Posts Tagged ‘Jodie Meeks’

It’s a rainy and stormy afternoon here in Knoxville, but Tyler Smith is brightening the day for Tennessee hoops.

Smith announced he’s going to stay for his senior season. Obviously this is good news, because Tyler’s the best player on Tennessee’s team. Additionally, Smith will be the fifth senior Vol for next year, alongside Wayne Chism, J.P. Prince, Bobby Maze, and Josh Tabb (walk-on Quinn Cannington is also a senior). A nice senior core for the Vols as they look to add a second SEC Title in four years. At this point, your way early SEC favorites have to be (in no particular order) Kentucky with the Jodie Meeks-Patrick Patterson combo and influx of studs, defending champs LSU with Tasmin Mitchell (who’s been at LSU since Stromile Swift) and Marcus Thornton, and Tennessee.

Welcome back, Tyler

A couple of other notes: first, a shout-out to bosgap at Losers With Socks who called this 9 days ago. Now I wouldn’t say they were going too terribly far out on that limb, but kudos to those guys scooping this, adding another feather in their hat of breaking news well in advance.

Secondly, a shout-out of thanks and best wishes to Philip Jurick, who is transferring and thus providing a way for Tyler to come back by opening up a scholarship. I saw Jurick play a little bit at last year’s Rocky Top League, and while I saw some promise, I also saw a project of sorts. He showed some really positive inside defense but his offensive game was very lacking. With Tyler’s return and the addition of Kenny Hall to the Chism-Brian Williams-Emmanuel Negedu platoon, I highly doubt Jurick would have been able to break into the big-man rotation next year.

Speaking of the Rocky Top League, last year I took upon myself the task of “covering” it using the start I started out with – “The View From The Hill.” I went every night and took some video and some pictures and mental notes and observations, and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I won’t be able to do that this year, as I won’t be able to go every night and I’ll miss the first week of it. That said, if you’re in Knoxville on a Monday or Wednesday the next three weeks, do head over to Bearden High School and watch some games.

Sure, there’s no air-conditioning and outside of the Tennessee players the other competitors are small college or high school players, but it’s a cool experience. Of course it’s glorified pick-up basketball with referees and clock, and the defense is highly lacking, but nowhere else will you get this close to the Vol players. If you’ve got kids, I can almost guarantee you will get autographs from the entire team, as well as some other former Vols like everybody’s favorite Dane Bradshaw, and a couple of my personal favorite former Vols Ron Slay and C.J. Watson.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the best part…IT’S FREE

– … to me.

Weekend Recap and Such

First things first, it’s snowing in Knoxville today. Although it’s stopped (temporarily?) this might be the first time I’ve seen snow actually stick to the ground in my time here in Knoxville (almost three years). I’m from Memphis, and it never snows there, so safe to say it’s pretty cool. Also an interesting little tidbit, as I was walking from my class to TRECS (yes, I spend lots of time there), I saw Renaldo Woolridge and Emmanuel Negedu in a mini-snowball fight. Those guys are from Nigeria and California (although Negedu did got to school in New Hampshire), so snow’s probably new to them too. Of course it’s ridiculously cold yet again, but I guess that’s how it’s gotta be for snow…

From my phone: Circle Park at 11 this morning...

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Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack!

Week 2

Through 15 January 2009

Here is my ballot for Week 2 of the 2009 SEC Basketball Power Poll.  As always, you can see the final poll results which will be posted over at Garnet and Black Attack.

Anyway, here’s my ballot, along with a feeble attempt at explaining why I’m such a moron.

In all its radiant glory:

So there you have it, my thoughts on the state of SEC Basketball for this week.

The Rest of the Power Poll

Now that you have wasted your time looking at my ballot, go check out what everybody else is saying over at Garnet and Black Attack, where the final poll results will be posted Thursday-ish.

– Go Figure …

Does this post really need any other name?

When Meeks had 26 and Kentucky had a 41-37 halftime lead, I kept telling myself and by friends watching the game with me from the student section that he was going to have to cool off eventually. At some point his legs would away and his shot would stop falling. Or maybe, just maybe, we’d come out and play lockdown defense and at least get up in the tight blue Nike #23 jersey Meeks was wearing.

Shows what I know…

What else could Tennessee have done?

First off, mad props to Mr. Meeks. Dude cemented himself into all that Kentucky lore, history and tradition with his performance, one that many Wildcat fans believe is the start of their ascension back to national relevancy and the top of the SEC. I hate Kentucky basketball in the same category as the Florida-Alabama-Georgia football triumvirate of hate, but you have to tip your hat to the guy for scoring 54 points. On the road. On ESPN.

After dwelling on Tuesday night, thoughts filled with visions of Meeks draining jumpers from all over TBA, I have nothing. I mean, what can you do? The best comparison I have is to when LeBron James scored 29 of the Cavaliers’ last 30 points in a playoff win in Detroit. What were the Pistons to do to stop the guy? Sometimes in the game of basketball no defense (which many argue is what the Vols play) can stop a single player from scoring at will. What can you do?

I know, Jodie Meeks is no LeBron James. Granted. But I didn’t think Tennessee’s defense was all that awful Tuesday night. OK, any time some guy on the other team hangs 54 on you in your own gym your defense is atrocious, yes, but I thought it was better than on Dionte Christmas in the Temple debacle and last week against Gonzaga.

