It's become an annual event for Tennessee's men's basketball player Wayne Chism each October.
The leaves change, the Alabama-UT football game approaches, the SEC media vote on the preseason All-SEC men's basketball team and Chism gets left off.
"That's fine, I can't get mad at who they're going to pick,'' said Chism, a 6-foot-9 senior who led the Vols in rebounding and blocked shots and was second in scoring and free-throw shooting percentage. "It just tells me I've got to get even better.''
Chism's head-to-head meetings with Vanderbilt's A.J. Ogilvy - a second-team selection for a second consecutive year - doesn't seem to count for much with the 25 voters.
Chism outscored Ogilvy 28-18 and outrebounded him 9-4 in two meetings last season. The year before, Chism outscored Ogilvy 22-16 and outrebounded him 22-8.
Chism said the snub will motivate him again.
"Sometimes you have to use that to make yourself better, and there will be two good games against Vanderbilt this season,'' Chism said. "The only team I've ever made was last season, when I was second team on the (SEC) all-tournament team.''
UT coach Bruce Pearl asked aloud at last year's SEC Media Days in Birmingham when Chism and J.P. Prince would get some recognition.
Pearl answered his own question after Monday's practice in Thompson-Boling Arena.
"For Wayne to be in the top 10 of the league's players, or for us to have two or three players among them, we'll have to win a championship,'' Pearl said. "I think it speaks to how good the league is, and that Wayne is under-appreciated. I'm not willing to play the 'we-get-no-respect card.' "
Not even with last year's SEC preseason player of the year, Tyler Smith, finishing fifth in this year's preseason player of the year balloting behind Kentucky's Patrick Patterson (11 votes), Kentucky freshman John Wall (six votes), South Carolina's Devan Downey and Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado (three apiece).
"If Tyler leads this team to a championship, he'll be the player of the year,'' Pearl said. "The only way to do it will be our team success.''
Chism summed up his feelings: "Wayne's going to play his game, Tyler's going to play his game, and we're going to play Tennessee basketball and see how it ends up.''
Too Much Success: A short five-on-five scrimmage brought good and bad news for the Vols.
"We spend a couple of hours on defense for weeks, working no offense, so what happens when we come out here?'' Pearl said. "Our offense shreds it. It's not a good thing, because ultimately defense and rebounding wins championships.''
Goins Update: Junior college transer Melvin Goins saw limited action in Monday's practice and could be cleared as early as Friday.
The point guard underwent arthoscopic knee surgery Oct. 6. The original prognosis was Goins would be out three weeks, but he looks to be ahead of schedule.
Shooting Star: Former NBA all-star Dale Ellis, who won SEC Player of the Year honors in 1981-82 and 1982-83 en route to consensus All-America honors both seasons, attended Monday's practice.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
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Comments » 60
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Preseason polls mean nothing. Chism and Tyler need to prove it on the court. Who is the new asst. coach?
vols1987 writes:
There is no new Asst Coach.
eduardo writes:
Ellis was the man back in the early '80's. Anyone remember the dunk over Hi-C Carter and John Tudor of LSU at Stokely??? That was classic in your face jam!!
utvolz#637682 writes:
Make them pay with your play on the court Weez!
ArealVolFan writes:
You're a waste or space. Please stop pretending to be a vol fan.
vols1987 writes:
Doesn't explain why Mr. 'Now-I-have-blonde-hair' Olgilvy is on that list then, does it?
golfballs03 writes:
These preseason polls are an indication of how stupid the media is. John Wall hasn't played one minute of college basketball, but he is getting votes for player of the year? These guys are morons
MidTennVol writes:
I do, friend. Ellis was SILK hiding a hard fist. I really hope he can get involved with the program if he's interested. He may have some good insights into the 3-4 spots.
VOLKING writes:
These lists mean nothing. Win a tournament, either the SEC or the NCAA, and they'll recognize you then. We need point guard play this year and someone who can make the opponent respect our outside shooting. And relentless pressure defense. Go Vols!!!!!
