Tennessee basketball is preparing for a major rivalry matchup as they host Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville. Both teams are coming off come from behind, late wins in the midweek to improve 2-2 in conference play.
Ahead of the matchup, Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinsky and redshirt sophomore JP Estrella met with the media to preview the matchup. The duo discussed the rivalry game, Troy Henderson stepping up against Texas A&M and much more. Here’s everything the duo said.
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Gregg Polinsky
On if coming back to beat Texas A&M Tuesday night can be a turning point for this team
“Yeah, I think anytime that you find a way to win those type of games, obviously it wasn’t the most artistic game, although some found it entertaining. Pretty nerve-racking. Yeah. I mean, stylistically the way (Texas A&M) plays, Bucky (McMillan has) done an awesome job just to be able to kind of grind through that, kind of get a rhythm a little bit more in the second half taking care of the basketball. But exactly to your question or pertaining to it, yeah, that was good for us.”
On Tennessee not having to face that pressing style of basketball again during the regular season
“Well, it’s not something that you love dealing with. But what I think what I’ve learned over time is like that team will probably play us a little different, do some different things, probably manage the backboard better when we play them (again). Hopefully, as when Buzz Williams was there, they ran that funky matchup zone initially. It was really hard. I’m not sure we ever figured it out completely, but we got better with it. So the various styles of playing the league, especially new coaches coming in, you start to at least gain some knowledge and figure out a little more of how you want to approach it. And no excuse because it’s the same for them, but having one day to prepare for it. And we spent the whole day working on press offense and I know coach was disappointed because we didn’t execute as well as we needed too early. But it was a challenging game.”
On if the Texas A&M game can be a point of reference later in the season for how to deal with that kind of pressure
“Yeah, I think our league prepares us well that’s for sure. And we’ll see it again like Georgia just watching, like you guys do I’m sure. All the different teams, how they play, what they’re doing. But you know, Georgia’s going to press, do some things, just speaking of one team. When we do our non-conference schedule, we always try to do it with some thought as to how they play stylistically, when our team might be ready for that. Even though it may seem like, hey you guys have won by a good margin against some teams, there is kind of a method to the madness when Luke Schapker and I look at teams, obviously conference is dictated right? But that’s a good point. You may see it again and it won’t seem like a shock to the system.”
On if Tennessee’s recovery and prep is any different after playing a two-overtime game
“Well ‘G’ (strength coach Garrett Medenwald) would be the best guy to ask for that. I don’t know what he did with his training. But our preparation yesterday, we had a really good practice, guys went really hard. There were things we have to improve upon. So I wouldn’t call it a light practice. I think today we’ll probably get after it. But the nice thing is, without school being in, we’re able to run these practices earlier in the morning, so the recovery time, etc., again, I leave that to Garrett and Chad (Newman) and then how Coach feels.”
On what Kentucky looks like in Mark Pope’s second season
“They’re different. Last year, I think it was an extraordinary thing what he did with an entirely, wasn’t an entirely new group? To get to the Sweet 16 with a new team. I think we’re seeing that and I’ll get back to it, but I’m thinking about our league right now and it seems like teams are— I watched Texas and Vandy’s obviously terrific, playing great. But teams that were 0-2 (Texas) they win in Alabama, they beat Vandy. And Ole Miss, who seemed like they were struggling finds a way to beat Missouri, then go on the road and win at the buzzer (against Georgia).
“So I think what’s happening is with all of the new talent coming in, as a European coach reminded me the other day. So now you know what we go through every year, a whole new team with different personality types and I think for Coach Pope and their staff, what you think when you are doing your evaluation and systematically looking at your roster construction versus the reality of it when it arrives can be very different. Bill Self, who is one of the great coaches of all time, that’s I’m sure Bill expected more out of his team last year. But you just don’t know what certain guys are going to do. Pairing them with new guys and I think we’re dealing with some of that, but I think they (are) better defensively, more physical as a group. They’re not as explosive offensively, but as soon as I say that, you know, they might ring us up for 90. So I think that Mark has actually done a really good job with the way things have turned out with his team. But we all know where you are, there’s levels of expectations and that is something (that is) sometimes very challenging to deal with.”
