What Rick Barnes Believes Tennessee Basketball Needs To Break Through

Rick Barnes has consistently taken Tennessee basketball to heights that it rarely reached. Before his arrival, the Vols had made the Elite Eight just once in program history. Tennessee has now made it to the Elite Eight three straight seasons but has been unable to break through and make the first Final Four in program history.

What does Tennessee need to do to knock down the door and make the first Final Four in program history? Barnes offered his thoughts following the blowout loss against Michigan.

“We’re going to have to shoot the ball better,” Barnes said. “There’s no doubt. We’ve got to shoot the ball better. We’re so inconsistent doing that. We still have to be better finishing around the rim. You’ve watched us all year and we missed too many of those shots.”

Two seasons ago, Tennessee had a trio of strong offensive guards in Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey. Lanier was an elite shooter while Zeigler and Gainey could also knock down shots and propelled Tennessee to a top 20 offense nationally. Stretch forward Igor Milicic was also capable of knocking down shots.

But in the Elite Eight loss against Houston, Tennessee shot five-of-29 from three-point range and had no inside presence against the Cougars’ stout defense.

This season, Tennessee built its roster to have a better interior offense. But they lacked enough shooting and were not as consistent scoring inside as they wanted to be. They failed in both areas against Michigan and the game got away from them in a five-minute scoring drought in the first half.

“You’ve got to make some shots, too,” Barnes said. “Again, the first eight to ten minutes was like 16-16, that’s how we wanted it. And right there, those next couple minutes were foul trouble, get to the free-throw line. Obviously shot a lot more free throws than we did. But we’ve got to score. At some point in time you’ve got to score the ball, too.”

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As Tennessee enters the offseason and begins building its roster for next season, it presents a question about how the Vols will build their roster next season. Barnes made it clear that they want more shooting, but will they still play two big-men at the same time or go back to playing a stretch four like they did during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons?

If the Vols prominently play two stretch big men together, how do they find more shooting? They could allow J.P. Estrella to shoot more three-pointers. He showed promise there at times in his redshirt sophomore season, but Tennessee but the reigns on him so he would focus on playing with more physicality inside.

What does searching for more shooting mean for Bishop Boswell? He shot a strong 38% from three-point range last season but attempted only 78 triples. If Boswell can keep his percentage at a similar spot while shooting a great quantity, that would go a long way for Tennessee’s spacing.

Tennessee’s first visitor of the offseason seriously reflects the Vols’ desire for more shooting. Belmont shooting guard Tyler Lundblade is on campus early this week for a visit after earning Missouri Valley Player of the Year honors a season ago.

Lundblade averaged double-digits each of the last two years at Belmont, making 104 three-pointers at a 48% clip two seasons ago and 115 three-pointers at a 40.6% clip this past season.

Barnes said the Vols want better shooting and their pursuit of Lundblade backs it up. How the philosophy truly manifests itself on this roster and how Tennessee finds more shooting without compromising defense remains to be seen.

“We certainly know what it takes to get here, now we’ve got to figure out getting through to the next level, and it’s on this day, you’ve got to really be at your best,” Barnes said.