Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the local media on Monday morning to put a bow on the Vols’ buzzer-beating victory over Illinois.
Barnes discussed Darlinstone Dubar’s second half push, Tennessee’s upcoming buy game against Western Carolina and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
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On his takeaways from Tennessee’s win at Illinois
“I thought we really played really, really hard. I thought both teams did. That was a real-high level (game). It was hard. Both teams played hard. No wonder the shooting on both sides wasn’t very good because there weren’t a lot of easy ones. Just trying to get away and get some space to try to get into a rhythm of the shot. But, really, I thought some key plays. I thought, D-Stone’s (Darlinstone Dubar) little floater was a huge play in the game. That was a big one. Igor’s steal was a big one. Obviously, Jordan’s (shot) there at the end. But both teams made plays and we just really had the ball at the end of the game and (made the) last one. But both teams played hard. It was obviously the hardest, the most physical game we’ve been in all year, and it was a it was a good one.”
On how much Darlinstone Dubar changed the momentum for Tennessee when he came in
“Well, when you’re sitting there thinking how long do we want to go with ‘Z’ (Zakai Zeigler) out and how long do you want to keep guys out? Chaz was in foul trouble too. But what really kept us in it was our defense, obviously. Shack (Jahmai Mashack) did a phenomenal job. His defense throughout that game was terrific. Early I didn’t think our ball-screen coverage was what it needed to. And we knew going in we were going to get screened somewhere between 75, 80, 90 times, which it pretty much played out that way. I thought both teams were looking to really be physical with their screens. But at that point of the game where we were, as coaches, talking about do we want go back or how long we want to wait (on Zeigler). Actually even talked about maybe going zone and putting those guys back in to protect them that way. But we just kept going to what we were feeling through the game and how we felt our guys were playing. And (Dubar’s) little floater was a big one. The three was a big one too because they adjusted after he made that three, where instead of backing off a couple of guys, they stretched the floor and allowed, I thought, Jordan got a little bit more movement.”
On if he learned something about Tennessee freshman Bishop Boswell in the Illinois game
“Well there’s no doubt we believe in him. We know he can help us. He’s tough, hard nosed. I thought he played offensively at a pace that we’ve always wanted to. And he’s never done it. He’s always been a little bit too sped up in practice and games, but the pace and the focus he had going in, he knew exactly what he wanted to get done out there. And that was when we were really playing through Jordan, and (Boswell) did a great job using his dribble to attack space. I told him that he didn’t mess with the ball. Didn’t put it behind his back. Didn’t try to overdo anything. Just got the ball where it need to be, delivered the ball where it needed to be delivered. And defensively, his problem (on) defense, he’s so locked in, wanting to play so hard he’s anxious and he gets himself out of position. But I (was) just really impressed with his voice and his demeanor and and really this tempo that he played with.”
On how Jordan Gainey has developed as a ball handler during his time at Tennessee
He’s good with that. I mean, Jordan is a guard. He is going against ‘Z’ and those guys every day, you got to get better with it. But he’s developed so much with his cardio conditioning. That’s where he’s so much better. And defensively, he’s gotten better all around with everything he does. But his cardio is at just a totally different level than it was a year ago. And going back to that point about that stretch there, Bishop (Boswell), he made some big-time plays. His offensive rebounds, defensively forced a turnover. Really we didn’t handle the coverage, but he stayed in and made the play and a walk was created from it. But all those guys, those are critical moments and those guys proved they were ready for that moment.”
