Tennessee's starting lineup for Thursday's exhibition opener against Division II Carson-Newman will be a game-day decision.
New UT men's basketball coach Cuonzo Martin said Tuesday he wants to see more before selecting the starting five.
"The guys have just really been battling for spots, and it's hard to get a starting five right now,'' Martin said. "We've changed things around a lot in practices and scrimmages, just trying to find solid rotations.''
Martin has said he'd ideally like to settle on a nine-man rotation this season, which officially begins on Nov. 11 with a home game against UNC Greensboro.
The exhibition game against Carson-Newman tips off at 7 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena. UT's second and final exhibition game takes place at 7 p.m. on Monday against Division II Lincoln Memorial University at the arena.
Tennessee split last season's exhibition games, defeating Brevard (N.C.) College, 91-42.
The then-No. 23 Vols' second exhibition proved historic. Division II Indianapolis became the first college team to ever beat UT in an exhibition game, and it did so convincingly, 79-64.
Of course, this season's Tennessee edition will look vastly different. Senior Cameron Tatum is the only returning starter.
Others projected to start are junior Kenny Hall at the post, junior Jeronne Maymon at power forward, sophomore Trae Golden at point guard and either junior Skylar McBee or sophomore Jordan McRae at shooting guard.
Martin said the bottom line Thursday will be finding a way to win, regardless of who plays.
"The approach is to win every game, that part is understood,'' Martin said. "I've never been a believer that losses are a good thing.''
That said, Martin said the Vols hope to use as many as 13 players against the Eagles in the exhibition opener.
In addition to the aforementioned players, senior Renaldo Woolridge, freshman Josh Richardson,
freshman Yemi Makanjuola, junior Dwight Miller, freshman Quinton Chievous and freshmen Wes Washpun and Brandon Lopez could see action.
Martin said he'll be looking for far more than what the final box score will discloses.
"You want to see the guys be good in transition defense, weak-side defense, and you want to box out,'' Martin said. "On offense, you want them to take care of the ball, cut with a purpose, screen bodies and work for good shots.
"Those are the things we talk about every day, and if we can do them every day, we have a chance to be successful.''
Winter Caravan: The UT athletic department is inviting fans to the Ray Mears Room at Thompson-Boling Arena to watch the Vols play Duke at 5 p.m. on Nov. 21. Admission is free, and The Tennessee Fund will host the event, light hors d'oeurves will be served and a special guest speaker will be on hand. Those wanting to attend must RSVP on or before Nov. 18, by calling 865-974-1218 or by visiting http://bigorangecaravanknoxville2011.eventbrite.com/
Mike Griffith covers Tennessee men's basketball. Follow him at http://twitter.com/MikeGriffith32
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Comments » 22
decades_vol writes:
I like Martin's approach. I think this team, though not as talented, will be more fundamentally sound on both ends of the court. Not sure about the W's and L's, but I think they may be better than anticipated. If they can find a couple of shooters, then they will be competitive in most of their games. We'll find out very soon with the schedule UT has.
bspurlingcac#225603 writes:
I agree with this post.
amyinsparta writes:
Me too. And look! No negative Nellies here yet. Pays to get up early! lol
underthehill writes:
I do think this team will have the type of defensive intensity we saw in some of Pearls' early years..The last half of last year was not good..I also think the outside shooters will get better looks at the basket..I also think not playing behind an untalented coach's son will prove a positive in developing talented players..like Ken Hall and Maymon.we'll soon see..
shoalcreekvol writes:
Right on. Supporting Coach Martin and the Vols all the way.
BTW I had repressed the memory of the loss to Indianapolis, so thanks for digging that one back up KNS. I owe you one.
crappieking writes:
We support you CCM!!!!
Ironcity writes:
My gut tells me the starting five tomorrow will not be close to the starting five come the SEC opener.
carbonzip writes:
I would like to see the newcomers start the CN game.
Voloyalty writes:
Cuonzo better have his team in the Sweet 16 in 2 years or I think we should think about replacing him. Its only fair, right?
CoverOrange writes:
And that's okay.
Rookie2 writes:
Looking at that roster I can see why Martin is struggling to figure out which 5 to play. Unless some of these guys have had a total transformation, this basketball season is going be about as satisfying as the football season has been.
GetSimmsandTeagueout writes:
As long as he doesn't have a son that has to play, I'll be happy.
Stokes44yrs writes:
I'm pretty sure we'll beat Carson Newman and Lincoln Memo. I'd actually bet money that we will if I had any money to bet!
UT 76 CN 22
UT 101 LM 3
I don't have any idea what the final scores will be but these first half scores are probably fair.
rockytn2jc writes:
The University of Memphis is going 2b good this year in basketball...
HooRay_Vol writes:
C- Hall
PF- Woolridge
SF- Tatum
SG- McRae
PG- Golden
An improved Wooldridge gets the nod over Maymon.
smokey-vol writes:
Who cares?
BigBoyBall writes:
exactly where is memphis anyway?
hardtimecountyvol writes:
Hasn't coached a game yet and already trying to make a case to fire him. Tennessee fans. Geeesh!
HtownVol writes:
He sure better be VERY improved. And I mean VERY much!
Woolridge has got worse since being at UT. He had one descent game against KU and thenI dont know what happened.
I doubt he is doing enough to play over Maymon. Maymon has a lot of talent (if he dont think he is a Point Guard) and he will do the dirty work. That will be the difference. Maymon plays Defense and I have never seen Woolridge play defense well. Perhaps he will for CCM.
I hope that Martin gets the most out of our "shooters".
Jordan is the best scorer we have then Tatum is hot and cold and McBee has never been the shooter we all hoped he would be.
Maymon,Hall,Woolridge and the FR Big Guys will have to be tougher than ever if UT is going to win in the SEC. We are going to be smaller than every SEC team we play and even more other teams.
If UT wins 15 games then I am willing to say Martin is a GREAT Coach.
UT does have more talent now than when Pearl took over (as in 4 star recruits) but we do not have any proven scorer like Lofton and J Smith and we do not have any true Center on the roster.
If UT wins they are going to win by out playing the bigger and more talented teams.
I will expect a team just under 500 but I will hope for the best as long as they play hard and improve every game.
GO VOLS
O Yeah... I am SO HAPPY that Steven Pearl is GONE!!! For the ones that hated me for bashing SP for the past 5 years, please just admit now that you never actually thought that kid deserved to play. There is no way that kid did any more on the court than the players that he played over. I will say that getting a few minutes per game from him helped but in no way did he ever need to play 10-15 minutes in ANY game.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Martin's one paragraph key to success he's preaching is SOLID!!Doing it in a game is another thing..Expect a lot of experimenting with these players..Call me a fool but
Tatum could do great things under Martin and out of the shadow of Harris and Hopson..Maymon has always baffled me with his "bull in a china closet play"..I never understood how he could be Mr Basketball in Wisconsin but can't make a free throw;even if you put a gun to his head.
underthehill writes:
Wrong
rockytn2jc writes:
Jhahahaha!!.....
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