Tennessee Volunteers Breakdown

Last season the Cats and Vols clashed in their first match-up of the season at Rupp Arena on January 22. The Vols entered the game with a 17-1 record, while the Cats had just lost two in a row and had seven wins and nine losses. However, the Volunteers quickly found out that wins at Rupp are not easy to come by as they fell 72-66. Patrick Patterson and Perry Stevenson both nearly finished with double doubles. In their second contest in Knoxville the Vols barely escaped, 63-60, even though the Cats were playing without Patterson.

Kentucky found success against Tennessee in their most successful season ever. We are talking about a season where they were ranked AP #1 for the first time ever and recorded a school-record 31 wins. This has to make you wonder does Billy Gillispie have Tennessee’s number a little bit?

In his fourth year at Tennessee, Bruce Pearl has turned the Volunteers into a Top 20 basketball program. Not only is Pearl a great coach and recruiter, he is also a tremendous marketer. He simply knows how to promote a basketball program and one simple way to do that is to take on all comers. Pearl realizes when you play good competition you will find yourself on ESPN and therefore gain exposure.

This year the Vols have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation. They played Georgetown (W, 90-78) and Gonzaga (L, 74-83) at the Milk House in Florida, they lost at Temple (L, 72-88), where they succumbed to Pinkie favorite, Dionte Christmas, beat Marquette (W, 80-68) in the Big East/SEC Challenge, lost at Kansas (L, 85-92) and then played Gonzaga (L, 79-89) again, this time at home and lost.

Tennessee enters the UK game with a 10-4 record and rallied late in their last contest to defeat Georgia in Athens, 86-77. The Volunteer philosophy is quite simple; deny the ball on inbounds and push, push, push when on offense.

They are always pushing the ball in transition as they look for early offensive opportunities on the break. They get it off the glass, push it up the court quick to create numbers, look up the floor and explore their opportunities. Because they create numbers and get up the court so quickly, sometimes the best pass for the Volunteers is a missed shot in transition. On missed shots the Vols usually have more orange jerseys at their end of the court and if defenders do get down court they often struggle to find a body to block out or encounter match up problems.

When they aren’t in transition, look for their guards to attempt to get in the lane and kick to shooters. Junior College transfer Bobby Maze (6-2, guard) is the best Vol at getting into the middle and creating. Georgia attempted to 2-3 zone the Vols to limit penetration but still struggled to do so. If you are zoning and you still can’t contain penetration, you should probably get out of it pretty quickly. I do not look for the Cats to zone the Vols at all, simply because Billy Gillispie hardly ever zones, but one reason to use it is because it keeps you from chasing these Vols all over the court.

On the defensive side of things the Vols are known for their denial in their full court man-to-man set. The key to this defense is putting the tall, lanky Wayne Chism (6-9, forward) on the ball, blocking the inbounders vision. In their last 84 games they have caused a ridiculous 320 turnovers, forced 64 timeouts and 30 five second violations, all on inbound plays. However, this denial has not been as effective this season as Pearl is playing with one of the youngest backcourts in the country.

After transferring from Iowa, Tyler Smith (6-7, forward) really busted onto the scene last season, proving he was one of the best players in the conference. This season he is picking up right where he left off. He leads the team in scoring with 17.7 points-per-game, in assists with 4.1, is second in rebounding with 6.4 and is shooting nearly 50-percent from the floor. Smith’s length and athleticism on the wing is a real asset in Tennessee’s up-tempo system.

Chism is not just a vision blocker in their full court denial; he also gives the Vols one of the best post players in the SEC. He also has the ability to step back and knock down fifteen footers and is a tremendous rebounder. He is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.4 points and 9.1 rebounds.

All of Tennessee’s guards are new to the program. Maze, the JC transfer, is their best point guard while freshmen Cameron Tatum (6-6, guard) and Scotty Hopson (6-7, guard) are their best scorers. Hopson is the better shooter of the two but both are long guards who have the ability to play the wing as well.

You can’t forget about the play of J.P. Prince (6-7, forward) who does a little bit of everything for the Vols. Still, Prince sometimes lacks the aggressiveness necessary to really star.

The key to beating this team is simply getting the ball inbounds, taking good shots, getting back in transition and forcing them to run a half court offense. They are extremely athletic but sometimes lack discipline on the defensive and offensive ends. This is one reason why Kentucky had success against them last season.

Don’t get me wrong this will be an extremely tough game. The winner gets a head start in the race for the SEC title. If the Cats can limit their turnovers, which is a huge IF, they will stay in this game. If it comes down to late possessions I like the Cats’ chances.