On what he learned about his team in a week with two wins away from home
“Well I don’t know if the trips make a difference. I mean, it does wear on you a little bit. Going into a different time zone some, but I think every day you learn a little bit more about your team. I mean, our older guys. We know what we feel like we need to get from them, but think about it Zakai I mean, he’s always disrupting games. And what we probably learned as much as anything Saturday is that we probably can rest him for it. Because he goes so hard at it, and you guys know him when he makes a mistake, he wants to get it back, and sometimes he compounds it. But he just plays so hard. And if we could continue to build with Bishop, Jordan’s no question. We get Cam back. We want to get back and our whole goal all year was really to try to stay at 94 feet as long as we could defensively and work that way. But with guys being down in low numbers, we haven’t been able to do that the last couple of weeks. But I just think what we’ve learned and I’m not just saying this— we know watching film yesterday, there’s a lot of, a lot of areas we’ve gotta get better with and be more consistent. And it goes more to probably individual players, knowing what we point out to them where they’ve gotta take it up just it’s everybody. I said to him yesterday, coaches getting better, players getting better. When you’re in December, you’ve got to be real, look at film, and realize, hey, yeah. We’ve done this or that, but we’ve got a long way to go to get what we need to be.”
On the importance of being in their first tight game of the season
“I think it will. I mean, because, again, I think our guys have really shown the utmost respect for our opponents in their preparation, getting ready. We’ll do it again today, getting ready for Western Carolina tomorrow. They’ve done that. I mean, every game, they’ve had great respect for our opponent knowing that’s something we talked about yesterday where shoot around. You could tell the consistency of Zakai and Jahmai where they’re talking and trying to explain to you guys why we do it this way. And I actually said to a couple of them yesterday during filming, you guys are going to have to understand the importance of what we’re doing with these scouts and when you listen to these guys. You see why they’re on top of you. You hear their communication during the game. And that’s an area that we’ve got to get better with guys. And Bishop has really improved there quickly. You know, understanding that his prep, not just on the court, but off the court is important.”
On the composure against Illinois, veteran leaders stepping up this season
“I thought we had good leadership last year with our guys, but you look at our team. They all have different personalities and I really respect the way they like each other. When I sit back waiting for them to come into the film room and hearing them in the locker room and hear their camaraderie and that’s a neat thing. That’s a huge part of what we’re doing. But you look at Igor. He’s been around. He’s played, Chaz has played a lot of minutes certainly the last year and a half. But I can’t underestimate, and we don’t underestimate what, Shack and and Z bring. And Jordan has become come a huge part of it too. He’s a little bit quieter than those guys, but he’s a person that they I mean— believe me. What he did the other day, we’ve seen him do in practice.
On what he learned about his team in a week with two wins away from home
“Well I don’t know if the trips make a difference. I mean, it does wear on you a little bit. Going into a different time zone some, but I think every day you learn a little bit more about your team. I mean, our older guys. We know what we feel like we need to get from them, but think about it Zakai I mean, he’s always disrupting games. And what we probably learned as much as anything Saturday is that we probably can rest him for it. Because he goes so hard at it, and you guys know him when he makes a mistake, he wants to get it back, and sometimes he compounds it. But he just plays so hard. And if we could continue to build with Bishop, Jordan’s no question. We get Cam back. We want to get back and our whole goal all year was really to try to stay at 94 feet as long as we could defensively and work that way. But with guys being down in low numbers, we haven’t been able to do that the last couple of weeks. But I just think what we’ve learned and I’m not just saying this— we know watching film yesterday, there’s a lot of, a lot of areas we’ve gotta get better with and be more consistent. And it goes more to probably individual players, knowing what we point out to them where they’ve gotta take it up just it’s everybody. I said to him yesterday, coaches getting better, players getting better. When you’re in December, you’ve got to be real, look at film, and realize, hey, yeah. We’ve done this or that, but we’ve got a long way to go to get what we need to be.”
On the importance of being in their first tight game of the season
“I think it will. I mean, because, again, I think our guys have really shown the utmost respect for our opponents in their preparation, getting ready. We’ll do it again today, getting ready for Western Carolina tomorrow. They’ve done that. I mean, every game, they’ve had great respect for our opponent knowing that’s something we talked about yesterday where shoot around. You could tell the consistency of Zakai and Jahmai where they’re talking and trying to explain to you guys why we do it this way. And I actually said to a couple of them yesterday during filming, you guys are going to have to understand the importance of what we’re doing with these scouts and when you listen to these guys. You see why they’re on top of you. You hear their communication during the game. And that’s an area that we’ve got to get better with guys. And Bishop has really improved there quickly. You know, understanding that his prep, not just on the court, but off the court is important.”
