NCAA TOURNAMENT SCOUTING

Let's try something!  If your team is in, or on bubble, for the NCAA Tournament, AND you are VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE about a particular team then please post the following below.  If you are a HOMER, then don't post....only want objective thoughts here.

TEAM NAME:
What the team does well:
What the team struggles with:
What kind of teams are a hard matchup for your team:

Remember, looking for objective post here....

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

Vols are a good defensive team this year but struggle at times on offense.  Vols don't usually turn the ball over much.  Vols play a lot of players with a lot of minutes.  Vols don't lose close games, they either win it or get blown out.  

Wayne Chism is our best player and our only reason threat down low.  He has been banged up lately and playing through the injury.  Scotty Hopson is very talented but isn't aggressive enough, he is a NO SHOW in big games. JP Prince is the most Bi-Polar player ever.  He will do something amazing, and follow it up with the stupidest thing you've ever seen.  He probably set the record this year for most fouls vs a guy who is shooting a 3.

If a team plays ZONE Defense on us, we are toast!  Our offense is horrible against it and we aren't a good 3 pt shooting team like we were in the Lofton years.

The VOLS are very inconsistent.  Beat #1 Kansas and lose to Georgia.  Hard team to predict. 

Most likely a 6 seed that may make the sweet 16, but most likely a 1st or 2nd round exit.

UC: Bubble
does well:  PLays defense and works ball good inside
struggles:  shooitng the 3 and closing out games
Good matchup: UCONN
Bad Matchups: Teams that have good transition offense that shoot 3's in transition like SYR.

Fade Louisville vs. any team with a tall athletic center as Samardo Samuels won't be able to score....

I like this concept volstud

Vanderbilt.
Does well - 1) Very balanced attack offensively, 2) Has great depth, 3) Can win in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, 4) Shoot FT's at 71% clip, pretty good for a team average, 5) Rebounds much better than previous years, 6) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY a senior leader PG in Jermaine Beal

Struggles with - 1) When Ogilvy is on the court, there is sometimes defensive struggles inside the paint, 2) While the team can run, they don't want to run with a team like UK who will burn them all day long, 3) Sometimes get off to slow starts, 4) Guarding the 3pt

Hard matchup for team: Vandy's team is capable of playing a variety of different styles and succeeding due to the depth and balanced attack.  However, a team with a dominant inside force like UK's Cousins will have a considerable advantage.

yucavich - you in Nashville?  I'm from there but in Johnson City now.  Good insight on the Dores.  They beat the hell out of us twice this year.

Yeah man I'm in Nashville, senior at Vandy. I couldn't believe we beat you guys at UT, we always have a tough time there. 

But we were just a terrible matchup for you, you are spot on that the Vols can't play against a zone, because that's all we did in both games.

Love this concept:

Baylor

Does well: Shoot the 3, a point guard that can take control, Great inside presence and a premier shot blocker. Very quick and active hands.

Struggles: Never put teams away, A team with really good defensive guards, They also tend to get lazy and into foul trouble. Especially Lomars and Dunn. They have a great shot blocker but no shut down defender.

Could be good or bad but they tend to stay real even tempered. They never put away teams but never let teams get out of reach either.

Its hard to say who they will struggle with at this point because they have lost teams I thought would be good match ups and beat teams I thought they would struggle with. ie Texas has a good big and at the time the best defensive guard in the country. I think they will struggle against a team that shoots the 3 and have a premier guard. They match up well with a team with a premier big but lack the 3 point shot.

yucavich - not to downplay that win for you guys, but I believe it is a bigger rivalry for you guys than it is for us.  And that has bitten us a few times the past couple of years!!  I wish our guys got up for that game like they do UK, UF or Memphis.

No downplay at all, I understand what you are saying.  I watched the Vandy/UT game in Knoxville on TV.  The atmosphere was dead compared to some of the other games I have seen there.  It's unfortunate because an instate rivalry can be something special.

BOL to the vols the rest of the way in, let's make the SEC proud in the NCAA's.

yucavich - you guys have a much better chance of making noise than we do!  Stallings will pull his usual Sweet 16 appearance out that he has once every 4 years to keep his job.

I can't wait to see what Pearl can do with a team that doesn't have defectors every year (if we ever get to that point).  In the past few years we have a long list of players who are no longer on the team and it isnt due to graduation!  Major Wingate, Duke Crews, Ramar Smith, Tyler Smith, Daniel West, Emmanual Negadu, Boomer Herndon, Josh Tabb, Philip Jurick, Marques Johnson, Tony Passley, Damien Harris....that is an entire team we are missing before their time is up!