Tennessee Men's Basketball
The Tennessee men's basketball opening exhibition game against North Alabama had a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde element about it.
The Vols treated their fans to a 117-79 victory over Division II North Alabama on Friday night before an announced crowd of 18,362.
But UT coach Bruce Pearl saw plenty of warts in his 10th-ranked Vols throughout the performance.
"We like to call it 'Controlled Chaos,' '' Pearl said, referring to the pressure style UT utilized his first three years as head coach. "But I'm not sure it wasn't more chaos than controlled tonight.
"The game was too sloppy, but it's a starting point.''
UT sophomore Scotty Hopson enjoyed the strongest and most consistent performance, scoring a team-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, including making 4 of 5 beyond the 3-point arc.
But even Hopson showed areas to improve as he failed to get to the free-throw line and had the ball stolen on drives.
"He got stripped and ripped,'' Pearl said. "His arms are so long, he exposes the ball; he's got to do a better job protecting the ball and playing through contact.
Skylar McBee, a freshman walk-on from Grainger High School, provided more fire-support from the shooting guard position. McBee scored 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting beyond the arc while making 3 of 4 free throws.
McBee admitted he had stars in his eyes taking the floor for the team he once dreamed of playing for.
"I don't think words can describe it,'' McBee said. "Playing in front of these fans, my friends and family . . . the nerves were there at first.''
Hopson and McBee's perimeter efforts set the tone. Collectively, UT made 10 of its 17 3-point attempts (58.8 percent). The Vols ranked last in the SEC last season in 3-point field-goal percentage.
Pearl praised the play of freshman center Kenny Hall and senior point guard Bobby Maze. Hall scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, and Maze had nine assists and just one turnover.
And yet, both Maze and Hall agreed with their coach that the victory left much to be desired.
"It's good this was an exhibition and we got to knock some rust off,'' Maze said. "We're not ready for November 13.''
Hall said he, too, needs a lot of improvement before the Vols' regular-season opener against Austin Peay on Nov. 13 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
"I'm disappointed I didn't get as many defensive rebounds (three) as I wanted,'' Hall said.
Sophomore Renaldo Woolridge, who switched from playing primarily on the wing to power forward, said he likes his new role.
"I think I have as many opportunities for 3-point shots, if not more,'' said Woolridge, who made 2 of 3 attempts beyond the arc despite playing with a sore wrist. "Plus, I'm closer to the basket where I can rebound more.''
Pearl elected to sit out Brian Williams, Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism one half apiece in order to experiment with different rotations.
Jared Strode led North Alabama with 20 points and former UT walk-on Brett Jackson scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
The Vols next play Lincoln-Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in their final exhibition game.
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Comments » 25
hillsborovol writes:
Hall is going to be a beast!
Lean_and_Hungry writes:
I agree. I saw him in the Rocky Top league, and if nothing else, he hustles on each end of the court...love his style and his toughness.
wayoutwill writes:
I belive McBee's fine shooting will win some games for us this year and don't you guys get the feeling that CBP sounds like the guy that just took a test drive in a hot rod and was shocked by the raw power of the hot rod... aka Vols B-Ball Team!
richvol writes:
You must be right justsayno...to give up 80 points to a division II school indicates terrible defense and that was a continuing problem from last year. We'll see how they develop but if we don't play better defense than this it will be a long season.
Phowell23 writes:
It was an exhibition game guys, lighten up on the defense complaints. The defense will be there on our opener.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Not sold on the controlled chaos thing; most quality teams with a decent point guard end up exploiting the press;too many times it all ends up in a easy dunk that fires up the other team instead of a turnover..The chaos on offense is UT running and we already know how to do that;which just comes down to chemistry and playing time..Good to see Scotty off to a hot start..Hopson and Tatum must hit 3's to open up what could be a great inside game
txvolsfan writes:
I like the controlled chaos when used correctly. Even with a good point guard you get some errant passes. It is similar to the D that Nolan ran at Arkansas that was so successful.
Love Coach Pearl.
I bet there is no FBS school in the country that have more energetic coaches than UT.
Pearl, Summitt and Kiffin.
You get more energy out of those three than you do out of Oak Ridge!!!
GO VOLS
TXVOLSFAN
King30 writes:
Geez guys...what the hell? You're acting like we just opened up against UCLA or somebody and got killed. This was the 1st exhibition game and we won by 38 with only one of our projected starters playing 20 minutes or more.
And JUSTSAYNO, I was at the game too and you were way too hard on McBee for his defense. I guess you just wanted to drag out an old line that hasn't been fresh since the days of Widby. He's a Freshman WALKON for crying out loud! I imagine you said the same thing when you first saw Lofton, and he turned out ok. McBee's certainly quicker than our beloved Chris was when he got here.
Forcing 28 turnovers the first time you take the court together is pretty good, in my book. Especially against a guard-proven team.
Kenny Hall's gonna be a BEAST!
Oh, and Bob Kesling, please try to learn to say Go-ins instead of Go-INGS or Go-EENS. And, it's "height", not "heigth".
RTYAB
Ironcity writes:
Thanks for the update guys. Just an FYI, its no use trying to help Kessling. He is a hopeless case. Worst play by play announcer in the SEC. I bet he is pretty cheap though.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
I guess it just goes to show how passionate we are about this years team..Haven't seen Hall play but you guys are really high on him which makes me even more excited
mtvols writes:
I agree too much complaining. Chism and T. Smith did not play at all in the 2nd half.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I didn't see the game and was out of the house part of the evening so I didn't even listen to it. If you will look at my post on the pre-game article, justsayno's critique looks like the kinds of things CBP might say to the team about what they need to work on. That is the purpose of such a game. No one needs to take the attitude that the sky is falling because of the sloppy play or that we will kill everybody because we scored 117 points and won by 38 over a D-II team.
