Tony Vitello sounded like a connoisseur of crowds in relating what his ears were telling him on Saturday.
The Tennessee baseball coach had hustled over to Thompson-Boling Arena following his team’s game and grabbed a seat in the front row. From that perch, the sound of 21,678 tumbled down over him like an avalanche throughout the Vols’ 67-62 comeback basketball victory over No. 3 Auburn. Vitello had experienced such volume 11 days earlier when Kentucky visited. So, he had a fresh frame of reference in assessing the atmosphere.
Vitello, who was wearing a Zakai Zeigler shirt, described the setting as “insane” and said, “Maybe because I had better seats, but that Kentucky game was unbelievable but that environment was better (Saturday) I think.”
Regarding his prime seat, Vitello said, “I would probably get thrown out a minimum of seven games if I had those tickets all year long.
Vitello’s review spoke to the home court advantage the Vols experienced in scoring their third home victory of the season against a top five opponent. The Vols are 15-0 overall at home this season. UT coach Rick Barnes believes that Tennessee has one of the best home-court advantages in the country. Still, he claims to typically be almost oblivious to the environment . . . until he has no choice.
“When I hear it,” he said. “I know it’s loud.”
He must’ve heard it on Saturday because the crowd became part of his strategy.
“I told our guys and it’s the first time I’ve said honestly since I’ve been here, if you guys will get it going on defense, we’ll get this crowd into the game,” Barnes said. “I’ve never alluded to a crowd. I don’t know if I’ve ever done it in my career to be honest with you. I don’t know why I did it today, but I did say that during a timeout. I said, ‘if you guys will come out here and get it turned up on the defensive end and make some things happen, this place will come to life’ and it did.”
The Vols played their part and so did the crowd. The rest was ear-ringing history.
In the joyous aftermath, Zeigler found the fan wearing his shirt and gave him a hug. The Vols’ freshman point guard had no idea it was Vitello. In the moment, Vitello was just a fan, part of the noisy throng that had the impact of “another teammate” for Zeigler
“The loudest crowd before this that I’ve played in front of was maybe 500 people,” Zeigler said. “Coming into this is amazing and a different feeling.”
The Vols have one home game left this season. It’s Saturday against Arkansas. The two teams currently are part of a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings. The game is sold out and plans are in place to create an orange-and-white checkered setting.
Vols guard Santiago Vescovi thanked the fans for coming to the Auburn game. As if it was necessary, he also encouraged everyone “to bring the same energy on Saturday.”
----
Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at ddanfleser3@gmail.com.
"crowd" - Google News
February 28, 2022 at 11:21PM
https://ift.tt/vlguACs
Dan Fleser: Vols Love Home Crowd - The Chattanoogan
"crowd" - Google News
https://ift.tt/8Gln3X5
https://ift.tt/3WaICtH
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Dan Fleser: Vols Love Home Crowd - The Chattanoogan"
Post a Comment