Jaylen Carey has played as well as any Tennessee basketball player over the last five games. The junior forward turned in his second double-double of the season in Tennessee’s 83-62 win over Louisville Tuesday night, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
However, veteran head coach Rick Barnes is looking for more. Asked about Carey’s performance, Barnes was complimentary but more so challenged Carey to give the Vols even more.
“I think Jaylen could be terrific,” Barnes said. “A double-double, he could be that every night, but you know what, he won’t get there every night until he gets consistent in practice every day, to understand that every day you gotta get better and continue. I give him a lot of credit. It’s all new to him in a lot of ways and believe me, he’s just scratching the surface of what he could be, if he’s willing to make himself hurt.
“It hurts to be great. It does. I mean, you got to put yourself out of your comfort zone and can he do it? There’s no doubt. He can run faster than he runs. He can jump higher than he jumps. He (can) shoot the ball. He’s just going to have to make his free throws because he can shoot it. It’s just a mindset, that he’s going to have to decide when he gets tired, he can play through it. I’m excited for him because he knows I’m not backing off and he knows that we’ve raised the bar. He’s raised the bar. We expect more from him.”
With Cade Phillips undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, the logical move was for Tennessee to inset Carey into the starting lineup. But Barnes revealed Monday that they were giving the nod to freshman DeWayne Brown instead.
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Barnes was uninterested in going into too much detail on the decision other than saying that Brown had earned it with his practice habits and consistency. It speaks to the freshman Brown, who Tennessee has been thrilled with since he arrived on campus. But it also spoke to them wanting more from Carey.
The Vanderbilt transfer is playing well, but Tennessee wants more consistent practices from him and an even greater motor that could propel him to All-SEC levels of production.
Tennessee’s last five games have come against four top 20 teams and then the road trip to Syracuse. Over that stretch, Carey is averaging 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He’s been Tennessee’s most consistent player in the front court.
He’s perhaps been Tennessee’s most consistent player over that stretch. Point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie would be the only other player with as strong of a case. Barnes being so adamant that Carey can give them more is an encouraging sign.
It’s not all that difficult to see how either. Carey is 11-of-24 (45.8%) at the foul line over the last five games. He’s not been a good free throw shooter in his career but he can shoot it better than that.
As Tennessee prepares for two buy games before opening up SEC play, this is an important stretch for Carey. In his career, he’s been worse in buy games than big games. That’s obviously how you’d want it to be. However, Carey showing consistency over these next two weeks would be a good sign regarding his mindset and growth.
