Is Dalton Knecht The "Missing Piece" Tennessee Has Been Searching For?

I have watched a lot of Tennessee basketball games in the past 15-20 years and Dalton Knecht is the best player the Vols have had since Alan Houston. Grant Williams was a two-time SEC player of the year, but he couldn’t score at all three levels like Knecht can.

The last five minutes of the game on Saturday was proof. Knecht scored at the rim, mid range, and from three.

The most impressive aspect of Knecht’s game is the ability to finish at the rim with both hands.This was displayed in the second half when he drove left, went up with his right hand and switched in mid air to hold off the big rotating to block his shot.

Rick Barnes is doing a phenomenal job of designing up plays to get Knecht the ball, especially on base-line out of bounds plays. Knecht scored two times on a post up as Tennessee would use a high-low set to get him the ball.

Barnes also called a backside flare screen for three. The back-side flare screen off of a baseline out of bounds play is as good as it gets.

Getting back to Knecht, I think he has a chance to be the best player in the country. National Player of the Year will probably go to Zach Edey, but when it comes to tournament time you need a guy you can just give the ball too and get you a bucket. Edey is not this type of player. This is why I say Knecht could end up being the best player in the country.

Knecht is the missing piece in what Tennessee has not had in the past couple of years. The Vols finally have a dude that when everything breaks down can just go get you a bucket.

Obviously, when the tournament comes there’s a lot of factors that go into it and Knecht has never played in March Madness. There's one stat that tells me he is ready for the big lights and that is he is averaging 31 points a game on the road. If you can go into a hostile environment and average 31, I think he will be just fine in March.

Is Auburn The Best Team In The SEC?

I know Auburn is 3-0 and went to Arkansas and won big, but let's pump the brakes on them being the best team in the league.

The best two teams are Tennessee and Kentucky. I have talked before how hard it is to go to Arkansas and win, but this Razorback team is just not very good. Auburn has also beat Texas A&M LSU at home.

I just don’t think this Auburn team has really played anyone. They have played one ranked team all year and that was Baylor the first game of the year, a game in which the Tigers lost.

This team still has question marks in my opinion. They still are out of control on offense and have questionable shot selection. Until they prove they can beat a quality ranked team, Tennessee and Kentucky both have beaten quality ranked teams and played a hard non-conference.

Auburn has not done any of these things. I still have them as the third best team in the league.

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A&M Takes Down UK In College Station

Texas A&M upsets Kentucky in College Station, which might just saved the Aggies season.

Wade Taylor had 31 points, but was not efficient from the field. He did hit 6 threes. As I have talked before about who would give Taylor some help, well that came from Tyrese Radford who scored 28 points while shooting 50% from the field. Radford was amazing in this game and was very effective driving the ball. A&M shot the ball reallly well, which had not been the case recently.

The biggest key in the game was the rebounding for A&M. This is the best rebounding team in the league and its impressive to watch. Henry Coleman didn’t have a big game, but the guards for the Aggies rebounded very well.

The key part in this game was the Aggies ball screen game offensively. Kentucky had problems all night trying to guard ball screens. In the first half, the Aggies ran a lot of clear out side ball screens. These side ball screens were set by the guard on the wing and A&M got open looks all half.

The fact Kentucky didn’t switch this action did not make much sense. In the second half the Aggies made a nice adjustment and ran what we call Spain action. Spain action is simply a middle pick and roll with 2 bigs.

The bigs are stacked in the paint with one big screening for the other and then the big would sprint for a high pick and roll. The big setting the screen would post up or seal in front of the rim.

Kentucky again would not switch this big to big screen resulting in the big guarding the pick and roll late on the screen. When Wade Taylor comes off a screen you cannot be late and the wildcats were late and Taylor hit six threes. When the bigs were not late, they were not able to keep the ball handler in front and Taylor and Radford got into the paint.

Wildcats should have switched the big to big screen which would help with not being late on the screen and being able to keep the ball handler in front. For the Wildcats, I am not worried about them as every team is going ot lose road games. One thing that is worrisome is that this team is not great defensively.

The Wildcats do not have to be great on that end, but need to improve.

Georgia Misses An Opportunity Against Tennessee

If you are a Georgia fan, you have to be sick after this game. The Bulldogs just flat out choked this one away.

The Bulldogs made 14 threes and were 9-13 from three at one point in the second half. I have seen and played a lot of basketball and I’m not sure I’ve seen a home team lose a game making 14 threes. Georgia played so well (probably can’t play any better) and still lost the game.

