Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the local media Friday afternoon before the Vols prepare to face LSU on Saturday night in Knoxville. The Vols are coming off a win at Mississippi State and are looking to make it a 2-0 week.
Ahead of the matchup, Barnes discussed the need to better protect leads, Bishop Boswell’s offensive growth and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
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On what he saw on tape from Tennessee’s win at Mississippi State
“A lot of good things. Then when they went on the 18-0 run, a couple turnovers that you can’t have. And we did miss some shots through there, missed some free throws and allowed them to get feeling good and they made some threes and cut back into it. And even through that time, for the most part, we executed and got the look that we wanted, we just didn’t make it. But it was the pick-six turnovers that there’s nothing you can do about it, in terms of trying to defend it, other than taking care of the basketball. I thought the effort was good defensively. Still can get better, which we’re going to keep trying to get better with it. But overall, the effort was there.”
On how much emphasis Tennessee put on getting J.P. Estrella and Felix Okpara going early in that game
“Well, not just early, we want to keep them going throughout. That’s one of the big things that was the takeaway from film yesterday. They were playing really good basketball and we got away from it a little bit. So it’s a matter of being consistent. They got to continue to do their job screening. The more they screen, and they’re getting better playing out of the pick and rolls. And obviously, people are going to make adjustments to it. And when they make adjustments, we have to make our adjustments. But we need those guys. We need balance and the more balance we get, the better we’re going to be.”
On Bishop Boswell’s performance at Mississippi State
“We’re watching Bishop just get better and better every day. And I want him to become really one of the best players in the country and I think he’s got the ability to do it. He’s worked hard. I had great respect for the way he came in here as a freshman behind players that he knew that were going play, but yet he was willing to learn from those guys, which I do think he did. And this year, being thrust into a situation where he’s not afraid to take on any challenge that we give him. We knew that his offense would continue to be a work in progress, which I think that is with most guys as they continue to learn the game. He’s got to slow himself down on offense because he plays at such a rapid, competitive pace defensively, which you can almost like a reckless abandon type, which you can do (on defense). But you can’t do that on offense. But he’ll get there. I mean, he’s already starting to get there I just think the more he plays the game, the more the offensive end is going to slow down for him.”
On the challenge LSU presents Tennessee on Saturday
“Great respect for Matt (McMahon). They’ve had to deal with injuries, which always sets everybody. And just the fact that they continue to play really, really hard. He’s going to have them ready to play like he always does. And they will do some different things defensively that will present problems, and if we don’t take care of the ball, they’ll take advantage of it.”
On what he makes of giving up but also overcoming double-digit leads
“That’s basketball because when a team gets down, they’re going to get aggressive. Maybe some teams just put their heads down and just start driving, trying to get to the foul line, trying to get you to foul them. Some teams might just start coming down shooting threes, and start making them. And then on the other end, you still got to— like the other night, when they made that run, we had great shots. We didn’t make them. We missed free throws, didn’t make them. And so momentum can change, and when you feel like you’re coming back, you get a team on its heels, you feel good, and you’re gonna stay aggressive. But the other night when that was happening, Nate really stepped up and made a couple of really good plays there at the end. But it goes back defensively, and even the threes they made, one of them was definitely a defensive breakdown. And it was because of a missed shot, just didn’t get back and match up the way we need to.
I’ve always felt that basketball is a game of runs. I believe that every possession’s important and how quickly it can turn. If you start taking shots you shouldn’t take or turn the ball over. I’ve always believed that your defense gets the lead for you, and your offense has to keep it. But if you’re not making shots the game gets tough. It really does, it gets tough.”
On the importance of surviving the Mississippi State run
“Well I would like to think our guys understand that we’re in a league that so many teams, I mean, the teams are so well-coached and so many good players. They’re not gonna quit. They’re going to keep playing. So when you talk about a big in the first half, there’s so much time to go back, you know, the three-point shot too. I mean, you can be up 12 points and come down and get good shots and miss them, and they go down and hit two threes— it’s a six-point game, two-possession game. And so it’s basketball, but the mentality part, momentum’s a big part of it too. That’s why you’ve got to— there’s a standard that you’ve got to play with every day, and especially, I think defensively, coaches can’t coach making shots. We can’t. I know players want to make shots, but if they don’t, you’d like to think that we’re going to work it trying to get an offensive rebound, but sometimes you can’t. But on the defensive end, when you’re not making shots, is where you really can’t have breakdowns, and the biggest part is you can not turn the ball over and let them get down and get easy buckets. But when you have a lead, we tell themand players do have a tendency sometimes to relax, ’cause they look at a 15, 18-point lead, they start playing the scoreboard, and you can’t play the scoreboard. You gotta play yourself, and you gotta play your opponent, you gotta play the clock, you gotta play all of it. Some of it’s maturity, some of it is, and some of it’s a lack of maturity. We still, every day we’re teaching, trying to continue to teach these guys about the game, and how quickly it can turn on a dime on you.”
On Tennessee junior forward Jaylen Carey trying to establish consistency:
“Well, I think he sees it more and more every time. I don’t think there’s any question when he sees film, you know, we’re talking about him playing with more speed, and I think most players, when they play the game, if you ask them right after the game, most players will probably tell you they played hard. Then I think when they see the film, I think they’re shocked, because I don’t think they don’t wanna play hard. But it’s a hard game to get out of your comfort zone. I mean, it really is. You’ve gotta wanna really push beyond and fight through fatigue. You gotta fight through… I mean, everybody’s out there playing, but there’s a level you gotta get to, and then you gotta push through it. You gotta keep — I think Jaylen’s trying to figure out how to do that, and the only way he’s gonna do it is by work ethic. It’s not in games, it’s every day in practice. You know, you’re gonna always come back to your habits. I’ve seen very few guys that can flip the switch when it comes game time, and even if they can do that, at some point during the game, they’re gonna plateau. And if they haven’t put the work in to fight through that, they’re not gonna be able to fight through it. So it goes back to your daily habits.”
On Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament’s performance at Mississippi State
“Nate, honestly, I thought he was tired, ’cause he’s put a lot of time in. He works hard. (He’s got) people trying to be physical with him from the get-go. He can’t even make a cut without guys trying to hang on to him. But he’s working harder defensively, but even with that, he still impacts the game. And at the end, when we were hitting that skid right there, he was the one that stepped up and made some good offensive plays for us.”
On saying after the Mississippi State game the energy from the bench wasn’t what he wanted it to be, how to get those guys to have more energy
“Well, that’s right, and we showed that yesterday. The energy should go up. But it’s coming in and guys staying in their roles. That’s the most important thing, because, you know, there’s things that go on in the game that, you know, you can’t script all of it. You can’t. There’s just, plays are gonna happen. But understanding that the one thing that they have to bring is that high level of energy on both ends. We talked about it, and I think they did see it from just watching the film with it.”
