Tennessee's Chism plays like All-American -- just not every night

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Bruce Pearl grabbed the big guy's arm, raised it into the air, and the Tennessee fans who didn't leave before the final buzzer responded accordingly, with a resounding standing ovation, the kind typically reserved for career-high nights in nationally relevant games.

And Wayne Chism just kind of stood there.

He almost looked embarrassed.

It's a mystery why Wayne Chism doesn't display his 'elevated play' more often. (US Presswire)

"Yeah," Chism said later. "But he embarrasses me all the time."

The Tennessee Volunteers gave their league an insurmountable lead in the SEC/Big East Invitational, pulling away in the final minutes for an 80-68 victory against Marquette here at the Sommet Center Tuesday thanks to what was the best game of Big Wayne Chism's career. He finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes, and after it was over Bruce Pearl must've used the phrase "capable of" 479 times.

Which was telling.

You see, when Chism is good he's very good -- a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward who can dunk over you (or through you), and then step away from the basket on the next possession and sink a 3-pointer. That happened against Marquette, by the way. In a one-possession game with the final media timeout approaching, Chism scored a baseline dunk that gave UT a 62-57 advantage. Thirty-five seconds later -- after Wesley Matthews made one of two free throws on the other end -- Chism drained a straight-away 3-pointer to cap a sequence in which he scored nine points in a little more than two minutes.

"Wayne's elevated play was a turning point," Pearl said, and the choice of words was again interesting. Rather than just talk about Chism's performance Pearl spent a good while using phrases like "capable of" and "elevated play" because he knows what the country saw from Chism against Marquette on Tuesday is not what the country saw from Chism against Temple (only 14 minutes played) last weekend, or what the country might see from Chism against Belmont this weekend.

Why?

Because for all of Chism's talent, he tends to come and go like Britney Spears' career. One night he looks great, the next not so much. And so the trick is trying to figure out a way to be good more often than he's average, and it's a trick Chism hasn't yet mastered.

Consider that last season Chism:

• Had 17 points and seven rebounds in a win over West Virginia, then backed it with seven points and four rebounds in a loss to Texas.

• Had 18 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Vanderbilt, then backed it with five points and five rebounds in a close win over Ohio State.

• Had 13 points and seven rebounds in a win over Memphis, then backed it with four points and four rebounds in a loss to Vanderbilt.

• Had 16 points and five rebounds in a win over Butler, then backed it with nine points and four rebounds in a loss to Louisville.

That's why you can't spell the word "inconsistent" without the letters C-H-I-S-M.

OK, actually you can.

But whatever.

You get the point.

And the up-and-down aspect of Chism's game has carried over into this season, too, because his best outing against a formidable opponent was the 15-point, six-rebound effort he provided against Siena. Naturally, it was backed with a nine-point, six-rebound effort against Georgetown (in which he played only 12 minutes because of foul trouble) and a five-point, three-rebound, five-turnover effort against Gonzaga.

"He's a very, very talented player," Pearl said. "Will this be a breakout game for Wayne? I don't know."

Join the club, Bruce. But either way, now all eyes turn to Saturday, when the Vols will play host to Belmont, an in-state foe that should present Chism with another favorable matchup considering the Bruins' best rebounder is a 6-2 guard named Alex Renfroe.

Could this be the time Big Wayne finally strings good outings?

Like Pearl, I don't know. But what I do know is that Chism shouldn't be embarrassed if his coach again grabs his arm and holds it up for the crowd after Saturday's game. In fact, he should be embarrassed only if he doesn't give Pearl a reason to do it.