ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands - The Tennessee Vols are ready to get back to Knoxville and start winning again.
"I made a statement in the locker room after the game,'' UT senior captain Tyler Smith said. "We did the same thing two years ago, losing to Texas in New Jersey, and we came back and won 11 in a row (and 20 of the next 21).
"That's what we plan on doing.''
The Vols, who play at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Thompson-Boling Arena against the College of Charleston, felt they left their best on the floor in a 73-72 loss to Purdue in the championship game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Monday night.
"I take out of it that we have a very good basketball team,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "We stepped up against an opponent that Dick Vitale picked for the Final Four.''
That said, Pearl was obviously disappointed with the loss.
"This was a championship we sought after,'' Pearl said. "We've been in a few championship games the last few years, and we've lost them all.
"It takes a pretty special team just to get there, though, and I thought we played well enough to win.''
With two seconds remaining, the Vols got an open look by their hottest player in the game, Wayne Chism, albeit from 3-point range. With 40 seconds left, Cameron Tatum had an open 3-point attempt that could have given the Vols a one-point lead.
"I felt like we really put ourselves in position to win that game on a couple of occasions,'' Pearl said.
The game might not have gone down to the final seconds had UT found a defensive answer for Purdue's E'twaun Moore, who scored 22 points and won tournament MVP honors.
Interestingly enough, Pearl recruited Moore.
"We were the first school to offer him a scholarship, and had their not been a couple guys on our team at the time named Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith, he would have taken a hard look at us,'' Pearl said. "But we'll see as good as that, or better.''
The Vols used Melvin Goins, Scotty Hopson and J.P. Prince on Moore, but Purdue set effective screens and UT couldn't stop him.
"Our guard stopper (position), that job is open,'' Pearl said. "We'll see who wants it. Great guards are going to come at us off the bounce.''
Goins Adjusting: Pearl said Goins will be better equipped to handle defenses like Purdue's as he gets familiar with the system.
"Their defensive pressure bothered Melvin a bit, and there were times he turned the ball over,'' Pearl said. "You have to deliver the pass when the guys get open, not when you're ready to deliver it.
"But Melvin played great (Sunday) night. We don't beat DePaul without Melvin coming in and playing that defense.''
Scotty's Struggles: After hitting 14 of his first 18 attempts from 3-point range, Hopson went 0-for-4 against DePaul and 0-for-2 against Purdue beyond the arc.
Pearl said he's not concerned.
"I think Scotty can score against anybody; and yeah, they are gonna be more physical on him and I think he'll respond to that offensively,'' Pearl said. "But I want to see him respond to it defensively as well.''
Tyler's Treys: After an offseason dedicated to improving his 3-point shot, Smith has yet to attempt a 3-point shot through five games.
"This summer, Tyler was really shooting it beautifully, and I think at some point he'll get that shot going,'' Pearl said. "It's obviously not something he wants to do right now.''
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
UT vs UT Martin, Sept. 4, 2010
Charlie Daniel draws Tennesse…
Allison Dooley and her kids i…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 35
agohn writes:
I can count on one hand, In the first half, the amount of times we pressed full court. When we did it worked and they turned the ball over. In the second half not so much and they walked the ball up, set a play, then scored. I thought we were a press team...what's the problem here?
HardinValleyVol writes:
We scored 42 in the first half and 31 in the second. Since we didn't make as many field goals in the 2nd half, we didn't press as much. We are, and most teams are, at their best pressing after a made basket.
eduardo writes:
Got to use that last timeout!!!
CommonSense2010 writes:
I disagree. If you look at Pearl's coaching strategy, he doesn't like to call timeouts at the end of games. It allows the defense to get set. Chism was open and had the only hot hand on the team last night. He's also one of our best shooters. I'm more concerned about the ghost passes and dribbles of players' feet. I like what Tyler says. We should win them all until Memphis on NYE.
VOLinNYC writes:
I don't know how to feel about this loss: appeased that we played tough against a strong top 10 win (a moral victory, if you will), or pissed that we let it slip by. This almost makes me feel like after the UT/ Bama game.
I think I'm going to lean on the former, and give the benefit of the doubt to early season wrinkles. I was OK with them not calling a timeout (Purdue looked a little lost scrambling back on defense, especially when they triple-teamed Maze near the top) and was OK with Chism taking the three shot (his percentage hitting those trailing shots are pretty high)
I'm still excited for this team and can't wait to see them live this Friday for the first time in 4 years (and see renovated Thompson-Boling)
wayoutwill writes:
We are a pretty fair lil' ole basketball team!That was a heartbreaker,maybe,hopefully,possibly we can get on the other end of these close games later on in the season!GO VOLS!It's easy to question Chism's shot at the end of the game,but he took it and he missed it and that's the way it went!Did I say GO VOLS?GO VOLS!
