Nate Oats Addresses “Leadership Void” Heading into LSU
Tennessee basketball looked like a team that could make it to the Final Four Saturday. Then they looked like a team that could get beaten in the first round again. The Vols’ survived a late push to beat Arkansas, 78-74, at Thompson-Boling Arena, but the regular season ended the way much of the season has gone, with a yin and yang Tennessee performance.
There was the Tennessee we saw in the first half. The group that moves fantastic without the ball and has the point guards to break down the defense and find the open man.
That Tennessee team can really shoot it too. The Vols made a remarkable nine-of-13 three-pointers in the first half with the capability of running four-guard lineups that space the floor and make them incredibly difficult to guard.
“You know, knock on wood, earlier in the year we shot the ball well and then went through some lulls with it, I think every team does that,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “When we take good shots, and take rhythm shots, we are a good 3-point shooting team. Are they all going to go in? No. When we get looks and we take the right ones and we don’t get anxious, then yes, we can make threes. Still, we talk about how important rebounding is, I’d like to think we’ll make them all, and in the first half we missed two. When our guys are open and take good shots, we feel good about it.”
That Tennessee team scored 50 first half points — two more than they scored in the game at Arkansas two weeks ago — and dominated a Razorback team that was one of the nation’s hottest entering the game.
Then there was the Tennessee team we saw in the second half. The team that immediately allowed Arkansas to go on 14-2 run to open the half, turning a comfortable 23-point lead to an 11-point lead.
“Turnovers, some certainly they created but some of them we creating. Some of the shots too, we call them shot turnovers,” Barnes said. “Give them credit for that because when we were playing well I thought we were physical, doing what we needed to do, and they were making the push back. They became the more aggressive, physical team. They got on the glass early. They’re an outstanding team. They present a lot of problems.”
Tennessee steadied the ship for much of the middle of the second half. Josiah-Jordan James was fantastic in the second half. The junior ended Arkansas’ first run of the half with a trio of big plays on both ends of the court, but he was the only Vol that was consistent in the second half.
The Tennessee team that is capable to lose to anyone in the first round of the NCAA Tournament showed up again.
That team became incredibly stagnant on the offensive end when Arkansas started double teaming Tennessee’s guards off of ball screen. That Tennessee team’s front court didn’t finish bunnies around the rim and struggled to get any sort of offensive production from its front court.
That Tennessee team got dominated on the glass — a rarity even when the Vols play poorly — as Arkansas tallied 12 second half offensive rebounds and 12 second half, second chance points.
That combination allowed Arkansas to come all the way back, cutting Tennessee’s lead to as little as two. In fact, Arkansas had the ball down two with J.D. Notae ahead of the pack with under 30 seconds left. Luckily for Tennessee, Davonte Davis over fired the pass out of bounds, forcing Arkansas to start fouling.
Even then, the Razorbacks had the ball down three in the game’s closing minutes before Tennessee got the stop that finally put the game to bed.
“We just have to close out the game,” Tennessee point guard Kennedy Chandler said. “We played great in the first half both games (Arkansas and Auburn) but you know, we have to find a way to close it out in the second half, and the first four minutes are always important. Arkansas, this game, they beat us the first four minutes as did Auburn the last game. Second half, we just have to have that same intensity and energy as we do in the first half and bring it to the second half as well.”
Tennessee survived to complete the undefeated, 16-0, season at Thompson-Boling Arena. But postseason basketball is coming. Tennessee might not be so lucky to survive another yin and yang performance in March.
A new season begins next Friday and Tampa Bay. The Vols need the consistency they’ve been lacking all season to make the type of run they want to make.
