2010-11 NCAA Basketball Predictions: Tennessee
November 16, 2010
Tennessee is heading into this season with a lot of unknowns as they look to replace a few important pieces from last season’s team. Even so, the team has high hopes for themselves heading into the season after they made it to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history last season.
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Bruce Pearl has taken the Vols to the Big Dance each of the past five seasons, including three trips to the Sweet 16, and will look to take his team at least that far again this season. It won’t be an easy time getting that far this year, however, as the Vols will have to replace three of their most valuable players from last year’s team that were seniors. If the young guys can step up and match the lost production, then the Vols will be one of the most dangerous teams in the conference this season.
Frontcourt: The Vols biggest adjustment this year will be trying to replace Wayne Chism, who posted a team best 12.6 points per night last season and was one of their best defensive stoppers. Tobias Harris, a 6’8? freshman power forward, will likely be called upon to play a lot of minutes, and will be counted on to now and again step out and spread the floor with his jumper. Kenny Hall should vie for a good amount minutes at power forward this season, and could also play some center seeing he is one of only three guy on the Tennessee roster that is 6’9? or taller.
Brain Williams played better in the NCAA Tournament last season, where he contributed 7.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per night. Considering he is the only true center Tennessee has on their squad, Williams will need to have a big season if the Vols want to try to make a return trip to the Elite Eight or further this season.
Steven Pearl, Renaldo Woolridge, John Fields, and Jeronne Maymon will come off the bench this season, giving the Vols plenty of depth in their front court.
Backcourt: Melvin Goins will be responsible for leading the team at point guard this year. He will have to get better if wants to fill the void left by Bobby Maze from last year, who averaged 9.4 points per contest and had one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the SEC last year. Goins posted 5.3 points and 1.8 dimes per contest last year, and I would expect both of those averages to rise this season.
Cameron Tatum and Scotty Hopson will be two of the most relied upon players on the Tennessee squad this year. Tatum posted only 7.4 points and 1.1 assists per night last year, but he is a pretty efficient shooter and doesn’t waste a lot of possessions trying to force attempts. He shot nearly 39% from 3-point range and 48% overall from the field.
Hopson was the second leading scorer from the Tennessee team last year, when he contributed 12.2 points per game. He is highly explosive on the wing and has the power to take over the game on the offensive side of the ball. He will need to improve on his turnovers, however, as he gave it away 78 times last season.
Stephen’s Pick – 2nd place in the SEC: The Vols lost more players from last season than any other SEC team with the exception of Kentucky. Unfortunately for Tennessee, their incoming freshmen aren’t quite on the same skill level as the ones heading up north to play for John Calipari and the Wildcats.
Nevertheless, if Tennessee’s young players can come forward into bigger roles this season and play solid defense, there aren’t many other school in the conference that are as talented as the Vols. I would expect Bruce Pearl to get enough out of this team to push them to a solid seed in the NCAA Tournament, but I’m not sure they have enough skill to reach the same heights they did last season when they advanced all the way to the Elite Eight.
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