On what Troy Henderson adds to the back court when he’s playing well
“Well, number one, he showed he is not afraid of the moment. That was pretty good. Big jump shot with, I think it was a 1:22 or whatever it was. We need him, as we need still Ethan and Clarence and Coach (Barnes) talks about it. All those guys can add some value to our basketball team. Who’s going to play on any given night and how much, I don’t know. But to Troy— Troy is a really good shooter and, in my former life, as I say, we called it a gravity score.
If he proves he can be a good shooter, that opens up. That means I can’t get as far away because I know he’s a great shooter, I can’t get as far away from (Troy) as I can him (someone else). So that opens up more of a driving line for Nate, for Ja’Kobi, for other guys. So Troy adds, not to just a mention of making the shot, but the threat of being making the shot and give us better spacing.”
On how Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament can build off scoring 10 of UT’s 16 points in double OT against A&M
“Not thinking about it too much. You know, Nate is a very driven, a very, very, very conscientious young guy that really wants to do well. And I know Coach (Barnes) has talked about it. I think when Nate just kinda lets go of the reins a little bit, he’s really good. I think we saw some of that. It was pretty special some of the shots he made in crunch time. I think the most exciting thing for me wasn’t just the shots he made. Obviously they were very beneficial to the outcome of the game, but that he wanted the basketball, he wanted to do it. And that’s when you start to arrive, you know? I mean Dalton Knecht came in here and was oblivious, in a good way. Like, hey, I’m the best player on the court every time I walk out there, gimme the ball. But he was also a senior. There were no expectations for DK. He created them and he met them. But for Nate, it’s exciting to see him grow in that fashion.”
On what the coaching staff is harping on with Vols redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella right now
“Now trying to maybe tone down like, you know, coach wanted him a little more rugged and a little more forceful in there. I’m smiling because one of my favorite all-time players here was Uros Plavsic. As we all remember his beautiful style of play here, artistic would be the word, but Uros gave us a level of toughness. I wouldn’t use the word intimidation, but I think teams were conscious of him and you know, we know J.P. is a different guy. He’s a terrific scorer. He rebounds the ball really, really well. Uros, though, was so good defensively and had a physical presence, and I think we’re trying to blend the two for J.P., and that’s been a challenge for him.”
On the conversations with Tennessee freshman forward DeWayne Brown II after Rick Barnes wasn’t happy with how he played against Texas A&M
“Get your … in gear. No, I think the conversations are, you know, DeWayne has done really well for a freshman. Coach says it, probably exceeded what we thought initially, but what I try to tell ’em is, and we’ve been on this all year, if you don’t feel uncomfortable cardio wise when you’re out there, you’re not doing your job. You gotta get to a certain level of cardio,toughness to where, you know, for all of you that run or athletic, you know in order to really make strides — unless you’re my age. It’s more about the instructor on Peloton than how fast I’m going. It’s inspiring riding with Alex — there’s an Alex guy on Peloton — but anyway, you’re uncomfortable has to be your new comfortable. We’ve been talking about that since the summer and he has days where he really does well. Like, practice yesterday, he was really moving. He can move, but he can’t lumber around and he knows that, like he did early on. He’s gotta be a factor because the guy’s physically skilled, but he’s not gonna wow you with vertical lift at the rim and all that. He’s gotta do it with great feet, great hands and great effort. I think that’s what Coach was talking about. You gotta come out of the gate. I mean, he’s not Secretariat. He’s not going to pass everybody down the stretch. He’s gotta come out and try to win that race wire-to-wire.”
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JP Estrella
On blending physicality with touch
“Yeah, I mean, Coach Barnes and GP (Gregg Polinsky) have made it really evident to me to make sure to try to chime in my little Uros (Plavsic). Coach Barnes is telling me to be a little nasty a little bit. So trying to just do that a little bit. I was trying to do it last game. They said I did a good job. I just now, when I get into the paint, be aggressive on those moves, just get back to me doing the job of just finishing the rock. And once I do that, I think it will be fine.”
