The BasketVols Thread

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weeeee readdddy

fooooooooooooooor y'allllllllllllllllllllllllll
 
Mike Jones backrupt as hell in government housing somewhere in atlanta.. Bet

Trill as all get out too
 
INDIANAPOLIS – With*Tennessee*down 72-71 and 9.6 seconds left,*Jarnell Stokes*took the inbounds pass and turned to drive for the game-winning basket. When he briefly collided with a*Michigan*player and heard a whistle, he mentally prepared himself to shoot the game-tying and game-winning free throws with six seconds left.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, he wouldn’t get the chance. The official ruled a charge on Stokes, rather than a block on Michigan.

“I definitely thought that was a defensive foul,” a somber Stokes said following the game. “I was prepared to go to the line and knock down free throws.”

Making the charge call especially controversial is the fact the NCAA instituted a new rule this season generally giving the offensive player the benefit of the doubt on block/charge calls.

“With the new rule,” Stokes said, “I just didn’t think that could possibly happen.”

Vol senior*Jordan McRae*was equally upset, noting: “With the magnitude of this game, I don’t think you can call a charge at that point.”

The game wasn’t ended yet, however, and neither was the controversy. Michigan made a long inbounds pass but Vol freshman*Darius Thompson*flicked it out of bounds … off a Michigan player, he believes. The official disagreed and gave the Wolverines the ball.

“They threw it long, and when he was going to catch it I tried to hit it off his leg,” Thompson said. “I thought he hit it but I guess he didn’t…. Basketball is basketball. The ref made a call, and you can’t do nothing about that.”

After getting two favorable rulings, the Wolverines wound up getting a free throw from Nik Stauskas with 2.1 seconds left that pushed their lead to 73-71. He missed the second shot but McRae’s desperation 50-foot heave at the buzzer was off the mark.

Final: Michigan 73, Tennessee 71. The Wolverines (28-8) go to the Elite Eight. The Vols (24-13) go home.

Stokes, who finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds, said the controversial inbounds play went pretty much as head coach Cuonzo Martin designed it.

“He drew up a play for me to come off a screen and catch the ball in the mid-post,” the player explained. “He wanted me to drive the ball strong. With the new rule I had no idea that that (charge call) could potentially happen. If I would’ve known I would’ve made a double move.”

Stokes said he didn’t ask the official why he called the charge but added, “I felt like he anticipated that to happen. But what’s done is done. I’m kind of sick about it but it’s already done.”

McRae closed his Vol career with a big game at Lucas Oil Stadium – 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks – but exhibited only dejection in the post-game locker room. He was 9 of 18 from the field, 6 of 11 from the foul line.

“We fought back hard,” he said. “I missed a whole lot of free throws throughout the game. Maybe if I don’t miss ‘em there would be a win.”

Michigan carved up Tennessee’s defense in the first half, hitting 7 of 9 shots from 3-point range en route to a 45-34 halftime lead. The Wolverines hit just 4 of 11 thereafter.

“There were a couple of defensive breakdowns in the first half,” Vol point guard*Antonio Barton*said. “We took more pride in our defense the second half and we didn’t allow ourselves to break down.

Tennessee trailed by 15 points (60-45) midway through the second half but rallied valiantly to set up the dramatic finish.

“Coach kept telling us it’s a long game and to keep fighting,” Barton recalled. “We just kept digging and chipping away at the lead.”

“I knew we weren’t out of the game,” Stokes said of the 15-point deficit. “We always come back, always make it a close game. We just didn’t come through, though.”

“You hate to lose like that … after making a run,” Thompson said. “After all we’ve been through this year it’s tough to lose like that.”

Given up for dead after stumbling to a 16-11 start, the Vols won eight of nine games before their controversial loss to Michigan. Martin spent the post-game minutes encouraging his team.

“He just told us to keep our heads up, that we had a great season,” Thompson said.

No Vol took the loss harder than senior*Jeronne Maymon. He finished his final game as a Vol feeling both pride and pain.

“Coach Martin instills a lot of different character traits in us to go out there and play tough, play Tennessee basketball,” he said. “That’s what we try to do. We just came up short tonight.”

Asked when he expects to decide whether he’ll opt for the NBA Draft or return for his senior year as a Vol, Stokes replied: “I really haven’t even thought about it. It hurts that this could even be potentially my last time wearing the jersey. I’m just going to pray about it, talk to my family and get advice.”*
 
Is it true that Jimmy Graham only played one season of football at Miami? Maybe it's not as insane as I first assumed I was. Might be worth taking a year to explore for a guy who's a marginal NBA prospect.
 
