Very important win

[Jason94]

While that win will not likely be the determinant of whether we make the tournament or not, we avoided a loss that most likely would have ended any hope of a tournament bid. As typical for the last 10 game, it was a gritty win, devoid of anything approaching easy, but not even in doubt.

What we are seeing beside Lawrence stepping up and asserting himself offensively is Wright playing the way that most of us assumed he would play all season. Wright is a tweener, but one who can give teams fits because he is so strong but has enough skill that he isn't simply bullying his way around the court. He has gone from a part time player to one who is difficult to take off the court, and tonight he put up a 15 and 15 double double. Manjon continued his strong play as he has done such a great job down the stretch of running the offense and knowing when to drive the lane for his layups and mid range shots.

One of the better things from this game was the good contributions from the freshmen. Dort made his return and while he showed signs of rust, also showed glimpses of how dominant he can be inside. But it was the contributions of Smith and Lewis that were both very pleasant surprises. Without those two stepping it up offensively we might have been in trouble with Stute and Thomas against struggling to shoot the ball. Thomas is in a woeful three game slump where he has 3 points in his last 62 minutes of PT and is 1 for 13 from the field in those games. Stute is 8 for his last 32 from three and is 0-6 inside the arc over the last 5 games. Fortunately we got 18 points from Smith and Lewis in 28 minutes on just 11 shots.

It all comes down to tomorrow night against our old nemesis in UK. Win and I'd say we are in barring shenanigans from the committee. Lose and we have to pray a lot of bubble teams around us also lose. Nothing would be better than to send UK home while simultaneously punching our ticket to our first tournament appearance since 2017. After 10 game s of being in near must-win situations, we have our final "must-win" game. Can the guys come through one more time? I'm certainly not going to be against them at this point.

[admin]

Great post. You all know that you can click on the little heart and it'll send some love to great posters. It's kinda like a "like" on facebook.

[Dsdore]

It’s been a long time since Vandy has had a point guard like Ezra. With speed and quickness. Offense and defense. His ability to penetrate, handle the ball, finish at the basket and shutdown the opposing point guard have been off the chart. Needless to say he has far exceeded expectations.

As mentioned above, the freshman are coming on and showing that the class is worthy of the rating they came in with. Really enjoying the present and excited for the future. And Jordan has been All-SEC lately.

[Obvious]

Great post. You all know that you can click on the little heart and it'll send some love to great posters. It's kinda like a "like" on facebook.

Love clicking the little heart.

[commadore]

I am not sure we have EVER had a point guard like Ezra and I am excited to see him back next year.

[MrMemorial]

I am not sure we have EVER had a point guard like Ezra and I am excited to see him back next year.

I saw the Springer kid score 35 in a high school game. He was fast too.

[cjdore]

Ezra is driving the bus, Jordan is loading the bus, and I would have said Liam is lifting the bus.

[commadore]

I am not sure we have EVER had a point guard like Ezra and I am excited to see him back next year.

I saw the Springer kid score 35 in a high school game. He was fast too.

That does go back aways. I had forgotten about him honestly. He was pretty quick too once he got his game under control.

[A32Win]

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-tourn ... edictions/

According to the latest update from teamranking.com Vandy now has a 79% chance to make it in while they give MSU only a 45% chance of getting into the Dance.

[katmai]

It’s been a long time since Vandy has had a point guard like Ezra. With speed and quickness. Offense and defense. His ability to penetrate, handle the ball, finish at the basket and shutdown the opposing point guard have been off the chart. Needless to say he has far exceeded expectations.

Unfortunately, the most talented point guard in Vandy's history (Darius Garland) only played 4 1/2 games.

[geeznotagain]

I was especially impressed by the play of Lewis last night. As for the play of Stute, I'm surprised that the stats quoted by Jason are THAT good. He and Trey are in a major funk, and it couldn't happen at a worse time. I would be surprised if Stute started tonight.

[UltimateVUFan]

It’s been a long time since Vandy has had a point guard like Ezra. With speed and quickness. Offense and defense. His ability to penetrate, handle the ball, finish at the basket and shutdown the opposing point guard have been off the chart. Needless to say he has far exceeded expectations.

Unfortunately, the most talented point guard in Vandy's history (Darius Garland) only played 4 1/2 games.

4.12 games. But who’s counting?

[jeff93]

Last night's game would have been a real blowout had Trey and Miles hit 25% of their shots.

[Foreverhopeful]

Great post. You all know that you can click on the little heart and it'll send some love to great posters. It's kinda like a "like" on facebook.

I always send the love! Yes, Jason, excellent analysis.

[admin]

Jason's post has 13 hearts right now. I think that's a VM record.

[Obvious]

“Our final must-win” I think that sums it up perfectly. Still might be the slightest chance if we don’t win but this should lock it as long as everyone’s head is screwed on right.

[Jason94]

I was especially impressed by the play of Lewis last night. As for the play of Stute, I'm surprised that the stats quoted by Jason are THAT good. He and Trey are in a major funk, and it couldn't happen at a worse time. I would be surprised if Stute started tonight.

I think there should be consideration to play Smith and Lewis more at this point over Stute and Thomas. Stute has some defensive value, but he is in a deep offensive funk. And Thomas is not setting himself on his jumpshots and his shots appear to be rushed in my view, which is the worst thing for him as he is not good enough to hit shots on the move. He is best when he is stationary getting into his shot. At this point, Thomas is actually one of our worst three point shooters, as while he has regressed, a number of players have been hitting their shots recently. Wright, Lawrence, Smith and Lewis have all shot the three better than Thomas this season, and while Thomas continue to get PT, he could see his PT erode greatly if the wings we have coming in can shoot the ball.

The main issue with Stute and Thomas is that almost all of their offensive value comes from their three point shooting. Inside the arc they are combined 32-95 and have been to the line a combined 53 times (for reference, Robbins, who has played fewer than half the minutes of Stute and Thomas went to the line 171 times this season). Both players also have very low assist rates. When they are hitting their threes they have value due to how valuable a made three is. When they are not however they end up being a drag on the offense. The other issue is that they have been very inconsistent in their shooting. Not bad enough to get benched, but not consistent enough to be able to rely upon. Some nights you can get 15-20 points from either of them, and other nights they can put up a donut. Manjon hasn't been as explosive with his scoring, but you can pencil in 7-10 points and 5 assists almost every game. CJS knows that Lawrence is going to score 10-15 points on most nights. He's starting to get consistency from Wright as well, which really helps in Robbins' absence.

[Jason94]

Great post. You all know that you can click on the little heart and it'll send some love to great posters. It's kinda like a "like" on facebook.

Thanks Don - really appreciate it!