10 games in, 10 points of discussion

[Sudden Impact]

This team is young in ways of chemistry. Reminds me of JJ's first or second year starting. Mix of young and old. It will get better to much talent on the floor for it not to do so.

 

[adam.vol]

1 & 8: Barnes is handicapped by Ament’s recruitment and Barnes is going to let Ament play, no matter how ugly it looks, unfortunately.

Ament is a bad shooter, so he can’t force the defense to guard him outside. He can’t go around anyone because they’re safe in giving cushion and he can’t go through them because he’s too weak.

Ament needs to make a hard decision. He’s either going to have to bulk up enough to be a forward or he’s going to have to practice enough to be a 40%-50% 3 point shooter.

5 & 6:
Okpara looks pathetic. He’s not changing any shots on defense, he loses his man whenever he hedges, and he is barely rebounding. Barnes has failed another big man in teaching him how to play big. I guess we’ll have to watch Estrella regress as he gets older too? I liked Okpara last year and Estrella this year. I liked Aidoo until his senior year when all we could get from him was spot up 2 pointers.

 

[YankeeVol]

I'll say this: if CRB can turn this bunch of talented misfits into a final four team, it will be a story for the ages.

I wouldn't put $1 on it

 

[Skooter]

I mentioned preseason not to expect offensive ability in the paint with Okpara. Doesn’t matter for some how hard they work. Some kids have good hands. Some don’t. When you don’t touch a ball with your hands until a teenager, it’s years of hand/eye coordination missed, as well as composure and not getting hectic when you do get the ball.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

We’re going to be able to make it through the first round and possibly the second depending on matchups, but we’re going to fall flat when we have to play anyone who can match up with us physically inside because we just don’t have any other options once that’s taken away.

 

[GBO18]

Good assessment. I expressed some reservations about Ament's size and durability, and moaned a lot about how close we got to Rice, and what a loss it was. Preseason is no time to make friends with doubts. I was overly optimistic about JP and his durability. I agree that his offense could draw defenders in and make Ament much more successful by giving him some space to operate. I think I'd be in the minority in saying this, but I'd almost rather play Boswell at point to get Gillespie better looks. We're losing a lot of three looks, and drives by leaving him at the one. Boswell obviously lacks some tools to be a great PG, but I think he's better on ball D on the drive and is a serviceable passer at this point. Burg is just not an SEC body/talent, and Abrams is too volatile. He's enough of an athlete to cover good guards, but he might just do something crazy one in three trips. Cade is a reliable dud, Felix can't seem to generate any offense without ZZ's lobs, and JP isn't getting the minutes. That leaves us with the blue collar bruiser duo of Brown and Carey as the best lay brick/putback plan. Carey is definitely a "less than" expected contributor, but will bang. Brown has a very high ceiling and is fearless, but misses some key assignments on D, and I think the 4/5 combos will grow into something better than it is as JP gets more minutes and we find a good rotation. Our guard play is just a sad situation. On ball D is bad. Watching one guy recover on the drive, while another guy misses the open three shot is just torture. Barnes doesn't see a way out with the older guys. Obviously there is a real SEC athlete in Evans and promise in Henderson too, but this isn't a learn on the go offense. I think the break is going to have to be dedicated to a tighter/younger lineup, and commitment to defense. I have to assume Ament will grow, and we will find a way to get him some space. I think treating him like DK iso magic is a mistake that won't fix itself. Hopefully JP will return to form, and the young guards will develop. Right now this is a middle SEC team on one side or the other of the bubble.

