Previewing Michigan State-Tennessee Charity Exhibition
On Sunday, Tennessee will travel to East Lansing, Michigan to take on Michigan State in a charity exhibition game. All proceeds for the game will go towards the Maui Strong Fund to support the relief efforts for the wildfires in August. The Volunteers and Spartans played in a "secret" scrimmage last season although they have not played in a game that counts since Michigan State took down the Vols in the 2010 Elite 8.
On the court, the main storyline to focus on is the Tennessee guard depth. With Santiago Vescovi back home in Uruguay and Zakai Zeigler still recovering from a torn ACL, I expect to see a lot more of Freddie Dilione, Jahmai Mashack and D.J. Jefferson than we would usually expect.
Specifically on Dilione, the Vols had no real point guard last year after Zeigler got hurt. Vescovi played the point last year when Zeigler went down, but the Vols weren't as effective in transition and the offense didn't flow as smoothly. Dilione has been in the program for around 9.5 months now so he understands the system and has some experience practicing against some excellent guards.
That experience could come in handy against one of the best backcourts in the country. Tyson Walker and A.J. Hoggard are two really talented guards who are veterans in the sport and at Michigan State. Walker was All-Second Team in the Big Ten last year after averaging nearly 15 points, 3 assists and shooting 41.5% from 3. Hoggard was an honorable mention in the conference and is lethal in transition.
The game should be a really fun chess match on the perimeter as you have last year's number 1 three-point defense in Tennessee against last year's number 3 three-point offense in Michigan State. The Spartans do lose Joey Hauser in that aspect, but Walker and Jaden Akins are a handful beyond the arc.
On the interior, Tennessee could have a huge advantage. Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka (from what we saw over the summer) are further in their developments than the Michigan State bigs. Mady Sissoko had some really nice games last season, but he also has moments where he doesn't look the most comfortable. Xavier Booker is one of the top freshman bigs in the country, but is a raw talent who could struggle against veteran bigs and Jaxon Kohler is a back-to-the-basket guy who has great footwork, but not great size or strength.
Going against Aidoo who was 23rd in the country last year in block rate could be a challenge for those guys.
One other guy I'll definitely be watching closely is Dalton Knecht. Last year I was a huge Santiago Vescovi fan and thought he was so valuable to that team, but I have a feeling Knecht could end up being the player whose game I like the most this year for the Vols. Knecht averaged 20.2 points and 7.2 rebounds last year at Northern Colorado and also shot 38.1% from 3. I have been preaching all off-season that Knecht changes this team's ceiling and I'm really interested to see how he translates against a high-major team like Michigan State.
Also would like to mention real quickly that I'm interested to see how Jordan Gainey looks as well. He played well on the foreign tour and this team could really use his shooting as long as he isn't a huge negative defensively.
3 Storylines to watch for:
1. Can Dalton Knecht's offensive game change Tennessee's ceiling?
If Knecht can play efficient basketball on the offensive end, it takes a ton of pressure off of Zeigler and Vescovi to initiate offense and means that Tennessee's defense could take a slight step back and the team could still be elite.
2. Is Tobe Awaka's sophomore leap as advertised?
I'm not sure there's a single player who had a better summer on a public stage than Tobe Awaka. After a freshman season where he showed flashes in a limited role, Awaka could be a major difference-maker for the Vols with his scoring in the paint and rebound.
3. How confident can we be about Freddie Dilione as the backup point guard?
I'm not going to be searching for any major takeaways from the freshman except for Dilione. The point guard spot is really the only position I'm not confident Tennessee has dependable depth at. If any of the freshmen pop, it will be notable, but Dilione is the important one because of his role on this season's team specifically. Plus Cameron Carr has been dealing with a concussion so we don't know if we'll see him in the game.
Overall, it is an exhibition so no one should overreact to anything. Last year the Vols smoked Gonzaga in an exhibition and both teams ended up being good. Both Rick Barnes and Tom Izzo will likely use the opportunity to try some different lineups, different guys at different positions and maybe even different defenses. It's October so the basketball will not be very crisp. However, for the first time in the 2023-24 season, we get to watch Tennessee play basketball.
The Vols will officially open the regular season on November 6th at Thompson-Boling Arena against Tennessee Tech.
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