Teams have bad shooting nights. I don’t know what Barnes’ routine is for insuring that players work on their shot. At one point we were a high percentage FT team. Aside from a couple of games, our three point shooting has been poor and erratic.
Previously, most of the struggles were the Vols missing open looks behind the arc. UT shot the 3 ball well, but was abysmal inside the arc. That wasn’t the main problem in the Ole Miss game. UT has zero fast break points to 15 by Ole Miss. a direct result of turnovers.
The glaring weaknesses are the inability of the team to get the ball across half court fast and get into their offense. A lack of guys who can beat their man off the dribble. We’ve seen a few teams exploit this. This is why I’m not that upset with Keon missing free throws. Kermit saw something and absolutely executed a game plan and out coached Barnes hands down.
Another glaring weakness is Fulk. His fragility is evident and he lacks the spark we’ve seen. He is obviously bothered by a lingering wrist injury, but also appears to have lost weight as well as stamina. His percentages are down, not way down, but most importantly is his lack of presence in the game. last year he did it while facing far more defensive attention since their are now more scoring options.
The lack of easy buckets. UT has seen multiple games where teams double and triple team a player and yet no one is making them pay. It was never more evident in the Ole Miss game where you could see the trap coming. Passing and keeping the ball in the middle of the court is how you make a team pay, but you had one player trapped, one trying to help and three standing around watching.
The lack of post options. It’s all but becoming a theme of how many wasted schollies will Barnes use on post players. I remember BTO arguing with my about Anosike and how rebounding and defense translate. No, they don’t. It’s not the kids fault. Barnes should know how to scout bigs and there were better options to pursue. But ultimately Barnes has spent the last couple of years trying to make up for horrible post recruiting and attrition by adding useless transfers.
I don’t see how Pons hasn’t improved his NBA stock. He is a consistent 3-point shooter. His defense is light years ahead from when he arrived and even though he’s supposed to be focusing only on defense and rebounding, he’s become the top scoring option. Pons will almost always have a bigger, slower player guarding him, His high release and improved shot has gotten him some NBA level baskets. But it must be noted how reluctant he is to pump fake and take the ball to the rim. If he adds this element watch out.