TnScooby writes:
It's called a headband idiot....just go away...all your posts are just plain stupid!!!!
wayoutwill writes:
It's just silly for a freshman to be voted ahead of a proven senior and it doesn't matter how great he was in H.S.-If they think that the chump from Vandy is even in the same class as Weez is then I see why they voted a freshman in front of Tyler;pre-season polls are a joke anyway and the Vols are gonna show the whole dang country about some B-Ball when the real season starts;they better go hide somewhere,'the Vols are for real and they would have won it all without a sweat IF Negadu hadn't of been lost and they still gonna put on a serious run for the title!It's great to be a Vols Fan!
VOLoom writes:
There is no other big man I would pick in the SEC. Wayne is always good and sometimes dominant.
rpenland21#231616 writes:
There actually is a new grad assistant and not a new assistant coach this year. His name is Houston Fancher. I played high school ball for his brother. Houston is a former head coach at Appy St and is a great X's and O's guy which is something I think will benefit CBP greatly.
golfballs03 writes:
yes, and i will guarantee you that he won't win. i would put the bank on it. regardless these preseason awards are the most idiotic things in sports
golfballs03 writes:
It would be like voting Kwame Brown the 2001 preseason NBA MVP
BrassMonkey writes:
Its simple. He does not deserve it yet.
volinky writes:
Ellis is still the best to ever wear the orange in my opinion. He ranks as one of the greatest 3-point shooters in NBA history and the college-game did not even have the 3-point line! Can you imagine what he would have done if it had been? He was so smooth...
volntx writes:
Dale Ellis the 6'7 senior from Marietta Georgia{in a Joe Dean voice} played with his back to the basket in college. That is what makes his NBA 3 point shooting even more amazing. Now Michael Brooks was the one who would have benifitted with a 3 point line...the best long shooter I ever saw. Best game was when these Vols upset Kentucky at stokely when they had Turpin and Bowie...I was in the student section...getting old...lol.
txvolsfan writes:
Bad post!!!
I guess SEC Championships aren't enough anymore?
That proves how great a coach Bruce is when expectations are this high
TXVOLSFAN
txvolsfan writes:
And a guy who has never played a qtr. in the SEC does????
TXVOLSFAN
volfan2002 writes:
Pre-season means nothing. His play on the court will make him All SEC and I think this will be his best season at UT.
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
I don't know this Coach Fancher, but if he knows anything about half court offenses and how to attack zone defenses then he'll know more than Bruce. If we can get away from bombs away playground basketball, have a decent half court offense and rebound and play defense - we'll win the SEC!
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
You are dead-on about Michael Brooks. I was stunned when he was left off that recent declaration of the greatest basketball vols. There was no better outside shooter (w/exception to A. Houston and maybe T. White) and with the 3 pt shot would have probably been in the list of the top 5 scorers in vol history.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Too bad he doesn't have any eligibility left(;-P)! By the time he left UT, he was, IMHO, the most complete front-court player UT ever had. And yes, I am a HUGE fan of both Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld. I like Ellis over both of them because Ellis was both a better pure shooter and better defender than either of them. He had better post moves than Grunfeld and more range than King. He was a shut-down defender at any front-court position. Let the personal attacks begin(:-D)!
As for Wayne and Tyler, I think both were hurt by the perception that the team under-performed last year. Also, I think Wayne is still perceived as "soft" inside because of his tendency to drift outside too much on offense and many observers aren't sure what Tyler's best position is. As CBP says, the best way to prove the voters wrong is to succeed on the court. Even so, I still can't get over OGILVY of all people beating Wayne out for 2d-team All-SEC. For the life of me, it seems Ogilvy has disappeared in nearly every big game Vandy has had since he has been there.
D_VOL writes:
The preseason all sec team doesn't matter, I would rather be on the all sec team at the end of the season.
volsunited writes:
Preseason teams really mean nothing but i gotta give them credit for at least holding john wall to the 2nd team all sec, other writers have him in the All-American team. He is gonna be great but cmon
halloffamebowler writes:
Somewhere I missed that hire.Who is he?
Bigger_Al writes:
That's alright. I'll take Wayne over Ogilvie or Patterson.