With the old*Bruce Pearl*at*Auburn,*Tennessee*basketball fans may be interested to know their next head man might be the new Bruce Pearl. That would be Southern Miss’Donnie Tyndall, who has reached agreement with Vol brass to oversee the Big Orange program.

Like Pearl, Tyndall loves fast-paced basketball.

“He’s very up-tempo,” Drew White, publisher of Scout’s Southern Miss website, told InsideTennessee. “He loves to run, and loves aggressive chaotic-style defense. He plays a match-up zone 100 percent of the time and will go full court with it, as well. Offensively, it’s run and gun whenever possible.”

Like Pearl, Tyndall is intensity personified.

“Coach Tyndall is as nice as a guy as you'll ever meet off the court, and as intense as you'll ever see on it,” White said. “He's very intense with his players, but he builds a strong relationship so they will run through a brick wall for him. The players always say the games are a breeze after making it through one of Coach Tyndall's practices. He has them extremely mentally tough.”

Like Pearl, Tyndall is a media darling who is never at a loss for words.

“He's fantastic with the media and knows us all by name,” White said. “One quick example: After asking him a question or two after practice one day, he had to go to film study. He called me back that night to see if there was anything else I needed from him and say he was sorry he had to go quickly. That's just the type of person he is.”

Like Pearl, Tyndall will get creative in order to market his program. Taking a page from the Pearl playbook, he has visited the school cafeteria to lobby for student support. Tyndall also achieved Internet infamy by joining his team in a 2013 “Harlem Shake” video that has nearly a quarter of a million views. Here’s the link:

http://youtu.be/JMyowh-gPSU

Like Pearl, Tyndall understands that connecting with the fans is an integral part of the job.

“He is absolutely loved,” White said. “Our stadium has been nicknamed 'Tyndall Town.' The students chant his name. Our basketball hardwood club membership has tripled in his first two years. He's as sociable and accessible as any head coach I've ever seen to a fan base.”

Like Pearl, Tyndall recognizes that relentlessly promoting your product is critical.

“He’s tireless,” White said. “In two years he has people saying USM is a basketball school. He makes every public appearance he can. He mingles with fans, he talks to fraternities and sororities. He even made an impromptu appearance in the cafeteria with a megaphone to try and get students there.”

Like Pearl, Tyndall realizes the importance of national recruiting. Luring prospects to Hattiesburg, Miss., is no simple task.

“He has connections all over the country,” White said. “He's had to be creative in getting players to Southern Miss, and he's found the right pieces each year. We know if we can get a kid on campus Coach Tyndall can close on him.”

Like Pearl, Tyndall is pretty good with the X’s and O’s. He has an imposing 56-17 record at Southern Miss.

White calls him “a tireless worker – watching film, studying his team and finding any advantage he possibly can.”

Tyndall’s initial head-coaching gig saw him lead St. Catharine College (Springfield, Ky.) to a 30-5 record in 1996-97 and the school’s first-ever appearance in the Junior College Nationals. After nine years assisting at*LSU,Idaho*and Middle Tennessee, he got his first Div. I head coaching job at his alma mater. Assuming a Morehead State team that had gone 4-23 in 2005-06 under Kyle Macy, he opened the 2006-07 season ranked 321 in RPI.

Tyndall promptly made an eight-game improvement to 12-18 in Year 1. After going 15-15 in Year 2, he went 20-16 in Year 3 and earned an NCAA Tournament bid. The victory totals continued to rise as he went 24-11 in 2010, then 25-10 in 2011, setting a program record for single-season wins and earning another NCAA bid. He then posted a signature win by shocking Rick Pitino’s*Louisville*Cardinals in Round 2.

Following an 18-14 rebuilding year in 2012, Tyndall left Morehead to take the reins at Southern Miss. Despite fielding the youngest team in Div. 1 hoops he went 27-10 overall and 12-4 in Conference USA en route to the NIT quarterfinals. He improved to 29-7 overall (13-3 CUSA) in 2013-14, losing 81-73 in the NIT quarterfinals to*Minnesota, coached by Richard Pitino, Rick’s son.

Counting his stints at Morehead and USM, Tyndall’s Div. I record is 170-101, a winning percentage of .627. If you throw out his first three years at Morehead, a massive rebuilding effort, he stands 123-52 the last five years for a winning percentage of .703.

Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tyndall turns 44 on June 14.

