We’re Going to Start a Dialogue About Tennessee Basketball.
Rick Barnes and Kellie Harper are both 1-1, but frankly shouldn’t be. Let’s talk about it.
OCG Crew, we need to talk. After months of hyping up both of Tennessee’s basketball programs, some of us are starting to look a bit crazy. The Vols and the Lady Vols sit at 1-1 on this Monday afternoon and fell in the AP Poll as a result. Kellie Harper’s squad started at #5 to open the season, but is currently #11 after a loss to then-#14 Ohio State and a grinded-out win against unranked UMass. As for Rick Barnes, the men’s team plummeted from #11 to #22 following an season-opening victory against Tenneseee Tech and yesterday’s disastrous performance against Colorado. Both teams were plagued with many of the same issues that sent them home early in March, and thus they lost games that should have been won. My analysis may sound more like a bunch of hot takes as we get further into the season, but I think it’s important to address the good, bad, and ugly sooner than later. Let’s get after it.
I’m starting with the women’s team because I previewed the men’s team first, their loss opened the season, and they play tonight, so time is of the essence. The Lady Vols traveled to Columbus last week for a top-15 matchup and looked to make a statement. They did just that, but it wasn’t exactly what they had in mind. After leading 41-33 at the half, things got real wicked. Taylor Mikesell and the Buckeyes opened up a can of whoop-ass on Tennessee, outscoring them 54-34 in the second half and led by as much as 17. Their stifling full-court press led to 29 turnovers and spoiled UT point guard Jordan Horston’s homecoming.
What really grinds my gears about a game like this is the fact that this is supposed to be a veteran team. Multiple seniors in the starting lineup, experienced underclassmen on the bench, and Power 5 transfers with high reputations shouldn’t commit 29 turnovers in one game. Coach Harper’s team dominated the boards and imposed their will on the interior offensively to start the game but quickly went into a downward spiral once the Buckeyes were able to set up their press. Harper held onto her timeouts as the lead turned into a deficit and the game got out of reach. As it stands, I’m more akin to screaming into the void than speaking for many in the fanbase, so I won’t mince words: this was a piss-poor ending to an imperfect but promising start of a high-stakes game.
On a more positive note, there was plenty of improvement in the win two days later. Back in the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena, Tennessee welcomed the Minutewomen of UMass. The defending Atlantic 10 Champions gave the Lady Vols a run for the money till the very end, but were never able to take the lead or capitalize on any big runs. Jordan Horston left the game in the second quarter and never returned. Rickea Jackson took the reins in her stead, leading the team with 24 points and 11 rebounds. You would’ve liked to see Tennessee put this game away earlier, and maybe Horston helps that cause if she stays or comes back in the game. That said, I did like the resolve this team displayed after their point guard went down, and they improved from the game earlier in the week. Kudos to everyone.
As for tonight, Harper and Co. have a chance to right their wrongs in another top-15 matchup against the Big 10. The Hoosiers haven’t been tested yet, winning easily in matchups with Vermont and UMass-Lowell last week. MacKenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia are the leading scorers for IU coming into this game with Grace Berger also posing a major threat. I imagine that they’ll look to work inside-out early and often. In order to emerge victorious, the Lady Vols will need everyone to step up. I doubt that Jordan Horston plays, but Jasmine Powell and Jordan Walker should hold down the fort. Without looking at the lineup cards, I’d expect those two, Rickea Jackson, Tamari Key, and one of Tess Darby or Marta Suárez to be penciled in. Jackson and Key will have their hands full with Holmes, but I give them the edge in length and athleticism.
Defensively, they need to tighten up on their rotations and continue to crash the boards. OSU’s Taylor Mikesell and Destiney Philoxy of UMass, among others, have been left open way too much. The bench is deep enough to force some pressure with a press if they choose, and they should turn things up a notch to make the Hoosiers uncomfortable. On offense, someone else needs to establish herself as a force to be reckoned with. Jackson is used to being the star player, and it shows with her shot selection. Darby is a proven sharpshooter, but she needs to be in constant motion if she won’t take it to the cup. Suárez needs to be aggressive and look for her shot if she’s going to be on the floor. More production is needed from wings Sara Puckett and Justine Pissott as well. Jasmine Franklin found a bit of a rhythm on Thursday, but she and Jillian Hollingshead will need to provide Key with some relief if they plan to stop MacKenzie Holmes from doing damage. In addition, Tennessee should expect some full-court pressure from now on, or at least until they show the ability to handle it. Free-throw shooting will also need to improve. All told, this is another opportunity to handle business, and these ladies need to capitalize if they plan to make a name for themselves.
