT teams to play at their best.
"Chris Lofton realized when he was in slumps that if he wasn't Chris Lofton-like, we wouldn't win.''
And now Pearl said Hopson has realized he needs to play well for the Vols to win.
"I don't believe in hitting a wall,'' Hopson said. "I'm just pushing to get better.''
On ESPN: Tennessee's game at South Carolina on March 5 will be televised on ESPN at 7 p.m.
Brent Musburger will call the play-by-play, with Bob Knight providing analysis and Holly Rowe courtside.
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Comments » 61
VOL_FREAK_91 writes:
go vols!!!!!!!
zigvol writes:
Hopson is finally playing like he is our best player.
volunteer11 writes:
yeah you play in confrence usa. tennessee's strength of schedule is #1 in the country.
MrBamSeydu writes:
That Mississippi State game made me realize this:
If Hopson hits the weights hard this offseason and really comes out next year trying to dominate everyone in front of him and score 30 pts every game, he will be ridiculous. He is very bouncy around the rim and his shot is really nice. He needs to get alot stronger and bigger in his upper body.
He also needs to work on free throws. He's air-balled 3 this year, which I'm sure his teammates remind him about all the time.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
Yeah, saw last against MSU Scotty really, really wanted the ball, but Tyler kept throwing phooey up.
Tyler really, really needs to back off on his shot selection and use his skills around the board, and in penetrating, to set up others.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
great for them. just makes it that much more painful when they come up short (yet again).
you've done a fine jobe of alienating fans who might pull for memphis otherwise. oh well, your biz I guess.
Vol_Jokes writes:
Hope you guys were paying attention to the Memphis game. Close game, tough team, hostile environment and the Tigers once again pulled it out. That's how you win the tough ones.
I know you guys were hoping so much that they would lose but ..... I don't care what anybody says about cusa. There are some tough teams in that conference and when you are playing teams that their main goal for the season is to knock you off and every time you go in another teams arena it is their game of the year and still you've won about 54 straight ..that's impressive. Vols would have fallen apart in that enviroment.
VOLKING writes:
Tough environment??? Tough team in UAB??? Ahahahahahahaha! Please...you are even a bigger idiot than anyone thought. You play a cupcake schedule and that's a huge reason you cannot go all the way to the top in the tourney. I admit, you guys always have good talent, but your schedule is shite. Must feel really bad to be owned by us in the last 10 games (UT-7, Memphis 3). There's a reason Memphis is the armpit of the world. Stupid, ignorant fans like you and the fact the city is a crime-infested cesspool sure don't help. You and itsme have to be the dumbest people on earth to try and brag about a victory over UAB. Come on back if you want another slap upside your ignorant head.
smashmouth98 writes:
Scotty finally stepping up. This is how he needs to play every game!!! We need the threat from outside.
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
OKEMO say
ut vs memphis all time record is in ut favor
this eat away at memphis
it is poison for memphis
bad taste in mouth for memphis
uconn/pitt/okla/nc/louisville/duke/wakeforest/villanova/arizonastate/kansas/purdue/missouri/michst/.....when memphis play any of these in
tournament of 65....memphis out....not because memphis weak.....memphis very good team.....'cause of weak conference...playing week in and week out against tulsa/uab/houston/utep/ucf/tulane/marshal/ecarolina/southernmiss/rice/smu lead to not ready for march 65 tournament
memphis great university that OKEMO respect
if memphis want great respect
step up to the plate and do as louisville did, join the big east
OKEMO believe memphis not want to do that, just as floridastate and miami asked to join sec and instead went to weaker football conference acc/stronger basketball conference acc....
notice floridastate and miami championships have ended when joining a major conference
much...much...much...tougher for memphis to win big east if they joined
coach calipari know this
OKEMO know this
OKEMO has spoken
preview look weird ... anyway, click
wantingthevols2win writes:
Hopson showed some promise....but why does he always air-ball a free throw or two?...it's like he totally loses focus. He has and will need to continue to step up his game for the Vols to close out with a bang.
