You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2008.
Tennessee starts its fall camp Saturday, which means it’s really really close to being football season. The already high anticipation level just continues to rise, as it’s officially less than a month until we have college football again – that is, if you count the opening Thursday night games.
I’m doing my part, embarking on a long, long journey through all the conferences and all the teams in I-A and how they look heading into the season. Yes that’s right, I’m tackling this task with reckless abandon – 21 days straight of conference preview posts.
Some notes about these previews: first, I get most of my information on who’s back for which teams from Phil Steele’s magazine. Yes, he picked Tennessee behind South Carolina in the East (absurd if you ask me) but there’s too much straight information in that book for me to not use. So thank you Phil.
Secondly, I realized as I began writing these that these posts will be quite long. Honestly, I don’t expect anybody to read every word on these posts – if you’re just looking for a quick overview, read my introducing words, and look at the pictures and captions (there’s one for each team).
However, if you’re the betting type and need to know about a particular team you might not know much about, this could help. Also, if for example you’re a Gator fan wanting to know what Hawaii will look like without June Jones and Colt Brennan, or a UGA fan looking to see what kind of challenge to expect from Central Michigan, then just check out those particular teams in the previews. The plan is to do more in-depth previews of Tennessee’s opponents the week leading up to those games.
That said, I must admit the posts will get better as I go along, since obviously I’m going to know more, and likewise have more opinions about, the BCS conference teams than the non-BCS leagues. The BCS conference posts will be less structured and less boring facts, and will have more pictures, YouTube documentations, and biased-but-supposedly-objective musings from my own head.
Here’s the actual schedule. The fun of this journey begins Friday and concludes the Thursday the week before the season gets going…
Aug 1: Army/Navy Aug 2: MAC West Aug 3: MAC East Aug 4: Sun Belt
Aug 5: WAC Aug 6: C-USA West Aug 7: C-USA East Aug 8: MWC
Aug 9: Big East Aug 10: ACC Coastal Aug 11: ACC Atlantic Aug 12: Big Ten
Aug 13: Big 12 North Aug 14: Big 12 South Aug 15: Pac-10
The SEC gets its own week more or less, with an East team being paired with its yearly West opponent for six straight days, culminating with my take on my beloved Volunteers. I would imagine those posts would be the best out of all of the previews. Those will go as follows:
Aug 16: Vandy/Ole Miss
Aug 17: South Carolina/Arkansas
Aug 18: Kentucky/Mississippi State
Aug 19: Georgia/Auburn
Aug 20: Florida/LSU
Aug 21: Tennessee/Alabama
I get back from a day at the beach yesterday afternoon and jump on over to VolQuest, where I see that Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer had been issued/denied being issued a subpoena at SEC Media Days in Birmingham. Not exactly what I was expecting at all, and obviously not what anyone involved with Tennessee who was in Birmingham was expecting either. I decided against writing a knee-jerk reaction to it yesterday afternoon because I wanted to see what came of all this.
Click HERE for a video of Fulmer’s reaction/denial to the mess during his interview, as well as a link to the garbage law firm’s website.
Obviously Coach is down there with Robert Ayers and Arian Foster to talk football. From what I understand there’s media from all over the SEC, and the coaches and players do like three stright hours of interviews. The whole deal with Alabama was 4 years ago, and Alabama’s punishment is now over. He shouldn’t be expecting any more legal issues with that. Then these clown lawyers give Coach a subpoena in what I think is a very childish and unprofessional way – they throw a piece of paper at him. This article has similar thoughts as well, put in a better way.
I can’t blame Fulmer for taking the envelope, giving it to Bud Ford, Tennessee’s media relations guy, and forgetting about it. Certainly the thought here is that “If I was going to get a subpoena, it wouldn’t have been thrown at me, right?”. I don’t think you can call Coach a liar, I just think he – and the PR people at Tennessee – failed to read it, and then found it in a stack of papers later that day. What’s not believable about that?
The subpoena wants Fulmer to testify September 25, two days before the Vols take on Auburn. As a fan, I really hope and believe that won’t happen – it has to be moved. I don’t want my head coach dealing with some egotistical Bama fan in a trivial civil suit he won’t win during the week between two of our biggest games.
I don’t hold any of this against the University of Alabama either. From my understanding, they have basically disowned this Wendell Smith character. It’s obvious to me that Alabama has more or less moved on from the events of earlier this decade. Do they still hate Fulmer? Of course. Are they glad that Fulmer was basically embarrassed by some of their own fans? Probably. But they have Nick Saban now, they are looking towards the future (and the past, STILL, of course) and not at the probation they just came off of for cheating.
