By Jack Glennon
KNOXVILLE, Tenn – After spending Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team returned to the Food City Center for practice Monday morning.
The Volunteers won two of three games in the Player’s Era Festival, defeating Rutgers and the No. 3 Houston Cougars before blowing a seven-point halftime lead to the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday.
“We still need to improve our shot selection,” Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes said Monday. “[And] we were not very good [defensively] in the Kansas game.”
Thankfully for Vol Nation, though, the Volunteers’ shot selection may not be as poor as the Kansas game might have suggested.
Though the Volunteers went 7-for-28 from beyond the arc on Wednesday, they have still managed to shoot 35% from deep on just 23 attempts per game.
I would argue, therefore, that a more pressing matter is the Volunteers’ sloppy style of play.
Tennessee ranks second to last in the SEC with 102 total turnovers, good for nearly 13 per game.
Unfortunately for the Volunteers, their sloppiness is hardly limited to the offensive side of the ball, as their opponents have attempted 161 free throws, ranking them 13th in the SEC.
Tennessee has also yielded 79 points per game in three matchups with teams inside the Associated Press’ Top-25 (including the exhibition game against Duke), a far cry from the 61.5 they allow against unranked opponents.
Though a decrease in defensive performance is expected when facing stronger opponents, a 28% spike suggests that the Volunteers are yet to find truly effective ways to counter the country’s more dynamic offenses.
“To be a complete defensive [team]… [there are] a lot of things that go into it,” Barnes said. “Get[ting] a rebound… making plays in the gaps.”
Looking ahead, Tennessee will now shift its focus to a road clash with the Kiyan Anthony-led Syracuse Orange (4-3) on Dec. 6 in upstate New York.
“They [compete] at an extremely high level,” Barnes said. “They are a good basketball team. I think they are probably going to have a pretty good [plan] on us.”
Barnes also stressed the importance of sustained offensive consistency as the team enters the middle phase of a long season.
“All coaches are looking for is consistency,” Barnes added. “We are not there yet.”
Volunteer fans are likely familiar by now with the role offensive inconsistencies have played in each of the past two seasons, shooting 39% and 29% from the field, respectively, in back-to-back Elite Eight losses against Purdue and Houston.
It will certainly be interesting to see if Tennessee can bring its offensive improvements into the postseason, or if the madness of March will rear its ugly head once again.
After returning from the East Coast, Tennessee will host the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals in a highly anticipated clash on Tuesday, Dec. 16.