The team seemed to respond to Maze being back in the starting lineup. He started against Vandy the Vols blew them out, then he doesn't start at Kentucky and the Vols are down 13 to nil on thier way to getting completely embarrassed. Tabb is a great defender off the bench, but he's not a scorer and thats not a knock on his game, Maze brings that element and makes this team better as a starter.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Hey Marshall and SMU have their good years. Southern Miss. I don't recall? Isn't rice what they use at weddings?
VolJunkie writes:
Good post. During the MSU game I spent a lot of time watching Tyler move without the ball. He would flash open in the lane or down low but very seldom did the ball come to him. I think some of the bad shots he has taken of late are a result of frustration in not getting the ball enough. I agree with you on setting up others, it would be great to see Tyler with more assists.
We are starting to see the play from Hopson that we expected at the beginning of the season, this young man will have a great career at UT.
Go Vols!
VolJunkie writes:
Just a reminder ... there is nothing in this article regarding Memphis, please don't feel like you need to respond to the interlopers. They come here because the discussion on most other fan sites is remedial at best or simply to wind you up. If you would like to discuss Memphis bb, may I suggest the CA site, plenty of UM fans that would love to discuss their team, conference, strength of schedule, etc.:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/...
Go Vols!
VOLAFAN writes:
"I don't care what anybody says about cusa. There are some tough teams in that conference......."
WoW- I guess you have to completely suspend reality in order to justify your position as a Memphis Technical Community College Tiger Fan. When you are done doing that you have to come to a VOLS web page to try and prove yourself to us. Maybe the new pres can see if we can switch to CUSA so we can have some improved competition.
tan007 writes:
I agree that Wayne could profit some from practicing more self control and stay more poised but if I had to play his position with huge players constantly pushing, shoving & pulling on my shirt..I probably would lose my cool also. Just watch what all goes on down under that basket & take your eyes off of the ball for a while, you will see what I am talking about. The referees let them get by with anything down under there. I admit I am a bit biased since Wayne is my favorite player but he seems to get flagged with a foul no matter what he does & the flagrant behavior toward him goes unnoticed (or ignored) by the officials.
tennrich1 writes:
Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha..Ha...PHEW...
Ha....Ha....Ha....Please stop, you're killing me,...Ha...Ha....
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Good point! Our perimeter guys need to throw it inside WHENEVER the post guys are open and calling for the ball. The post guys in return need to throw it back outside if they don't have an immediate scoring opportunity. It certainly LOOKS like the guys think if they give it up, they'll never get it back, and unfortunately they would seem to be right. That's an example of the lack of a true sense of TEAM with this bunch.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The worst of our UM 'lopers have probably already been kicked off the UM boards. The classier of the UM fans have probably already recognized they are idiots and don't want to talk to them anymore. We should do the same.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I agree; post play away from the ball has been getting more and more physical for several years now. I know it is hard for Wayne to keep his cool in the middle of all that, but he just HAS to learn to deal with it if the refs won't or can't do their job. That may one reason why he spends so much time out on the perimeter, but it is surely not doing him or us much good right now. That is just one more reason why the perimeter guys need to feed him when he is open inside. When he has the ball, the attention of the refs is drawn to him and so he has fewer "empty" possessions where he just gets beat up with no chance to score.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
For the last week, he HAS been our best player. He got a lot of hype coming in, justified or not, then seemed not to be "getting it" for much of the season, and recently he HAS seemed to be getting it. That is not the ONLY story worth covering on the bball team, but it is the biggest one right now. If we are to do any good the rest of the way, Scotty has to step up. It seems he is doing so now, and none too soon, IHMO.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Meant to type "IMHO"(;-P)!
VolFanNC writes:
I hope this really is Hopson stepping up and he keeps improving each game. Would be great to see, but I was getting excited when they had a 2 game streak of winning by double digits only tro watch them lose 2 games by double digits....so am a little more skeptical now. I think they need 2 out of 3 and one win in SEC tourney to make NCAA's.
askUncleMaze writes:
I agree 100% that's what I been saying all year long..
