The Pinkie Previews Tennessee at Kentucky: Wink’s Breakdown

After the Arkansas victory I think a lot of Big Blue Nation downplayed Patrick Patterson’s injury. Don’t get me wrong everyone knows the importance of Patterson to Kentucky’s success. However, after the Cats took care of business, and Jodie Meeks went off against the Hogs, there was a false sense of hope that Kentucky could be successful without their big man underneath. Well, against Vandy on Tuesday I think we came to the realization that Arkansas is not very good defensively and without Courtney Fortson they really struggle to create offensive opportunities.

Entering the Vanderbilt game it was my indication that if Patterson was forced to sit out the Cats would struggle a little bit defensively but they would be fine on the offensive end. I was right about one thing, and one thing only, and that was that they would struggle defensively. Deandre Liggins and A.J. Stewart guarding A.J. Ogilvy for entire possessions is not going to cut it. When they did get a stop they couldn’t get a defensive rebound. Perry Stevenson is strictly a help defender and I have said that all along. Tuesday absolutely proved that.

Offensively the Cats did struggle as Jeffrey Taylor blanketed Meeks about as well as you can. Once again they couldn’t find another scorer to step up. Just as it looked like Darius Miller could be that man, he got into foul trouble.

Still, Kentucky lost this game on the defensive end and even if Jodie did go off I still don’t believe that they leave Memorial with a victory. It is hard to believe that they have dropped four strait at Memorial.

For the Cats to be successful they need Patrick Patterson.

But, if you are going to have to play an opponent without your big man, the Vols would be up there on your list. Remember Kentucky almost beat the Vols in Knoxville last year without Mr. Patterson. If they can allow him to sit out one more game, get a victory and heal his ankle, then everything would work out perfectly. But, the most important part is getting that victory. Billy Gillispie and company can ill-afford to lose another game at Rupp.

Orange is such an ugly color

If you asked head coach Bruce Pearl if he was happy with their 16-9 record, 7-4 in conference, he would probably say no. In Pearl’s defense, 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), beat Marquette (W, 80-68) in the Big East/SEC Challenge, lost at Kansas (L, 85-92), played Gonzaga (L, 79-89) again, this time at home, and lost and finally lost at home to Memphis (L, 54-52).

The Volunteer philosophy is quite simple; deny the ball on inbounds and push, push, push when on offense. Notice I didn’t mention anything about defense in that philosophy. They are dead last in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 72.4 points-per-game, and individual scoring performances have hampered them all season long. Including Jodie Meeks’ 54-point performance, they have allowed guards to go off for 25 points or more eight times. (Meeks 54, Dionte “Floyd” Christmas-Temple 35, Wesley Matthews-Marquette 30, Alex Renfroe-Belmont 30, Marcus Thornton-LSU 29, Rasheem Barrett-Auburn 27, Sherron Collins-Kansas 26, Matt Bouldin-Gonzaga 26)

Against good defensive teams that have the ability to shut down Meeks, the Cats have struggled. Tennessee is not good defensively so expect Jodie to get his on Saturday.

On the defensive side of things their focus is denial in their full court man-to-man set. The key to this defense is putting big men on the ball, usually Wayne Chism (6-9, forward) or Tyler Smith (6-7, forward), and blocking the inbounders vision. There goal is to create turnovers, five-second violations and force timeouts. Over the last three seasons no one has been better than the Vols at doing this.

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. Often teams zone the Vols to limit penetration but don’t expect Gillipie to do so because he won’t. Another reason to use it against Tennessee is to keep you from chasing them all over the court.

After transferring from Iowa, Tyler Smith 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 17.6 points-per-game, in assists with 3.5, is second in rebounding with 5.7 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.

Without Patterson, Kentucky could really struggle to defend both Smith and Chism underneath. If the Vols stick to their gameplan and get the ball in the post we again could see a number of fouls called on Kentucky because they are undersized underneath.

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.

Billy Gillispie has had success against Tennessee in his two years at Kentucky and realizes the keys to beating them 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. When teams beat their press, they don’t pressure defensively and instead wait for you to shoot and hope to get a rebound and push it. But, when Jodie Meeks is taking those shots, sometimes there aren’t many rebounds to be had.

Having a defensive and offensive presence like Patrick Patterson makes everything easier. But, it is sounding more and more like the Cats will again be without him on Saturday. Defensively they have to find someone to body up on their big men so Stevenson can play off and help. They also must block out and rebound when they get stops. Kentucky can not get killed inside like they did at Vandy and expect to win.

Offensively, they need to at least score 75 points to win this game. This means if Meeks goes off for 30, which I believe he will, they need to find 45 points or so from others. Kevin Galloway and Darius Miller are the most likely to contribute against Tennessee. Both have the ability to get in the lane, create their own shot and find others. You cannot surround Meeks with non-scoring threats like Ramon Harris, Michael Porter and Perry Stevenson and expect to be successful on the offensive end. You can when you have Patterson but without him you need more help.