The statement Fulmer released late last night (great read) cleared most of this garbage up for me. I think this will eventually be forgotten, and not much more will come from this whole mess. As for Tennessee and this upcoming football season, the last time Fulmer dealt with subpoenas in Birmingham (perhaps the SEC should move this event to Atlanta…) Tennessee beat Florida and Georgia and won the East – with two freshman QBs. I think Fulmer has become plenty more motivated than earlier in this decade following 1998, but this should only add to that – he sincerely looked, and sounded in his statement, pissed off at all this nonsense. I like to see that from my head coach.
What a view from room 502 of Crystal Shores in Gulf Shores, AL
I’m back in Memphis now after having spent the last week down in Gulf Shores, Alabama, amidst many, many Bammer and Auburn fans. They were EVERYWHERE, but I proudly sported some orange throughout the time there. I’m here for the week, then heading out of town again – this time to the Carolinas. I get back right before August starts, and then I’ll be heading back up to Knoxville sometime around the 10th-12th.
As I correctly assumed, not much nothing really newsworthy has happened deserving of a post. Outside of Tennessee getting two more commitments – Antonio Foster and D.J. Hunter – it’s been really, really quiet. The dog day doldrums of summer are in full swing.
Thanks to D.J. Hunter (above) and Antonio Foster for giving us Vol fans some good news in the long, hot July days
The SEC Media Days are coming up though, but I don’t see any reason why it’s worth writing anything on other than it means fall practice is literally a couple weeks away. Why? Read this from Mike Strange of the KNS and you’ll have an idea. Good stuff there.
As I said I would, I would take this month of not actually being on/near “The Hill” to figure out what to do with the August. I’ve got the outline for the college football previews and what day I’ll do what and all that. The in-season schedule has also taken shape, but I’ll have a much more detailed post as to the exact schedule – an August preview of the previews, if you will – once I get back in town at the end of July.
I bought my copy of Phil Steele’s magazine today, from which I’ll get much of my information for the conference previews. Honestly, I don’t buy it for his predictions, despite his well-documented accuracy the past decade. It’s just so loaded with information that it amazes me – I mean where else can you get all this type of information on EVERY Division I-A team? I’ll be scouring it for the next couple of weeks in preparation for August’s work.
If you’re a true college football fan, you can get all the information you ever wanted for less than $10…thank you Phil Steele
I finished the Chris/JaJuan page a short time ago, and the SEC Tournament/Atlanta tornado page will be done this week – just need to add the necessary media. Til the end of July (barring MAJOR news)…
Well, the Rocky Top League came to an unfortunate end last night, with HT Group (my pick I must remind you) finishing it’s unbeaten run. After being in attendance every night except the first, I must say that I enjoyed the league as a whole. I can’t see how anyone would say that’s it’s worthless or a waste of time or anything negative about it to be honest.
I mean it’s free basketball. Not only that but it’s a great deal for the fans – the access to the players really has no limits, so getting an autograph or Kodak moment is a piece of cake. And it’s also a chance for the fans to get a look at their Vols – and other local players – up close and personal, in a setting much, much different from games in the winter. It’s more of an exhibition than anything else, really, so getting to see some flashy play and high-flying, athletic players is a treat.
For the players, it’s nothing more than a chance to really showcase their skills, stay in shape, and play with different guys than the teammates they’ll play with most of the year. Obviously there isn’t as much intensity as in real games and it’s not like these teams are playing real team defense or running any specific offensive sets (it is pretty much pickup ball with “refs” and a clock with a large crowd watching). But I wouldn’t totally say that you absolutely can take nothing away from this league.
Granted it’s very different from real games, but with the Tennessee players you can still see some of the skills, some strengths and weaknesses offensively. This particular year, this league was great for getting to see the new players – Cam Tatum (sort of), Bobby Maze, Scotty Hopson, Daniel West, and occasionally Philip Jurick. What did I learn about the new Vols?
Bobby Maze can score in a variety of ways – he showed the ability to get to the basket, a pull-up jumper off the dribble, and the ability to knock down the three. He might have been the most intense player on the court each night. I think he could also be a pretty good defender. As I said in the earlier post, just from the little I’ve seen he almost has to be an upgrade over the departed Ramar Smith at this point (I really liked Ramar, though he was frustrating to watch at times).
Scotty Hopson is long, a little lean, but he makes the game look so easy. He struggled shooting consistently from three, but he can get to the rim incredibly well. I’m not convinced that the Scotty I saw each night was the one we’ll see this season, I still think he was holding back a little. You can absolutely see the potential and athletic ability he’s got.
West has some developing and strengthening to do, but he’s going to be a solid backup PG in my opinion. He’s got quick hands defensively and has really good handle (thanks to where he’s from). Not sure he would be a starting PG in the SEC, but I think he’ll be a good player.
