10 games in, 10 points of discussion

[cncchris33]

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.

 

[VOLtaism]

I like the Tim Banks reference, spot on.

 

[Skooter]

We can’t guard the perimeter if Ament is out there with 2 bigs. He is a matchup liability on defense but can’t take advantage on the other end so it’s a net loss.

 

[The Tall Gguy]

I am tired of watching Tennessee crap the bed in every sport lately.

 

[BigOrangeFanatic]

I think the answer to number 1 will be yes, and it will be because of number 5 you mentioned and that is spot on.

#8 also spot on.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Great write up. I appreciate you doing it.

Your point on Barnes setting unrealistic expectations for Ament is a good one. I still think this team has the pieces to be great, but I’ll admit my faith has been shaken a bit. I left the Houston game thinking this team had great depth and was only scratching the surface of its potential; however, the past 3 games have made it clear our depth is probably more of an issue then most of us expected.

We spent most of the off-season excited about how we may be 10-11 deep with a beefy 6-man front court to rival any in the country. But Cade and Felix have been huge disappointments, Estrella can’t stay healthy, and Brown is a true freshman that we’re asking a lot from right now to make up for other players’ inconsistency.

I’m not going to continue to harp on Ament. It’s been said a million times but our entire fanbase.

Gillespie, on the other hand…..people are quick to point out the $4 million we’ve spent on Ament, but seem to quickly overlook the $2 million spent on Gillespie only for him to be almost as bad as Ament in big games. 6-20 FG tonight with just 5 assists to 3 turnovers. He has some really bad passes, too.

I think the part that frustrates me the most though, and gives me the most concern about this team figuring it out, is the mental part. We simply fold when things are going bad. We don’t fight back. I wanted to throw my remote at the screen the last few minutes of the game when I saw us give up on trying to get rebounds. I’m not sure who will step up, but Gillespie is not the vocal leader Zakai was and we obviously don’t have anyone else filling that void. If someone doesn’t find their voice and lead this team, it’s going to be a long season.

 

[Skooter]

Not sure about expectations blame. I expect a player at one point named #1 to play at a higher level than what’s not acceptable for bench players.

 

[johnfnkelly]

Not sure about expectations blame. I expect a player at one point named #1 to play at a higher level than what’s not acceptable for bench players.

Both can be true. I have a hard time believing Ament looked good in practice to justify what CRB has said. Adjusting expectations and asking for patience would have been the responsible thing to do

 

[Skooter]

Both can be true. I have a hard time believing Ament looked good in practice to justify what CRB has said. Adjusting expectations and asking for patience would have been the responsible thing to do

Talkin bout practice.

 

[kiddiedoc]

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.

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

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?

 

[buriat]

A couple of things he could do is change the big man rotation and shorten the wing rotation . There is no reason to have the two bigs that can’t score starting and playing together .Play the 5 bigs and pick two others to use at the wings ..I would go with Boswell and Abram based on the games so far to go with Ament and Jacoby.

 

[cncchris33]

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'll say this about Phillips and Okpara (to those frustrated with him). Their issue is a bit complex. They scored the majority of their points last year on lobs. That was facilitated by ZZ, who could put those balls on a dime, but also the threat of an outside shooter like Chaz Lanier.

Because Jakobi Gillespie is our best shooter, when he is driving the paint, teams are packing it tight and wiping away the lob threat because they don't fear anyone else shooting from outside. They are far more willing to risk someone else hitting a 3 while protecting the rim from a sure 2 on a lob.

This all goes to my concern of Gillespie being our only ball-handler and only reliable and willing shooter. He can't do both simultaneously and his driving the ball just clogs the lane with defenders.

 

[BreatheUT]

These results are concerning at this point in the season. The program has taken a step back. You can't always build a team when more than half the roster is new. It's hard to call it a rebuilding year when Ament is probably putting his name in the draft at year end.

 

[Go47]

I'll say this about Phillips and Okpara (to those frustrated with him). Their issue is a bit complex. They scored the majority of their points last year on lobs. That was facilitated by ZZ, who could put those balls on a dime, but also the threat of an outside shooter like Chaz Lanier.

