University of Tennessee Athletics
Mark Pancratz: Virgin Islands Diary Day 5
November 23, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2009
I was awake for a couple hours until I finally realized it was Sunday. I lose complete track of what day it is when our season gets going and I'm away from home for so long. Throw in the fact that we're in the Virgin Islands, and you're better off asking a lamp what day it is ("I love lamp."). Since it was Sunday, some members of our team and staff took part in the Bible study, fellowship, and prayer service the tournament held at our hotel. At a place like this, how can we not take a moment out of our busy lives to give thanks to God? The service, which was overlooked the ocean, was nice.
The team came down for breakfast again at 9:30 a.m. Considering it was our fourth straight day of eating practically the same meal, the breakfast is becoming a little redundant. After the guys ate, they were allowed to go back up to their rooms and not required to meet again until noon. Meanwhile, Coach Pearl and members of our staff went up to his room to watch more tape on DePaul.
Speaking with Coach Pearl, you could tell he really thought that DePaul was going to try and control tempo by taking their time on offense (which they did against Northern Iowa in their first-round game) and by playing a good amount of zone against us. In addition, only 7 or 8 of DePaul's players had seen significant minutes during their first two games of the season, so they could not afford to run up and down the court with us for an entire game knowing we play 10 or 11 guys. Our 11 vs. their seven?!
At 12:45 p.m., the entire team gathered in the team room for film. When I got down there at around 12:30 p.m., Wayne Chism, Cameron Tatum and Tyler Smith were in there and had hooked up Cameron's PlayStaion 3 to the projector and were in an intense game of NBA 2K10. These guys love t o play video games! They are always talking about who is the best at games such as NBA2K10, Madden, College Basketball, and Call of Duty. To be honest, I don't know who's best at those games, but I guarantee you none of them can beat me in a game of Tecmo Bowl or Mario Bros. on the original Nintendo!!
After another film session, we headed over to the local high school for our scheduled shootaround. We decided to go to the gym because after talking to the players, our staff felt that the guys needed to get out of the hotel room before they left for the games. The majority of the players had been cooped up in their rooms for more then 24 hours. Therefore (especially because of the way we started the game on Friday), we didn't want the first time we left the hotel to be when we departed for the game. To be honest, this was probably our worst shootaround of this young season. Guys were pretty lackadaisical as they moved around the court and paid attention to what Coach Pearl our staff was teaching them. I really hoped it wouldn't carry over to the game. Although our staff left the gym somewhat frustrated, we were hopeful that this shootaround got the bad basketball out of us and that we'd be ready to go for the game.
When we got back to the hotel it was time for our pregame meal of BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, lasagna, Caesar salad and rolls. I am a pretty superstitious person, so I have actually never eaten a pregame meal while working for Tennessee. This dumb superstition (yes, I can admit that) began four years ago because I missed pregame meal for our first game of the season--which we won. Therefore, ever since that first game, I have never eaten before a game. Instead, I decided to go for a walk along the beach. I don't know if it was because I felt a little nervous or what, but the walk definitely helped me clear my mind.
Tip-off for the game took FOREVER to get here. We left the hotel at 5:15 p.m. and ended up getting there with tons of time to spare. Even though the floor was open, a few of the guys stayed back in the locker room listening to their iPods while others, like Bobby Maze, Renaldo Woolridge and Melvin Goins got out to the court to get some extra shots up.
Believe it or not, before the game I actually noticed that the rim in which we would be shooting on seemed a little crooked. After showing Associate Head Coach Tony Jones, I went and informed the tournament director. His exact response to me was, "Yeah, one of DePaul's big guys dunked the ball and caused the basket to move. But don't worry, we've fixed it." I left it alone because I figured as long as both teams have to shoot on the rim for a half it's really going to have no effect on the outcome of the game. We found out at the start of the second half this wouldn't be the case.
As usual, Coach Pearl went over the game's strategy during his pregame speech. He reiterated to our guys that in order to be a good team you have to be able to win in different ways. Whether the game is up-tempo or a slow, walk-the-ball-up pace, good teams figure out how to win games regardless. We knew DePaul was going to try and slow the pace down by making us guard throughout the duration of the shot clock, taking care of the ball and obtaining extra possessions by dominating the glass. Although they lost a lot of games last year, DePaul won around 10 games by 10 points or less last year, so Coach Pearl continually stressed that we were not going to blow this team out but that we had to wear them down with our deep bench.
Well as you probably saw, the game was UGLY! It's crazy to think that just a couple nights ago we scored 65 points in one half of basketball, but against DePaul we only scored 57 for the entire game! In my opinion, I don't think last year's team would have won that game. This year's team is more of a "team." We had some guys who struggled, but what's exciting is their backups--such as Skylar McBee (whoever gave him the nickname "Sweet-Tea McBee" needs to trademark that because he's going to become a fan favorite), Cameron Tatum (playing with great effort on both ends of the floor) and Melvin Goins (what defense!!)--were the difference makers tonight. Those three guys played with great effort on both ends of the floor. Melvin's defense on # 30 down the stretch was outstanding! It was an element that we have been working toward since the departure of JaJuan Smith two seasons ago. Oh, and those two returning All-SEC performers, Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism, aren't too bad either.
Immediately after each game our staff meets for a few minutes before Coach Pearl goes in to speak with the team about the game. Unlike some games, our staff had numerous thoughts and opinions about our team, individual players and the game's outcome. There were positive comments such as, "It's nice having such a deep team so guys can have each other's back in case someone isn't having one of their better nights," or "We dominated the battle of the boards." And there were also constructive-criticism comments such as, "In order to be a great team we have to prepare and play with unbelievable effort each and every night!" After a fairly lengthy post game speech with the team, Coach Pearl decided that before our team could turn their focus to Purdue (who won their semifinal game against Saint Joseph's) we needed to learn from tonight's game. Therefore, he decided that the players needed to go back to the hotel and watch the first half of our game vs. DePaul without the coaching staff present. All he wanted our players to focus on was effort. He said "Just critique yourself. Are you giving your maximum effort at all times? If not, you're letting your team down. I can live with mistakes but what I can't live with is a lack of effort!"
As the team went back to the hotel for film and food, Coach Pearl and Assistant Coaches Jason Shay and Steve Forbes stayed at the gym to watch the second half of the Purdue vs. St. Joseph's game. Although the first half was close, Purdue showed why it's ranked 7th in the country, as it came out of the locker room in the second half and completely dominated St. Joseph's. Overcoming their great defense, discipline offense and overall physicality is gong to be a daunting task Monday night. However, I know after talking to members of our team, they understand we didn't play well tonight and are hungry to get back out on the floor. In addition, I believe we have one of the best Coaching staffs in America at generating specific game plans suited for whatever team we will be facing. Therefore, I can't wait to tip it up tomorrow!
Everything about the Virgin Islands has been gorgeous. The first two games helped us learn about our team. But the sole reason we came to this tournament was for the opportunity to suit up against Purdue, a potential Final Four participant come April!
Mark
P.S.: Sorry we had to beat your alma mater, Mom and Dad!!! They could have used you out on the floor tonight pops!
