Tennessee basketball is looking for its fifth straight win as they travel to Lexington to face rival Kentucky on Saturday night. Kentucky handed the Vols their last loss three weeks ago and Tennessee is looking to reverse its fortune.
Ahead of the matchup, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discussed what needs to be different compared tot he last game, Bishop Boswell’s success and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
More From RTI: Kentucky Basketball Breaking out Retro Uniforms Against Tennessee on Saturday
On the status of Felix Okpara (calf injury)
“We’ll see when we practice. We’ll see. He hadn’t done anything. Last night when I left, he said he was feeling a little bit better, but it’ll be based on if he does anything today in practice.”
On the status of Amaree Abram (flu)
“He hasn’t been back. I think he’s supposed to be back today, but he didn’t practice. Obviously didn’t play (against Ole Miss). He wasn’t around us. We kept him kind of quarantined from everybody.”
On what stood out on film from Tennessee’s first game against Kentucky
“A lot. Just so many breakdowns. And again, I don’t ever like to take anything away from the team that beat us because they exploited what we didn’t do. But we were really poor in ball-screen coverage, 3-point line coverage, you name, offensive rebounding. They had their way in the second half doing what they wanted to do. And their execution was just so much better than ours. And we’ve got to be better, plain and simple. And from here on out, if you don’t play forty minutes, regardless of who you’re playing, you’re going to get beat.
On how J.P. Estrella has played defensively in Tennessee’s recent games
“He’s getting better. We’ve asked him to obviously get out of his comfort zone and take it to a different level with his ball-screen coverage and guarding the ball and rebounding and he’s doing it. I mean, I think he played the most minutes he’s ever played the other night. And that in itself is a great step because I think he’s just getting started with how good he can be. But now it’s about consistency and not plateauing and going to another level.”
On how he feels this Tennessee team is different from the first matchup with Kentucky
“Well, obviously, a little more experienced because of just playing games and starting to get more guys involved. More guys, I think, are really finding their role, what they can do, and how they can help us. And little more balance than we’ve than we had back then.”
On if Tennessee coaches anticipated this kind of confidence on offense from Bishop Boswell
“Well, we know we needed him to. We knew that because when you’re thinking about a backcourt, he and Ja’Kobi (Gillespie), we would like to get some scoring production, obviously, out of both of those slots. But Bishop has worked so hard at it. And he’s still got so much more. I was talking about after the game the other night, he plays so hard defensively, he just needs to slow down a little bit offensively and see it a little bit different than he is right now. But, again, he’s making great progress, and he will continue to get better because of just his commitment to the game.”
On Boswell hesitating at times, if there’s instances he’d like to see him fire quicker
“I think he knows when to shoot it. I think he understands. That’s where he’s gotten better, the flow of the game. I mean, I would say to anybody, if we’ve come down the court and missed four or five three-point shots, and they’re not going in, that’s somewhere we got to go find a different way to do it. That’s where he, he knows when it’s time for him to shoot it and when it’s not.”
On how Nate Ament is playing the game different now compared to beginning of season
“I think he’s seeing it different. I think that’s the biggest thing. He’s a terrific passer, good in ball screens. I think that he was anxious to score the ball probably more so, and he’s so much more than that. He can obviously shoot the ball, score the ball, but he’s starting to understand all the other parts of the game. And I think one of the toughest things is when players go into the game thinking, ‘I got to make shots,’ as opposed to going in thinking, ‘I got to play the game. I’ve got to do what the scout report says on both ends of the court.’ And I think the most instinctive thing they do is shoot. That’s what they do instinctively. So that’s something I don’t think most players should be concerned about. They should be about, you know, ‘what do we have to do to execute this game plan?’ And I think that’s where he’s improved, probably more than anything.”
On being better closing halves
“Maybe just simply getting burnt so many times by going to the stove and getting burnt. And, I mean, when we went through it, we were really struggling. We just had no awareness of how important the ball, throwing the ball all over the place, bad shots or shots at the wrong time by the wrong players. But the biggest thing was just throwing the ball away, just turning the ball over. I mean, if you get more shots than your opponent, most times you’re going to be in pretty good shape, and we were just giving up so many opportunities that just kept digging ourself into a bigger hole than we needed to be in.”
On what Bishop Boswell does outside of practice that stands out about how much he prepares
“Film. He spends a lot of time with film. He’s developed a great relationship with Riley Collins. They watch a lot of film together, above and beyond what we do. But Bishop, he’s wanting to be really good at this game. He’s starting to learn how to be a student of the game, too. He puts a lot of time in off the court watching film.”
On what he expects Saturday night after the first game ended with Tennessee and Kentucky shoving each other
“I don’t expect anything. I have great respect for Kentucky, and that happens in games. Anytime you’re in a competitive situation, some of that can happen. I don’t think there’s anything there. I’m not gonna blow it (out of proportion), because I don’t think it is anything. Everybody wants to talk about revenge game. It’s the next game. I don’t care. I’ve never believed in that. I believe that, I don’t care who you’re getting ready to play, whether it’s Kentucky, whether it be Arkansas, whether, whoever you want to throw up there, it’s the next game. Whatever you got to do to get yourself ready to play, and I think it always goes back to your preparation with your game plan. Just get locked in on that. But I’ve also been around long enough to know that guys are competitive. I mean, Kentucky’s competitive, my guys are competitive, and things might pop up, but it’s not a big deal.”
On what he’s telling his players about Rupp Arena who are playing their for the first time
“Have you ever played at Auburn? You ever played at Arkansas? I mean, those places are the same. I mean, every place is a great arena. That’s what I think separates our league from everybody in the country. Wherever you go on the road in this league, you are gonna get a hostile environment, I think more than any league in the country. And so, they’re used to it, and you got to go in and play the game.”
