Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the media Monday in advance of the Volunteers’ Tuesday home game against Murray State (9 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
On Murray State, and how the Racers look on film:
“They return some experienced players that played for an NCAA Tournament team a year ago and are a year older. Roles will change from year to year, I don’t care who you bring back, but they’re a really solid defensive team. I think they very much play the way that we like to play, inside-out. They have a really good post presence and are really solid defensively, and they’ve got experienced guys that have played in some big games. They’ve added to that two terrific shooters from the perimeter that you’ve got to really know where they are. They’re an inside team, with a really good post presence. (They play) mostly man, but will mix in some different defenses to try and keep you off balance. I just think they’re a well-coached team. ”
On areas that Tennessee needs to focus on:
“A couple of areas… one being that our older guys really need to settle in and take care of the ball. If they do that, I think the younger guys will follow that lead. We have to be a lot more efficient with the offense. Defensively, I think we’re playing hard, and we’ve got to play smarter and continue to improve in that area. You can always get better in so many different areas, but I think the biggest thing would be, if we can be more efficient with our offense, that will help our defense, too. I’d like to see some individual guys continue to develop in their roles.”
On if he has a good feel for what this Tennessee team does well:
“I don’t know if we have a great feel yet, because we’ve dealt with injuries where we haven’t really been able to get everybody going in the same direction at the same time where we’re healthy enough to know exactly what we do have and what we can count on night-in and night-out. I like this team a lot. I think it’s a group of guys who want to be good. We’ve got some guys who are going to continue to grow up as we go through the season. Every time they go out, they’re going to experience some things they’ve never seen before in some situations. That’s why it’s so important that our older guys settle in quickly to help those (young) guys. We can’t have learning experiences with the older guys and the younger guys at the same time. The older guys should know right now, understanding and taking care of the ball, and not trying to create situations where they’re trying to hit a home run every single time they have the ball. They’ve just got to let it settle in and let it come to us. The younger guys are going to grow, and that’s what’s going to be fun with this team–watching them grow as we go through this.”
On how seniors Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden have responded in practice since the first game:
“With those guys, you know how much we think of them and how important they are to our team. And those two guys are going to be more aggressive. We expect them to be more aggressive. But what we expect them to do more, too, is value the basketball at a very high level. We gave up probably 14 to 16 points just off bad offense where we had no chance to defend. You turn the ball over and take bad shots, you never really get the chance to get the defense set the way you want to and most teams are going to take advantage of it. But with those guys, I believe they know it’s important that they take care of the ball. Just like with our younger guys who need to settle in the roles they need to play.”
On if there is any update on the Uros Plavsic eligibility appeal:
“We’re still working on that, and I hope that we can get some things in this week.”
On how he feels about the post rotation that Tennessee used in the season-opener:
“I think we need them all. You need five post guys, so to answer your question, Drew Pember can help us and Zach (Kent) can help us, and they have to help us. They’ll all do it in a different way, which is fine. We can scheme through that. But what we need all of them to do–and it’s important in this game–is post defense. We can’t win this game without really good post defense, and as the season goes on, you can’t win any game without it because you’ll get exploited down there if you don’t play it. So it’s important that not only Olivier (Nkamhoua) and John (Fulkerson) and Yves (Pons contribute), but we need Zach (Kent) and Drew Pember to help us, too.”
On freshman guard Josiah-Jordan James now that he has one game under his belt:
“I think there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to settle in. I do think he was antsy (in the opener), and I think he was jittery and we’ve talked about it. He missed a really critical part of the year–four or five weeks leading up to the season he didn’t get a chance to practice and do any exhibition game. And the other night was his first time out there. So when you saw him play the other night, that’s the most he has played in six weeks, probably. But I do expect him to settle down and slow down and continue to try to understand what we are trying to do as team. He was there, but when you miss that much, it is difficult to get it all back quickly. He’s been much better in practice the past couple of days.”
On the qualities that define a good sixth man, related to Tennessee football quarterback Jarrett Guarantano:
“Well, the first one would be being unselfish and a team player, because I think every player wants to start. I don’t there’s any question… you ask any of them they would (want to start). I think Jarrett is a great story. He’s a great story in terms of dealing with adversity, dealing with criticism, and yet staying the course. And he’s a great story in the fact that you can be down, but you don’t stay down. You think about where we were as football team and where we are now… it’s really a tribute to our coaching staff, but also the players because they have bought in. The fact that he’s the sixth man tells you he’s bought in to his team first. And there’s no doubt that all of them want to start, but the fact is, that’s the role he’s been asked to play, and he has embraced it. And that’s what makes a great teammate… when you are able to embrace the role that your team needs you to embrace to win, and he’s done that.”
On injured freshman forward Drew Pember:
“He hasn’t practiced since (the Nov. 5 UNC Asheville) game. He was moving around a bit more yesterday, so I don’t know if he’ll play tomorrow or not. My gut feeling is I don’t think so. I’d be surprised.”
On the NCAA transfer policy:
“I think we’re going to get (to a point where players are allowed to transfer one time without sitting out a year). I don’t think it’s going to be any question. I think that will be a rule. I think it’s already in place for women’s volleyball. I think if that happens, you get a one chance to transfer and go play immediately, and I think the other part of that would be after that, there would be no waivers. I mean, people are worrying about the one-time transfers. There are guys that leave two and three times. I think eventually you want to get to where there is some consistency. I think, as we move forward, I think we’ll go that way. Do I like it? It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t. Simply because coaches can leave when they want to leave. Administrators can leave and do what they want to do. I do think that the reason (there are so many transfer) is due to the recruiting process. You recruit hard. If you’re not totally transparent and up front, and young people come to campus and expect it to be just like the recruiting process. That’s not going to work. We work hard at really letting the players that we recruit know exactly how we do things, because we don’t want there to be any surprises. Obviously, there’s such a big transfer portal. There are a lot of surprises that go on, and that’s just one theory. It wouldn’t bother me if that’s what it (became). The NCAA is in a really thankless position with transfers and waivers and all of this because they’ve been mandated by the membership. Through time, there’s going to be change, but when there’s change, there’s going to be some good, maybe, and there might be some bad that comes from it. I think you’ve got to be willing to change with the times, and if it works, good. If you change and feel like you’ve made a mistake, you go back and correct it. I like to think that we have a membership that wants to move in that direction, just trying to improve what we do.”
On if freshman guard Davonte Gaines surprised him in UT’s opening game:
“We’re all excited about him as a staff. He’s got that little cast on his hand that still hampers him a little bit, but I don’t think I was surprised with the way he played because I watch him in practice. I do think he’s had days where he’s starting to really understand his role and what he needs to do. He’s got a terrific future, but he, like all of us, needs to get better, and he will because he’s got that kind of makeup. He’s a baller. He just loves to play basketball, and he’ll find a way to fit in, and he’ll play the role that needs to be played. I think as he continues to develop and get older and all that, his role will change drastically, too.”
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