Tennessee basketball opened conference play with a dominant 76-52 effort against Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
The game was even for the game’s first six minutes but Tennessee took control from there, opening up a 15-point halftime lead and never led by single-digits again.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discussed Igor Milicic’s rebounding, his team’s makeup and much more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
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On Tennessee’s rebounding effort as a team, Igor Milicic getting 18 rebounds himself
“Igor was spectacular. Last game we got out-rebounded and didn’t do the things we had talked about. I did think we played hard the last game we played against Norfolk State, but we didn’t play hard on the offensive glass. Wasn’t making the effort to there. That’s got to be part of who we are, obviously, and it’s hard. I was what he did. We knew that he was a really good defensive rebounder coming here. But the fact that he’s done so much on the offensive boards, he did a lot today. He did a lot of good things out there.
“Just proud of our team effort. You guys know how much respect I have for John (Calipari) and his career and what he does and how he does things. Defensively, I thought that they had a good game plan coming in. I think they scored on their first four (shots) where they just picked us apart and got us where we were over rotating And we were able to adjust a little bit, but just a good, hard-fought game. And proud of the effort from everyone that played on our side and went in and, I thought, tried really to do the right things for us.”
On what makes Igor Milcic such an effective rebounder for Tennessee
“I think he has anticipation skills, obviously. He’s quick, got good hands. And when it gets to those 50-50, it’s effort. Coach (Gregg) Polinsky, after the game the day, he showed a football clip of a running back that got hit. He talked about yardage after contact. And that’s what offensive rebounding is. You’re going to get hit. Can you go get some yardage afterwards and get yourself in position?
Either get it, open up the gap for somebody else to get it, tip it back. But his effort, he’s pretty consistent with that all year. But like I said, our last game out, we didn’t (have the rebounding effort), not so much. But proud of effort guys put into it today.”
On challenging Tennessee center Felix Okpara in practice Friday morning and how he responded in Saturday’s game
“I thought he was good. Again, I thought he got back to bringing the physicality that we need. I thought he set some good screens, too, obviously. But away from the ball, what we need done in our transition game, the screening, he was really trying to be physical. I told him I took him out, I think the last time I took him out, and said, if you want to play more minutes, you’re going to have to figure out how to guard the ball screen without fouling. And use your quickness, your skill, your physicality. Because I said we need you out there.
But I do think he had the right mindset. Now the more he keeps doing it, the better he’s going to get with it. But if you know Felix like we do, he wants to be good, he wants to be challenged. And yesterday, you guys were there, you saw it. And I was glad the way he responded.”
On Chaz Lanier scoring a season-high 29 points in Tennessee’s first SEC game
“Well, one, I think it’s a compliment to his teammates. And I think he would say the same thing. In the fact that they’re finding, looking for each other, knowing where to look for each other. I thought Jahmai Mahsack, again, still coming off that injury with his hand, I thought a perfect example is when he drove the ball, had a chance to shoot it a couple times, kept looking for the right guy. He found Chaz a couple times. ‘Z’ (Zakai Zeigler) in transition, Jordan (Gainey), they’re looking for that. But where he can get so much better, and I thought we left him stranded today because out there where he was dribbling, dribbling dribbling, and that’s not all his fault. We just left him out there on an island too much. But the fact that, again, I’ve said it from day one, he’s an incredible human being that wants to be coached. And you guys are here, I’m on him and going to stay on him. But he shows nothing but great respect, great humility. And the fact that when you’re like that, I think your teammates, they want to see you do well and there’s not one selfish thing about him. And matter of fact, they would tell you if you’re not getting by people it’s because you’re turning down shots. They want to him to shoot it. And he’s got a quick trigger. It’s quick. But again, he knows that we expect more from him and I know he wants to do more. And he’s learning again, just like all these new guys. Defensively we had a few breakdowns when, not all of them, but some of them, are the new guys. That’s where we got to continue to get better with Igor. We left Boogie Fland wide open one time. We were fortunate he missed a shot. We had a couple of those. But that’s where we can get better. Like we left Boogie wide up one time and we’re fortunate he missed a shot. We had a couple of those but that’s where we can get better.”
On how much of a difference Igor Milicic stretching the floor and hitting shots has on the offense
“Well again, I’ve told him when he’s open taking good shots, he want him to shoot it. If he would look at his numbers and say, I mean Igor can the shoot ball, there’s no doubt but I’ve I told him and make sure our staff has echoed the same thing. He’s so much more than the guy that could shoot the ball. I mean his rebounding. I don’t think anyone would’ve looked at him prior to this— the way he can impact games without making shots. And I’m a firm believer with guys like that, if they get lost in the game doing the dirty work, the rebounding, the screening, they’re the guys that are gonna get the great looks at the basket. And he still had a couple times today where I think maybe he played his most minutes today and I thought he was a little fatigued, where he can screen more and get away is going to open up opportunities for himself that way but he’s competitive. He’s tough. And again, I think his best days are ahead of him.”
