(H)oops!

Tennessee men’s basketball had another rough night Saturday, losing to Georgia, 73-62. That makes two losses in three games on the heels of a six-game winning streak and talk of a possible 1-seed.

Coach Barnes (who, by the way, is a national coach of the year candidate according to SI.com), reacted to the significant free throw disparity Saturday night by putting the blame on his team, not the officials. Georgia made 27 of 38 freebies, while the Vols only had 15 total trips to the charity stripe. Fan may call that bad officiating or home court advantage or whatever, but Barnes says it means the team “didn’t play very smart,” suggesting they were too content to shoot over defenders instead of taking hard to the basket.

The loss to the Bulldogs may (or may not) be the worst on the season resume, but regardless, Wes Rucker’s right that losing right now could pay off when it counts. A coach can tell his guys that they can get beat by anyone anytime if they don’t play well, and they can even believe it, but actually having it happen and feeling it is another matter entirely.

Let’s hope they rediscover their groove at the right time and remember the lessons learned along the way. For his part, Barnes is mashing buttons like crazy and sparing no one, not even Grant Williams, the team’s best and most consistent player who’s nevertheless been in a bit of a funk recently. Barnes is not only not coddling Williams, he’s trained a giant spotlight on him in the midst of his struggles, saying that he “has to quit talking about it and do it.”

Other tidbits

The Lady Vols basketball team also lost this weekend, to No. 13 Mizzouri, 77-73.

The softball team, though, beat Marshall 5-4 on a late hit by Meghan Gregg with the bases loaded.

The baseball team split a doubleheader Sunday with Maryland, losing 10-4 in Game 1 and winning 13-6 in Game 2.

VFL Christian Coleman broke the world record in the 60-meter dash yesterday:

And finally, Peyton Manning may not be able to sell you these products, but he is able to maintain his sense of humor even while driving the pace car at the Daytona 500:

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Isaac Bishop
Isaac Bishop
6 years ago

“Barnes says it means the team ‘didn’t play very smart,’ suggesting they were too content to shoot over defenders instead of taking hard to the basket.”

I can agree with this. Maten, the highest scorer for UGA, had two fouls early in the first and never got another in game. If they drive and force some fouls that’s at least more time Maten is on the bench and we get back in this.

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Gavin Driskill
Gavin Driskill
6 years ago

I said after the South Carolina game that I was Mildly Concerned about the Vols. I’m not yet all-caps CONCERNED, but the outcome of the game against Florida could put me there. The team LOOKS tired, and it’s showing up all over the stat sheet. Here’s a quick snapshot of the Vols’ averages in the last 4 games vs. the season against P5 teams (to take out some overmatched early season opponents). Points: 60.8 vs. 76.9 FG%: 37.7% vs. 44.7% 3PM: 6.3 vs. 8.3 3P%: 28.7% vs. 39.6% FTM: 12.5 vs. 16.4 FTA: 17.8 vs. 21.5 Asisst: 10.3 vs. 15.8… Read more »

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