Tennessee basketball held its final practice open to the media on Thursday afternoon at Pratt Pavilion as the Vols have just one more week of summer practices.
Let’s start on the injury front where a back injury continues to sideline Tyler Lundblade. Rick Barnes addressed the injury before practice but there doesn’t appear to be any real timetable at this point. Read more about it here.
It was business as usual for Troy Henderson who continues to go through individual drills but not do any 5-on-5 work. Marquis Clark suffered a left groin injury during the early parts of practice while Ralph Scott banged up his left leg on the final play of 4-on-4 shell work. Neither did any team work the remainder of practice but neither injury is expected to be a long term concern.
Christian Fermin is out for the remainder of the summer with a left-hand injury but did some varying cardio workouts off to the side.
Juke Harris turned in his best practice of the three I have watched this summer. During the 5-on-5 portion of practice, Harris hit a handful of midrange jumpers and knocked down a triple off a pin-down screen. He also displayed some strong passing skills, something that Barnes mentioned earlier Thursday while meeting with the media.
Harris did not finish practice due to a minor left leg issue. Still, he went through about 85% of Thursday’s practice at full strength.
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As strong of a practice as it was for Harris, Terrence Hill Jr. was the best player on the court and frankly put on a show. Hill knocked down a four of three-pointers during the team portion of practice and showed his ability to score at all three levels. By my count, Hill scored a team-high 18 points in the 5-on-5 portion of practice with a number of assists.
Two plays from Hill that particularly stood out. On one play, Hill had the ball on the wing with DeWayne Brown setting a screen towards the baseline. Hill denied the screen, bursting into the middle of the lane and finishing with a finger role.
On another play, Hill got by a defender with a hesitation move, drew a defender and fired a bullet to Braedan Lue. Lue pump faked on the left side of the basket, stepped through and finished with a right-handed layup.
Speaking of, Braedan Lue continues to impress me and I’m becoming more convinced that he will have a role on this season’s team. Lue showed an ability to score around the rim and knocked down an open three-pointer. But more importantly, Lue seems incredibly solid defensively and has an impressive ability to defend both inside and on the perimeter.
Maybe the injuries to Scott and Clark played a role, but the teams were not particularly even for the 5-on-5 portion of practice. Jalen Haralson was paired with Manny Green, Miles Rubin, Chris Washington, Campbell Duncan and Gavin Paull (white team) with that team facing off agains Hill, Harris, Dai Dai Ames, Lue and DeWayne Brown (black team).
Haralson helped his team jump out to an early lead with a handful of buckets and assists. He also had multiple deflections that led to transition baskets. The Notre Dame transfer did make two “wow” plays, once driving into the pain and dropping a nice pass to Miles Rubin who finished with a dunk. The second instance was an acrobatic tip in where he came out of nowhere for he rebound and score.
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As the 5-on-5 portion of practice rolled on, the black team began to really pull away and dominate. Hill was very impressive during that stretch with his feel and command for the game.
It was interesting to watch Dai Dai Ames play with other really talented guards. Playing without the ball seems like an adjustment for him but I was impressed with his ability to stay in the flow of the game and knock down open shots when the ball found him. Ames also might be Tennessee’s best pick-and-roll ball handler (competing with Hill). His tempo and ability to not get sped up is a real strength.
Moving to the five-spot, DeWayne Brown still looked like Tennessee’s best big man but was not quite as dominant as he was at the last practice I watched. Still, Brown is just very steady. He continues to impress me with his passing. He also scored a few baskets running the floor.
Miles Rubin had a couple nice flashes, scoring on the previously mentioned pass from Haralson while also blocking a shot at the rim and stealing the ball from Brown inside. Still, the Loyola (Chicago) transfer did not make quite as large of a defensive impact in the paint as I’d like to see.
The freshman watch is shorter on Thursday with Clark and Scott out. Manny Green knocked down a triple during 5-on-5 and Chris Washington Jr. had a pair of nice blocks, but neither did much else of note.
