Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey met with the media Monday morning following the Vols’ loss against Alabama and ahead of their road trip to South Carolina.
Gainey discussed Nate Ament’s injury, needing to do a better job converting on second chance opportunities and much more. Here’s everything Gainey said.
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On what stood out on tape from Tennessee’s second half against Alabama on Saturday
“On the defensive side just not getting the timely stops that we needed. I thought they hurt us in transition. And whether it was a missed shot, but even more like on made shots, their pace, their tempo, how aggressive they were early in the shot clock. And they were able to convert on some of those opportunities that I thought were key. They were huge. And it came at times where it felt like we get (the lead) to 11, we had it at 12, when you’re trying to break away. And then they hit you with one of those quick ones, a three or something at the rim. And you can never really get that separation. But defensively just, just not getting the timely stops we need and then not being great in transition.”
On what led to Tennessee forward J.P. Estrella getting switched onto Alabama’s Labaron Philon on the game-winning shot
“Yeah, within our defense we do have different calls where if it’s an emergency situation, if you get clipped, late clock, we’ll look to switch some things. And so it was one of those situations and we feel confident that, they’re thing (is) getting the mid-range jumper, right? They want to get to the rim or they want to spray it out. And I thought JP did a great job of getting them to play in that in-between zone. He gave a good contest and Philon is a really good player that made a big time shot and a big time moment. And so I felt like JP did a great job. He did all he could do. And Philon was, before that, he was kind of getting to where he wanted to get to anyway. And he’s just a big-time player. Kudos to him. Hats off to him. Great shot.”
On if he has an update on Tennessee’s Nate Ament (right leg injury)
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Chad yet. I know he won’t be at practice today. I know he won’t practice today and so we’ll just kind of get updated from Chad here shortly. And we’ll kind of see what the diagnosis will be.”
On if it’s safe to say Ament avoided the worst-case scenario with the injury
“Yeah, I guess? I don’t know. Yesterday it wasn’t a lot of information that we got because they hadn’t received the MRIs yet. Or the documents from the MRI. So we didn’t have a lot of information, just kind of general. And so today hopefully we kind of get updated on that and where things are with it.”
On if Tennessee freshman Amari Evans will be a player that has to step up to replace Nate Ament if Ament misses time
“Yeah, I think it’ll be all hands on deck. I think Bishop (Boswell) will have to step up more. I think Amari (Evans), I think Ethan (Burg), I think Troy (Henderson) needs to be ready. I think Mo (Amaree Abram) needs to be (ready). All of those guys, everybody that we have, they need to be ready to step up and contribute in some way. And it might not be scoring, but defensively, some minutes here or there where there’s no breakdowns. But it’s going to be all hands on deck type situation I think for all, for everybody involved.”
On what he saw from Tennessee playing without Nate Ament for 29 minutes against Alabama
“I thought they continued to fight, to play hard. I thought Amari (Evans) came in and he did what he does. And he did it at a high level. And I’d say like a couple games before he wasn’t at that level for whatever reason. But I felt like he raised his level of play during that situation, where it just didn’t completely fall off. Again, he’s not Nate. He doesn’t do what Nate does, but he was, I thought a bright spot and a star in his role during that time. So yeah, we’re excited about how the guys, you know, just didn’t quit. But we don’t have that kind of group either. We got a group that is next man up, they’re going to be ready to go, and the whole locker room was disappointed when we lost that game.”
On encouragement in holding Alabama to 71 points
“I mean, we guard, that’s kind of what we do and over the years we’ve done a good job of defending them. But there were no moral victories. There were nobody excited about, ‘man, we really guarded. If we had Nate, we would…’ Like that wasn’t the mentality. Like we were all like devastated because that was one we kinda we let slip through our fingers. So we’ve proven that we can defend the best offenses in the country and really good players. We are disappointed that we didn’t get the job done. So it was no moral victory at all.”
