Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the local media on Monday morning before the Vols likely ascend to No. 1 in the AP Poll for just the third time ever.
The Vols are off to an 8-0 start to the season, their best since 2000-01, with four power five wins to date. Tennessee faces its final two non conference challenges this week when they face Miami in New York City on Tuesday night and Illinois in Champagne on Saturday.
Ahead of the trip to New York, Barnes discussed keeping his team focused while being No. 1, the growth of Igor Milicic Jr to this point in the season and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
More From RTI: North Florida HC Raves About Tennessee Star Shooting Guard Chaz Lanier
On likely being the No. 1 team in the country, addressing that with his team
“Really, we’ve already talked about it. And you’re right. It doesn’t mean a whole lot other than the fact it’s a compliment to start we’ve gotten off to, and it’s a compliment to them. They worked hard and they certainly want to be No. 1. But they wanna be No. 1 at the end of the year.
And I think if you embrace it, it can make you better because you know that everyone else is looking to build a resume. I mean, if we’re on the other end of it, we’d be talking just like that. Hey, this chance will beat the No. 1 ranked team, build your resume. So we’re on this side of it. So you embrace it. You realize it can help you get better because the challenges you’re gonna see all year long. So it is what it is and you deal with it.”
On what he’s learned from coaching previous teams ranked No. 1
“Just that. Talk about it and not say, well, it is what it is. But they haven’t been there, some of them. And I think the key is like I just mentioned, you can use it to your advantage. And I don’t think anybody expects any team to go undefeated in college basketball and that’s what happens. You get ranked early and teams in front of you that sometimes are playing difficult schedules lose and you just move up just by the way it happens. But our key and it always will be, we’re gonna talk about where we are every day. We’re gonna talk about what we have to do every day to get better. And we also talk about the outside noise. And not that this is noise, this is college basketball. It is what it is. But, again, can use it and say, hey, if you really want to be No. 1, there’s a lot that comes with it with other people trying to lift their level of play because they know, hey, for 40 minutes, we got a chance to really do something special. And you embrace it. So you really, you do talk about it with them and say, hey. This is the way we’ve got to go about this.”
On facing a Miami team that’s been good offensively
“Well, I think every game I get excited to see if we can carry over what we’ve tried to do in practice. And we know that Miami— I’ve known Jim Larranega a long time, a terrific coach. And they’ve struggled, but every coach knows it just takes a 40-minute game to turn things around and get you going in the right direction. And he’s been around a long time, a lot of experience. And he’ll have his guys ready and he’s always been— his team’s offensively have always been explosive. I would say they’re a team that plays offense as opposed to running offense. They really play it. And he puts five guys out there that, he has a great unique way of putting guys in positions where they can be effective.”
On Chaz Lanier having success offensively in the first half of the Syracuse game without hitting three-pointers
“His growth. And, again, that’s what we keep telling him. We know people are gonna work hard to take away his jump shot. We know that. And he’s gotta continue to add to his game and find different ways to impact the game. And whether it’s the way he scored those buckets or defensively, he’s getting better and better defensively. And I’m excited for Chaz. I think he’s got a chance to grow so much over these next couple of months.”
On his emphasis with his team is more big picture or specific stuff
“Both. We work on, like the last couple of days, we worked on how people guard us differently as opposed to playing against our set defense the way we play it. We work on how other people might guard us. We work on a lot of 1-on-1 situations where we’re gonna have to take on those 1-on-1 confrontations when you’re guarding the ball and whether it’s getting through screens, whether it’s whatever our scout report calls for. But the biggest thing is all of it. You got to continue to add to what we— we don’t have everything in it that we want to eventually have. So there’s a big picture part of it every day. I’m not sure that guys understand that part of it. But that’s going on. But obviously, we’ve got to continue to sharpen what we do and with our defense. And that’s just being consistent in the gaps or help side or ball, all those things that I don’t ever say it’s a given because nothing’s a given if you don’t work at it. So all that we have to continue to work at.”
On why Igor Milicic and Felix Okpara work well together
“Igor likes to pass for one. He does. He likes to move. He likes to be involved with other things. And I think Felix is starting to know that he can do more. And you put them out there together. And I do think they look for each other. I think there was a confidence level with Igor that if he can get the ball up, Felix is gonna catch it or whatever. And the fact that they’ve been going at each other going on, what, six months now. So they know each other pretty well.”
On Milicic’s skillset being unique for his size
“It is unique because he can do a lot of different things. You learn more and more about it. And as we figured that out more and more, we’re giving him more things that we want him to do. And I think he can do a really great job helping take pressure off Zakai probably as much as anybody with the way he can handle the ball and take care of the ball. And we need he and Cade.
Cade is the same way. Cade has got a lot of ability and things that he’s starting to figure out that he can do. He’s just got to know when and how that he needs to do it.”
On how much of Milicic’s skills he saw on tape as opposed to learning once he got here
“I don’t think he showed us anything that we didn’t see on tape. I mean, we were excited about Igor. I mean, he was obviously one of the biggest targets that we had in the portal because we wanted a playmaking type four, and he could play anyone on the floor. He really could. But I’m not sure that, the biggest thing when he first got here, he was so anxious to be great on every play and played way too quick. Just wanted it too quick, and he’s starting to slowing down for him. And when he does get in trouble is when he gets going too quick and doesn’t see what’s really going on out there. But, again, I think he’s just gonna continue to get better and better.”
On the impact the Dick Vitale Gala has had on him
“I’ve gone to it a number of different times, obviously. I’ve been blessed to be honored there a couple of times, but it’s really Dick’s passion. I tell you, and he talks about it, he’s gonna fight for dollars till his very last breath and he will do that. But if you’re there and you’re around his real— those young kids that have all dealt with cancer and some of them didn’t make it. But hear their stories and watch how they react. You can’t leave there not being touched. And the fact is that to continue to help cure cancer, it takes, as Dick would say, it takes dollars. And he’s not afraid to ask, and he won’t stop asking. But knowing that December 12th he’s getting a full body scan to see if he’s going to be cancer free. And last year, I think, was the largest gift ever donated from his gala to the V Foundation. And the fact that his impact, we know what he has meant to college basketball, but what he’s doing right now is really, I think, the greatest legacy he’ll leave behind.”
On Zakai Zeigler’s comfort level with new teammates growing
“It’s still coming. I don’t think it’s there. You wouldn’t expect it to be there right now. But the more the guys play together, they get in a rhythm together, they learn to play with each other, they learn to look for and know where they’re going to be most of the time. But, again, I think the guy, in our opinion, Zakai— he’s the best point guard in the country and the way he affects games and he’ll get better too as the season goes on.”
