With basketball season right around the corner, Tennessee basketball took to Birmingham for SEC Media Days. Head coach Rick Barnes and forwards Cade Phillips and Felix Okpara hit the SEC Network set to talk on air during the trip south.
They were asked about Barnes’ coaching style, Vols vs. Alabama in football and more.
Here’s what they said.
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On Okpara’s glasses with a camera in them
Okpara: “I am recording everything… I’ve used them for a couple of months now. I just record events I can always go back and watch… I haven’t used them in practice.”
Barnes: “I wish he would (record every interaction). He’d go back and think about me all night… (To SECN hosts about their suits) The first stat is, is this a two-for-one sale?”
On Barnes being the only active coach to take a team to the NCAA Tournament in five decades
Barnes: “It means I’m old.”
Phillips: “It just shows how consistent he’s been. If there’s anything to describe Coach Barnes, it’s consistent. Day in and day out. That makes that 50 years, I wouldn’t say easy because I know the toll it takes, but it definitely shows the level of consistency that has come with that wisdom.”
On players vs. the ’80s compared to now
Barnes: “I wish I had those glasses through those 50 years. Is it easier? I think it’s the same. We’ve been really blessed with a staff that goes out and recruits guys that fit us. Guys that work hard. Guys that really want to maximize what they have. That’s been the one consistent thing through the 50 years. I think players still want the same things they wanted 50 years ago. They want the chance to play at the highest level. It’s our job to try to teach them what it takes to get there.”
On how this year’s team is unique
Barnes: “It’s different in the fact that we’ve lost a lot of guys that maybe more than normal. We felt like these guys coming back would be the key for us with the new guys coming in to maintain that consistency. The atmosphere that we want to have every day. What we expect, not just as players, but off the court, how we want the program represented. These guys have done a great job of it. We trust them. Bottom line, we trust them. We’re very transparent, we’re honest, and these guys embrace that.”
On losing players from last year, Phillips and Okpara’s role this year
Phillips: “When you look at the Tennessee teams of the past five, 10 years, there’s eras of teams. My freshman year, there were the Josiah-Jordan James and Santi Vescovi, were the two guys where that was their era. You go into my second year, my sophomore year of Zakai and Jahmai, those guys stuck around and know the culture and understand what it takes. I think the most important thing for me and my role on this team, more than anything basketball-wise, is to fill that leadership role of showing them what it’s about to be a part of this program and to live this culture.”
Okpara: “I would hit on the same points. Just being a good leader for the younger guys and new guys coming in. And just being that dog that’s someone Coach can count on. Last season, I jumped into that role. I jumped into it late because I was just trying to figure out Rick Barnes… I definitely, just being that guy, go get rebounds, go play defense and also just being a good leader.”
On if Barnes has had to change his coaching style this year
Barnes: “I don’t think coaching-wise. We’re still big believers in fundamental basketball. Passing, catching and doing all those type things. Fe(lix), we’ve wanted him to expand his game. Same with Cade. Cade was one of those guys when we recruited him, we thought we would redshirt him but he came in, I remember the players, older guys, said we have to have him. There’s going to be games where we’ll need him. I think that speaks volumes to his work ethic and his competitive spirit. I’ve always said, players are going to decide who’s going to play. It’s our job to teach them what we need to be able to do with that particular team. And we obviously need to be able to adjust because sometimes it doesn’t work. You just want a group of guys who are going to compete, play hard and every night, they’re gonna go out there and know what they have to do. We just want them to play hard. We think if we do that and execute the fundamentals and the things we talk about, we’ll be fine.”
On Phillips’ family playing football for Alabama, his physicality
Phillips: “With my dad being the role model he is, I always thought that football was going to be my sport. I quickly out-grew that. I think what football taught me more than anything was that competitive spirit of mano a mano. Just going at it. I think that is what I try to carry over into basketball. Me and my dad might not have football to talk about anymore, but hopefully, it’s physical enough he can be proud of me in that regard.”
Barnes: “Basketball, there’s some football parts in basketball. Blocking out.”
On how Tennessee football will beat Alabama
Barnes: “Run that ball. Run that ball. In the trenches, baby.”
Okpara: “I’d be the kicker. I played soccer.”
Phillips: “I played outside linebacker and edge in high school.”
Barnes: “I do think that if I told those two guys, I’ll run the ball if you guys open the hole, on a day they’d like me they’d do it. On a day they don’t, it’d open up.”
On a Rick Barnes practice
Phillips: “Ya’ll asked, how does his coaching change from team to team. It doesn’t You get the same Coach Barnes every day. It’s intense. That’s the easiest way to describe it. When you get to the season, it’s almost as if game days are an off day to us. That’s how we feel because we practice so hard. We practice at such a competitive level, such an intense level, that when you get to these games, you don’t rise to the occasion, you default to your training. That’s how often we are at that high of a level, that when we get to game day, there’s nothing but joy that comes out of it.”
On if Barnes is the best free throw shooter on the team
Barnes: “You’re right.”
On where Barnes tells them they need to improve
Okpara: “I think for me, it’s just, we’ve talked about just trying to score quick. After practice, I’m just trying to work on scoring the ball quick. Work on my hands. And with the free throws, just taking my time at the free throw line.”
Phillips: “I think for me, one thing I appreciate about Coach, he’s always said he’s never going to put my game in a box. That also means there’s a lot of things I need to work on. There’s been a lot of days in the gym, a lot of countless hours with a lot of information thrown at you. It’s nothing but just shows how much he loves you and how much he wants you to be the player he sees and more than what you see.”
On if Phillips’ hobby is cliff diving
Phillips: “During the summer, yeah. I enjoy it. University of Tennessee is on a (river). There’s places to jump. There’s a lot of rivers in Alabama, I’m from 30 minutes down the road, so it’s something I’ve done for a long time.”
Barnes: “You grow up in Alabama, you go to Tennessee, you think you’ve seen the world.”