On his excitement of having a bigger role in a Tennessee-Kentucky game
“Yeah, no, I’m excited. Like you said, I haven’t been able to play against Kentucky a lot. So I’m really excited to get, hopefully a couple more minutes I did my freshman year and just go out and battle with them.”
On what he remembers about past games against Kentucky
“My freshman year, I remember we were at Rupp and we won. That was a great feeling. And then here, played them a couple times. And then in the Sweet 16. So I’m just excited to have a little rivalry game. And have some fun.”
On assessing his play to begin SEC play
“It’s been okay. I feel like last game I took a big step forward with my physicality. I feel like that was probably my biggest thing that I was happy about. Continue to do that. Now it’s just playing more confident finishing my shots, getting a couple more rebounds and blocking shots. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
On if the Florida game woke him up to the physicality he needs to play with
“Yeah, totally. That game, I really realized that I need to be more physical and not be so much more— what Coach Barnes said, a little less finesse, a little more nasty.”
On the challenge of establishing consistency
“I mean, it’s tough. Coach Barnes, he expects 100% out of you every day. So kind of just trying to bring that energy every single day and learn from it every single day is probably my biggest thing right now. Just learning about that and really just trying to do whatever you want me to do, just so we can win.”
On where he’s at health wise with his knee and ankle
“I feel great. Knee, ankle feel good. This ankle brace has done me justice. So, I mean, I just been playing. Feels good, so no complaints.”
On Troy Henderson stepping up and taking big shots as a freshman
“Yeah, we loved it. Troy is just like that spark that we need off the bench. He could bring it to that every night. And we expect that out of him. I mean, he’s a great shooter, as you saw in the game. He has those little energy moments, and those get us pumped up, fired up. So we love those moments from T-Roy.”
On what it says about Troy Henderson to play 22 minutes against Texas A&M after not playing a couple games ago at Arkansas:
“It says a lot. I mean, like you just said, we can have guys in any position come off the bench and play big minutes for us and do big things. Especially when guys can get into foul trouble, just little things like that. It benefits us as a team so much when guys step up like that.”
On what ways forward Felix Okpara is able to change the game for Tennessee:
“I mean, Felix can guard one through five any night like you saw the other night. I mean, it’s amazing what he does, and Felix actually tries to help me a little bit with that, too. I feel like it benefits the whole team, because he can do a little bit of everything. When he’s playing Felix basketball, it’s hard to stop.”
On if it’s hard to find a balance of what Rick Barnes wants physically on defense during games he’s in the zone offensively
“I mean, yeah, just when you’re in the zone on offense, the biggest thing for him is he doesn’t really care. I mean, the second you get back on defense, you better give 100% because if you don’t, you’re not going to play. Simple as that. So, I mean, his biggest thing is he doesn’t care if you miss a shot, make a shot, you just gotta get back, get a stop, get a rebound, go the other way.”
On if he gets more locked in towards the end of basketball games
“Yeah, totally. When it comes to those high-major games, towards the end of the game, when things are getting tight, that kind of like energy, you start to really lock in on the game, and not so much focus on anything else that’s going on anywhere. I mean, it’s just you want to win, simple as that.”
On if he tells himself anything at the end of games
“Just lock in a little bit more, because I have a pretty goofy personality. So, I mean, when it comes to game time, I’m pretty locked in, but especially those last couple minutes of the games, I really just told myself, you got to lock in and don’t worry about anything else.”
On how locked in he’ll need to be against Kentucky after it won on a buzzer-beater at LSU
“I feel like I’m gonna need that the whole game. You know, they’re a really good team. We’re really excited about them. I just got to make sure I have that locked-in mentality the whole time.”
On the team’s mentality playing Kentucky at home
“Yeah. I mean, we always want to win at home. Kentucky is a great team. We’re really excited about them, and really our only thing is we don’t like to lose at home, so that’s really the biggest thing we’re coming into that game, win for our fans.”