Vol_Jokes writes:
Such fun to read comments from disillusioned sec fans that for some mysterious reason still view the sec as some premier basketball league. I'm not sure where you've been the last several years but sec teams talking about another conference being bad is most definitely the pot calling the kettle black. There is not one good team in the sec this year again. Zero...none... I know of no team in the sec that could have gone into birmingham last night in that environment and won the game. Most would have been totaly blown out. You'd also lose to Tulsa and UTEP.
Your weak conference argument is totally lame. You might want to start that argument about the sec though. It would certainly be a legit argument. That conference stinks. Who was Kentucky beat by the other night? What did kentucky do to the vols. Heck, what did auburn do to the vols and we're talking about a bunch of bad teams that if they get in the tournamant (they shouldn't) are going straight home after the first game (again this year). It is nice to have your commisioner on the selection committe though. It gets you 5 or 6 totally undeserving teams in. How nice. Oh well it sounds good...before play begins. Two days later it's not so good when most if not all are massacred by the likes of American. Also the ridiculous comments that Memphis isn't good cause they play in a weak conference. When they step out of conference they just beat anybody that's all. I guess you just have to think of anything you can to say cause you know you are on the losing end of an argument. When your team is either losing every game or barely beating bad teams you've not got a very good argument.
I believe that was conference win 55 in a row and 19 in a row in/out of conference. Longest in the nation.
There is always football season vols..oh wait you've got that coach. Coach big mouth idiot.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Go SEC - the best Conference in America!! Go UT the best team in Tennessee.
If you don't like what I just said then go to another site.
They'll appreciate you more if you go to a site that agrees with you.
We're looking much better after the Miss. St. game. The perimeter was much improved. I can't wait till South Carolina.
tennrich1 writes:
What a loser! Dont you know something this long NO ONE reads it!!!!
Vol_Jokes writes:
SEC is a bad basketball conference.
How about that? Short enough?
mocsandvolsfan writes:
No.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
I hope so. I believe it!
Vol_Jokes writes:
SEC = Bad
how bout now?
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Memphis only wishes they could be in SEC. Perhaps this year especially.
GoVols beat Florida!
Volumnus writes:
VJ, salient observations. They speak to two issues, Point Guard and Shooting Guard. A true point who has that instinctive court vision and dishes to just the right person at just the right time is the missing piece. Not to disount the progress that Maze has made and not to disrespect his play, but he is not that player. The player who comes down the floor instinctively looking to pass to the open man regardless of who it is, is missing from this puzzle. The other is a true shooting guard. I heard last night that they are talking to Skylar McBee(finally) but in the context of talking are trying to get him to walk on. Come on, we need to find a scholarship for him, his blood runneth orange!! Then get the point guard from TX an academic scholarship for a year and try to talk him into walking on. True points and defensive specialists are underappreciated in this environment(especially engineering students)and he might bite. I fear that if you try to slide that "walk on" drill by Skylar that he will end up in a brand X school like Terrance Oglesby.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
you are no doubt right about that. the timing of our offense is not there. we mostly rely on 'raw' move, not great passing.
I don't like to be banging on Tyler, it's just that he has got to do what it takes to make his team better. He can be the greatest player on the court, but if they don't win, it doesn't matter 'cause no one will be watching....
WestTennVol writes:
All time NC record SEC vs CUSA
SEC=10 (KY 7, Fla 2, Ark 1)
C-USA=5 (Louis 2, Cinci 2 Marq 1) oh wait none of these three are still in the CUSA? So lets just call it ZERO
SEC>CUSA please find a way to argue with that
dcap8424 writes:
florida won back to back titles this decade. when's the last time a conference usa team won anything?
VolJunkie writes:
I hear you. I did not take your comments as bashing Tyler. I can't even imagine the pressure this kid is under. Passed on the NBA last year, young son to raise, hopes and dreams of his family riding on his shoulders, banged up knee (is he fully recovered?), trying to lead a young UT team that still does not have an identity, classes ... he can have a huge impact on the game without being the leading scorer, he just needs to believe it.
