“I think my greatest challenge offensively,” Pearl said, “is — in addition to getting some sort of continuity and flow, and that has to do with a lot of teaching that needs to take place, still — who to put the ball in [whose] hands who can make a pass, either to feed the post or to get the ball on time, on target to somebody.”
Pearl noted UT’s final possession as a prime example of that problem. The 6-foot-6 Tatum soared over the 6-10, 250-pound Stepheson to collect a defensive rebound with less than 15 seconds left, giving the Vols a chance to win a game they never controlled. But UT took more than 10 seconds to get the ball down the court, forcing Tatum to call time out with 3.5 seconds left.
“If we get the ball into our point guard’s hands, guys run down the floor, the floor gets some kind of spacing and some kind of spread, then Melvin [Goins] maybe make a play,” Pearl said. “We did a poor job in the fastbreak. ... We panicked a little bit.”
---Holy Cow! This should be daily (and day one) stuff. It sure does explain why this kind of thing has happened through the entirety of Pearl's tenure. Can't imagine coach K saying, "We've got to start practicing getting the ball in the right guys hands in clutch situations."