You think Estrella’s minutes start going up more when we play Louisville? 10 days until next game would seem to give him plenty time to ramp up it in practice.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

Good assessment. I expressed some reservations about Ament's size and durability, and moaned a lot about how close we got to Rice, and what a loss it was. Preseason is no time to make friends with doubts. I was overly optimistic about JP and his durability. I agree that his offense could draw defenders in and make Ament much more successful by giving him some space to operate. I think I'd be in the minority in saying this, but I'd almost rather play Boswell at point to get Gillespie better looks. We're losing a lot of three looks, and drives by leaving him at the one. Boswell obviously lacks some tools to be a great PG, but I think he's better on ball D on the drive and is a serviceable passer at this point. Burg is just not an SEC body/talent, and Abrams is too volatile. He's enough of an athlete to cover good guards, but he might just do something crazy one in three trips. Cade is a reliable dud, Felix can't seem to generate any offense without ZZ's lobs, and JP isn't getting the minutes. That leaves us with the blue collar bruiser duo of Brown and Carey as the best lay brick/putback plan. Carey is definitely a "less than" expected contributor, but will bang. Brown has a very high ceiling and is fearless, but misses some key assignments on D, and I think the 4/5 combos will grow into something better than it is as JP gets more minutes and we find a good rotation. Our guard play is just a sad situation. On ball D is bad. Watching one guy recover on the drive, while another guy misses the open three shot is just torture. Barnes doesn't see a way out with the older guys. Obviously there is a real SEC athlete in Evans and promise in Henderson too, but this isn't a learn on the go offense. I think the break is going to have to be dedicated to a tighter/younger lineup, and commitment to defense. I have to assume Ament will grow, and we will find a way to get him some space. I think treating him like DK iso magic is a mistake that won't fix itself. Hopefully JP will return to form, and the young guards will develop. Right now this is a middle SEC team on one side or the other of the bubble.

Agree with pretty much everything...at this point, I would like to see us experiment more with Ament like we did Julian Phillips using off ball screens to hit him in the high and low post. This should cut down on his turnovers trying to drive from the perimeter and it could get him better 3-pt looks when he pops out instead of posting up.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

You think Estrella’s minutes start going up more when we play Louisville? 10 days until next game would seem to give him plenty time to ramp up it in practice.

JP's minutes have to go up barring minutes restriction for his ankle and/or knee injuries which he should be over at this point...it would be coaching malpractice otherwise and I trust CRB and staff are well aware of what the stats say on both ends of the court.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

1 & 8: Barnes is handicapped by Ament’s recruitment and Barnes is going to let Ament play, no matter how ugly it looks, unfortunately.

Ament is a bad shooter, so he can’t force the defense to guard him outside. He can’t go around anyone because they’re safe in giving cushion and he can’t go through them because he’s too weak.

Ament needs to make a hard decision. He’s either going to have to bulk up enough to be a forward or he’s going to have to practice enough to be a 40%-50% 3 point shooter.

5 & 6:
Okpara looks pathetic. He’s not changing any shots on defense, he loses his man whenever he hedges, and he is barely rebounding. Barnes has failed another big man in teaching him how to play big. I guess we’ll have to watch Estrella regress as he gets older too? I liked Okpara last year and Estrella this year. I liked Aidoo until his senior year when all we could get from him was spot up 2 pointers.

Barnes did sit Ament for a long stretch last night. When he came back in, he looked more confident and assertive but it was too late.

 

[YankeeVol]

You think Estrella’s minutes start going up more when we play Louisville? 10 days until next game would seem to give him plenty time to ramp up it in practice.

The 10 days definitely can't hurt.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

You think Estrella’s minutes start going up more when we play Louisville? 10 days until next game would seem to give him plenty time to ramp up it in practice.

I think it’s entirely dependent on his knee. They don’t want to reinjure him. I assume the goal is getting him to full strength by conference play.

 

[sami]

1. Barnes doesn't yet know how to coach this team. Lineup experiments 10 games in are a sure sign of that. He's as frustrated as anyone, I'm sure. He loves the challenge, but is this the team that breaks him?

2. Jakobi Gillespie is our best player, but he's not a PG. That problem is two-fold. It hurts us because we can't play him at his more natural position, and because we don't have anyone else who can fill in for him. To that point, we have no one else who can handle the ball. Another year, another lack of ball-handlers. I just don't get it. We don't value the basketball, and apparently we don't value guys who value the basketball.

3. Valuing the basketball....have I mentioned it? This is the 2nd most turnover-prone team of the last 8 years, averaging 13.2 TO/gm.

4. FTs...we have shot 33-55 (60%) in the last 3 games (all losses). 22 misses in 3 games you lost by a total of 20 points.