Once you get past the lingering feelings of shock and “Did that really just happen?” you feel terribly embarrassed. The Vols were torched by Christmas, by Belmont’s Alex Renfroe, Kansas’ Sherron Collins, Gonzaga’s Matt Bouldin. But none of those guys scored 54 freakin’ points. In Thompson-Boling. In the hoops equivalent of the Alabama game. And you think I/you are embarrassed? Think about the players.

Give Tyler some help!

Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism need help. Both those guys seem to me to be doing everything they possibly can. I see effort from the rest of the guys, and I’m not going to question their heart. But let’s just say the basketball IQ on this Tennessee team is lacking – big-time. Some would say it has been for a couple years now and Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith were able to bail Tennessee out with their shooting. I have lamented the poor defensive communication already. This team has several glaring weaknesses, and the most troubling aspect of all this is that Tennessee’s been exposed a number of times.

Honestly, I don’t know what to think or expect with this team anymore. The rate of opposing guards setting career-highs is very alarming, and as down as everyone says the SEC is this season, these guys have all got to be eagerly awaiting their shot at Tennessee: South Carolina’s Devan Downey twice (Saturday night is Round 1), Memphis State’s Antonio Anderson and Tyreke Evans, LSU’s Marcus Thornton, Florida’s Nick Calathes twice, Arkansas’ Courtney Fortson and Stefan Welsh, Auburn’s DeWayne Reed, and Alabama’s Ronald Steele and Senario Hillman.

Oh, and Tennessee plays Meeks and Kentucky again. In Rupp. February 20th.

So now what? The first positive that came to mind is that Tennessee’s struggles this season will likely keep the fringe basketball fans in the UT student population from coming to any games other than Memphis or Florida. This of course means less of the whole waiting two hours in the cold part of going to games. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for that and it’s enjoyable and part of the whole experience – but let’s be reasonable.

For me, I’m going to take the approach I took during football season: LOW EXPECTATIONS. Why? I honestly had high hopes for this season. I had high hopes for the Gonzaga and Kentucky games, and left frustrated and disappointed each time. Considering the football season we all just experienced – yes, I know we’re all excited now for the future and all – I think that’s a great way to handle the frustration and losses that are still likely to come unfortunately.

I’m also not worried at all right now about the NCAA Tournament, the Bubble or any of that. It’s still mid-January and there’s 15 games left on the year. Taking it just one game at a time. As Ghost over at 3SIB said yesterday, just leave it to Bruce Pearl. This would be a good idea…

– … to me.

Images Courtesy of: Amy Smotherman Burgess / Knoxville News-Sentinel

Final Statistics:  Kentucky 90 • Tennessee 72

Postgame:  Quotes • Box Score

Well, so much for being optimistic.  Despite their best efforts, the Tennessee Volunteers were whipped by the Kentucky Wildcats 90-72 last night.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Jodie Meeks whipped the BasketVols—his school-record 54 points building a wall that the Vols had no hope of overcoming.  ESPN’s SportsCenter crew rather pointedly noted, Meeks was unstoppable, putting on an absolute clinic in front of the 20,474 in attendance at the Tommy Bowl.  Here are the highlights courtesy of ESPN.com:

Kentucky Bests Tennessee | ESPN.com

As if watching Meeks break Dan Issel’s 39 year-old single-game scoring record wasn’t enough, the Vols did not exactly do themselves any favors.  The Vols only shot 37.9 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from behind the arc.  On top of Meeks’ display and the Wildcats’ 56.6 percent shooting percentage, Kentucky piled it on by hitting 12 of 19 three point shots (63.2 percent), and hitting 90 percent of their free-throws.

After trailing by four at the half, Tennessee cut the deficit to only two points early in the second period.  Led by Meeks, however, Kentucky responded by stretching its legs and jumping out to a 15-point lead.  Tennessee refused to go quietly, however, cutting Kentucky’s lead down to 8 points, 71-64, with 6:52 remaining in the game.  That push by the Orange quickly faded, however, as the Vols scored only one point to Kentucky’s nine over the next 3 minutes.  From there, Kentucky glided on home to take the Victory, and the lead in the SEC East.

Chism Looks on in Disappointment

After the game Coach Pearl pointed to a lack of confidence as a key to the Vols poor showing, especially when it came to defensive play at guard, who at times appeared to be standing still Kentucky pushed the ball up.

Kentucky was clearly the better team, and we thought we could beat them if we played well. Our guys wanted this one, and they worked hard for it.  We play our best when everybody contributes, but that was not happening tonight.

— Coach Bruce Pearl Commenting on the Loss to Kentucky

Still, there were bright spots, as Tennessee led in turnovers 15 to 6, but only managed a total of 16 points of of those turnovers.

On the whole, Tennessee’s defense did not look as bad as its offense.  Again, the BasketVols found themselves vexed by another bout with “inconsistent inconsistency.”  Once again, the men in Orange will have to sit down and try to figure out how to bridge the gap between valiant effort and often excellent individual play (Tyler Smith 19 points, 2 rebounds • Wayne Chism 19 points, 9 rebounds , Bobby Maze 11 points, 2 rebounds), and the mystical nirvana of playing a complete game as a team.  It would also be nice to finally figure out the answer to why the guard play has been so disappointing.

With this loss, Tennessee falls to 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in SEC play.  Up next the Vols face the 12-1 (1-0 SEC) South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at 6:00pm at the Tommy Bowl.

Needless to say, the Vols will be focused on exacting a little revenge when they meet the Wildcats again on 21 February, at Rupp Arena.  Hopefully, they will be ready to go then.

To reach that point, however, the Vols have a long way to go…

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: KNS / Amy Smotherman Burgess