Off the dribble, Georgia was able to penetrate the paint, which caused the Vols to scramble defensively.I really like how Georgia was able to run splits off the flashing big man from the top of the key. A “splits” set is when a flashing big man gets the ball at the top of the key while down screens on the wings happen simultaneously.

The “splits” action confused Tennessee and Georgia was able to create wide open shots when the Vols didn’t switch and when they did the Bulldogs would slip the screen. The best way to beat a switching defense is to slip screens.

The game changed in two ways: Tennessee started to guard the ball and Dalton Knecht. It really is that simple. Tennessee had Dalton Knecht and Georgia didn’t. For Georgia ,however, I was still very impressed and they have a rising star in freshman guard Silas Demary.

The last observation I had for the Bulldogs is I’m not sure why MIke White took Blue Cain out of the game late. He had just hit two threes and the game changed when he was taken out.

For the Vols, this is a very big win as you didn’t want to lose both games this week.

We have talked about Dalton Knecht, but I thought Jonas Aidoo had a very nice bounce back game. He still has to get stronger with the ball as he always seems to lose the ball from a pass or trying to get a rebound. The Vols are doing this with Josiah Jordan-James and Santiago Vescovi not giving you much at all. These guys need to be better.

I’m also concerned about Zakai Zieglers minutes. Ziegler is playing around 37 minutes a game and I’m not sure he can hold up. Jordan Gainey has really struggled and is almost unplayable at this point. I believe highly touted freshman Freddie Dillione needs to get some minutes.

Bama Bullies MSU In Starkville

Lookout Alabama is starting to put it together and are now 3-0 in SEC play. This was a very gritty performance for the Tide.

Alabama did a very good job on Tolu Smith. He did score 15 points, but was very inefficient from the field. Josh Hubbard also struggled shooting the ball for the Bulldogs, as both of the guys were valuable in the win over Tennessee.

Marc Sears is playing like a SEC POTY caliber player for the Tide. His maturation within the offense has been really fun to watch.

You can tell a guard is in total control of his game by the pace at which he plays. When you are watching on TV the guard who it looks like is moving in slow motion, but just gets to his spots all the time is someone who is scary to reckon with.

This is what I see in Sears. He is playing at his pace and nothing is speeding him up. HIs craftiness in the paint along with his long range shooting is something to watch.

Alabama has solidified itself as the fourth best in the SEC right now. For MIssissippi State, this has to be a disappointing loss coming off the upset win over Tennessee. Tolu Smith looked a bit tired to me as this week was his first real extended minutes of the season. The Bulldogs have to be kicking themselves because they were 15-27 from the line.

There’s not many other things to discuss as if they just make free throws they win the game. Alabama was also able to handle the switching defenses a lot better than Tennessee did.

Best Of The Rest

I am a big fan of Florida head coach Todd Golden and think he runs a lot of really good offensive sets. It was on display in Gainesville as the Gators blew out Arkansas and its officially panic time for the Razorbacks. That was an embarrassing performance and I’m not sure where they go from here. On the other hand this was a big win for the Gators as they try and set themselves up to make the NCAA tournament.

South Carolina picks up a nice win over Missouri as they bounce back after the loss to Alabama. I was very impressed with the late game execution for the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks just need a signature win for me to take them seriously.

Ole MIss defeated Vandy in a workmanlike win and things are getting interesting in Nashville as I believe Jerry Stackhouse could be on the hot seat.

What Lies Ahead?

For the second straight week, there will not be any ranked matchups. For the game of the week I will go with an under-the-radar game in South Carolina against Georgia.

Two overachieving teams and with a win could be a very good position to make the tournament. A key match up to look for is how South Carolina will guard Georgia.

Other games in the week is Florida traveling to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. Not many teams go into Knoxville and win, but if the Gators want any shot they will need to make at least 10 threes and that might not be enough.

MIssissippi State travels to Rupp arena to take on Kentucky. I am interested to see how the Wildcats respond after the loss. This is a tough position for the Bulldogs to be traveling to Rupp with an inspired Wildcats team.

Texas A&M travels to Bud Walton to take on Arkansas. If the Razorback wants any chance to salvage their season this is a must win. Interested to see if A&M can shoot the ball as well as they did on Saturday.

Lastly, Ole Miss travels to Baton Rouge to try and have a better road performance. This will give us a good idea of where both of these teams are. If LSU can pull off the upset then we can start talking about them having a serious shot at making the Tournament.