Let's kick some tail.
asleep#212036 writes:
I would say that Chris Lofton was a better shooter than Brooks but not nearly as dangerous a passer and sure couldn't defend or run the floor like Michael. Oh what Pearl could have done with him!
asleep#212036 writes:
I probably wouldn't be quite so harsh on ol' Bruce but it does seem that even when we were at our best, the way to take us down was to slow us down and make us run a half-court game. Pearl's teams have never been able to do it and it was only Lofton's routine scoring outbursts that got us through. I know the D wasn't where Pearl wanted it last year but another issue was guard play and perimeter scoring. If you can't slow it down and score from the outside against a packed in zone, then you will not be able to win against every type of team thus your chances of winning at the highest levels are greatly diminished. Let's see what Goins can do at point and what a more experienced group of defenders can do with the up-tempo D. Looks like a promising year but we have to have perimeter scoring, period. Go Vols!!!
tallfry writes:
wayne is the man!! best player we've got, no question. ogilvy? are you serious? softer than charmin!!! oh well. i'll bet if you asked vandy who they'd prefer, they'd take wayne in a heartbeat. chism in your face!
bill#1374014 writes:
Chism is very good, but Patrick Patterson is the best big man in the SEC, bar none. The league should be much better this year, but UK is so loaded at every position it won't be close.
CoachFulmer writes:
Arguably the best player on our team.
brentrod writes:
Chism is a good player. He might be great this year. Hopefully he won't pull any more stunts like that stupid pass at the end against OK State though.
brentrod writes:
Chism is a good player. He might be great this year. I hope that he doesn't pull any more stunts like that stupid pass again OK State last year.
Stokes44yrs writes:
Good List! Why? Because I think Chism can play with any of them. Yeh I'm a Chism fan. Can you imagine last year without him? Can he improve? Yes. So can any one on this list. It's just a list till they get on the court.
C'mon Chism show us your talent...even better show us your TEAM skills. please?
chad_t31 writes:
Probably tons of bluegrass dollars too. In all seriousness though, he does look like a great player. I'm already happy about him leaving after this season. It's a shame he'll probably have no wins to his credit during his only collegiate season. Blame calimari.
MikeInTN writes:
He gets voted off because of that da** head band he continues to wear!!!!!!!
volsunited writes:
Really another post about the headband that got old 3 seasons ago. Get over it the kid has his own style
murrayvol writes:
No it wouldn't.
murrayvol writes:
And the good news is we only have to put up with him for a year.
murrayvol writes:
We had nobody who could play consistent and solid on the ball defense i.e. no JuJuan Smith.
Whether we do this year or not remains to be seen. Maybe Goins. Maybe not.
murrayvol writes:
And the Athletic Offices @ UK is about to be full of NCAA spooks.
Cal better invest well over the next 4-5 years because he'll leave UK "toes up as a D-1 coach".
Down_The_Field writes:
that and wins over mediocre teams like.....flar-duh.
FlaVol2 writes:
Make them pay with your sterling play, Wayne. You deserve better. Go Vols!!!
tennrich1 writes:
How many times must i tell you guys...I know this man....He is NO Tennessee fan...He does this stuff and laughs at you when you respond...WHY would anyone read his comment and then respond ....its Nanny-Nanny Boo Boo stuff..first grade stuff for pete sakes....please dont waste a post on here responding to that because we who want viable material have to stop and scan it before we move on...Sorry for the rant...Go Vols
Orangeblood13 writes:
GO EARN YOUR RESPECT GUYS, make em feel it in the scoreboard and your play
carolinasmokey writes:
I would vote for you to leave the website . . . you dork.
kazoo writes:
First, who gives a C-rap about preseason all-sec? It's meaningless. Second, Chism is a decent to above average player, but certainly not anywhere close to elite.
RE the team in genera: Lofton made a huge number of treys for a couple of years and basically made an OK team good. Without a shooter like that, the Vols have reverted to mediocre. They should be improved this year, but the need consistent outside shooting, they need to learn to play better, smart half-court basketball, and get back to playing tough defense. Has for Prince...ehhh.
Slystone writes:
Ellis was silky smooth, but not the best Vol. That would go to Bernard King.
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