VOLinNYC writes:
You beat me to the "no timeout" and Chism arguments!
Memphis should be an interesting game and am keeping an eye on them to see how they develop (gave #1 Kansas a great game)
memphis_vol_fan writes:
Glad to see that the team still sees that there is a long way to go in the season. They lost a game by 1 point that could have gone either way.
I think that we, the fans, maybe forgot this: Purdue is pretty d@mn good. It's disapointing that we lost; but no reason to throw the rest of the season out the window like some "fans" are doing.
ucancallmeray writes:
Take a look at CBP's comment about being in all the championship games the past fews years and lost them all. Perhaps there should be a little more consideration given to the "he doesn't like to call timeouts at the end of games" strategy. I've watched hundreds of games over the years with other championship coaches who HAVE won these games, and the majority of them use the timeouts to coordinate the last shot using their timeouts.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
a time out may not have won the game for us, but it would have given us a better chance because a play would have been drawn up that had a better chance of succeeding than a 3 pt shot by your center. With two of their starters out, a big part of their defense was gone, would have allowed us to set up a play going against their weakness and most likely would have resulted in a win. Bruce needs to utilize his timeouts at the end of the game more than he does.
rclarkfork#639958 writes:
If you had paid attention you would have known that Pearl did set up a play. He called a timeout to ice the shooter but the second time out was to make sure everyone knew what they were suppose to do on offense. There was a play called and it just didn't work. Bobby had been getting to the rim the entire second half. He was suppose to take his man one on one and try to hit the shot or draw the foul. Give Perdue credit, they closed the lane off and made Bobby get rid of the ball. The play didn't work like it was drawn up but very few do. Bobby made a good decision to get the ball to Wayne. He missed. It happens. I personally like the no timeout, as it does not allow the defense time to set a strategy. You win some close ones and you lose some close ones but this was one heck of a game against a very strong team. It can only help us come March.
richvol writes:
Maze is not as good as Tyler or Chism going to the basket. When Maze drew the double or triple team that meant that only two defenders were left. Chism should have drove down the lane and dumped it to Tyler for the dunk. They would have had to foul.
I think Pearl is a great recruiter,enthusiastic promoter,a decent x and o coach but not a particularly good crunch time bench coach. Too many times have we seen his teams fail to execute at critical junctures in several games. I remember on at least two occasions in games we couldn't even get a shot off. Coaches sometimes need to improve along with the players and I hope he is being objective about his weaknesses. I think he's terrific and want him to succeed.
rocky_topper writes:
Yeah, okay! Nice "words"!
FeelVol writes:
Agreed.
VOLinCockCuntry writes:
For the sake of argument, maybe its the players? I remember some really good finishes, just not so recently. Texas game at TBA, Winthrop game NCAA tourney, Memphis game at the Forum, Butler in the NCAA, Xavier in Cincy, etc.
TkelynN writes:
This would be a different article if Scotty Hopson hit the front end of his one and one near the end of the game. THAT is what killed our chances. He hits those free throws then we are up and just have to play D...
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
excellent observation. How many teams do you know of that have 3 proven NBA caliber players coming down the court against a team with 2 starters out of the game and can't score a single basket in crunch. All they would have to do is have any of the 3 NBA'ers drive the lane against the subs and they would have scored. They had no business shooting the jump shot at all.Wayne, Tyler, or Scotty have enough savvy to drive the lane and score or get fouled in that situation. To me this shows the diff. in the sweet 16 teams (Ky, Mem., UT, etc.) and the elite 8 teams (Duke, NC, Louis., Kansas. It is called basketball IQ. Final four teams don't choke in these situations. Doesn't matter if it is in Nov. Those 3 players are our elite.
VOLinNYC writes:
At the end of the day, we played a solid game against a top rated team and we were in position to win it. Learn and move on.
AFVol423 writes:
1 point loss to a quality opponent. Sounds like something to build on to me.
SouthDakotaBob writes:
Just want to see us consistently hit a shot from 4 to 6 feet. Shooting the 3 is great but we easily win if we can finish the close range shots. GBO!!!
tennrich1 writes:
I agree with most except the game end comment....if you look at the 1st two seasons we won several games...i.e. Okla state, Florida, NCAA tour. game etc... and a couple of others with the game on the line at the end...You cant win them all like that plus we had shooters...shooters...man you've got to have shooters who want the ball in that spot....we will win some of those again...and the Purdue game....It really isnt important to win or lose that game this early...as much as i like winning..we learned a lot from that game..Purdue is just plain good....
tennrich1 writes:
This i agree with....we never really have had a mid-range shooter that could score at will...a Dale Ellis type...probably the best mid-range shooter we have ever had...but he was an all-american....