5. Defense...this has to be one of the worst Barnes defenses in his Tennessee tenure. They don't defend the 3. They don't defend the drive. They don't defend the post. It's like Barnes hired Tim Banks to coach us defensively, this season. We give up so many drives to the bask

6. Rebounding...I won't be all negative. This team rebounds the ball really well, 2nd half of the Illinois (who is also a really good rebounding team) game notwithstanding.

7. Shooting...we are an awful shooting team. Just awful. We don't shoot it well from anywhere. We miss TONS of layups and shots at the rim. We don't shoot well from 3. Lots of guys who have proven they can hit from 3, but only one who can do it consistently. Shooting 34.5% as a team, but 29.3% (17-58) in these 3 losses.

8. Nate Ament is going to be a really, really good player at some point, but it likely won't ever be at Tennessee. He's been good for a freshman, and if you didn't know he was a top-3 5* kid, you'd probably think he is the kind of guy who will develop very nicely over the next couple years. But sadly, he will leave after this year regardless of the season he has, and we will have little to show for our $4 million investment. I have less problem with Ament shrinking in the moment, and more of a problem with Barnes uncharacteristically puffing him up in the offseason and spending that much of our NIL budget on one volatile asset when he could have had Rodney Rice and another nice portal player for the same money who would likely be more beneficial for this team. You pay that money for Boozer or Koa Peat...guys who are physically ready to contribute as a key piece from the jump. You don't pay it for a finesse kid who needs to gain 30 lbs. because you'll likely never see the return on investment.

9. Missing on Isaac McKneely was huge. We never recovered and tried to replace him with a handful of less-talented players. The roster construction at that 2 and 3 position outside of Ament concerned me all along and those concerns are coming home to roost.

10. JP Estrella has the worst luck. He looked like an all-conference player and then got hurt. He is what could have helped to cover up the nights that Gillespie or Ament were off, and maybe he gets back to it, but man...we need him in the worst way.

An excellent post, and you hit on all the things I was going to bring up, plus a few more. Just a few of my observations:

* You'll never win at this level missing free throws and layups, regardless how hard you play or how good your defense is (and ours has been pretty shaky). If we simply made our FT's at a 75-80% clip and made 60% of layups last night, it's a completely different game down the stretch. The team hung in there despite it for 30+ minutes, but it was bound to catch up with us.

* You stole my thunder on Ament. I commented the other day that it would be great if he was returning for one more year, as he is a project in every way who would be a different player with a year in the system and to build his body. He'll likely be a great player in 3-5 years, but it very likely won't be this year in this league. Too much invested and Rick has his family's trust, so he'll be playing a lot come hell or high water.

* Defensively, there are just too many free runs to the rim late in the shot clock due to breakdowns. Any good shooting team is going to feast on kickouts as we double to help Ament, who will be mercilessly hunted. It took a while for Illinois to heat up, but down the stretch the kickouts 3's finished the Vols.

* I was thinking about McKneeley while watching a bit of the Louisville game. Plug in him or Rice and subtract Ament and this is a completely different team.

* The lack of a true PG could be the undoing of this group. I hoped Berg would be that guy, but he has been a human turnover, and his decision making is shaky, to be charitable. He passed up a wide open 3 late in the clock in another empty possession. I'd like to see Henderson get more time there, but he is likely not ready for that right now.

* The lack of true leaders is going to hurt this group unless/until some show up. We got spoiled having Zeigler and Mashack around to steady the ship and provide fire when needed. Boswell is the only one displaying any leadership right now and Rick is clearly leaning on him, but it's harder when he isn't one of your 'stars'. It just doesn't appear to be Gillespie's personality to be a vocal leader. This is an area where the transitory nature of the current game really hurts, as you don't have the program stalwarts here for 3-4 years anymore to lead the way.

* Making FT's and layups and taking better care of the ball will solve a lot of the ills, and those are things that can be fixed. Gillespie and Ament won't stay cold forever.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

Barnes did sit Ament for a long stretch last night. When he came back in, he looked more confident and assertive but it was too late.

