Tip-off!!!
Tonight is the night. Basketball season finally begins tonight. With UT set to tip off against MTSU at 7:30 tonight, the second season of the Bruce Pearl era begins. What can Bruce do with his second team, which is the youngest he has ever coached? Well, going into tonight, here are a couple of things to look for:
1) TV. For those in the Knoxville and Nashville areas, you are in luck. The game is being picked up by local stations in those areas, with the game being aired on MyTV in Knoxville (channel 8 on Comcast). Hopefully, this won't turn away a crowd that should be great.
2) Chris Lofton. Lofton was quiet in the first two exhibition games. Tonight, we find out if he was just trying to focus on driving to the basket, or if teams might have found a way to shut down C-Lo. I tend to lean toward the former more than the latter. Chris has an uncanny ability to turn the switch on or off. I believe Lofton was trying to focus on driving to the basket more in the exhibition games, knowing that he wasn't really needed and was focusing on improving his game. He often passed up wide open shots from behind the arc, and Im sure Pearl has talked to Chris about that. Look for Chris to be looking for his shot a little more starting tonight.
3) Coaching. Tonight, Pearl will coach against one of his former players from Wisconsin-Milwaukee Dan Weisse, a Graduate Assistant with MTSU. Dan will no doubt have an excellent scouting report on the Vols, so it will be interesting to see how the Vols can respond. The Vols will definitely try to speed up the game tonight to try to limit the size advantage the Blue Raiders have on the court.
4) Newcomers. Tonight will be the first big test for the 6 new players on this year's team. Pearl will start two freshman, Ramar Smith and Duke Crews. Playing significant minutes off the bench will be forwards Wayne Chism and Tony Passley, along with guards Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb. With the real lights turning on tonight, and the team playing against real competition, how will the new players respond? We will find out tonight.
1) TV. For those in the Knoxville and Nashville areas, you are in luck. The game is being picked up by local stations in those areas, with the game being aired on MyTV in Knoxville (channel 8 on Comcast). Hopefully, this won't turn away a crowd that should be great.
2) Chris Lofton. Lofton was quiet in the first two exhibition games. Tonight, we find out if he was just trying to focus on driving to the basket, or if teams might have found a way to shut down C-Lo. I tend to lean toward the former more than the latter. Chris has an uncanny ability to turn the switch on or off. I believe Lofton was trying to focus on driving to the basket more in the exhibition games, knowing that he wasn't really needed and was focusing on improving his game. He often passed up wide open shots from behind the arc, and Im sure Pearl has talked to Chris about that. Look for Chris to be looking for his shot a little more starting tonight.
3) Coaching. Tonight, Pearl will coach against one of his former players from Wisconsin-Milwaukee Dan Weisse, a Graduate Assistant with MTSU. Dan will no doubt have an excellent scouting report on the Vols, so it will be interesting to see how the Vols can respond. The Vols will definitely try to speed up the game tonight to try to limit the size advantage the Blue Raiders have on the court.
4) Newcomers. Tonight will be the first big test for the 6 new players on this year's team. Pearl will start two freshman, Ramar Smith and Duke Crews. Playing significant minutes off the bench will be forwards Wayne Chism and Tony Passley, along with guards Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb. With the real lights turning on tonight, and the team playing against real competition, how will the new players respond? We will find out tonight.
posted by Big Bentley at 9:11 AM
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