Jurick is definitely raw, and I see him redshirting this year, but that might have been expected coming in. He’s got the height and if he was a step quicker would be an outstanding interior defender/shot blocker. But he’s not there yet.
Along with Maze, Cam Tatum was the most impressive of the “new” Tennessee players. I wasn’t sure he could break in the starting five, but I think that’s a real possibility after seeing him because he is so athletically gifted and can shoot. With the PG situation seemingly more stable than maybe last year, I could see starting Tatum and bringing Prince off the bench like last year.
But the League obviously isn’t just for the Tennessee guys, as Courtney Pigram showed last night. Pigram was obviously the best of the non-Vols and with the experience of going to this league, I now have a vested interest in following some of these guys from ETSU, Charleston, Coastal Carolina, and Carson-Newman. I can now say I’ve seen Terrance Oglesby play live.
I’m glad they brought his league back, and its seems to be popular. I think you might see continued increases in the number of big-name school players the next couple of years. Or at least I hope that’s the case.
Finally, take my observations for what they’re worth – it is just summer league (which makes me wonder what the NBA summer leagues are like…). I gotta admit I’m slightly a homer, not delusional, and I tried to be objective with reporting what I saw. Before the RTL I considered us the favorite in the SEC (who else is there that really scares you?) just based on the raw talent of the roster and having Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism, and depth.
I leave you with this excellent video from utvolfan84, a VolQuester with YouTube. He’s got some other good highlights from the RTL as well. It’s the last half of the title game, including Tyler’s block on Maze that I was referring to. Enjoy!
Championship night at the 2008 RTL (thanks to GVX for this photo)
Wednesday night at the Rocky Top League final night was pretty much like I expected. The house was packed, and the basketball was at a very, very high level. How packed was the Bearden High School gym? So packed that it was two-deep standing room only along the baseline, and who knows how many were left outside of the doors, as the gym’s legal capacity had been reached (and was probably exceeded…). I was in the gym at 5:30, so I had no worries about that.
More about the championship game first, but the third place game between Toyota of Knoxville and Knoxville News-Sentinel had some excitement as well. No Wayne Chism or Rashard Lee for Toyota, which of score hurt their scoring. The first half of this game was just utterly boring. With no real draws of interest outside of Dane Bradshaw, that’s somewhat understandable. However, the game picked up steam just before halftime, as Toyota led.
Tony White Jr. was another player who really impressed me over the course of the last couple of weeks
Tony White Jr. led the way for Toyota, picking up the scoring slack with 26 points. I’ve been trying to get some quality footage of the guy, but my timing just hasn’t been well with the camera. Try this though. But I did get him draining this three, one of the few he hit tonight…
doneAs I mentioned, the second half was completely opposite from the first half – much more quality basketball being played. It was pretty close throughout, mostly thanks to former Vol Damon Johnson, who was absolutely on tonight. He hit a number of threes, scored on a number of drives, including many in which most people probably were looking for a walk call. These were the type of travels that most pros, even those that play in Spain like DJ, I think get the benefit of…he’s played basketball for awhile, and you can notice the experience he has over pretty much everyone else. He led everyone in this game with 43 points. The old mad can still play some ball.
Dane Bradshaw probably played the best defense on Damon Johnson of any of the Toyota players, but DJ still dropped 43 points on Toyota
Flash forward to the final minute. KNS up 99-98 with the ball…
done
A beautiful dish from Cameron Sharp of Carson-Newman (with a buzzcut now) to Chauncey Thompson, his C-N teammate. KNS gets a stop and gets free throws, and Johnson hits the first to make it 102-98. White Jr. drives the other way and is fouled shooting a three, and hits all three free throws. Thompson is fouled and goes to the line with 8 seconds left and KNS up 102-101. It’s a one-and-one, and Thompson misses the first and Toyota…
done
Carlton Hill makes a memory with this pretty amazing game-winning shot. Hill played college ball at Alma College in Michigan, but now works here in Knoxville at the Thornton Center on campus. This nice bit on Hill makes you feel good for the guy. Hill had 13, and the way-more-athletic-than-you-think-when-you-see-him Andy Tipton, a former Carson-Newman player, had 17 points.
Toyota’s hero Carlton Hill getting some love from Dane Bradshaw
But in all honesty nobody came to Bearden tonight for that game – it was ALL about Rays and HT for the championship. I expected there to be quite the intensity, especially from the Tennessee guys, since there was a championship – and bragging rights – on the line. The matchups were great – Tyler Smith/Scotty Hopson, Bobby Maze/Daniel West and Courtney Pigram, and Rays now had Brian Williams, who missed the first matchup between the two teams.