On the composure against Illinois, veteran leaders stepping up this season
“I thought we had good leadership last year with our guys, but you look at our team. They all have different personalities and I really respect the way they like each other. When I sit back waiting for them to come into the film room and hearing them in the locker room and hear their camaraderie and that’s a neat thing. That’s a huge part of what we’re doing. But you look at Igor. He’s been around. He’s played, Chaz has played a lot of minutes certainly the last year and a half. But I can’t underestimate, and we don’t underestimate what, Shack and and Z bring. And Jordan has become come a huge part of it too. He’s a little bit quieter than those guys, but he’s a person that they I mean— believe me. What he did the other day, we’ve seen him do in practice.
So when we told him, hey, we’re gonna play through you. You gotta start moving. He did a great job. He had to. He had to do a great job moving without the ball because they really make you have to cut to get loose and get away from people. But, you know, the leadership’s great. I mean, we wouldn’t be where we were if this group didn’t care about each other, like each other and continue to push each other.”
On what led to Felix Okpara’s struggles against Miami and Illinois last week
“He’ll get back because he cares so much. I mean, I think sometimes, and we’ve seen players go through it, and we’ll have some more guys this year, at some point in time, go through some struggles. I mean, was really proud that Igor (Milicic Jr.) missed a lot of shots, but he kept taking his open shots. I mean so, it’s just a matter of time you feel he’s gonna snap out of that himself.
“But the same with Felix. Again, he’s maybe a little anxious right now because he’s hard on himself and he’s wanting to be aggressive. His first foul, he (was) just overly aggressively on it; ball screen, late getting out there and hit. Those are the things where he can fix that. He can clean that up, and he will.”
On the points of emphasis over the next three games before conference play begins
“Getting better. It is. It’s about every day. It’s the process we go through today. We came in yesterday and started (with) what we always do, is scrub out the last game and we started prep on this one yesterday, continue today, and we’re not just talking about the team. It’s individual. The individual stuff we keep breaking down with these guys, showing ’em where they’ve got to improve, and it’s all about improving and continuing to grow.”
On how much he’s been watching the SEC throughout non-conference play; how tough conference play is going to be
“I think every league is. It’s kinda historic what this league is doing right now. And, obviously, I can’t imagine it ever being a better preseason run from any league in a long, long time; what the SEC has done. It’s great for us because now you’re thinking about postseason, you know, how many games you can maybe be under .500 and still be in the tournament because what’s happening in non-league and what that might play out, with the strength of schedules and the way we competed against outside conferences. But, it’s gonna be brutal. It is. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve got teams in the league that certainly had good — the teams I’ve watched, I’ve been impressed with every team in our league, every team. And I haven’t had a chance to see them all and it’s been spotty when I’ve been able to see them, obviously. But this league is, what it’s done right now, is really phenomenal.”
On hosting Western Carolina on Tuesday night
“Well, you know, you look at every team in the country, if you follow schedules, everybody’s gonna have what we call buy games. Going into those games, one, we try to do that, we put a lot of thought into that, making sure we can try to, you know, get something out of it and, obviously. And we know this. We tell our team, every team we schedule, if we’re not ready to play, we can get beat. And we believe that.
“You look at Western Carolina, really, really well-coached team. I mean, you go back, he was at Gardner-Webb last year. I told you guys they’re a really well-coached team doing the same thing, playing the same system. (He) moved to Western, and he’s just doing an incredible job. They play hard. That’s the one thing we put across our team yesterday, is how hard they play. They’ll mix some defenses, but every game you got a chance to get better. But it’s always about us. You know, every team I think, you’re really competing against yourself to be the best you can be, and that will be our focus.”