Obviously, there is only one Bruce Pearl, and to expect Donnie Tyndall to be a Pearl clone would be unfair. Still, Tyndall seems to have many of the traits that made Pearl enormously popular during his six-year stay on The Hill.
 
krustyheyhey.jpg
 
New*Tennessee*basketball coach*Donnie Tyndall*exhibited poise and wit in answering dozens of questions from media types at his introductory news conference Tuesday at Pratt Pavilion but the key question remains unanswered: Can he recruit at a high-major level?

The level of athlete that won big against mid-major competition at Morehead State and Southern Miss won’t cut it now that Tyndall is competing against the Kentuckys and Floridas of the world. Both made the 2014 Final Four, in case you forgot.

Tyndall understands he must up the ante in recruiting. He insists he’ll pursue the five-stars as zealously as anyone.

“We’re going to recruit the best players in America,” he said. “We will never walk into a (high school) gym and be OK with finishing second fiddle with anyone we recruit. When we walk in with that T on our chest, people are going to say, ‘Oh, boy. We better lace ‘em up,’ because we’re going to compete every day relentlessly on the recruiting trail.”

Although he is nearly 100 miles farther from Memphis in Knoxville (394 miles) than he was at his previous job in Hattiesburg, Miss. (298), Tyndall vowed to build a pipeline to the Bluff City, tweaking the nose of University of Memphis coach Josh Pastner in the process.

“We’ve got to start right here in our home state,” Tyndall said. “We’ve got to get into Memphis. We’ve got to control our state because we are the best program in the state, and we want everybody that wants to be a Vol or should be a Vol to be a Tennessee Vol.

“We’ll leave no stone unturned. As I mentioned, our recruiting efforts will be second to none. I will have a staff of young, aggressive go-getters that will be great with our players and do a fantastic job so that you see NBA-type players and great college players on our roster every year.”

Unless someone develops rapidly, there will be no “NBA-type players” on the 2014-15 roster. The departure of 2013-14 starters*Jordan McRae,*Jarnell Stokes,*Jeronne Maymon*and*Antonio Barton*has cost the Big Orange 70.7 percent of last season’s scoring, 63.3 percent of the rebounding and 56.7 percent of the assist total. With two scholarships at his disposal, Tyndall admits he may try to bolster the roster with a couple of spring signees.

“We’ve been active,” he said. “We have our hands on four or five guys that are just becoming available due to coaching changes, late qualifiers and things of that nature. But we won’t sign a guy just to fill a spot. If we don’t feel like a young man can 100 percent fit in to how we play … we’ll hold the scholarship and carry it over to the next class.

“That being said, we have two scholarships to give and, if it’s the right guy or two, we’ll certainly look to fill those.”

Whereas predecessor*Cuonzo Martin*seemed almost as interested in character as talent, Tyndall hinted that prospects need not be choir boys to play for him.

“We’re not going to have thugs; we’re not going to have renegades in our program. It won’t happen on my watch,” he said. “Will we have perfect angels? I doubt it – I’m not a perfect angel – but we’re going to have people that are prideful to wear the Tennessee uniform and want to represent our university the exact right way.”

Tyndall said he plans to bring his USM assistants with him to Tennessee but noted that some may fill different roles, suggesting he may be looking to hire an ace recruiter from another school. The obvious choice would be*Oklahoma State*assistant Butch Pierre, who served with Tyndall on the*LSU*staff of John Brady from 1997-2001. Pierre’s recruits include current NBA players*Anthony Randolph(Timberwolves),*Glen Davis*(Celtics),*Marcus Thornton(Kings),*Chris Johnson*(Trailblazers),*Brandon Bass(Magic) and*Garrett Temple*(Bobcats).

Two factors should help Tyndall recruit for Tennessee. First, the school is switching its attire provider from adidas to more popular Nike in one year. Secondly, Tyndall’s fast-tempo style of play is attractive to recruits.

“It’s an aggressive, attacking style of basketball,” he said. “We full-court press on every made basket and dead ball. We get after people from end line to end line, then we fall back to an aggressive matchup zone. If you’ve seenLouisville*play, our defensive philosophy is much like Louisville’s.”

Whereas Cuonzo Martin’s defense was more geared toward forcing tough shots than forcing turnovers, Tyndall’s defense is built around pressuring the foe into mistakes.

“We’ve been in the top 30 in Div. I basketball each of the last two years in steals,” the new coach noted. “That’s obviously because we’re playing an aggressive defensive style.”

When Tennessee has the ball Tyndall wants his team running the floor whenever possible.

