Tennessee Vols Invade Commodores Memorial Gymnasium Tomorrow
The Tennessee Vols will come to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores tomorrow night at Memorial Gymnasium. The tip off is set for 8:00 Central.
The Vols come limping in after losing 4 of their last 5 games in SEC play. The Vols are 13-9 overall, and 5-5 in the SEC. Vandy on the other hand seems to have hit their stride while winning their last two games. They had lost 7 straight SEC games prior to those wins. Both came at home, and one of those was against a Florida team that had been playing well.
Tennessee has played well defensively all season, and have been in every game late. They have just not been able to close the deal. In the Vols last game, an away game against a very scrappy Georgia team, Tennessee’s leading scorer Josh Richardson only scored two points the entire game. The Vols only lost by three, and Richardson missed a wide open three for the tie as time expired. Richardson had scored 30 the game before in a 5 point loss against Mississippi State at home.
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The Vols are getting steady play inside from Armani Moore. Moore is playing inside against the bigs of the SEC at 6-5. Moore uses his superior athleticism and quickness to out maneuver the larger power forwards in the league. He has no choice, as it is his job for the Vols. Recruited as a point guard, Moore is averaging 7 rebounds per game and 10.7 ppg.
Moore will have his hands full against the bigs of Vanderbilt. They are big, but they have a tendency to play soft. 6’10” 248lbs, Damian Jones will be tough to handle down low. Jones could be the best big man in the SEC. If he had Moore’s heart, he would be elite. The Vols will play their usual match up zone and try to deny the ball down on the block. Vandy also can dial up 7 footer Luke Kornet to spell Jones. It will be interesting to see if Vandy can go over the top of the zone to get the ball to these guys.
Tennessee has been hurt from the perimeter more so than from inside of late. The Vols opponents are starting to knock down their shots from behind the arc. With Tennessee’s size issues, the Vols would rather their opponent settle for the three rather than score in the paint. When they knock down the three, well, there is just nothing much the Vols can do on the defensive side. They have to match that scoring on the opposite end. They are not doing that consistently now.
The Vols seem to go as their three point shooting goes. Richardson, Robert Hubbs III, Devon Baulkman, Detrick Mostella, and Kevin Punter are all streaky shooters. The Vols have been fun to watch because of these guys. If one is off, the next man up has stepped up to score. Recently however, Baulkman and Mostella have been MIA. Punter has been fairly consistent. Sometimes he doesn’t shoot enough. He is deadly accurate, but won’t pull the trigger in some crucial instances. He needs to gain a little more confidence.
Hubbs is playing well of late. He finally looks like the Robert Hubbs we all wanted to see when he came out of high school so highly touted. The strange thing about this team is that it seems that Hubbs and Richardson have not had good games at the same time. This team would be difficult to play if these two could be more consistent on the offensive side of the ball. Armani is solid as is Punter. They will both give you ten per game. Hubbs and Richardson need to score double figures “together” in each and every game to get where this team wants to go.
It will be a fun game to watch. Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym is a disaster for visiting team. The lay out of the court is stupid, and the crowd is usually loud. It has the feeling of a brick o block mausoleum more than a gym. The coaches have to coach from underneath the basket, and the court sits above many of the Vandy fans. You can actually fall off of the court on hustle plays. It is a distinct home court, or home mausoleum advantage. I think it is the most under rated home court advantage in the country. People talk about Duke and Kentucky’s home court advantage… well this one is in that league as well.
Vanderbilt is a good shooting team. Freshman guard Riley LaChance was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time this past week. He can fill it up, and is good slashing to the basket as well. I don’t think he will “slash” against this defense, but we will see. Vandy has Senior Forward James Siakam back healthy, and he can be the difference for this team. It will be a tough game for the Vols. They just don’t match up with Vandy, but then again, they haven’t matched up with many teams all season…but they win somehow.