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Your 100% right; everything was discussed during the time outs..I don't know why the fan base has such a hard time seeing that..The play was designed for maze to drive the lane for the lay up or foul while the other guards drew the defense out to the perimeter.Not a bad strategy considering he had just made the same shot about 3 minutes earlier and Tyler was throwing up rocks!!
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Maze was set to drive to the basket but purdue's so called nobody sub made a good play and forced the play to the left(not where you would want to be) so he did the only thing he could do and passed to the open man; Why is that so hard to see???
Agent_Orange writes:
Richard Vitale?
Richard Vitale's about as relevant now as a horse-drawn carriage.
Go Vols!
Boll_WeeVol writes:
We are currently an team that is extremely athletic, deep, and full of poor decision makers. We didn't score on the first posession because Prince decided to throw up a one-handed pass while running away from the basket rather than to attack the basket and get fouled. (Don't get me started on one-handed passing thruought the game i.e. the turnover toss) It appears at this point that no one on the team knows the halfcourt set, or we just don't have one. (every posession felt like a one on one break down and create)
I do not understand why we are forcing running shots and pull up jumpers in the first half without working the ball inside to Chism. We got to it in the second half and he kept us in the game. I recognize we are a run and gun team but we need to be able to execute in the half court if we want to be able to grind out wins against tough teams.
I think Purdue is grossly overrated at this point and should have blown us out if they were any good. We played about as poorly as we could have and still had a chance. Basketball is a long season and we are no where near the team we will be come tourny time but we are going to have to learn to make better decisions if we want to think about chips.
VolunteerLifer writes:
I think the reason that this team loses close championship games and other close games against top competition has nothing to do with timeouts called or not called. I think it's due to a lack of mental toughness. That's a reflection on the entire team, but especially goes back to seniors, the point guard, and the coach - ie, the leaders.
Reading how another good scoring guard gouged us for alot of points is disheartening, as this kept happening to us last year. Is there just no answer for this? Purdue ran good screens? What good team doesn't run good screens? Do we not know how to switch? What about the concept of team defense? What is the plan to stop the next good shooting guard on the next good team? It seems like we are defenseless against that kind of an opponent.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining. I'm just asking questions that beg to be asked. I genuinely don't understand it. Maybe someone with alot more basketball experience can explain.
mytrifecta writes:
Good Point. "No-Show" Hopson is a critical piece to this team. He simply can't miss free-throws in that situation. I'm still shocked that it's believed Hopson will play in the NBA. I'm certainly no scout...but from what i've seen on the court against solid defense this kid folds like a napkin.
FDGVOL writes:
Personally I cant stand to watch. No half court offense, Hopson plays soft and scared. Our point guard are walking turn overs. Our team has the lowest baskertball I.Q.. Look who makes it to final fours........smart basketball. Not Morons running up and down the court.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Maze wasn't the problem at all. The problem was that Wayne had no business taking the shot from the 3 pt line when he had an open lane and 5 seconds left. He could have dished to Tyler or taken one or two steps to have a shot from the free throw line where he hits 75%. He only hits 40% from the top of the key. Why is that difficult to understand?
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Very good points. I just get frustrated (for the past 3 yrs) knowing the potential our teams have had and never reaching it. As I said earlier, this team has more talent than any UT team since Ernie/Bernie, but we choke in pressure situations because of our decision making (basketball IQ). I am not trying to be negative, just making observations and venting. This is our best chance to go to elite 8, and if we blow it, we will never make it in the near future because we may lose our top 5 players.
Plasticman writes:
I would say the Mike Krceswewski(I can't spell that name) at Duke is a pretty good coach. He almost never takes a timeout in these situations and his philosophy is just like Bruce's. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
gobigvols writes:
Does anyone wonder what Roy Williams or Rick Pinto would have done with the Ball down 1 with 15sec. ?????
Bruce say that they haven't won a championship
As Dr. Phil says "And how is that working for you" when people do the same thing and expect different results
BubbaJ writes:
No reason to cry about this one folks. UT went toe to toe with a top notch team, and comes up one shot away from a big win. Probably not the shot you want, but Wayne is a good 3 point shooter, and was wide open. He hits it, and this
conversation is totally different.
Yes, Pearl has had some late game losses, but just as many have gone his way. This was a good
early season showing in many ways, except for about eight minutes where the Vols lost their offense. Give Purdue some credit. A very intense
game, one that Pearls team needed. I wouldn't want to be C of C Friday night.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
I'd take a 40% shot down by 2. 'Course my 3 pointer would be in the 20% range these days...or lower.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.