Yes CRB did and I was glad to see it...need to play JG/Abram/Boswell and experiment with JG off ball and coach AA and BB to be aggressive and live with some mistakes for awhile.

Edit: Although we've already been living with too many mistakes so maybe it can only get better from here

 

[ColinS]

1. Barnes doesn't yet know how to coach this team. Lineup experiments 10 games in are a sure sign of that. He's as frustrated as anyone, I'm sure. He loves the challenge, but is this the team that breaks him?

2. Jakobi Gillespie is our best player, but he's not a PG. That problem is two-fold. It hurts us because we can't play him at his more natural position, and because we don't have anyone else who can fill in for him. To that point, we have no one else who can handle the ball. Another year, another lack of ball-handlers. I just don't get it. We don't value the basketball, and apparently we don't value guys who value the basketball.

3. Valuing the basketball....have I mentioned it? This is the 2nd most turnover-prone team of the last 8 years, averaging 13.2 TO/gm.

4. FTs...we have shot 33-55 (60%) in the last 3 games (all losses). 22 misses in 3 games you lost by a total of 20 points.

5. Defense...this has to be one of the worst Barnes defenses in his Tennessee tenure. They don't defend the 3. They don't defend the drive. They don't defend the post. It's like Barnes hired Tim Banks to coach us defensively, this season. We give up so many drives to the bask

6. Rebounding...I won't be all negative. This team rebounds the ball really well, 2nd half of the Illinois (who is also a really good rebounding team) game notwithstanding.

7. Shooting...we are an awful shooting team. Just awful. We don't shoot it well from anywhere. We miss TONS of layups and shots at the rim. We don't shoot well from 3. Lots of guys who have proven they can hit from 3, but only one who can do it consistently. Shooting 34.5% as a team, but 29.3% (17-58) in these 3 losses.

8. Nate Ament is going to be a really, really good player at some point, but it likely won't ever be at Tennessee. He's been good for a freshman, and if you didn't know he was a top-3 5* kid, you'd probably think he is the kind of guy who will develop very nicely over the next couple years. But sadly, he will leave after this year regardless of the season he has, and we will have little to show for our $4 million investment. I have less problem with Ament shrinking in the moment, and more of a problem with Barnes uncharacteristically puffing him up in the offseason and spending that much of our NIL budget on one volatile asset when he could have had Rodney Rice and another nice portal player for the same money who would likely be more beneficial for this team. You pay that money for Boozer or Koa Peat...guys who are physically ready to contribute as a key piece from the jump. You don't pay it for a finesse kid who needs to gain 30 lbs. because you'll likely never see the return on investment.

9. Missing on Isaac McKneely was huge. We never recovered and tried to replace him with a handful of less-talented players. The roster construction at that 2 and 3 position outside of Ament concerned me all along and those concerns are coming home to roost.

10. JP Estrella has the worst luck. He looked like an all-conference player and then got hurt. He is what could have helped to cover up the nights that Gillespie or Ament were off, and maybe he gets back to it, but man...we need him in the worst way.

Agree, why do you invest that much money into a kid that's not physically ready to compete yet? Makes no sense

 

[PEPPERJAX]

I'll say this: if CRB can turn this bunch of talented misfits into a final four team, it will be a story for the ages.

We’ll see about that. I would settle for a S16 appearance at this point. CRB has some work to do.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I'll say this: if CRB can turn this bunch of talented misfits into a final four team, it will be a story for the ages.

Eh, if he makes this a S16 team I might say it's his best coaching job since he's been here all things considered.

 

[top5vols]

After Louisville we get cupcakes

 

[adam.vol]

Barnes did sit Ament for a long stretch last night. When he came back in, he looked more confident and assertive but it was too late.

It was a tough game to watch from the stands. I can’t believe we kept it close for as long as we did.

I know this team has the talent to be good. I don’t see how they’ll figure out how to play to their strengths or even use their strengths.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

An excellent post, and you hit on all the things I was going to bring up, plus a few more. Just a few of my observations:

* You'll never win at this level missing free throws and layups, regardless how hard you play or how good your defense is (and ours has been pretty shaky). If we simply made our FT's at a 75-80% clip and made 60% of layups last night, it's a completely different game down the stretch. The team hung in there despite it for 30+ minutes, but it was bound to catch up with us.

