Tennessee center Wayne Chism was as surprised as anyone when his name wasn't in the starting lineup for Tuesday night's game at Vanderbilt.
"I didn't know about it, but it was no problem,'' said Chism, who entered the game 3 1/2 minutes into the action and immediately hit back-to-back 3-pointers to boost the Vols to a 10-1 lead over Vanderbilt. "Whatever Coach (Bruce Pearl) says, I just follow up with it.''
The Vols led start to finish for a 76-63 victory.
Pearl said he knew Chism would respond to the coaching move. Pearl's intention was to keep Chism out of the kind of foul trouble he got into against South Carolina last Saturday, when he was limited to 11 minutes and held scoreless.
"We don't always agree, but (Chism) respects my role as a coach, and I respect his abilities as a player,'' Pearl said. "Wayne has got my back as much as any player on my team.''
Chism had Vanderbilt's number throughout the game, totaling 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while pulling down seven rebounds.
Commodores center A.J. Ogilvy, who was selected as a preseason first-team All-SEC pick over Chism, had seven points on 1-of-6 shooting (he hit 5 of 8 from the free-throw line) and four rebounds.
"I think Wayne had a point to prove - he said he didn't - but I think he did,'' UT junior captain Tyler Smith said. "Because some guys left him off that (SEC) first team, and he belongs on there.
"Wayne is one of the most underestimated players in the country; he can shoot from outside, post up and rebound.''
Chism said that while sitting out the opening minutes, he saw how Vanderbilt was sagging into the paint and leaving shooters open on the perimeter.
"I knew I was going to shoot it,'' Chism said. "Then, I was surprised they gave me that much room underneath. Normally, I've been getting doubled.''
Chism scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half as the Commodores waited until halftime to adjust.
Once double-teamed in the low post, Chism started looking for teammates.
"When they started doubling down, J.P. (Prince) got penetration, Bobby (Maze) got in there some and Tyler got to the basket.''
Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings gave Chism credit for making the difference.
"In the second half, every shot seemed like a layup or a dunk,'' Stallings said. "I thought Chism really got them going. He played well, not just with those (early) threes, but he played well thereafter.''
It was the first win in Memorial Gymnasium for all the UT players except senior Ryan Childress, who played on the team that won there in 2005-06. Childress didn't play Tuesday as he's still trying to work his way back into the rotation in practice after an injury.
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Comments » 16
Ironcity writes:
Don't mind Chism or any Vol shooting the three but I would like to see him and all the guys taking players off the dribble if they attack them on the perimeter. I thought I saw that from Chism last night and I am starting to see that from Hopson and Tatum.
huntined#565710 writes:
Got to give some credit to Williams also for holding Ogilvy to that low score as he did a good job on him most of the night..Chism had a good game hope he saved some for Sat..
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
whoever that dude was who brought in Ernie and Bernie and beat UK several times AT Lexington will always be in my book as a UT great coach..those teams played great ball.
BigMikeUT writes:
great team first attitude from Chism. He can truly be dominant when he stays out of foul trouble.
King53 writes:
great job by Chism to not have a sour attitude after he did not get the start. instead, he focused on the game while on the bench and sized up Vandy's defense. then when he got in the game he was able to contribute. Great move by Pearl and great attitude by Chism. GO VOLS!
richvol writes:
I don't know if you're old enough to remember Coach Mears but he was a great strategist and motivator. When he took over UT we immediately gave UK a run for the money and actually is the only coach that was 500% against Rupp.
If Mears got up on you in the second half he almost always won. Some didn't like the tempo or style of his teams but he did amazing things with less talent. Dean Smith played the same style and he certainly wasn't criticized for it.
dlobh writes:
Never heard of Bernard King or Ernie Grunfeld? 1975-77. Nobody better than Bernard King at UT. That team beat KY 5 out of 6, back when KY was in their prime.
AFTiger writes:
Indeed, Chism is a helluva player.
bfrank78 writes:
Bernard King was a straight up baller (and this comes from a Tiger fan). If knee injuries didn't cut his pro career short who knows......
Back to Chism, he really set the tone for you guys on Tuesday night. Now if he could just go 0-10 on Saturday everything will be just fine.
iowavol writes:
I didn't know Childress was back with the team. That ought to help practice a lot. When might we see him back on the court?
jasonn1970 writes:
Don't forget the Kevin O'Neil era. There were so few people in the stands you could hear every (4 letter) word he said during a game. It's tough to say too much about 'Jerry's Kids'. They did win 89 games in 4 years before the wheels came off at the end.
KnoxKiffinIsMyHero writes:
I think this goes to show how the attitude of the team has changed in only three years. Pearl has got these guys to mesh together and play team basketball. These young guys like Hopson will benefit from leadership like this. If you ask me Hopson does have a bit of an attitude but so did Chism when he first came here. give Pearl some time with these younger guys and we will be back to where we were last year probably even better! Bring in a NC Pearl and be remembered forever. We will have to change some street names pretty soon!
robe5832#393917 writes:
Don Devoe a great coach? Give me a break. The guy's luck ran out after Reggie Johnson and Dale Ellis went on to the NBA. The only reason he got Ellis was because Georgia Tech was the only other school interested, and in those days they were one of the worst programs in America.
Devoe shared 1 regular season title in 11 years (none outright), has a sub-500 record in the NCAA's, got lucky and won an SEC Tourney his first year because Kentucky just graduated most of the team that won the NC the year before.
From 1984-1989, Devoe was 0-1 in the NCAA's, in 1987 has the SEC's leading scorer (Tony White) and rebounder (Dyron Nix) and finished 7th in the conference. Only had one winning season in the SEC in his last 4 years.
As a student, we used to chant DEVOE MUST GO whenevef Dickey would walk by, hoping the guy would get a clue. And don't forget the time Ellis came back to UT for an NBA exhibition game. Devoe presented him a plaque; Ellis got cheered but DeVoe got booed. This was prior to the 88-89 season.
And don't forget how DeVoe went to Florida in 1989-90 and took a team that won the SEC the year before, ran off his two best players (he just couldn't keep talent), then finished last. Lon Kruger then came in and had Florida in the Final 4. I still remember DeVoe picking a fight with DeWayne Schnitzus mid-season about getting his hair cut, as if he couldn't have done that prior to the season or just let the guy play and win him some games.
gobigorange8464 writes:
Anyone else notice the crazied looking fan in the picture on the homepage??? Glad they didn't catch me doing that.
Down_The_Field writes:
it me.
ballewville6 writes:
chism at times playes outstanding ,but he needs to keep up the consistacy,he has potential to be a 18 point 10 reb a game player and it would help ut win but as a team were not forcing enough turn overs and their casual passing the ball has caused ut to turn the ball over way to many times,when your playing a real game its not like practice you got to make the pass a little quicker or crisperand for gods sake when were leading late in game the whole team needs to hit the free throws and especially the front ends of a one and one
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