5-at-10: UT spring game, NBA playoff officiating, NFL draft, True or False Tuesday, NBA greats 6-feet-and-under

Darrell Taylor, center, takes a knee during the Vols' fourth spring practice on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The 6-foot-4 defensive end is hoping to prove himself this year.
Darrell Taylor, center, takes a knee during the Vols' fourth spring practice on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. The 6-foot-4 defensive end is hoping to prove himself this year.

Spring forward

We were chatting on Press Row on Monday. Hey, it's a talk show. Chatting is part of the deal.

Anyhoo, so we're chewing the fat (Side question: How many slang terms are there for chatting? Discuss.) about spring games and such. The thought came to me, "Who on this Tennessee team do you want to see?"

There is the quarterback discussion of course. Replacing Josh Dobbs has to be the biggest issue on the board, so whether Jarrett Guarantano or Quinten Dormandy grabs the wheel will be interesting. And we all know it is not really about numbers as much as it will be about how each looks the part.

For starting quarterbacks, that's a big thing, especially in spring games and triple especially for quarterbacks who run, considering no team anywhere is going to let their quarterbacks get hit in the spring. (Side note: This is one of the reasons Auburn came from nowhere in 2010 to win it all. No one knew how effective and powerful Cam Newton was going to be running the football. It also is one of the reasons the Jeremy Johnson Heisman campaign was a disaster, because no one knew how little he liked contact or how rattled he became around it.)

As for the Vols, the presence of some offensive names - Jennings, Kelly, Byrd and some others - will also be intriguing. But the two cats I want to see most are freshman Tre Smith and defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo.

Smith has dazzled at every stop and is earning rave reviews. Here's betting he'll be the starter from the opening whistle. Kongbo also has made some headlines, and this time they should encourage Johnny Vols Fans.

Rightly or wrongly, Kongbo came to Knoxville last year from junior college with the legend somewhere between Derrick Thomas and Paul Bunyan. He was Sasquatch with a sub-4.6 40. And he was invisible for most of the season. Now, UT needs him and it will be interesting to see if he's ready for the moment Saturday.

photo Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale, left, and assistant J.B. Bickerstaff, right, argue a call during the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs, Monday, April 17, 2017, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 96-82.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Basketball officiating

Well, we lasted exactly three days into the NBA postseason before the officiating became the talking point.

Memphis coach David Fizdale was the genesis of this and his rant was quite entertaining. Here's a link. To highlight his points:

He was less than pleased that San Antonio star Kawhi Leonard shot more free throws (19) than his entire team (15) did Monday night. Stats, man. To be fair, low post beast Zach Randolph attempted the same number of free throws last night as we did, so there's that. His other point was about point guard Mike Conley, who Frizdale claims has never gotten proper respect from the officials. Here's an excerpt:

Overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint, we had 15 free throws for the game. They shot 18 times in the paint and had 32 free throws, Kawhi shot more free throws than our whole team. Explain it to me. We don't get the respect that these guys deserve, because Mike Conley doesn't go crazy, he has class, and he just plays the game, but I'm not gonna let them treat us that way. I know Pop's got pedigree, and I'm a young rookie, but they not gonna rook us! That's unacceptable, that was unprofessional. Our guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game, and they did not even give us a chance. Take that for data!

Well, alrighty then.

We do believe that the NBA has a real double-standard issue when it comes to officials and their views on stars and coaches. Whether it goes back to the Jordan Rules or what have you - and strangely, because of their size, Shaq and LeBron got fewer calls than any superstars in modern memory - the stars getting calls is not new.

And in truth, it's not good either.

photo FILE - In this Dec. 29, 2015, file photo, LSU running back Leonard Fournette (7) hurdles tight end Colin Jeter (81) as he rushes against Texas Tech during the first half of the Texas Bowl NCAA college football game in Houston. Fournette will sit out the 19th-ranked Tigers’ match-up with No. 15 Louisville in the Citrus Bowl, a decision that ends Fournette’s highlight-filled college career. (AP Photo/Bob Levey, File)

Top movements

We are less than 10 days from the draft. We love the draft. You know this. CBS sports.com NFL ace Jason La Canfora sat down with an NFL executive and his top 10 is very different from what a lot of other folks are trotting out there. (Yes, we will have ours on Thursday

Yes, this could be a smokescreen, since the only identifying clause of the source was that he is an executive with a team who is picking in the top 10. But the list is eye-popping in a couple of spots.

The No. 1 picks seems all-but universal at this point and La Canfora's list is not different with Myles Garrett atop the board. From there, it goes a little askew.

Defensive backs Marshon Lattimore and Jamal Adams go 2 and 3, and we've said this for a while that we think Adams is the best player on the board. (That teams refuse to take a safety No. 1 is still kind of staggering to me, but so it goes.)

Then it really turns with Leonard Fournette going 4 to Jacksonville, which is the highest we have seen. Tennessee picks Mike Williams at No. 5, according to this executive, and that's far-and-away the highest position we have seen the former Clemson wide out listed. (In fact, there are a lot of folks who think Williams may be in play for the Titans at 18 overall.)

The rest of the top 10 is Jets taking Mitch Trubisky at 6, Chargers taking Jonathan Allen at 7, the Panthers taking Christian McCaffrey at 8, Reuben Foster going to the Bengals at 9 and Malik Hooker going 10 to the Bills.

Interesting, no?

This and that

- Thought TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer had an interesting take on the growing reports that UT may not have a Big Orange Caravan this year. Here's Weeds' take.

- TFP SEC ace and Press Row cohost David Paschall has an interesting story here on Georgia coach Kirby Smart challenging Georgia fans to be there for Saturday's spring scrimmage.

- Have a day Freddie Freeman. Four hits in four trips. Two homers and three RBIs in a 5-4 Braves' win. Good times.

- A former NFL agent claims to have given three former UNC players cash while they were playing for the Heels. Man, last innocent athlete in Chapel Hill, please turn the light off.

- Andre Johnson will sign a one-day contract with Houston and retire as a Texan. As it should be.

- We offer this with prayers and without comment. A fan in Argentina is brain dead after being thrown over a ledge during a soccer match. Dear Lord.

Today's question

On a True or False Tuesday, we have several. (And you guys know the drill. Leave you answers and a couple of extra T or Fs for the next visitor. Deal? Deal.)

True or false, you knew that Memphis was coached by David Fizdale.

True or false, you can name 10 NBA current NBA coaches.

True or false, college coaches worrying about spring scrimmage attendance seems rather juvenile.

True or false, Andre Johnson is a Hall of Famer.

True or false, UT should have a Big Orange Caravan.

As for the day, well, on this day in 1906, the San Francisco earthquake happened. James Woods is 70 today and Conan O'Brien is 54. Dick Clark died five years ago today. Also, Tiny Archibald is 69.

If we had a Rushmore of the best NBA players 6-feet-and-under, does Tiny make it?

Go and remember to be kind today.

Upcoming Events