Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Vanderbilt Falls to Gators 65-61; Drops to 3-4 in the SEC

Um, that hurts. And yes, Jenkins got fouled, and I'm willing to put some of this loss on the refs ramming the Commodores.


Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree.

Anonymous said...

I don't care about refs. I don't care about injuries. I care that we are now 3-4 and in last place. They say basketball is our best sport, and this is the most talented VU team in decades. If that is the case, then our Athletics program is in the crapper. We have nothing to cheer about. Oh wait, yes we do, our recruiting class is the best ever in football. Not that I haven't heard that before. Scuse me while I go barf.

Bobby O'Shea said...

CKS is complementary of the team in his post-game chat with the Voice. He specifically mentioned that he thought Jenkins got fouled. CKS said: "It feels like the second time to me that a no-call occurred on the road..."

CKS gives Fisher the same coy answer to Fisher that he gave on ESPN re: JT not starting. My wife thinks its OK, I'm not so sure. Taylor clearly did something Stallings wasn't happy about.

Overall, CKS was as positive as he could be after a loss like this.

Anonymous said...

Fouls aside it's out third overtime loss. We need to learn how to win close games. Hint: don't always bomb threes late in the game.

Anonymous said...

Brad Tinsley is now 0-6 on threes with less than 15 seconds left. Just sayin.

Douglas James said...

I wish I knew how to quit you (me to vanderbilt athletics in general)

Anonymous said...

So far an underperforming team.

Next 3 are must haves or no dancing this year.

Agree, Fes and JT did not earn their plane fare this trip.

CKS needs to raise some hell with SEC on all the no calls we get at the end.

Anonymous said...

Last place!

Anonymous said...

I was at the game. Sad day. Too much anger to write on it.

Can I just say, PLEASE, PLEASE let everyone come back next year. We need our 5 back on the floor, and then maybe we can perform to our potential.

Anonymous said...

I'm tired.

Tired of hearing the fanbase and coaches say year in and year out that our football recruiting class is "the best ever" and then following that hype up with 1-2 wins in conference.

Tired of hearing we have the most athletic, talented, VU hoops team ever assembled, and then following that up with a first round exit in the tourny and then this year with a 3-4 start in conference play.

In short, I'm sick and tired of being teased into thinking commodore athletics is going to turn the corner into gaining national respectability - the type where we aren't the butt of jokes on ESPN but rather a powerhouse name.

Just once, can't we win a championship in something other than engineering or women's bowling. I want my alma mater to have some street cred!

Bobby O'Shea said...

Anyone who thinks Brad Tinsely is the (or even a) problem, isn't paying attention. I'm just saying, Anonymous 10:50.

Anonymous said...

Brad Tinsley is now 0-6 on threes with less than 15 seconds left. Fact that can't be disputed. Clutch he is not. White mamba? He's not even a garden snake.

Anonymous said...

Near the end why cant we run an offensive play and not take some off balance shot by BT or JJ? Last time we did we won against Marquette.

Fla lucky as hell.

Anonymous said...

BT is actually a bright spot - rest are missing in action.

Anonymous said...

I’ve commented on here before about how frustrating it is to see Jeff Taylor NOT take over a game. I’ve given up on that. Jeff Taylor will never be the player we all know he can be. Sure the guy will have moments but will never be in the Shan Foster, Derrick Byars realm and will settle with being mediocre. We will make the tourni and loose in the 1st round. Jeff Taylor = Ogilvy like letdown.

Now for Jenkins… dang, does that kid have heart or what.

Anonymous said...

I think it is time to the face the fact that this teams is simply not as good as we thought it would be.

CKS once said that the way he measures his success is by measuring the team's potential versus its production. Using this method, he ranked the team that lost to Furman and bounced back to go the Sweet 16 as his best team because they came closest to maximizing its potential.

I can't help but get the feeling based on his nonchalant post-game pressers that CKS thinks this team's ceiling is hosting a first round NIT game. Which is where we will be in March after our .500 finish in a conference that ESPN considers weaker than the Mountain West.

My head tells me not to believe the analysis above, but 8 years of Commodore sports has taught me that expecting Vandy (at least in the sports that matter) to do more than underachieve is a recipe for self-inflicted agony.