Because Jakobi Gillespie is our best shooter, when he is driving the paint, teams are packing it tight and wiping away the lob threat because they don't fear anyone else shooting from outside. They are far more willing to risk someone else hitting a 3 while protecting the rim from a sure 2 on a lob.

This all goes to my concern of Gillespie being our only ball-handler and only reliable and willing shooter. He can't do both simultaneously and his driving the ball just clogs the lane with defenders.

JG is an 2 guard scoring machine.

Now he is a poor man’s PG and we have no true scoring 2 guard . . . You are spot on about lobs.

 

[i2amavol]

I agree with a lot of what is being said, but I wish we could pin this thread to the top, for future reference.

Obviously, if a lot of these issues aren't fixed, we are not going to have the kind of season that we had hoped for, but if there was a time for these losses to come, it would be now.

Will we get the ship righted, and go on to have a successful season? I think we probably will. I am guessing that this is one of two or three low points in the season, but we will hopefully get it together by tourney time.

Sure, we have lost 3 of the last 4, but look at who we have played. A pretty stout bunch. Will the SEC be this tough? I doubt it. So, I am in a hopefully and wait and see mode.

 

[Special Ed]

On the bright side: We'll have no reason to follow the March Madness tournament all the way through to the Elite Eight this post-season.
At this rate, we're not even going to get an invite. So we can all make plans to do something else in March 2026.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

On the bright side: We'll have no reason to follow the March Madness tournament all the way through to the Elite Eight this post-season.
At this rate, we're not even going to get an invite. So we can all make plans to do something else in March 2026.

Aren’t you going to watch Steven Effin take Barn to their 3rd Final Four?

 

[CAVPUT]

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.

Good write up and I agree. I still think we'd be so much better off if we'd spent the money on Rice instead of Ament and used the extra cash to bring in another PG who was ready to play. Imagine what our lineup would look like if we had done that.

 

[cncchris33]

Good write up and I agree. I still think we'd be so much better off if we'd spent the money on Rice instead of Ament and used the extra cash to bring in another PG who was ready to play. Imagine what our lineup would look like if we had done that.

One thing I was reminded of listening to Basilio's postgame show is that USC ended up allegedly paying Rice north of $3 million. Supposedly, we are getting Gillespie at less than $2 million. Maybe you could have locked up Rice for less than USC ended up paying if you made a stronger offer up front and headed off all the second guessing and the visit to USC.

All that to say, I want to be fair and acknowledge that Ament's money might not have gone as far I initially believed towards Rice and another player. Hard to know in hindsight because of so many unknown factors.

 

[Chaz-Vol]

Appreciate the write up. One thing to add is seems like this team is solely lacking in player leadership. Guys who've been in the program the longest like Phillips just isn't a productive enough player or someone who can even lead by example because he's not on the floor often. Sounds like Boswell may be trying to be that guy and will see if he can get there. Estrella if he wasn't so injury prone would be a guy too but just can't stay on the court.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

On the bright side: We'll have no reason to follow the March Madness tournament all the way through to the Elite Eight this post-season.
At this rate, we're not even going to get an invite. So we can all make plans to do something else in March 2026.

I think it's way too early to make that sort of prediction given the make up of the team. We have been fortunate to have guys like Ziegler and Mashack around for four years that can provide cohesiveness and leadership. It seems this group hasn't recovered yet from the second half of the Kansas game. They might have gotten a little too confident too fast after beating Houston and then playing a great first half against Kansas

 

[NighthawkVol]

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.

Tim Banks catching strays on the basketball board.

Hard to disagree with anything you say. I still think there is plenty of room for this team to improve.

I too have wondered why we spent so much on Ament, a freshman, who would only be here one year and probably not reach his ceiling, rather than Rice, who we decided was too expensive. Guessing he still would have cost less and been far more productive.

 

[AirForceVol74]

Good rundown, but this is what we have to work with this year. I think we use our strengths to win this year. In past it was defense, this year it’s the size and rebounding. Barnes will figure out which guys he can trust and the others will sit the bench. Burg being the first candidate.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

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.

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.