* You stole my thunder on Ament. I commented the other day that it would be great if he was returning for one more year, as he is a project in every way who would be a different player with a year in the system and to build his body. He'll likely be a great player in 3-5 years, but it very likely won't be this year in this league. Too much invested and Rick has his family's trust, so he'll be playing a lot come hell or high water.

* Defensively, there are just too many free runs to the rim late in the shot clock due to breakdowns. Any good shooting team is going to feast on kickouts as we double to help Ament, who will be mercilessly hunted. It took a while for Illinois to heat up, but down the stretch the kickouts 3's finished the Vols.

* I was thinking about McKneeley while watching a bit of the Louisville game. Plug in him or Rice and subtract Ament and this is a completely different team.

* The lack of a true PG could be the undoing of this group. I hoped Berg would be that guy, but he has been a human turnover, and his decision making is shaky, to be charitable. He passed up a wide open 3 late in the clock in another empty possession. I'd like to see Henderson get more time there, but he is likely not ready for that right now.

* The lack of true leaders is going to hurt this group unless/until some show up. We got spoiled having Zeigler and Mashack around to steady the ship and provide fire when needed. Boswell is the only one displaying any leadership right now and Rick is clearly leaning on him, but it's harder when he isn't one of your 'stars'. It just doesn't appear to be Gillespie's personality to be a vocal leader. This is an area where the transitory nature of the current game really hurts, as you don't have the program stalwarts here for 3-4 years anymore to lead the way.

* Making FT's and layups and taking better care of the ball will solve a lot of the ills, and those are things that can be fixed. Gillespie and Ament won't stay cold forever.

We have been good at the line up until last night. That was a dismal performance. Hopefully a one off situation. You hit the nail squarely on the head with that and some uncontested missed baskets around the rim. Regardless of some of our defensive struggles last night, the FTs and missed bunnies were the difference in the game. That alone makes me less less worried than some are here.

 

[walkenvol]

We have been good at the line up until last night. That was a dismal performance. Hopefully a one off situation. You hit the nail squarely on the head with that and some uncontested missed baskets around the rim. Regardless of some of our defensive struggles last night, the FTs and missed bunnies were the difference in the game. That alone makes me less less worried than some are here.

IIRC, we weren’t very good on FT’s the prior game also - definitely slumping at the line as of late

 

[sami]

Very good write up and all good points. I continue to come back to Ament. The investment in him over Rodney Rice is a shocking misstep by a coach who has feasted off of experienced portal guys more so than 5 star freshmen in his time here.

Spot on with your take on Estrella. We need him desperately. Him being healthy would ease some scoring burden on Gillespie and would help Ament a bit as well.

My final critique that I’ll post tonight is regarding Cade Phillips. He isn’t an elite defender and he gives us next to nothing offensively. I know Carey is undersized and has his limitations, but he is a huge rebounding boost for a team that isn’t a juggernaut on the glass. Abram gives us some spot up perimeter shooting which is something we lack. What is Phillips bringing to the table to justify playing him as much as those two guys?

I'd be very happy moving forward with letting the 5-star one-and-dones go to the usual places and instead concentrate our resources and energy on bringing in guys that can contribute now, like Rice and McKneeley could have.

The way the sport is evolving, it makes little sense to spend time courting these elite HS players when they won't be around beyond a year, and unless it's a Boozer type who is ready to compete at this level, which is uber-rare, you're developing a kid for his future at the expense of the current team.

 

[volfeeva]

The formula for most college programs for a while now seems to be get the ball to the big man in the middle and if he can't get off a shot, kick it back out and try again and again, eventually making a shot outside the perimeter . We can't get the ball into the middle cause most other teams have the same tall guys as ours, and when the ball is kicked back out to make a shot, we can't make those either. Not sure what you can do other than practice making shots.

 

[FeelVol]

1. Barnes doesn't yet know how to coach this team. Lineup experiments 10 games in are a sure sign of that. He's as frustrated as anyone, I'm sure. He loves the challenge, but is this the team that breaks him?