“Offensively, we’re going to push the basketball on misses and long rebounds,” he said. “In the halfcourt we’re going to run a high/low motion with a ton of ball screening, trying to give our guards the freedom to make plays. A Kansas-type team is how we play on the offensive end.”

Selling prospects on a team that plays a Kansas-type offense and a Louisville-type defense sounds pretty simple. Tyndall thinks it will be.

“We have a great university to sell,” he said. “When you look around at these facilities and all that we have at the University of Tennessee, we should be able to get the best players. We’ll do everything in our power as a staff to make that happen.”
 
Tennessee's coaching position had just become available when*Donnie Tyndall*received a text message urging him to pursue the job.

This particular message did not come from Tyndall's agent. It instead was from his 11-year-old daughter, Grace Elizabeth. Her note said in all capital letters that "THE TENNESSEE JOB IS OPEN. HINT, HINT."

"Certainly this is a job that was on my radar - and Gracie's too," Tyndall said Tuesday at his introductory press conference as Tennessee's coach.

Tyndall agreed to a six-year contract worth $1.6 million per year to replace Cuonzo Martin, who went 63-41 in three seasons at Tennessee before California hired him on April 15.

The 43-year-old Tyndall went 56-17 with a pair of NIT appearances in two seasons at Southern Mississippi. Before going to Southern Mississippi, Tyndall was 114-85 with two NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons at Morehead State, which had gone 4-23 the year before his arrival. His 2011 Morehead State team upset Louisville in the NCAA tournament.

Tyndall called Tennessee a place where "you can compete to go to the Final Four and you can compete to win a national championship. And that's my plan."

"Tennessee, to me, is a destination job," Tyndall said.

The hire of Tyndall continues Tennessee's recent tradition of selecting coaches from mid-major programs. Martin came to Tennessee in 2011 after three seasons at Missouri State. Martin was preceded by Bruce Pearl, who arrived at Tennessee from Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Pearl and Martin helped Tennessee reach four regional semifinals in the last eight years.

Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart praised Tyndall's boundless energy and winning history. Hart said Tyndall's traits reminded him of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones. Tyndall and Jones grew up about an hour away from each other. Tyndall was born in Grand Rapids, Mich. Jones is from Saugatuck, Mich.

Tyndall also has experience coaching in the Southeastern Conference and in the state of Tennessee. He was an assistant at LSU from 1997-2001 and at Middle Tennessee from 2002-06.

"Donnie Tyndall fits the profile perfectly," Hart said.

Tyndall faces some immediate challenges.

Tennessee loses four of its top five scorers from the team that went 23-14 and reached a regional semifinal this season.

Tyndall also must unite a fan base that was divided for much of this season between Martin supporters and Pearl backers. Although Martin averaged 21 wins a year at Tennessee, some disgruntled fans started an online petition to bring back Pearl when the team struggled early this season.

Pearl led the Vols to NCAA tournament appearances in each of his six seasons before getting fired in 2011 amid an NCAA investigation. Pearl was hired at Auburn last month.

"We've got to put that behind us," Tyndall said. "It's got to start today. We all have to rally and get on the same bus, if you will. We're all Tennessee Vol fans. We all bleed orange. We all want our team, our young guys to do well. So let's start today. Let's pull this thing together, put all that stuff behind us and go to work."

Tyndall said he planned to use the same aggressive, attacking style of basketball that helped his teams win at least 24 games four of the last five seasons, including a 29-7 mark this year. Tyndall had agreed to terms with Southern Mississippi on a new four-year contract worth $500,000 annually in January. He owes Southern Mississippi $500,000 under the terms of his buyout.

Tyndall said he intends to bring his entire Southern Mississippi staff with him to Tennessee.

"He made a heck of an impact in two years," Southern Mississippi athletic director Bill McGillis said. "He's a fabulous coach. He's a wonderful person and he just did a marvelous job. We wish him and his staff well."

Hart called Tyndall a "grinder" for the way he worked his way toward this opportunity after starting his coaching career at the junior-college level.

"Donnie Tyndall pulled himself up from his bootstraps," Hart said. "He knew what he wanted to be. He wanted to be a basketball coach. He knew ultimately where he wanted to coach — in the Southeastern Conference. And he knew the tradition and history of the University of Tennessee."

While Tyndall was at Morehead State, the program was placed on probation for two years in August 2010 because of violations related to booster activity. The school's self-imposed penalties included the loss of one scholarship and other recruiting restrictions. Hart said he reviewed the situation "very thoroughly" and had no concerns about it moving forward.

"I don't shy away from responsibility," Tyndall said. "I learned from it, I grew from it and I certainly never expect to go through it again."
 
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