Tennessee basketball’s starting lineup and usage of Jahmai Mashack has been an ongoing point of conversation around the Vols over the course of conference play, including for myself.
Meeting with the media on Monday morning, Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark went to bat for the senior guard and defended Mashack’s usage.
“I see some of the stuff on social media where guys (are saying) our best lineups are this and Jahmai Mashack does this offensively and all this other stuff,” Clark said. “And I get it, like analytics can say a lot of things, but when you’re in the heat of the battle and you’re in these games, to say that we’re better when Jahmai Mashack is not on the floor is kind of — I hate to use this word — but stupid. It just kind of is.”
Tennessee has gotten off to slow starts consistently in SEC play which has led to scrutiny around the Vols’ starting lineup. Much of that scrutiny has fallen on Mashack due to his offensive limitations and the way opponents have defended him.
According to EvanMiya, Tennessee’s starting lineup has a raw efficiency rating of 15.2 in 739 total possessions together. It’s drug down by a 101.3 offensive efficiency rating that is the worst amongst Tennessee’s 11 qualified lineups.
As Clark noted, the analytics like Tennessee’s lineup with Gainey in over Mashack more. That five-man lineup has a 35.2 raw efficiency margin in an albeit much smaller 361 possession sample size.
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That combination plus Tennessee’s slow starts to games have caused debate about the starting lineup. While the Vols are unlikely to make any changes, Clark noted that starting faster is one of the top areas where he’s looking for improvement in the final two weeks of the regular season.
“We want to get better with the start of games,” Clark said. “Understand how to come out with the right approach. Having the same aggression early in halves that we do late in halves. We want to kind of start putting those things together. We want to be locked in defensively and put together full games.”
While Tennessee’s starting lineup has struggled, it’s an oversimplification to put all the blame on Mashack. Tennessee’s most efficient lineup this season, in fact, has included the senior guard.
The Vols’ lineup with Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier, Gainey, Mashack and Felix Okpara has a 39.2 raw efficiency margin and a team-best 131.5 offensive efficiency rate in 180 total possessions.
That’s the lineup Tennessee went with to close out its 77-69 victory over then-No. 7 Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. Mashack played his usual bit of fantastic defense against the Aggies and was steady on the glass against the nation’s best rebounding team.
Mashack scored just four points against Texas A&M on a pair of tip in baskets, but both proved massive in the win.
“The first thing I said to Coach when we got back off the floor, back in the locker room, I said the two biggest plays were his tip-ins. And our staff, we all agreed. Those were huge,” Clark said. “We finished the game with four guards on the floor and we were playing a massive, huge team. And he’s at the four and we’re just fine defensively. And he’s on the floor obviously to win the game.”
That’s where the analytics can fall short. Mashack is a proven winner and has been through the battles for Tennessee basketball. Clark and the rest of Tennessee’s coaches trust him because of that.
