After the Christmas break, Tennessee basketball returns to the court on Tuesday afternoon against Norfolk State in its finale tuneup before SEC play begins on Saturday.
Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey met with the media ahead of the matchup and discussed the Vols’ dwindling scholarship numbers, what he learned from their comeback win over MTSU and much more. Here’s everything Gainey said on Monday.
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On Tennessee’s schedule between games during the Christmas break and if they worry about getting the players back in the groove this time of year
“Yeah, you always worry about it a little bit. I think that the biggest thing heading into that last game (before the break). Heading into that Middle Tennessee State game, you always have a little anxiety just because everybody is kind of looking ahead and looking ahead towards Christmas. Whether they’re trying to do last-minute shopping or last-minute travel plans and all that stuff. So you always kinda worry about where guys’ heads are mentally. So I would say the biggest anxiety comes comes there. And I thought our guys handled it well. We were able to go home on a good note. And we got them back and able to work the last couple of days in practice and got another day today to prepare for a really good Norfolk State team.”
On what the Tennessee staff wants to see from the team against Norfolk State on Tuesday, before SEC play starts against Arkansas on Saturday
“I think just continuing to build upon who we are. We feel like we have so much room to get better, to improve in different areas. And so we just wanna continue to try to get better. Every game, every half, every possession, use that as an opportunity to get better and become who we ultimately want to be.”
On if Tennessee players came back refreshed after a few days off
“It’s tough to kind of gauge. I mean, obviously, when you get three, four days off, physically, you’re able to rest. Coach told them, hey, no playing ball. Get off your feet and relax. So I think physically and mentally, you have a chance to recharge and to kind of get refreshed. And you also look at, alright, this is coming into you know, we got one more game before we hit conference play, which starts a whole other season.”
On if Tennessee changes how it practices with one loss body available after Cam Carr quit the team
“Yeah, that’s a good question. And I would say it would be an unbelievable question had you not been around Coach (Barnes) for as long as you have. Coach don’t change. Like, regardless who’s here, who’s not, coach doesn’t change anything. And we’re gonna practice just as hard if we had 12 players as we would if we only had eight guys. He figures out a way for there not be a dip in the daily expectations, in the daily work that we put in. And so although we hated to see Cam leave, nothing changes with us from a preparation standpoint, from a practice standpoint. And you know Coach, man, he (has a) one-track mind and next man up. And it gives other guys opportunities in practice to get more reps, whether it’s a Bishop (Boswell), whether it’s walk-ons, whatever.”
On if the same mindset applies to games when dealing with minutes and having fewer players available for the rest of the season
“I wouldn’t say that we’re just trying to gauge minutes with it. Because I feel like more than anything and being a player, it’s all about rhythm. It’s all about just the comfortability with your teammates and the flow of everything. I think that’s more important. And because we do, from a recovery standpoint, I think Chad (Newman), I think Garrett (Medenwald) do a great job in the recovery process. And we don’t have anybody playing 40 minutes. Although Zakai’s minutes are high, he is a guy that’s shown that he can carry a heavy load. And we’d love to be able to scale him back a little bit, but it is also kind of a game-by-game thing. It’s a feel thing. And guys like Zakai, he’s not begging to come out either. And so I think we really attack the recovery. We really attack preventive maintenance type things. And just base everything else off of field and the flow of the game.”
On if they’re worried about the lack of healthy scholarship players
“No. We’re not worried about it at all. We’re not. We feel like every guy on our roster can come in and contribute in some fashion. And so if you look at scholarships right now, we’re at nine, I think. And so we feel like all nine of those guys, could come in and perform. They’ve shown that they can. I mean, you look at Bishop at Illinois. I mean, huge impact. Multiple offensive rebounds, few assists. He guarded. Dstone, he’s still scratching the surface of who he’s going to be. And those are two guys that hadn’t been in the rotation for different reasons. Dstone had the personal issues, and then he had the concussion, which kinda slowed him down a little bit.
And now Bishop, he’s dealing with what he’s dealing with, but we feel good that he’s gonna come back. And so we feel like we have a strong (belief) that all nine of those guys will be able to come in and impact. So, no, that’s really nothing we’re talking about because we feel good about what we have in the locker room.”
On Bishop Boswell’s status (right shoulder injury)
“Medically, I would leave that to Chad (Newman). I don’t know exactly where it is, but he’s not back in practice. He is working out with G(arrett Medenwald). He said he’s feeling better, starting to feel better. But exact timeline, that would be more of a Chad question. But, he does just in his conversations, it it does feel better and the motion is a little more comfortable.”
On what the MTSU game told him about this team’s mental state
“I thought it taught us a lot. I thought in that game, Middle Tennessee State is good. They’re they’re good. No. 24 (Camryn Weston), I thought was maybe the best ball handling guard. I’ve seen, man, in 10 years. I mean, the guy was really good with the basketball, knew how to manipulate ball screens. You could never speed him up. And he started making shots. And so we had to put that fire out because he was able to make his shots and it gave them a little momentum and a little feel good as they went into the second half. So I don’t think we’ve been in that situation this year where, you go to the half, you’re down to six. They kinda have the momentum and we gotta figure it out. So I thought that was a great test for us.I thought it was great talk in the locker room from our guys. And when we came out in the second half, I felt like they (Tennessee players) had really did a good job of making the adjustments that we had talked about in the locker room, execute the game plan, and being able to take back control of that game.”
On if there’s any extra pep in the step this week with SEC play set to begin on Saturday
“You know, we’re not looking ahead. We’re completely focused on Norfolk State. They’re good. You know, over the years, they’ve won their league. They’ve been in the NCAA tournament. I think their coach is a heck of a coach. He’s a big time coach. They just went and had a huge win at High Point last night, and, you know, High Point is really good. They went into their place, hostile environment, and got a win. Yeah, SEC play is around the corner, but we’re not looking ahead to it. We got business to take care of tomorrow, and we gotta get better. We gotta use tomorrow, just like we’ll use Saturday, as an opportunity to get better.”
On if he believes the team has benefited from playing with the target of being ranked No. 1 on their back
“Yeah, I think so. And I’ll say since I’ve been here, it’s always felt like every arena we go in, every game we play in, we have the bullseye. You know?
I think credit to Coach Barnes and what he’s built here and the success that they’ve had. But from day one since I’ve been here, every game we play, every arena we go to, it seems to be charged up a little bit more than when I watch it on film and I see the crowds on film. And so I think for this group, it is good to be able to feel that early because we got so many new guys, and so many guys that haven’t experienced that feeling. Chaz (Lanier), Igor (Milicic), D-Stone (Darlinstone Dubar). Those guys hadn’t really felt that. And so I think for them to be able to go through that, this early stretch, it can only benefit.”
On if he thinks the players actually stayed out of the gym over the break:
“I do. I think so. I think the grind of everything, you know, that first stretch, they may have welcomed kind of a little break. Now I can’t promise you that they didn’t come back in and maybe get some shots tonight or whatever, but just from a mental standpoint — because a lot of times, coming out and shooting is (a) mental relaxation, it’s therapy for some guys. So you don’t wanna take that away from them. But the grind of the competitive battles and practice and the bumping that comes with that, they didn’t have to deal with that over over four days. So I feel good about the rest that they got, the break that they got. And we went right back to work on Saturday night, and you kinda start building.”
