layin the points?
im leaning towards both dogs.
im leaning towards both dogs.
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leaning w/ the vols at home...they are pretty nasty at home and fla is pretty young...but i like the usf +20Comment -
USF +20 for sure...have not yet looked at the Vols game.Comment -
This is the way I have them:
Georgetown -10
Tennessee -7
So I would have to say both dogs would be the best play, but I am not touching anything in these two match ups.Comment -
Hey mofo, book me 180, and I will take the UNDER for the max.
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180 just isnt right...you better spot him at least 10 onlooker!Comment -
oooooooh i thought yall were going off 180 for a minComment -
Do you take their defenses into effect? I think this will be around a 79-72 final.Comment -
yes, i take everything into consideration. individual matchups, defense, offense, coaching, bench, ft shooting, style, court, and anything else i can get my eyes on.
this article doesnt support any case, just sharing.
What a difference a year makes. Tennessee (19-2, 5-1) hosts Florida (18-4, 5-2) tonight in an important SEC tilt, but these Gators bear little resemblance to the teams that captured the last two national titles under Billy Donavan. This time around, it's the seventh-ranked Vols who are the heavyweights, and No. 22 Florida is the surprising young team in the underdog role.
Donovan's young team is a surprising 18-4.
The new-look Gators are truly just that, a new look team in nearly every way. All five starters from last year's team are gone to the NBA. Starters Walter Hodge, a junior guard and sophomore post Mareese Speights are the only holdovers who played significant minutes last year. Two freshman start, and five first year players log at least 13 minutes a game for the defending champs.
Donovan signed one of the top recruiting classes in the nation last year, and he's wasted little time in putting it to use. No freshman in the SEC is carrying a bigger burden than Florida's Nick Calathes. He leads the Gators in minutes played (32.7) with fellow frosh Jai Lucas right behind him (30.2).
It's obvious that this is a different and far less formidable Florida team, but as usual, you won't catch Pearl doing anything but heaping praise on an upcoming opponent. He rattled off several reasons why he's not taking Tuesday's contest lightly.
"They have the No. 1 coach in America in Billy Donovan. He's at the top of our profession. I think No. 2 Calathes is a terrific lead guard. He's big, strong, averaging 17 and 7 in SEC play," Pearl pointed out. "He goes to foul line over eight times a game in league play, he draws lot of contact. In some ways he plays like Jamont Gordon, he runs you over and you get called for the foul, he's very effective utilizing his ability to draw contact.
"Speights is one of better centers in league. He's second or third in the SEC in field goal percentage, just a really, really effective player. He went up against (Joakim) Noah and (Al) Horford in practice every day, I think that helped him. Hodge has improved, and (Dan) Werner is very much improved."
One thing that's similar to last year, despite the different names on the jersey's, is the balanced offensive attack. Since league play began all five Florida starters are averaging double-figures, led by Calathes at 17.9 per game.
There's no denying that the Gators have surprised some this season. Despite all the losses, Donovan's youngsters have served notice that they're still a team to be reckoned with in the SEC, and right now—at 5-2 in the league--they're a solid bet to earn an NCAA bid.
But they've also proven vulnerable to the kind of stresses that can crack young teams—the sort of stresses found in abundance on the road--as they showed this weekend in an 80-61 loss at Arkansas on Saturday in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
Florida's other conference loss also came on the road, an overtime setback at Ole Miss.
Tennessee will be hoping to act as a similarly rude host tonight, but it's not as though the Vols are 'kicking the Gators while their down'. Tennessee had no trouble kicking the Gators around during their two recent national championship runs, compiling a 3-1 record since Pearl came to Knoxville.
Pearl downplays that record on one hand, but on the other he acknowledges that victories like the three his teams have gotten over Florida the past two seasons have been attention-getters on a national scale.
"They're the two time defending national champion and we've been competitive. That's something we should be proud of," Pearl said. "But it won't mean anything tomorrow night and doesn't mean anything unless you continue to be competitive with them.
The fact of the matter now though is that the shoe is solidly on the other foot. The Vols' are a heavy favorite to send Florida home a loser tonight, and the team is carrying some large expectations. Pearl always acknowledges expectations rather than shrinking from them, and did so again when noting that his team will be the one under pressure tonight.
"This is a hold serve game. It's not a separator for us," he said. "Now, it can work against you if you don't win it, then it can separate you in negative way."
Tip-off for tonight's game is at 9:00 p.m. The game can be seen nationally on ESPN.
Streaking Shooter
It's not exactly 'news' anymore, but since his slump got so much attention, it's fitting that Chris Lofton's scorching stretch get just as much attention.
He's leading the Vols with 15.6 ppg now, and has hit 45.6 percent from three-point range since SEC play started. He's cracked 20 points four straight games in a row and is not only hitting big shots, but making the kind of contested shots that fans have grown accustomed to seeing.
Associated Press
Lofton is hitting 45.6 percent from three in SEC play.
Lofton's marksmanship, along with that of JaJuan Smith, was crucial in both road wins last week at Mississippi State and Alabama. That was especially true though in Tuscaloosa where Tennessee saw a lot of zone, and Lofton and Smith shot over the top of it with some clutch efficiency coming down the stretch in a 93-86 win.
