Not Ready For Prime Time

[shadow force]

The Cards were definitely not ready for a top 15 ranked team today.

Some areas of concern:

The offense struggled mightily the entire game except for a few short spurts. Couldn't get good shots, shot selection was bad, and UT defense smothered the Cards.

Defense was bad. Way too many blow bys, closeouts weren't good, and UT scored with ease all game.

Got DESTROYED on the boards on 40-26. Rebounding was an area of concern even in the exhibition games. Again, lack of post/inside presence was noticeable.

Lack of elite athletes was very noticeable in comparison to UT players.

Careless TOs by the Cards. They forced some on UT as well but couldn't capitalize on them.

 

[UofLouisville]

The Cards were definitely not ready for a top 15 ranked team today.

Some areas of concern:

The offense struggled mightily the entire game except for a few short spurts. Couldn't get good shots, shot selection was bad, and UT defense smothered the Cards.

Defense was bad. Way too many blow bys, closeouts weren't good, and UT scored with ease all game.

Got DESTROYED on the boards on 40-26. Rebounding was an area of concern even in the exhibition games. Again, lack of post/inside presence was noticeable.

Lack of elite athletes was very noticeable in comparison to UT players.

Careless TOs by the Cards. They forced some on UT as well but couldn't capitalize on them.

Your gonna get buried on the boards when you miss 40+ shots. Also only made a handful of shots inside the arc.

 

[shadow force]

Your gonna get buried on the boards when you miss 40+ shots. Also only made a handful of shots inside the arc.

Is there a way to fix that with these players? If the answer is no, then any off shooting night or really good 3 pt line defensive team will have a great shot to beat UofL.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

It's the reality check.

 

[Cardiac Red]

We're a lot better team than we showed today. When you live by the 3 you die by the 3. Today we died by it. I seriously doubt we even get close to the 8 for 40 or whatever it was from 3 like we did today. A lot of that was Tennessee's defense but just as much we were just missing open shots..

Sure there were other things like rebounding and letting the shot clock run out a few times but those things were more about Tennessee just being better than us..

 

[UofLouisville]

Seemed they were afraid of driving and trying to finish at the basket. Going to need more than a formula of shooting 3's to be successful. Also don't think we will see more than a few teams that can play that type of defense.

 

[Thecycle27]

Seemed they were afraid of driving and trying to finish at the basket. Going to need more than a formula of shooting 3's to be successful. Also don't think we will see more than a few teams that can play that type of defense.

Smith was the only guy that played fearless. May not see better defense but Louisville has to be better on defense as well or it won’t matter how hot they get from 3.

My biggest takeaway was Louisville wasn’t athletic outside of Pryor. Very average. Been a common theme for a long time.

 

[earsky]

All this said,if some shots fall early,it's a different game with the crowd then getting to impact it more. I ain't worried yet,but we have to be higher IQ about what we're doing in the half court.

 

[2330859]

Lack of interior presence concerns me a lot more than our poor 3 point shooting. Even when having position to rebound, the Vols athletic superiority allowed them to rebound over our backs without fouling, and defending against those few times we had shots inside the paint.

We looked small, so much so that I had to go back and look at our roster to confirm that we have sufficient height on the floor; we do, just insufficient strength and athleticism.

One positive …… these kids never seemed to quit.

 

[earsky]

Scott's two quick fouls at the start of the game really hurt. There is a definite need for one more presence off the bench.

 

[nccardfan]

Scott's two quick fouls at the start of the game really hurt. There is a definite need for one more presence off the bench.

Actually I think that's why he starts and why Pryor/Waterman come off the bench. Try to get whatever you can from him. Got really nothing from him though yesterday, sad to say.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Scott's two quick fouls at the start of the game really hurt. There is a definite need for one more presence off the bench.

This was my concern with the middle. Scott is still just a SOPH that didn't start @ Charleston last year. In a perfect scenario, he's your energy guy off the bench and accumulating fouls for him is irrelevant in a 10-15 min role.

So he's either going to have to develop very quickly or they might need to take a look at letting him play off the pine where his game might be better suited.

 

[nccardfan]

This was my concern with the middle. Scott is still just a SOPH that didn't start @ Charleston last year. In a perfect scenario, he's your energy guy off the bench and accumulating fouls for him is irrelevant in a 10-15 min role.

So he's either going to have to develop very quickly or they might need to take a look at letting him play off the pine where his game might be better suited.

I think we started off at least 2 of our exhibitions with Scott getting dunks. I think that was by design. Kelsey knows that as soon as he enters the game, he's going to foul and hence he gets nothing out of him. Unfortunately it happened when he started as well. Plus he knows he can't have Pryor and Waterman picking up early fouls guarding other team's big. I do think having Khalifa would have made us better inside. At least that is my theory.

 

[shadow force]

Might have to try Frank if nothing more than to use his 5 fouls. I mean he isn't a world beater but seemed reasonably athletic. He's also slim though so not adding much beef inside. But I'd say give him a shot.

 

[shadow force]

Smith was the only guy that played fearless. May not see better defense but Louisville has to be better on defense as well or it won’t matter how hot they get from 3.

My biggest takeaway was Louisville wasn’t athletic outside of Pryor. Very average. Been a common theme for a long time.

Smith really impressed me in this game. Seemed like the only one up for the moment and wasn't intimidated at all.

He's a gunner but was our only source of scoring in the second half that was effective at all. His defense was also pretty darn good. Much better than I has assumed.