On what Felix Okpara is giving Tennessee as of late
“Yeah, Fe’s been, I feel like Fe’s been really doing a good job of like getting off of ball screens, making plays at the rim whether it’s a lob or whether it’s off a drop off and then finish it. And then defensively you always know what you’re gonna get from Fe. I think he’s one of the best defenders in the country. He can guard all positions. So it’s exciting to seeing him just continue to get better as the season goes. And look, with Nate out, we’ll need, him to take another step, you know? We need him to take another step.”
On if know whether it’s more of an ankle or a knee concern
“No. I don’t know. I think Chad will— he’ll be getting us that information today, tomorrow. I know it was, the swelling that was in both areas made it really, I guess tough to kinda determine which was a greater concern. But I think we’ll get more clarity today and as the days go.”
On how he would assess JP Estrella’s performance against Alabama
“I thought JP was solid. I thought he had some good moments where he scored around the basket and kind of got to his spots and raised up. I thought there were some situations he could’ve been a little bit better on the defensive side of the basketball. And so for JP that’s always, a guy of that size, we’re asking him to do a lot and to guard in a lot of different ways. And so he’s getting better at it, but that’s always something that, you know, there’ll always be room for improvement in there.”
On how Estrella’s foot health is
“As far as I know, he’s good. It was no signs of injury or anything yesterday. But we didn’t practice, we just kinda had film. So as far as I know, he’s good. Chad’ll be sending out his update and so we’ll see what all is on it. But this time of year, everybody has some type of bang, bruise, dinged up or whatever, you know? It’s last week of the regular season. And so you show me a fully healthy guy and I’ll show you a guy who probably doesn’t play a lot, you know? We’ll see what he says, but hadn’t heard anything about it or seen anything (to this) point.”
On what stands out about South Carolina
“Their record doesn’t, you know, really do them justice. I think they’re a well-coached team. They’re a disciplined team. They have good overall size, you know, two through five. Meechie (Johnson) is a really good player. They’re dangerous, it’s a dangerous team that for whatever reason, their record is what it is. But by no means have they been, like, just completely blown out. Or, you know, they’ve been in some games where you watch them and, man, they should’ve won that game, and whatever happens at the end. So, yeah, they’re a dangerous team. They play a lot in isolation and so you’re gonna have to really sit down and guard. Then they have guys that can make some shots as well, and they got a five-man that can space the floor and can shoot it and go off the bounce. So dangerous, dangerous team, and a well-coached team.”
On why Tennessee is not scoring as many second-chance points off its offensive rebounds as it should
“Yeah, that’s a good question, man. It’s been kind of a — it’s been multiple games where that’s been the case. Whether it’s, you know, a lot of tap backs, guys not putting it in. Whether they’re rushing and not going back up with it, or, dropping the ball down after they get the rebound. As you watch the film, it’s a lot of different things, right? It ain’t where it’s one thing and, hey, it’s a quick fix.
“But at the end of the day, we gotta make those, right? I mean, you can’t have 25 offensive rebounds, and have 25 points. You know, it’s gotta be better than that. Concentration, focus and being intentional about the put-back, and taking pride in it.”
On the ratio Tennessee looks for when it comes to scoring off its offensive rebounds
“Our analytics guys would have the exact, like, points-per-possession you want on put-backs. I think we’re at, like, a 1.0 points-per-possession. At that range, it probably needs to be, like, 1.5 or something like that. But we’re off. We’re not where we need to be and we gotta get better.”
On how to coach more points off offensive rebounds
“I would say, like, that is some of why the points aren’t there, because we do teach, you know, what we call a fire drill, right? You get the rebound, if you can’t go right back up, then you spray it out to a shooter, and then if he misses, I think that goes into the equation as well.
“But yeah, I think part of it’s that. We do kick it out and we’re not able to go back up with it. But I do think some of it is, whether it goes up, we miss it, get the rebound, go up again, miss it, crowds, shots getting blocked around the basket and then just flat out missing it.”
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One Response
Yeah, Philon is a great player. But everybody has a “great player.” When are we going to learn how to stop one of these “great players” late in the game when we are blowing leads. I checked, and Tennessee has blown more 10+ point leads than anyone else in the country, which is disgusting!