Yes, you can still play intense basketball, you just have to take you bling out first Tyler…
You could tell the intensity was there. A few minutes into the game, Tyler backs down Hopson, who swats Tyler into about the second row of the bleachers, letting out a hoot in the process. This of course didn’t please Tyler, whose shot I can’t remember EVER being blocked like that last year. The crowd of course loved, but Tyler was having none of it. Off the ensuing inbounds, you knew what was gonna happen – Tyler was gonna show the new kid what’s up. Well, he did with this aggressive move to the rim…
doneScotty’s face, meet Tyler’s elbow. Tyler was more of himself tonight, with some of the post moves that make you know why he’s going to be a first round NBA draft pick next year. He had his usual 37 points on the night, but this might have been his most impressive game of the league with 12 boards and 7 assists (filling up the stat sheet of course). I might get laughed at for this (I have before), but when he’s near the basket one-on-one he reminds me of LeBron, if only in the sense you pretty much know he’s going to score, or at worst get fouled. Tyler has a knack for the big-time play (see Ole Miss and Memphis and Florida), but also the big time block (ask Ramel Bradley in 2:24 of this EXCELLENT video and AJ Graves). He put one of those of poor Bobby Maze tonight (I know, it should have been Hopson) that was more emphatic than Scotty’s block on him. I swear he almost shattered the backboard he hit the glass with his hand so hard.
My action shot of the Tyler-Scotty matchup
The injured JP Prince (with towel on his head) and the not-playing-tonight Cam Tatum were in attendance, even offering a couple bits of commentary over the PA system in-game
Here’s some more footage of the Hopson-Tyler matchup, following a very pretty alley-oop from Daniel West (14 points, 10 assists) to Michael Jenkins (West DEFINITELY has these halfcourt lobs down to perfection)…
doneBrian Williams is going to be a great player if he continues developing and becomes a consistent inside scorer. Tennessee has been missing a big guy like him under Bruce. Among his 25 points he had one dunk that sort of reminded me of a youthful, LSU version of Shaq, and had this rather authoritative post move tonight as well…
doneHere’s some “bad” of Williams. He misses a three from the corner way off (he did knock one down earlier though), but at least the finish was pretty for us fans. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned and documented via video a Daniel West-to-Tyler Smith alley-oop like every night. Here’s another…
doneHere’s some Rays highlights. Hopson doing his thing, cleaning up his own miss con autoridad, and B-Maze getting to the rim…
doneNothing too different from these two guys tonight, as Hopson and Maze had 36 and 39 respectively. I know it’s summer league, but at this point it’s hard to say the Maze isn’t an upgrade over Ramar Smith at PG, at least offensively, in the sense that Maze has some semblance of a jumper. I still think Hopson was holding back a little, and his three shot was off most of this league, but I’m not too worried about. As he gets in the weight room, some practice and game experience under him I think he’ll be as good as advertised, though now I would say Tennessee will have his services beyond this year. Some growing pains are possible, but don’t all freshman? I remember watching Derrick Rose at times last year wondering what the hype was about him (foolish I know, but at the time it wasn’t) and he turned out fine.
Bobby Maze and Scotty Hopson got good experience playing with each other in the RTL, which should help their chemistry going into the season
Amidst all the crowd’s attention directed at the Vols, it was Courtney Pigram who absolutely stole the show tonight. Of course his initials are CP, and he showed some Chris Paul in his game tonight, with a couple of just sick floaters and finger-rolls accompanying his long-range game. He actually was more aggressive getting to the rim tonight since his three wasn’t falling as well (that didn’t keep the guy from launching though). I was forced to wonder how he ended up at ETSU being from Memphis. If he played for the Vols, there obviously wouldn’t be as much worrying about missing the bombs from Chris and JaJuan. I wasn’t sure about it before tonight, but I am now – Courtney Pigram has a legit chance to play in the NBA in my opinion. The only drawback I see is his height (he’s maybe six-foot) and the RTL certainly didn’t prove if he can play defense.
The offensive skills in this game was ridiculous. It was more like a normal basketball game, with some decent defense and even something resembling effort from the stripes. The game was close throughout, never getting into double-digits I’m almost certain. And of course it came down to the end. Of course it comes down to the end. I’ll just go straight to the end – HT’s up 124-122 with the ball in the final minute, but Pigram’s foot catches the paint and turns it over out-of-bounds. Maze drives and is fouled with about 30 seconds left. He hits both free throws, and it’s 124-all in the last half-minute. OT again?
doneNo, thanks to Pigram (apologies for the shaky camera work). He hits the game-winning bomb, then strips (um, fouls?) Maze and HT wins the RTL 133-126, though it was obviously not that close. Pigram scored 45 points, and though I’m not sure it’s official as far as I know, should be the League MVP.
I’ll have one last final wrap-up post on the RTL later today.
YOUR 2008 ROCKY TOP LEAGUE CHAMPIONS – HT GROUP
