Tennessee Basketball: 3 keys for Volunteers vs Colorado Buffaloes

Get to the Rim

We know that the guards are great shooters for Tennessee and they revolve around those four guys to get them wins. What is not going to get the Volunteers wins against good teams is what they did in their first game against Tennessee Tech. Tennessee decided to take 44 threes out of the 65 shots they took in the game. The Volunteers made 12 of them and against a much inferior opponent won the game handily. Colorado is not Tennessee Tech.

Shooting that many times from deep is going to play right into what Colorado wants them to do to become a jump-shooting team. It makes playing defense real easy and is easy to get out in transition. The Buffaloes do have some good rebounders on their team who are great at getting long rebounds and getting out in transition. To alleviate all of that the Volunteers need to get to the rim and cut that three points attempt number in half. The Volunteers have a ton of talent in their backcourt and have guys who can get to the rim and get the easy baskets. Ziegler is one of the best at it for his size in the country.

Another underrated aspect of getting to the basket is getting fouled and potentially getting some stars for Colorado in foul trouble. Tennessee has yet to miss a foul shot this year and has a lot of good free throw shooters so that would be to their advantage. It also keeps the defense honest making it harder to defend a team. Tennessee already has great shooters on the roster and there are a lot of times Vescovi and Key will be out on the floor together. Drive the lane, suck the defense in, kick out to a wide-open shooter and make an easy one. That is the best offense. Standing out and turning the game into a three-point shooting contest is never a recipe for success.

Tennessee is the better team on paper and they will likely cover the spread. This game is a great way to lead us into the work week as we get the Gavitt Tip-Off games next week and some primers for holiday tournaments. It is rare to get this quality of game on a regular schedule not tied to a tournament or Multi-Team Event this early in the season. Even though Colorado is struggling right now they are still a good team and will give Tennessee a game.