Scoring just two points on five shot attempts in the first half, Nate Ament appeared to be facing a setback with his recent emergence for Tennessee basketball. But then Ament found his groove, scoring 14 second half points on his way to a 19-point performance in the Vols’ 86-85 overtime win at Georgia.
Ament has now scored 17-plus points in five straight games for Tennessee and is averaging 21 points per game over that stretch. The five-star freshman is figuring it out, finding consistency and starting to play like one of the SEC’s best wing players.
“The other night, Coach (Justin) Caldwell said to me, (he) remembers (a) statement I made to Coach Caldwell,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “He said, ‘back in September when we were talking about Nate,’ I said, ‘you know, it might take him until the middle of January to figure this out, but he will figure it out.’
“It’s scary. When he’s going, he’s going,” sophomore forward JP Estrella said postgame. “As you’ve seen these past two games, he’s really starting to figure it out and people should be worried about Nate coming in for these SEC games because he’s starting to ball and kind of get it going.”
What’s different for Ament? Estrella points to his ability to get to his spots more efficiently now. Ament is doing a better job of attacking space and not getting lost in an often crowded area around the rim when Tennessee plays two-big men.
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It’s not the most analytically efficient shot, but Ament is a plus shooter from five-to-15 feet, and can get it off almost whenever he wants. The 6-foot-10 wing is getting to those spots while taking just one dribble instead of two which limits turnovers and leads to him playing more under control.
“He’s really started to grow like Coach Barnes is saying,” Estrella said. “Seeing the court, finding his spots, get it to hit spots. The big thing was, for him, using that one dribble to get to that middy (mid range) instead of two. Not getting too low. Now, it’s cash. It’s so easy for him getting to that shot, pulling up and he’s just been playing great for us.”
Barnes harped on how well Ament is seeing the court now, picking and choosing when to attack the defense to hunt a shot for himself versus attacking to draw defenders and set up his teammates. Ament had two turnovers against Georgia, including a bone-headed play where he ran the baseline off of a turnover.
But after turning the ball over at too high a clip earlier in the season, Ament has just four turnovers over his last three games and 111 minutes played.
“I’m telling you, the best part right now, he is seeing the game, really seeing it from all areas of the court, perspective,” Barnes said. “I mean, he sees it all from almost every position, which is a great talent.”
“He’s starting to understand the whole thing, too, the more and more he plays.”
Ament added six rebounds and three assists against Georgia while playing strong defense on Bulldog star Blue Cain, holding him to nine points— six points fewer than his season average.
“Seeing everything. Crashing the glass, guarding too,” Estrella said. “He’s been doing everything we need him to do.”