Some of the shots in that Alabama game were described by observers as less than ideal looks, but Pearl was quick to point out that such an assessment is in the eye of the beholder.
"Alabama played us about 40-minutes of zone and we were 9-of-12 from three in the second half. Larry Conley said we made some ridiculous shots, but I don't think many of them were. When Jajuan Smith and Chris Lofton are getting open looks from three and hitting them, there's nothing ridiculous about that," Pearl offered.
Not Your Typical Freshmen
The 18-5 record that the Gators have pieced together with such a youthful line-up is a strong indicator that this isn't a typical freshman class, and some other numbers hint at that as well.
One that has Pearl concerned is defense. One of the most oft-heard gripes from coaches on freshmen is their tendency to lapse on the defensive end. That hasn't been a problem for the young Gators who are third in the SEC in scoring defense, holding opponents to 64.5 ppg. And as Pearl pointed out on Monday, only four of their opponents have gotten their season scoring average against Florida.
Two other numbers that are maybe even more surprising given the personnel are turnovers and rebounds. Speights (7.7 rpg) has given the Gators a presence inside that has helped them offset the loss of Horford and Noah, but it's more than just him. Florida is third in the SEC in rebounding with a +5.5 margin.
Just as remarkable, and maybe even more so considering that two true frosh start in the backcourt, is a +2.0 turnover margin, which ranks fourth in the league.
Pearl was on record early in the season as predicting that the Gators would be better than many expected, and now he wishes he hadn't been so correct.
"I picked Florida and Kentucky to finish in the top three (in the SEC). And when you look at how well Vanderbilt has played, as well as South Carolina in the last couple weeks, hard to say that because you don't want to slight anybody," Pearl said of his prescient prognostication. "But I just felt like their talent level was such that they are going to be a factor. We obviously have more experience and I hope that that can help us"
Even in the Gators' blowout loss at Fayetteville it wasn't really a matter of a young team panicking and turning the ball over in bunches. Florida only had nine turnovers in that defeat, but they were done in by a cold shooting effort (33-percent from the floor) and early foul trouble for Speights.
Though the Gators' haven't lost often, the tendency of young players towards some inconsistency can be seen in how they've lost. In their' 18 wins they are averaging 84.2 points, hitting 52.0 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from three-point range. In their four losses, they are averaging 62.0 points, hitting 38.2 percent from the floor and 20.4 percent from three-point range.
Not To Jinx Them, But…
Tennessee has never started a season 20-2 in school history. The Vols 19-2 start is the best since the 1941-42 season.
Grunfeld Ceremony Set
For the second consecutive year Tennessee will retire the number of a legend at halftime of the Kentucky game. On March 2 the Vols will raise Ernie Grunfeld's No. 22 to the rafters alongside that of teammate Bernard King, who was so honored last year in what was arguably the most festive night in the history of Thompson-Boling Arena.
Ironically, in an oft-heard story, Pearl might not even be in Knoxville if Grunfeld hadn't strongly endorsed him. A point that obviously makes the matter more significant for Pearl than it might otherwise be.
"Great. I think it's awesome. I probably wouldn't be here without Ernie Grunfeld, in a lot of ways. He's got great pride in the Big Orange. Ernie was a guy that showed great confidence in me when I was coaching in Milwaukee," Pearl commented.
The festivities for King last year were made all the more special by all the names from the programs past that came out to honor him. Pearl expects the same kind of turn out for Grunfeld, who was a driving force behind the scenes to get King back into the fold for his own retirement ceremony.
"Last year Ernie was such a great teammate. Right in middle of very busy time for him and the NBA season, he came back and gave an assist to Bernard King. Ernie didn't pass too much to Bernard very often when they were playing, so that was a great assist off the court.. Bernard will be back to help do same for Ernie. It's absolutely wonderful."
Tennessee announced criteria to retire numbers last year when Bernard King's number was retired. Men's basketball candidates must have a minimum of five years between the candidate's UT basketball career and consideration of this honor. A candidate must have achieved two of the following four honors: candidate must be a first team All-America, SEC Player of the Year, member of an Olympic basketball team or a member of the NBA or ABA All Star team
Grunfeld earned All-America honors in 1975-76 and 1976-77. The four-time first team All-SEC selection was named the conference's Player of the Year as a senior. He led the SEC in scoring with 25.3 points per game in 1975-76 and finished his career as Tennessee 's all-time leading scorer and ranked second in SEC history with 2,249 career points. He was also the Vols' first Olympian, helping the U.S.A. to a gold medal in the 1976 Games.
Grunfeld currently serves as general manager of the Washington Wizards
89-78 volsComment -
Wow those last few minutes really sucked for me but nice call on the 180 for sure.
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Figures you would be self glorifying about this. News flash though, didn't I say I wasn't touching anything in either of these games? What about me calling the Georgetown spread right on the button? Oh, we over looked that.
I gave your props in your "other" thread about this.
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Figures you would be self glorifying about this. News flash though, didn't I say I wasn't touching anything in either of these games? What about me calling the Georgetown spread right on the button? Oh, we over looked that.
I gave your props in your "other" thread about this.
figures? yes, after you saying one thing and me saying another, i gave you a hard time. i made a bold prediction that came true. thats fun and does figure.
self glorifying? a little dramatic?
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