Go Vols!
comshirt writes:
You are both (mparker and voljunkie) right. Tyler has a lot going on, and is not in a very good team situation. He has to be frustrated out of his mind. And it is a team game. You can often only play or shoot as well as the ball gets to you. He is not getting the ball at the right time and the right place much of the time. It wears on a player and then the decisions come out of weariness and deseperation.
Vol_Jokes writes:
Westtennvol while you were listing national championships for 'former' cusa teams you seemed to have left off louisville. I do believe they might have a couple.
Also you fuel your argument/point about championships
with other teams in the sec. I noticed on your little list I didn't see vols 1 time. Memphis has only been in a bad conference the last 5 seasons. Before that it was much better than the lowly sec and we were still one of the best teams in it. SEC's flagship school has always been kentucky (which uab knocked out of the tournament 2 seasons ago). After kentucky the sec has had an occasional team on a roll..florida, lsu, arkansas but none have been what you'd consider elite teams on an ongoing basis other than kentucky. SEC is a football conference. The very best football conference i'll add but not very good in the basketball world. By the way, Vols will lose to Fla. and Memphis will win yet again over Southern Miss this weekend.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Your skepticism is completely understandable. I will be somewhat surprised if we make the NCAAs without doing what you said.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
We would prefer if you just didn't say anything at all. THAT would satisfy us.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Good post; agree with all. I think Maze is really trying, but I am sure he thought he was coming to a team more like CBP's first three, with lots more open-court action than this team has been able to manage.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Volumnus, I also agree with your point about McBee and about defensive and ball-handling prowess being under-rated. Recruit for team needs and not on the basis of recruiting-service star ratings!
BreweryVol writes:
Please do not be like Gatorzz. I know that there are Memphis blog sites that you can visit. I do not blog
on Florida or Memphis sites b/c I am a UT Fan. I saw on
ESPN that Memphis has won 54 consecutive C-USA games spanning over 2 years. That is unbelivable. However that being said, when your team wants to join a real conference, then you might have something worth writing
about.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Actually jokes you're right about UT and SEC being a football conference and it's funny you disqualify us as a basketball conference with the very teams that make us one.
BreweryVol writes:
You are talking about UAB like they were Kansas or something. How pathetic.
Vol_Jokes writes:
I'd stay off of here if I wasn't seeing the constant jabs at Memphis (conference affiliation etc). I actually stayed off a few days until I saw the memphis comments coming back. If you are going to criticize use something that is within our control. We didn't ask to be left behind in cusa. We would love to be in th sec or big east ruling those conferences. All we can do is win and I do believe we are doing that pretty well.
The rumor is 5 or 6 SEC teams make it in. Absolutely incredible. Even more so this year than last. They say the system college basketball uses to determine it's champion is the best one in all sports and so it probably is but when they are putting teams in the field of 65 due to what conference they are in then the system is not without probs.
UAB is better than most/all SEC teams. I believe they are 19-8 now. I seriously doubt they will get in.
VolJunkie writes:
Jokes,
Breaking my cardinal rule by responding ... last time.
There are very few threads where a UT poster brings up Memphis. It always starts with you, itsme or one of the other UM posters who for some reason feel compelled to post here. And then the responses begin. The solution is simple, it is just like TV, if you don't like the show, change the station, but don't continue to come here and post about how poorly you are treated. I have read your better posts, it is beneath you. To paraphrase Pogo, "You have seen the enemy, and it is you."
Go Vols!
BreweryVol writes:
Actually he did list UL. You almost sound inteligent
when you write, then you blow it by adding the comment
"and Memphis will win yet again over Southern Miss" Seriously. You can measure a
conference not by it's top two or three teams, but by the lower half and without a doubt I would take Arkansas,
Ole Miss, Miss St, Vandy,
Georgia over Rice, Southern Miss, ect....ect....
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Jokes, I don't mind you defending your conference at all on any site. But to try to diss the SEC on an SEC site is a waste of your time and ours. None of the more mature people that blog on this site deny that Memphis is an outstanding team. I have nothing against CUSA and respect them as much as I have the knowledge to do so. You'll never convince me that in an ordinary season that the SEC will not out play CUSA teams. You obviously can and will try.
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