Rick Barnes and the Big Orange got off to a much better start, handily beating the Golden Eagles from Tennessee Tech. TTU put a scare into this bunch early, but UT flexed their muscle throughout the second half and cruised to a 75-43 win. Tyreke Key and Zakai Zeigler combined for 29 points and paced the backcourt, and freshman Julian Phillips showed flashes of potential that earned him a 5-star ranking last year. A good showing to start the year.
Now let’s talk about yesterday. A short bus trip to Nashville for a matchup with Colorado, who lost to Grambling State earlier in the weekend, looked to be a piece of cake on paper. And that, ladies, gentlemen, and those who identify otherwise, is why you play on the floor. Because again, I do not feel the need to hold back when I say that performance was horrible. Piss-poor, like the women’s team against Ohio State. I thought about writing something after the Lady Vols game last Tuesday, but Sunday’s clash with the Buffs compelled me to do it. Rick Barnes has plenty of equity with this fanbase, but he lost some of it yesterday. Zeigler was all over the place, Josiah-Jordan James struggled, Santiago Vescovi had flashbacks from the Michigan game back in March, and Olivier Nkamhoua was being hunted on pick-and-rolls as KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva cooked the Volunteer defense. Shooting 25% from the field is nothing short of unacceptable from a ranked team in college basketball. I don’t care, go argue with someone else.
Much like Harper, Coach Barnes likes to hold onto his timeouts late into the game. I understand because you only get four, and you’d like a squad with this many vets to figure it out or at least hold serve until the TV timeout. But watching a lead balloon from 4 to 14 is not the flex you think it is. By the time Barnes started using his timeouts, you could sense that the game was over. Coach is a man that does things his way, and he’s earned the right to do so. But if Gregg Polinsky and Justin Gaines aren’t in his ear imploring him to do something as he watches his team sink, what are we doing here?
Florida Gulf Coast comes to Rocky Top fresh off of a convincing 74-61 upset of their old coach Andy Enfield and USC in Los Angeles. They look to add another Power 5 team to their hit list on the way back to Dunk City. Senior guards Isaiah Thompson and Dahmir Bishop stood out as starters, while junior Chase Johnston led the team in scoring with 20 points against the Trojans. Head coach Pat Chambers is no slouch, and I expect him to have something up his sleeve for this Tennessee team on Wednesday.
This tilt with the Eagles is the last BasketVols game for a week, as they fly to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis. If this group wants to leave Knoxville on a high note, they too need more from everyone. Tyreke Key was brought in to shoot the damn ball, and he needs to do just that. We heard all offseason that he would be the X-factor offensively, so he needs to step it up. It’s already been rumored that ZZ is moving back to the bench, so someone will need to fill the void at lead guard. I expect that it will be JoJo James since Vescovi plays better off the ball, and B.J. Edwards supposedly isn’t ready just yet. Speaking of Santi, he needs to shake off the yips and start knocking down some of the good shot opportunities he’s been getting. Nkamhoua looks like he’s coming off the season-ending injury he suffered last year, but that rust needs to get gone quickly if he expects to remain in the starting lineup. Uros Plavsic was injured in yesterday’s game and did not return, but I can’t consider that to be a big loss if he won’t contribute more on the interior. As for Julian Phillips and Jonas Aidoo, these young bigs have the athletic edge over their veteran counterparts, but must be more aware of what’s happening on the floor if they want to push for bigger roles.
Over the last few years, the Rick Barnes offense has changed quite a bit. You still see of the circle motion elements from earlier in his tenure, but’s it relied on the 3-point shot much more than the mid-post work we saw from Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield. Whether that’s analytics, the caliber of guards on the team, or something else, I can’t tell you for sure. Any way you shake it, though, more production is needed from deep until someone makes their presence known down low. Defensively, they’ve got to stay out of mismatches and ice (force towards the baseline) more ball screens. Every big on this team was getting picked on, in addition to the 5’9 point guard Zeigler. Colorado was missing a lot of the good looks they had in the first half, hence why they trailed coming into the second. But once they got hot, those gaps you saw in the Vols’ rotations became much more of a problem. Overall, I think that the Mid-State disaster can be attributed more to execution than anything else. If half of those shots fall instead of a quarter, I’m pretty sure this piece doesn’t get written. Instead, we’re here, and the dialogue is finished.
At this point, I’m liable to say that a lot of these takes will freeze as time goes on, and I hope they do. One loss apiece won’t be the death of either of these teams, but the manner in which they happened will at least raise some eyebrows. A team usually has different challenges on a year-to year basis, so the same problems coming to the surface this early in the year is a problem in and of itself. I’d have hated to be a basketball player in Pratt Pavilion this week, and rightly so. Expect the correct changes to be made, but keep an eye out as the season goes on. Both of these teams will still be contenders in the postseason, but they’ll need to bolster up these weaknesses as March approaches.