2. Jakobi Gillespie is our best player, but he's not a PG. That problem is two-fold. It hurts us because we can't play him at his more natural position, and because we don't have anyone else who can fill in for him. To that point, we have no one else who can handle the ball. Another year, another lack of ball-handlers. I just don't get it. We don't value the basketball, and apparently we don't value guys who value the basketball.

3. Valuing the basketball....have I mentioned it? This is the 2nd most turnover-prone team of the last 8 years, averaging 13.2 TO/gm.

4. FTs...we have shot 33-55 (60%) in the last 3 games (all losses). 22 misses in 3 games you lost by a total of 20 points.

5. Defense...this has to be one of the worst Barnes defenses in his Tennessee tenure. They don't defend the 3. They don't defend the drive. They don't defend the post. It's like Barnes hired Tim Banks to coach us defensively, this season. We give up so many drives to the bask

6. Rebounding...I won't be all negative. This team rebounds the ball really well, 2nd half of the Illinois (who is also a really good rebounding team) game notwithstanding.

7. Shooting...we are an awful shooting team. Just awful. We don't shoot it well from anywhere. We miss TONS of layups and shots at the rim. We don't shoot well from 3. Lots of guys who have proven they can hit from 3, but only one who can do it consistently. Shooting 34.5% as a team, but 29.3% (17-58) in these 3 losses.

8. Nate Ament is going to be a really, really good player at some point, but it likely won't ever be at Tennessee. He's been good for a freshman, and if you didn't know he was a top-3 5* kid, you'd probably think he is the kind of guy who will develop very nicely over the next couple years. But sadly, he will leave after this year regardless of the season he has, and we will have little to show for our $4 million investment. I have less problem with Ament shrinking in the moment, and more of a problem with Barnes uncharacteristically puffing him up in the offseason and spending that much of our NIL budget on one volatile asset when he could have had Rodney Rice and another nice portal player for the same money who would likely be more beneficial for this team. You pay that money for Boozer or Koa Peat...guys who are physically ready to contribute as a key piece from the jump. You don't pay it for a finesse kid who needs to gain 30 lbs. because you'll likely never see the return on investment.

9. Missing on Isaac McKneely was huge. We never recovered and tried to replace him with a handful of less-talented players. The roster construction at that 2 and 3 position outside of Ament concerned me all along and those concerns are coming home to roost.

10. JP Estrella has the worst luck. He looked like an all-conference player and then got hurt. He is what could have helped to cover up the nights that Gillespie or Ament were off, and maybe he gets back to it, but man...we need him in the worst way.

Thanks for the thread so spot on. I hope CRB will listen to his staff at this point in the season and be willing to shake some things up.

 

[sami]

We have been good at the line up until last night. That was a dismal performance. Hopefully a one off situation. You hit the nail squarely on the head with that and some uncontested missed baskets around the rim. Regardless of some of our defensive struggles last night, the FTs and missed bunnies were the difference in the game. That alone makes me less less worried than some are here.

You and I both expected the 'sky is falling' reaction, but the issues on this team are all fixable - the question is can they be fixed this year? I believe the FT shooting, and the layups and 3-pt. shooting will level out, but it's the lack of leadership and especially the lack of a real PG to allow Gillespie to focus on getting his own shot that are issues I'm not sure can be fixed in a month or two.

As it stands, this can be a 3-4 seed and a tough out in March, but the lack of a true PG might be fatal to any hopes beyond that.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

You and I both expected the 'sky is falling' reaction, but the issues on this team are all fixable, but the question is can they be fixed this year? I believe the FT shooting, and the layups and 3-pt. shooting will level out, but it's the lack of leadership and especially the lack of a real PG to allow Gillespie to focus on getting his own shot that are issues I'm not sure can be fixed in a month or two.

As it stands, this can be a 3-4 seed and a tough out in March, but the lack of a true PG might be fatal to any hopes beyond that.

There are a number of great teams at the highest level that don't have a true PG. I am certainly not saying we are a great team right now, but I believe Barnes can make the Gillespie/Boswell tandem work out. Maybe our most impressive victory last season was without our PG.