Vanderbilt Game Thread

[dtm1997]

Don't have much to share just yet, but wanted to get a game thread going.

I think Stallings is a helluva Xs & Os coach, but I've heard his interpersonal skills are atrocious.

Hopefully, he'll be distracted after getting put on blast this week.



DISCLAIMER - Please note that the article is rife with lurid tales & foul language.

 

[kg01]

DISCLAIMER - Please note that the article is rife with lurid tales & foul language.

Lol, you need to put this disclaimer at the top. That story is nowhere near SFW.

I started reading it thinking, "meh, what's dtm mean lurid tales & foul .... WTF". Plus most of that does sound made-up or at least exaggerated. Dude wasn't a star or anything plus this was Vandy we're talking about.

 

[Peacone36]

We should beat Vanderbilt.

 

[dtm1997]

We should beat Vanderbilt.

We should, but they're starting to round in to form, as Red pointed out to end the App State thread.

We'll need to continue to improve our perimeter D.

 

[Connell62]

Hopefully the name on the front of their jersey brings out the best in our guys.. I think that we will play well and I suspect that we beat them up on the boards. However, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Vandy coaching staff will force us to beat them from the perimeter. In order to win, we are going to have to either knock down more shots. I think that our guys rise to the occassion and pick up a big win for themselves.

 

[alaguy]

Another example of how you got to defend your floor vs ordinary teams (like Vandy) or you are pretty much dismissed as incompetent.

 

[RamblinRed]

They have the best set of bigs we will have seen so far.
Damian Jones is having a fabulous SO year. 17 ppg, 7.5 rpg. He's big and athletic. Easily the best big we've seen so far.
PF Luke Kornet is a 7' stretch 4. Shooting over 57% from 3-pt range.

We have to defend the 3-pt shot alot better or we will lose easily.

 

[dtm1997]

In typical fashion, Vandy is losing to Western Carolina at the half, so they'll probably lose tonight and come out fired up on Saturday.

 

[GT_ATL]

I've chilled out a little bit from the Upstate loss after seeing the insanity of the rest of the college basketball landscape. If we can go a solid 2-1 in this stretch starting Saturday, I'll feel optimistic about being in the neighborhood of 8-10 or 9-9 in the ACC again.

If Vandy runs through their bigs on offense, I think that's a good matchup for us. A game with lots of post feeding and bruising probably favors our lineup more than a quick, finesse game.

 

[dtm1997]

So Vandy is now blowing Western Carolina out by 20 with 4 to go. If we lose this game on Saturday, I'm putting the O/U on posts about "why can't we recruit some shooters like that?" at 15.

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

 

[RamblinRed]

Their shooting percentages are ridiculous. Though last night it was FT shooting. They outscored Western Carolina by 27 points at the FT line (mostly in the 2nd half where they were getting FT's at will). Of course they also shot over 50% from both the field and 3-pt range.

The last 2 games Riley LaChance has just gone off. We need to take him out of the game if at all possible.

on DTM's comment i'll add what I have elsewhere. GT has recruited shooters - they just aren't shooting well.
Bolden was a 40%+ 3-pt shooter in HS.
Jorgenson was 40%+ from the HS 3-pt line and 38% from the college 3-pt line his prep year.
Q was an almost 45% 3-pt shooter in HS.

GT has recruited players it expected to hit shots - they just haven't done so consistently.

 

[Connell62]

Without a doubt, the Commodores are playing well. We'll really need to ratchet up the intensity on defense on Saturday afternoon. IMO, this game is going to be won on the defensive end. We'll be able to score enough points to win the game (IF, we make some big shots) but we must try and contain LaChance and run their guys off the 3pt line.

We cannot over help and create wide open shots for them, and we must not commit silly fouls when they drive. These guys will kill you at the free line as witnessed. I'm guessing that we will throw MGH at LaChance, and then mix in some Bolden, maybe some Tadric or Corey? Might even see some Q at the four.

We should be able to hold our own in the paint, and as many have speculated, we'll Sampson log a lot of minutes. He's had a tendency to commit dumb fouls like reaching on rebounds or when he comes out to show on the screen. It is very important that he stays out of foul trouble. I think that we understand that they are a good team, so I suspect we will come out with a lot of energy..

It will be interesting to see if we are up to the challenge.

 

[alaguy]

So Vandy is now blowing Western Carolina out by 20 with 4 to go. If we lose this game on Saturday, I'm putting the O/U on posts about "why can't we recruit some shooters like that?" at 15.

EXACTLY what I was thinking last night watching vandy as their Fr were lighting them up.--and even Western Carolina had a PG that could/did shoot 3s.
I'm sorry but you can't have a non-scoring PG these days unless your SG and wings are strong gunners.
my guess on this game is we will play strong def generally but they have too many weapons to stop all and we just don't have the firepower to keep up unless somebody goes off like Q did on uga

 

[dtm1997]

EXACTLY what I was thinking last night watching vandy as their Fr were lighting them up.--and even Western Carolina had a PG that could/did shoot 3s.
I'm sorry but you can't have a non-scoring PG these days unless your SG and wings are strong gunners.
my guess on this game is we will play strong def generally but they have too many weapons to stop all and we just don't have the firepower to keep up unless somebody goes off like Q did on uga

You make a valid point, but what we need is a return to the Northwestern game & prior on the offensive end. We have a 2-headed PG, so what we need is a significant combined contribution between Travis & Josh. Doesn't matter who does what, as long as the position contributes.

 

[Peacone36]

you don't need a scoring pg necessarily if you have a point guard that can get people the ball in spots where those players have scoring opportunities. If you have a pg that can effectively run the break, feed the high post against the zone and low post against M2m and have a 1.2-1.4 a/t ratio, you've got something. The ability to drill one from the top of the key to keep me honest would most certainly help as well.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

EXACTLY what I was thinking last night watching vandy as their Fr were lighting them up.--and even Western Carolina had a PG that could/did shoot 3s.
I'm sorry but you can't have a non-scoring PG these days unless your SG and wings are strong gunners.
my guess on this game is we will play strong def generally but they have too many weapons to stop all and we just don't have the firepower to keep up unless somebody goes off like Q did on uga

I wouldn't mind seeing Josh Heath go after that foul line jump shot he has and also feel free to finish with an actual layup attempt instead of a pass on his drives down the lane for a whole game, or even just as an experiment do it for a half. I mean this as a compliment to him because he is very good at being a "coaches son" pass-first point guard. But the 2-guards have not been carrying their share of the scoring load. I think that fact justifies Heath getting "selfish" some more and forcing the opposing d to expect him to take it to the basket or nail a jumper. It could even improve the rest of the offense in general if he forced the D to try and shut him down more aggressively.

At the App State game I recall watching one possession where he drove the right lane and it seemed to me had a clear angle to go ahead and finish with a lay-up but instead he dished it under the defender to the post. I want to say it was to Cox, who didn't have a shot and ended up having to pass back out; a situation which has led to a bunch of turnovers actually (less with Cox than Mitchell though IIRC). The ball found its way back to Heath who was wide open to take a three but hesitated, then when he started to think of taking it the defense had recovered and it turned into a pump fake. Now, Tech ultimately scored on that possession but I thought that Heath had a real good lay-up chance he passed on and then a very open 3 attempt as well and I didn't get why he doesn't take more advantage of those.

 

[dtm1997]

BG just raised the stakes. Peep the giveaway.

 

[CuseJacket]

GT is favored by 3.

It's been a while but I'll be there covering the game. Chat will be open.

 

[brian22]

Is this on tv today?