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Old 02-17-2019, 11:58 PM   #69
Brian Swartz
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: May 2006
The big concern I see with Tennessee is defense. Opposite of Michigan in that regard - they can score with anyone if playing well, but it's rare for any one to shoot well for six straight games in the tournament. Alexander is their only real big and that size issue was a problem against Kentucky. As they say, quickness and size are things you can't teach. Tennessee has one, but not the other and that's not going away. Another thing that might go away but there's no sign of it yet is they don't defend the 3-point line (33% allowed, 127th nationally). That's not to sit here and criticize an excellent team - they are that, but at the same time there are definitely legit concerns. During their long, impressive winning streak they beat no sure-fire NCAA teams and only two that are marginal at this point. They basically ran the table on a bunch of NIT teams. There's a lot to be said for that, and complacency is natural - but they aren't as tested as some others - Kentucky was literally the first really good team they'd played since Gonzaga - so I don't think we really know about them yet.
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