The most encouraging thing to me was the good 3-pt shooting. It is all but immaterial to say that those shots won't be there in real games. If the shots aren't there, that means opponents are out defending along the arc instead of sitting in Wayne's and Tyler's laps. If the opponents ARE packed inside, the outside shooters are shooting free and an open shot is an open shot no matter who the opponent is. Making them in games is just a matter of confidence, and whether shooters get nervous because the other team has "Kentucky" on their jerseys rather than "North Alabama" is a completely different issue.
tennrich1 writes:
Couple of things...
1. THis defense IS not about making stops on every possession..its just not possible and isnt really designed for that...it creates turnovers (occasionally) that lead to easy baskets on the offensive end
2. Skylar IS NOT on the floor for his quickness or defense...Now if he gives us some as he matures that icing...He's there for his ability to generate points from the perimeter...which does what...open up the inside game...which boiled to its simplest form is what college basketball is all about....
3. These exhibition games ARE NOT for displaying how adept you are at any phase of the game...just to show where we need the most work...there's several other points but i despise long post...
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Well said. Another use for pressure defense and the end-to-end game is to tire out the other team and lower their offensive efficiency by making them play faster than they want to. In some respects, opponent turnovers are just a bonus in the up-tempo game, IF a team really CAN score in their own transition game.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Good Point...It's strange how the 3 point shot has become a more important part of the game every year..If Skylar can knock em down so be it! Especially if Tatum and Hopson are having a cold night shooting; which is about 50% of the time
SeanJean writes:
In regards to justsayno's comments, he is spot on. I was thinking the exact same things to myself when I was watching the game. Those are very worth critiques, and for those of you who are taking offense and disagreeing with him, you simply aren't being realistic. My thoughts:
1) Still incredibly sloppy on offense. No flow to the offense, terrible passes, terrible ball handling, out of control drives, etc. A lot of the same things we saw last year, except again, this was against a Div 2 team. Most of the turnovers weren't even forced, they were just careless play or poor concentration. This just shouldn't happen. I'm sorry.
2) I do not see how Cameron Tatum gets on the floor. Again, against a Div 2 team, he looked completely lost. Turnovers, terrible passes, bad fouls, getting beat off the dribble, bad shots, etc. He adds nothing to this team, and I do not get how he gets on the floor. I can only hope McBee takes some of his minutes, because this guy kills me to watch. JP Prince isn't much better. These guys don't appear to have gotten one iota better since they first got on campus.
3) Brian Williams looked pretty good in the second half. He seemed quicker, he was more aggressive on the boards and on defense. A very positive sign. I hope the intensity continues beyond the exhibition games.
4) Hopson looked great. His shot was dead on, and he was more aggressive. I'd like to see him off the dribble a bit more and go to the basket, but I think that has a lot to do with how open he was on the perimeter in this game. Shot looked great though.
5) McBee can stroke it. He's a pure shooter. It's obvious, and I'm excited to have a legit perimeter shooter this year. Should open things up for Tyler and Wayne inside.
6) As justsayno said, the defense was pretty bad. Once the team got beyond the press, there was basically no resistance. No help rotation, open layups, getting beat off the dribble. Again, this is an effort thing. This isn't about ability. I saw a lot of people watching baskets go in without even putting their hands up. That can't happen. Kenny Hall and Brian Williams not included. They got after it.
Bottom line: We were winning that game by 30 without even breaking a sweat, but we didn't look like a top 10 team at all. It may be nitpicky, but it's true. There is still a lot of work to be done. We obviously have more physical talent than we know what to do with, I'm just still not convinced we have an offensive identity, and the turnovers and poor defense have to get better.
smokies_old_soul writes:
still weak on D ??
i really don't think coach pearl knows how to teach defense. he hasn't done it yet. i watch those kids on the defensive end of the floor and they don't seem to know the first thing about positioning or ball-me-man or rotating to help.
ya' know, coach devoe is back living in knoxville - let him spend a few weeks with this team and put them thru his man-to-man drills. they might learn a little something about defensive fundamentals and effort.
SeanJean writes:
Hey, I completely understand it was an exhibition game. I'm just making my observations. I'm not mad at anybody. People in the comment section don't seem to understand constructive criticism.
utvol2485 writes:
McBee for three!
Fryinpansvols writes:
Just by what I read in the box score in todays Tennessean UT has several things to improve on but most importantly not turning the ball over. The Vols had way too many turnovers I think it was like 24 or 26. Cameron Tatum had 6. But hey, this was an exibition and thats why they play them. Pearl will have them ready come November 13th. GBO!
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
in pearl we trust.....go vols
VOLKING writes:
You are wrong....as usual. We just don't like interlopers on here, like you, trying to inform us of your vast knowledge of idiocy. It seems our pre-season ranking and going to the NCAA Tourney every year speaks for itself. Even ESPN is saying last year was a great coaching job by Pearl, given the talent level and the lack of a true point guard. Tell you what, Memphis loper, I'll buy you a stump for Christmas and you can argue with that. Until then, have fun eating your Halloween candy, kiddo.
Slystone writes:
LMAO on the 94' or 94", appreciate the insight justsayno, I think I'll wait a bit on judging how good this team is. However; I do think that the point guard play, perimeter shooting and defense are critical areas that Pearl knows has to be addressed in order for the Vols to really advance beyond the Sweet 16.
kazoo writes:
I cringe when I hear the term "controlled chaos"--because it usually means sloppy basketball, which we've seen with UT in recent years. It's easy to play uptempo, but playing good, uptempo--where you are scoring baskets and keeping the other team from easy baskets--is very difficult; only UNC and a handful of other programs can do it.
DC_Vol writes:
Ditto! Biggest UT Fan. GBO!
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