Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie is one of the SEC’s top players, earning First Team All-SEC honors from the conference’s coaches and SEC Newcomer of the Year honors from the Associated Press this week.
But Gillespie’s shot has struggled as of late. He made just one-of-11 attempts from deep against Vanderbilt and missed all four of his attempts at South Carolina. Over the last three weeks, Gillespie is shooting 12-for-53 (22.6%) from three-point range.
It’s a bad stretch for the Vols’ best three-point shooter, but veteran head coach Rick Barnes is not concerned about his recent struggles.
“Guys go through it,” Barnes said. “But Ja’Kobi will be fine. He’ll be fine.”
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Gillespie Has The Pedigree As A Stout Shooter
Before the last three weeks, Gillespie was shooting 36% from three-point range on the season and was on pace to hit over 100 triples this season for the first time in his career. Now at 85 made triples this season, Gillespie could still very well get there but it is no guarantee.
A year ago at Maryland, Gillespie made 87 three-pointers at a 40.7% clip. He shot better but also got more open looks due to Maryland’s balance and his lower usage rate. As a sophomore at Belmont, Gillespie shoot 39% from deep.
Gillespie isn’t getting as open of looks this season but is clearly a far better shooter than he has shown in recent weeks.
Gillespie Is Playing An Abundance Of Minutes
Why Gillespie is struggling is a harder question to answer. Barnes thinks that he is just in a shooting slump and that is certainly possible.
It is worth noting how many minutes he is playing. Gillespie has totaled 34-plus minutes in 10 straight games. Over that stretch, dating back to the start of February, Gillespie is averaging 35.9 minutes per game. He also played over 40 minutes in overtime wins against Texas A&M and Georgia.
The senior point guard has a 25.9% usage rate and Tennessee is asking even more of him over the last 2.5 games while a right leg injury has sidelined fellow star Nate Ament.
The heavy usage may have nothing to do with Gillespie’s shooting struggles. It could be a simple slump. It could be something else. Maybe it’s just a slump. But it’s possible that Gillespie is wearing down a bit and his shot is struggling because of it.
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Gillespie Has Shown An Ability To Be Successful Without Knocking Down Shots
Over the course of his college career, perimeter shooting has been Gillespie’s greatest strength. But it is certainly not his only strength. He’s gotten much better as a true point guard this season and that was on display last week at South Carolina when he dished out 12 assists while turning it over just once.
“I think when he struggles is when he thinks he’s gotta make three,” Barnes said following the loss against Vanderbilt. “I think when he gets lost in the game — like he was terrific against South Carolina. I mean, you could see he saw it.
“But he can score at any level, and he’s obviously not afraid to compete, but I don’t think there’s no doubt today they were really wanting to try to take away the lob threats. And I promise you, we still could’ve got them, but you had to fight harder to get it. … By now we need him to come off thinking that way, as opposed to thinking, ‘I gotta get a shot.’”
Despite only one year experience playing point guard prior to his arrival in Knoxville, Gillespie finished second in the SEC in assists per game this season. Gillespie can be a very effective player even when he doesn’t shoot well. But for Tennessee to reach its ceiling, they need Gillespie to do so.