Hopefully, tomorrow CJF will bring in a class that can make us feel good for a while.

Anonymous said...

Even if CJF brings in our best class ever, I guarantee you it will be the lowest rated class in the SEC. Sure we've moved up, but we're still behind.

Honestly, we should just accept moral victories.

Anonymous said...

For a Vandy fans its hard for their to be a real "let down" of a team... however this team is the exception.

Its tough to be a Vandy fan

Anonymous said...

Yes Jenkins was fouled at the end and VU seems to not get those calls - but like several of our losses this year, Vanderbilt should have won by double digits. Just win the next game.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why some people are so down on Tinsley. He is a solid contributor to this team, did very well against Florida's press, and made the best offensive play in overtime with his and-1 that kept us in the game.

Yes, the Dores are "underperforming" and have lost a lot of tough games in close situations, save Marquette. It sucks that we're off to such a rough start in the SEC. But think about the big picture. Maybe we'll right the ship, and do well in the tourney, and then will you care about this game? Maybe we won't right the ship and finish 6-10 in the conference, and then will you care about this game? No doubt, this loss was tough to watch, especially that no-call on JJ. But can't we just keep watching the games and enjoy being fans without killing ourselves if this team doesn't reach an arbitrary level of success?

Anonymous said...

Two comments recently have implied that VU's engineering school is the shining star that the university hangs its hat on. That's far from true--it's one of the smallest colleges at Vandy, and is not as highly ranked among engineering schools as Vanderbilt is as an overall university. It's certainly not a bad program (I am an alum) but not what Vandy is or should be known for.

Andrew said...

Our losses stem from two things, one that should certainly improve and one that's doubtful.

1. Injuries: Goldbourne and Steve T. simply haven't been contributing like they can for the past several games and Walker, obviously, has been absent. Ignoring Walker (because his problem seems to be less the ankle than motivation), we'd have won pretty easily last night but for the injuries. We might have even won Arkansas because a lot of our problem there was rebounding and those guys both rebound when healthy. The real question is whether we should be resting them and losing blowouts rather than losing close games. Will they heal slower if they play? I don't know, but I'm curious.

2. Taylor. Does he have all the raw talent in the world? Obviously, but he's a head case who needs a shrink, not a coach. Anyone who believes him to be the best player on the team is crazy. He's probably not the second or third best player on the team right now. But he is the key to our season. If he wakes up, we win the rest of our games and go to the Great 8. If not, we're fine but nothing special.

Anonymous said...

I really believe if we dont win our next 3 games, we wont make the tourni. They are all 3 home games against South Carolina, Alabama, and Kentucky. Its time to heal up and figure things out. Any game plan or play that has Taylor as a critical role...scrap it. I agree, the kids a head case and we need more reliable players on the court.

Anonymous said...

I have already written this year off as a disappointment. I felt that unless this squad won the sec regular season and/or made it to the elite 8, I wd be disappointed. I didn't realize that Taylor can't finish most nights. Unless he's our best player we won't win much, and he's clearly not.

Still, that was good basketball last night. I enjoy basketball. We're still pretty good and I will enjoy watching the remaining games.

Anyone who watched Florida try to press for a long time last night, and saw Kyle Fuller's freshman jitters and BT's veteran calm will have to shut up now and how Tinsley handles the press.

KHH said...

A couple of things....JTaylor needs to show up, game in and game out, none of this half an effort or no effort at all. He missed entirely TOO MANY lay-ups and under the goal shots that should be a no brainer! They put that square up on the backboard for a reason - USE IT! Had he made his missed (I belive 4 or 5) easy 2-pointers we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Brad Tinsley isn't the best shooter, but he is a great point guard. He should not have the last shot or the next to last shot in any game, period.

John Jenkins has the heart of a lion, he never gives up...now if he could teach some of his other team mates to have that same heart, we'd be unstopable. That kid will only get better and I can't wait!

Coach needs to make sure the guys know how to "run the clock" don't go down and jack up some crappy shot, you have a Princeton offense, use it. Also he needs to teach JT to have a short term memory about shooting, you miss, you battle back and try again, don't harp on the past!

Now, let's get our butts in gear and go kick some butt with the rest of the schedule! GO 'DORES!