On Calipari saying they knew they had to be ready for a fight
“I think it goes to our players and I think the good Lord that we’ve got a group of guys that are very unselfish. A group of guys that, we’re extremely transparent with and I don’t think they’re afraid to be told the truth. I think they’re locked into each other. But I think all the credit goes to, if I could bottle the DNA of Zakai and Jahmai, even Igor — all of them. Believe me, it’s fun. That’s part of what these guys have done, how they’re helping these guys that come in every year, how to do that. And sometimes I think about Zakai, I don’t know why I actually woke up the other morning (and) thought about Z being a senior. I’m like, man, this’s gonna be a different deal without that guy. Everybody looks at his stat sheet, the thing that doesn’t show up on that stat sheet is what he does 94 feet defensively for 36 (minutes), if it had to be 40, he’d go 40. But it all goes to the players and good families and they come in knowing what we expect but they expect it from themselves too. So it just needs to be reemphasized daily to them.”
On Chaz Lanier’s release being as quick as it is
“Well that’s one of the quickest I’ve been around, I’ll be honest with you. I mean, he does. I mean, and it’s deep. It’s quick. It is. He gets rid of it and it is hard to guard. Obviously you don’t want to put a guy like that on the free throw line with three. But again, it goes back to him doing his work early, getting off screens, getting his hips turned quick because he’s not gonna get much separation. So he needs to have that. And that’s why again, I watch him do some things and I know there’s just so much more in there that he can get out but he’s just an incredible kid. And again, he’s here because he would tell you he wanted to be part of a team and I’ll never forget he told me when he made up his mind when he walked in here, I think at midnight when he got here that night, the whole team was waiting on him. And I think it goes back to the other question. We’ve got a group of guys that really care about themselves, this university and this basketball program.”
On what it says about Tennessee that it won a game by 25 despite shooting less than 40% from the field
“Well again, defensively, and some of that’s because we’ve had teams in the past that couldn’t shoot 40% when they’re open, and so it was built on, we’re gonna we’re gonna guard people and find a way to get enough points to win the game.
“But it’s just, again, I just give a lot of credit to, Shaq (Jahmai Mashack) and Z (Zakai Zeigler) for being here. Jordan (Gainey) certainly has improved where he’s at that level, and we think that Felix (Okpara) is a rim protector, Igor his pursuit, and we think D-Stone (Darlinstone Dubar) can become one of those kind of guys, too. We really do, but Bishop (Boswell) has got that toughness about him. Just need to get him in the game some more, in situations, and I probably should have got him out there more today. He went in and we talked to him about turnover, I’m not so sure that turnover was really his fault, but he was trying to do the right thing. Of anybody, that would have been my turnover, because I wanted to get the ball into Felix.
“Believe me, we can still get better. I don’t think we’re at quite the level we were at a year ago defensively, right now, because we had some older guys that were here with us, but we’ve got older guys now that we’ve got to get them up to that before we’re done at the end of the year.”
On what he told Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo in the post-game hand-shake line
“Well, I love Jonas. And when I shook his hand, I hugged him. I said, ‘Jonas, I love you,’ and I do love him because — he found a situation that was really hard for him to turn down, and he did it. I had no problem with it, but I think it was hard. I mean, he did a lot for us while he was here, but I wish him nothing but the best. I’d say the same thing about Cam Carr. It’s like Jahmai Mashack said it best. He said, all we can do is pray for them and wish them the best, and we’ve got to take care of our business here and keep moving. And that’s what we’ve done.”
On the status of sophomore forward Cade Phillips after he banged up his shoulder in the game
“He was available if we needed (him). The situation just didn’t call for it.”
On how encouraging it is to see Lanier and Milicic perform so well in their first SEC game given how difficult conference play is going to be
“We have such a high expectation for both of those guys because they’re older, they’ve been around, and they’re really, really, really terrific basketball players, but you’re always pushing to get more and more. And what I’m thankful for is they’re able to take that. They’re able to take it. They know that what we did today, looked good today, but we got to be better tomorrow, and so that’s our approach to it. And they know it. They know we’re going to go in that film room tomorrow and scrub this out real quick before we get on to the next one. But they know they’re going to be shown more things they can probably improve on, more so than things they did well, and those guys are a group of guys that take that approach. That’s why they’re fun to coach.”
On how Lanier has improved coming off screens and how can he continue to improve
“Well, again, setting up his cuts, not fighting it, you know, back cutting, moving, going from one area of the floor to the next, if need be, and he’s going downhill, but he’s going to have to realize he’s going to have to finish it all the way to the rim. But you go back and watch the play that Jordan Gainey made, that layup he made was a big time layup. He got quicker the closer he got to the rim. Chaz, and Igor, both have a tendency to slow down at the rim. Well, that’s where you got to finish it, and that’s an area that he can get better with, and the fact that he’s making the effort to do it, I do think he’s got to get a little more lean, little more physicality when he gets down in there with his shoulders, but he again, he wants to get better, but his movement without the ball has improved but he’ll have to continue to improve, because it’s only going to get ratcheted up because I can assure you, every team in this league where they are today is, going to get better tomorrow. I mean, I’ve said forever, John Calipari does as good as anyone of his team improving from the beginning of the year to the end, and we’ve got more people to say that about us.”
