This UT team can work its way to the NCAA tournament!!!

As stated by others, those in Section 112 were also in agreement that Buzz should have directed his team to foul FL when we had a 3-point lead with 10 seconds to go & earlier, too. You cannot let a guy, who shoots 3's unconsciencely like many order a Big Mac, get the ball with a chance to stick the knife in you. #2 White also was allowed to stand wide open for a three which cut the 6-point lead in half. Coach Peterson is the guy that could but a fresh Del Baker out there to guard the line & foul!!

Buzz continues to let the visiting coaches ride the officials about every call. Eddie Munster was in the refs ear, out of the coaching box, & on the floor about every play. You would have thought he was a Braves fan the way he had Bruce Benedict's ear. Many fans screamed about it & I don't blame Eddie Munster for it; it is Coach Peterson's job to scout the other coach's bullying tactics with the officials and discipline the other coach through the officials--it is all politics on those calls. Buzz is learning & will continue to learn. Some of the older coaches know how to run the refs & the games it the end--even Uncle Jerry did a better job of lobbying than Donovan here 2 years ago!! Eddie Munster has learned!

Buzz has got to lead this team at the end of games and stop letting the team carry him--this league is loaded with talented, smart game coaches! However,

Buzz is not the only man being carried by Vincent's diving for loose balls, Hapslip's Bill-Russell type defense, Jenis Grindstaff's ball handling & needed penetration, Jon Higgins' hustle, rebounding, & hand-in-the-face defense on Nelson(7-19), and Holden's willingness to play team baskeball for a win. Ron Slay is the other man being carried by this team!!! You can spin enthusiasm, smile, cheerleading all you want. It is time for that man to drop the showboating & show some leadership. He may be the heart of the team, but the team is carrying him. Yes, he got 20 & he hustled at the end, but if you go back to the start of the game his HEAD was not in the game & he should apologize to his team & the fans for the start of the game which put us in a hole 12-6 against the #2 team in the country!!!!!

My case: I watched the first of the replay last night after attending the game. Slay at the start decides to leave his man & go out & trap the FL guard outside the 3-point line. His man was Haslem & yes an wide open Halem dunks for FL's first two. That is not Mama, Buzz, or Jerry!!!! In a series of 7th grade errors he commits 3 turnovers just after that! That is just personal responsibility. I am sorry. Buzz pulled him which hurt us, but he should have made him run the steps during the game!!!

I was mad at the game, but I am madder now as I just looked at the stats: Ron Slay was 5-15 & 10-17 on his free throws all in 29 minutes. Yes, you can argue great show, but The Big Show is all that matters, & this team is trying to carry Ron Slay to The Big Show. This showboating will NEVER beat a team as good as FL. Coach Mears & Buzz need to set Ron Slay down & tell him free throws win games, not showboating!! Ron Slay is squandering this team's & coaches effort!! Great show, Ron, were are 6-7.

Raise the expectations for Buzz & Ron Slay now!!!

P.S. I am over hearing that guards are the reason we are not winning these close games.

To the 16,000 who stood up and left before standing & applauding this UT team's great effort last night against a good FL, team, I say I sorry you felt bad & I hope you got out of the parking garage early. If all you want is hustle & 100% effort, why not stay 5 extra minutes & applaud their performance as they leave the floor--they could use it Saturday at Athens!! Any who were there know what I am talking about.

why do these people attend and then leave with 2:00-3:00 minutes when it's a ONE POINT BALLGAME? Why?

Does getting home 5:00-10:00 minutes earlier mean that much to 'em? Why do they come to begin with? Amazing!
************************

Buzz is making $800 grand to coach. Therefore it should not be too much to ask for him to make educated coaching moves when the game is on the line. TN deserved to win the game with a quality effort last night. Unfortunately, Buzz pulled a Mark Richt on the team. No other way to describe it.
*************************

Slay's antics make me want to puke. Though slightly tamed from last year, it is still a pre-requisite for this kid to show his ass 3-4 times a game? No wonder officials (once again pathetic last night) don't cut Slay any slack. Hell, I wouldn't either.

Ron, play the damn game & use your energy to defend, blockout, rebound, and attack the basket.

you should have heard me over the years! I told fan around me Sunday that I probably had hurt attendence over the years, by telling UT fans leaving when the game was in doubt, "Don't come back!" A UT fan turning his back on his own UT team at the end of a game, won or lost, so he can get on the sofa 5 minutes early is the most DISRESPECTFUL behavior in college basketball!!!
This behavior has gone on for decades--we demand respect from our players & coaches(and you know we do) & these SORRY UT fans cannot respect the players & coaches for 5 extra minutes!!

3 Pivots for the rest of this season:

Coach Peterson enlisting the support & respect from the se fans to come to the game & support his UT team at the MTSU game as well as the KY game--they will not do it because I tell them to do so. He is putting a better product on the floor.

Coach Peterson standing up to these other coaches in the officials ear & by using some of that Carolina wisdom to run these games in our favor at the end.

Coach Peterson standing up to Ron Slay & demanding "Senior" leadership from him on the court as a blue collar worker & not a showboat. The rest of the team is listening to Coach Peterson. Mama needs to go back to Nashville!!

John Wilkerson said today on 990 that Ron Slay did the gator chomp & a double throat slash to the UT student section! I did not see that demonstration. What kind of leadership is that--we did not win the game??!!

If Ron Slay goes down to Athens and plays to the camera & crowd this weekend, we will lose by 20 points! Can this guy not see his team needs help & is short handed?!

I really question whether Ron Slay wants to earn an SEC championship! He was complaining in the Tennessean about the FL's Nelson. Slay could help this team with leadership!!

Raise the expectations for Ron Slay!

P.S. I would like an on-the-scene report from TBA from his vantage point on what Slay contributed in a positive way last night.