Anonymous said...

1.) JT should NEVER be allowed to shoot 3's. I cannot for the life of me understand why he isn't on the 3-pt blacklist. He should be. CKS needs to get that squared away immediately. He needs to make aggressive moves to the basket for high percentage shots. I'm sick of losing the ball because CKS refuses to coach shot selection.

2.) We're over half way through the season. Will CKS please teach this team how to box out. We have made no improvement in this area (other than putting "Liability" Lance on the floor). I'm sick of giving 2nd chance opportunities because CKS refuses to coach rebounding fundamentals.

Anonymous said...

On your point, even though Jenkins was fouled at the end, his shot was poor selection.

Both Fes and Taylor need to be told to only dunk. Remember Taylor missed 2 lay ups end of first half UT that probably change that outcome. Same for last night. Like how we have 5 point turn around end of first half last night?

Right now only reliable players are Jenkins and Tensley

Anonymous said...

i'm not giving up. @ USC & Arkansas hurt BAD, don't get me wrong. but losses @ UT & UF are almost expected. UF was a top 10 team to many respected writers for a reason. i don't think they are, but they aren't bad either. we still get those 2 teams back @ home and we CAN & WILL beat them both at home.

thankfully our next 2 games are at home against teams we should beat. USC & Bama and we have motivation to beat USC. they say walker could be back for Bama. but even if he's not, we should have him for the next big home game, UK. don't know if we will beat them but we can. it would be huge. if we pick these 3 up we're 6-4 in the SEC and i'm not as scared.

i think we definitely lose @ UK. but we can beat UGA on the road and we should beat auburn/lsu on the road. UT/UF/USC/Bama/UK all at hoome are winnable. considering the team's disappointments i think we probably finish strong and end up 10-6. that's not going to win the SEC, but that will get us in the tournament and that's what counts.

we'll take it from there. now if we finish 9-7, or 8-8 (which we will if we keep playing this way) i'm giving up. so if we lose to USC or bama, or drop to georiga AND losing to UK at our place, or lose to auburn/lsu, etc. yea, i'll officially be done.

those talking about brad are crazy. taylor isn't stepping up. and LG, please, please, please STOP shooting 3's. they leave you wide open for a reason.

DRW said...

I couldn't agree with the last post more.

FrustratedVUfan said...

I'm sick of this team (with the exception of Jenkins and Tinsley).

Jenkins has really expanded his game during SEC play. He's scoring off the dribble effectively. Why in the heck does Stallings not run more plays for him coming off screens. It seems like he's running around aimlessly trying to get open. If Stallings would spread the floor more efficiently it would give him room to cut.

Brad Tinsley is not the problem. He's played solid all year. I will agree that he is not clutch. He missed big free throws and Missouri and clanked that game winning three.

Jeffery Taylor is the problem. His great spin move and missed layup made me sick last night. If he's soooo athletic why does he get blocked 3 or 4 times a game? There is no excuse for that.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with those supporting Tinsley. People who are bashing him obviously aren't watching the games. I think outside of Jenkins, Brad has been by far our most consistent player. Just look at what happened when he was on the bench in the second half last night. Even Vitale said they needed to get Tinsley back in there and as soon as they did that was when we made our come back and made it a game. Give me 4-5 guys that work as hard as Tinsley and Jenkins and this team is probably undefeated in SEC play at this point.

Owen said...

tinsley is the SEC's leading assist man and his assist to turnover ratio is not bad (not the best either). i'm happy with brad. if we can get good ball handling, 10 pts, 4-5 assists, and a couple of rebounds a night from him and i'm pleased.

jenkins looked great. he is creating his offense a little more and i'm glad to see him handle the ball with more confidence and drive the basket. that should only make his outside game more effective because the defense has to respect his ability to get to the basket. he also was grabbing some rebounds last night which is different than normal. i still want more from him defensively but i feel like he's getting better in all aspects of his game.

i was really happy with LG until he got hurt. i think he is a great starter when he's healthy. he does have a turnover problem but hell, i can handle him throwing one away or dropping one off his foot if he can rebound 10+ a game.

jeff taylor can do it. i believe that. i just don't know that he believes it or that he ever will.