Monday, January 24, 2011

Latest Bracketology Released; Vandy Holding Steady

Lunardi still has Vanderbilt as a 6-seed, facing Xavier in the opening round of the West Regional. Two more wins this week and I'm guessing Vandy gets bumped up to the (cursed?) 4-seed in Lunardi's projections.

12 comments:

Vandy-Montana said...

Yeah, if we have that spot in the bracket, I say elite 8 against Kansas.

Chuck Heston said...

Seeds 3 through 6 is the "sweet" spot for Vandy as it were. I'm thinking right now that VU finishes 10-6 in the SEC, and advances to the SEC Tournament Semi's. That'll probably be good enough to get a 6th seed, if we're lucky. Historically, that placement has been good for us.

Anonymous said...

As weird as it sounds, I'd rather us be a 5 or 6 seed than that goddamn 4 seed...

Unknown said...

For what it's worth, here are the road/neutral site records for SEC East teams:

Florida: 6-1
UGA: 5-3
UK: 6-4
SC: 2-4
UT: 4-3
VU: 3-4

Unless the Dores become a better road team, I'm not convinced they'll succeed in the postseason.

Vandygal78 said...

Please no - not a 4th seed! Anything but that.

Alex said...

This doesn't really have to do with seeding, but I just read one of the ESPN Insider draft blogs about Jeff that was suggesting he come back for a senior season because he has not been able to create on the perimeter as much as NBA scouts would like given his size. I love JT as much as the next guy, but I do tend to notice that he has a way of disappearing in big moments, something a potential NBA lottery player shouldn't be doing. I don't really want to debate his draft potential, but I think it is safe to say that while his MUCH improved 3 ball is encouraging to NBA scouts, there is a big question mark by his prospect.

This got me thinking about Vandy's team for next year or, more specifically, the scholarship situation. The NCAA allows for 13 scholarship players. Here is our current list of scholarship players with prospect for next year.

1. Joe Duffy (senior - graduating)
2. Festus Ezeli (returning)
3. Kyle Fuller (returning)
4. Lance Goulbourne (returning)
5. Josh Henderson (returning)
6. John Jenkins (returning)
7. Darshawn McClellan (presumed returning since he asked for a redshirt year)
8. Rod Odom (returning)
9. James Siakam (returning)
10. Jeffrey Taylor (NBA?)
11. Steve Tchiengang (returning)
12. Brad Tinsley (returning)
13. Andre Walker (has another year but unlikely to return)

Recruits:
1. Dai-Jon Parker
2. Kedren Johnson
3. Shelby Moats

So here is my question: given that we only have one guaranteed open scholarship, how do we ensure we have enough spots next year without forcing two of our best players (JT and Andre) to leave if they have even a remote desire to return? I'm sure CKS has a plan for this, but with Jeff's draft stock wavering and the fact that this season has not gone how Andre would have hoped given injuries, I'm sure there is concern. Does anyone know if redshirt years count towards scholarship limit? I think they do, in which case I see a real dilemma.

Interested to hear what you all think.

Anonymous said...

My guess would be that both Darshawn and Andre are both gone after this year which would mean that along with Duffy gone (is he a scholarship player?) would open up the three spots for our incoming three recruits.

Anonymous said...

I thought Duffy was a walk on w/o a scholarship but I could be wrong. It was weird at the begining of the year to hear Darshawn would be redshirted. It was never said why he would be, but I dont think it would be help the team if he returned next year. He had a decent year in 08-09 when we were young but last year he didnt really do much. I really hope they try to get Andre back for one more year but I doubt it too. CKS has done well with such a large jr. class to keep them all here so he might be able to keep Andre around one more year.

As far as Taylor goes, I can see him trying to go pro. Did anyone think AJ would go pro at the end of last year? Taylor should return bc he hasnt taken games over like he should. If CKS can convince Taylor and Andre to stay... next year will be the best team Vandy has ever had. Period.

Unknown said...

Curious to hear why yall think Andre is gone- are you saying he's likely to go to the NBA?

Anonymous said...

Steve, read this...

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110117/SPORTS0602/101170335/2168

Mahoney said...

Taylor has a pretty obvious mental weakness on the court in my opinion- it's most evident in his body language when he starts to drive. 85% of the time, he pulls up, turns away too easily, stops, and picks up his dribble. It ends in a steal, a jump ball, or a turnover. He absolutely has the athleticism to get inside, he just doesn't have the fearlessness or aggressiveness. It's like he's not convinced that he's going to make it to the rim when he starts to drive, so he gets easily turned away. In my opinion, he seems to be relying on his athleticism to get the job done in a satisfactory manner - right now, not many people are complaining b/c he's still putting up 15-20 a game with jump shots, FTs, and the occasional wide open backdoor cut. But I think that what for most players would be great stats become just average for JT when you sit down and watch his play. He has the ability to get better, he just needs to put it in action. Some future coaches may think that they can coach that out of him. But if not, he's not going to go very high. His defense keeps him in the coversation for a long time though.

Despite the above, I do think he's got a great heart, and he wants to win, and gets fired up (comparing to AJ here).

Also, versus AJ, I think JT will listen if scouts tell him no go on the NBA this year.

Alex said...

Regarding Duffy: he was a walk-on but was given a scholarship for this year since we had one open and he was the highest performing senior.

AJ was always looking for his ticket out of Nashville, especially after how he was treated by the fans his jr. year. Seeing him moping around Towers all the time I wasn't surprised a bit when I heard he'd jumped ship.

I agree about DMC, he probably won't add anything on the court next year, but I guess I just don't see why CKS would have let him redshirt if he is going to force him out after the season. God knows we could have used a little more PF depth given injuries/(bulls***) suspensions.

I hope JT and Andre make the right choices for themselves and their futures, just hoping that our teams future plans don't depend on two of our best players leaving. Not exactly the best way to do business.