Quick thoughts on the UK-Tennessee matchup
I was putting together some thoughts on the Tennessee matchup, and thought I should just email it out rather that send a bunch of tweets. Without further ado, here are some things I thought were notable about the Tennessee Volunteers:
On Offense
Tennessee is a pretty poor shooting team especially from 3. They do generate a very high percentage of baskets off of passes, as opposed to isolation scoring, While a poor shooting team is a good candidate for a zone defense, Tennessee will likely be able to create good shots by being patient and passing, The zone worked well against Arkansas because their scorers tended to take shots off the dribble, but that’s not Tennessee’s game. The strength of Tennessee’s offense is mid-range shooting, but that plays right into one of UK’s strengths. Kentucky is 2nd nationally in opponent’s shooting percentage from mid-range. Josiah Jordan-James is Tennessee’s best threat to create his own shot, especially late in the shot clock, while Yves Pons is a threat as a big man who can catch and shoot threes. Watch out for him as a trailer on the fast break as well.
On Defense
Tennessee is an excellent shot blocking team, and defends the rim very well. Ashton Hagans may have a tough day scoring since he is dependent on getting to the rim more than any other UK guard. Tennessee’s aggressiveness going for blocked shots does leave them vulnerable to offensive rebounds, however. They give up a fair amount of put backs, and UK is very good at scoring off of them. Keion Brooks in particular scores a lot off put backs and could have an impact on the offensive glass today if he gets playing time.
Overall, Tennessee is not at the level they were the past few seasons. Their season was hampered significantly by the injury to Lamonte Turner. When he went down they were rated 29th nationally, and they are rated 65th since. The addition of Santiago Vescovi has helped, but only so much. One thing for fans to watch is whether UK can force turnovers today. They haven’t done it very well lately, but Tennessee is careless with the ball. Knoxville is a tough place to play, but this is the easiest of their recent road gauntlet and a good opportunity for Kentucky to get a solid win.
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