By CHRIS DORTCH
There are two ways to look at the abysmal exhibition game performances of Tennessee’s basketball team, during which, in a span of six days, the Vols lost by 16 at home to Xavier and 103-64 at Duke.
No. 1, the previous two seasons, Tennessee lost to Indiana and Duke, respectively, at home and went on to play in the NCAA Elite Eight twice. Clearly exhibition games, as stockbrokers like to say, are not indicative of future success.
No. 2, one wonders if coach Rick Barnes hasn’t at some point rethought the mantra of production over retention that last spring guided his staff’s portal recruiting campaign. Does he wish big men J.P. Estrella and Cade Phillips and ball-hawking guard Amari Evans were still on the roster? Because the numbers are far worse than the scores indicate.
In the two exhibition games, the Vols allowed the Musketeers and Blue Devils to shoot a combined 51.9% from the field and 36.6% from 3-point while themselves shooting 36.2 and 18.1%, respectively. The Vols also surrendered 89 rebounds while claiming only 60. These are not numbers that Barnes-coached teams surrender.
In fairness, Tennessee’s best shooter, 6-5 graduate Tyler Lundblade, missed both games while still recovering from back surgery. Perhaps Lundblade could have changed the outcome in the Xavier game, but Larry Bird and Magic Johnson couldn’t have helped stave off the tail-kicking the Vols received at Duke, especially after starting point guard Terrence Hill Jr. injured his ankle five minutes into the game and did not return.
Collectively, these were two of the worst all-around performances in the Barnes era at Tennessee. So far, after shelling out millions to land last year’s leading scorer at six different teams, the Vols have looked lost in every facet of the game. Maybe 13 newcomers are a bit too much even for a future Hall of Fame coach to weave together into a cohesive unit.
But that would be the extreme pessimistic viewpoint, because sooner or later, as his long history of success indicates, Barnes bends his teams to his will, and they guard, rebound, and generally look like they’ve been on a basketball court before.
Can the Vols, who were ranked No. 8 in the preseason Associated Press poll and No. 9 in the coaches’ poll, bounce back?
Likely, but whether this is a team that can contend for a national championship, as some believed, has been called into question. Barnes knew the Vols would have trouble learning how to defend. How to be patient running the offense with so many former go-to scorers on one roster. How to gang rebound to offset the loss of ball-getters like Estrella, Phillips, and even Jaylen Carey, who seemed reluctant at times to be coached but could be a force in the paint. Tennessee didn’t want to meet the NIL demands of those players, leaving the Vols with only two returnees—sophomores DeWayne Brown II and Troy Henderson. And Henderson missed a large portion of summer practice while recovering from shoulder surgery.
To be fair, Duke looks like a legitimate national championship contender, even better than the last two years when future NBA Draft lottery picks Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer were the Blue Devils’ head dudes. A lot of teams could have strolled into Cameron Indoor Arena on Oct. 20 and gotten crushed.
Barnes’ task is to make sure that getting crushed on the scoreboard was the only thing that happened to the Vols that night. He’s got to make sure their spirit wasn’t crushed, too.
On paper, this seems like a talented team, loaded with high scoring transfer guards Juke Harris (Wake Forest), Hill (VCU), Jalen Haralson (Notre Dame) and Dai Dai Ames (California). But so far, the Vols haven’t looked like a team; instead, they’ve looked like a bunch of individuals trying to do their own thing and save the day by themselves.
But all is not lost. Far from it. Barnes had been preaching his core principles and predicting what might happen to the Vols if they strayed away from them. He looks like a prophet, and the tapes he can show his players after the two humbling exhibition losses are the best teaching tools he’s got.
Lundblade is not Michael Jordan, but here’s what he is—a super magnet who can draw defensive attention and open driving lanes for his teammates. And if any opponent dares give Lundblade an open look from 3, he’s going to knock down 50% of them. Barnes told this writer during the summer that Lundblade would be the Vols’ leading scorer, but he’s also going to help his teammates get their points, too.
As far as the problems the Vols have had inside—they can’t score and are getting pounded on the glass—there are potential solutions. Jalen Washington, the 6-10, 250-pound Vanderbilt transfer, is still trying to get a judge to give him a temporary restraining order to play a fifth season. He’s a layup maker, rebounder, and rim protector who would immediately become the best big on the roster. Last we checked, Washington, who has been turned back in court twice after initially being granted a temporary restraining order after the NCAA’s ill-timed 5-in-5 eligibility ruling was announced in late June, was trying a judge in his home state of Indiana.
Several other players at Power 5 schools have been granted TROs in other states. Will the NCAA get tired of shelling out millions to fight them in court? The fair thing to do would be to grant blanket immunity to all Class of 2022 players, who missed out by mere weeks of cashing in on that extra year of eligibility. It doesn’t seem fair.
Without Washington, the Vols will have to become gang rebounders, which means Harris and Haralson need to average five boards each. Even Hill, if and when he’s healthy, will have to crash the glass.
Tennessee fans would be advised not to give up on this team. But the Vols got exposed big-time in those two exhibition games. And certainly, the concept of production over retention has been called into question. Because with Estrella, Phillips, and Carey still on the roster, Tennessee wouldn’t be getting punked on the glass. Barnes has forgotten more about basketball than any of us will ever know. Odds are he’ll get this figured out.