University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Hoops Media Monday
January 09, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Head coach Rick Barnes
(On what Tennessee’s guards need to do improve on, defensively)
"I think it is hard at this level for the freshman guards to play since they don’t have a lot of experience playing at this level. (Our SID) just showed me where right now we have played the fourth toughest schedule in the country (according to the Sagarin Ratings), and that is hard for anyone, let alone young point guards who are learning a lot about the game. We have to get better there. There is no questioning that. Going back to Jordan Bone, he missed nine games (with a foot injury) and had just about five to six practices total (before returning to game action), but he will learn. We love him as a kid, and he is looking for help, and it’s my job and the staff’s job to help him keep growing—and we will help him. We have total confidence in him, but we knew he was going to make some mistakes. Lamonte Turner has been with us for a year and a half and he is still learning, too. But we will keep getting better and working through it. We don’t have a choice."
(On playing such a challenging schedule)
"I think it benefits you to play a hard schedule, and we are going to do it. I think it has to be a part of your program. We are going to build and recruit to that, and we want to be a national program. You have to play a national schedule and go places and put it out there every day, so that is something we are going to do. I think when you look at South Carolina, there is not a question that they are one of the best defensive teams in the league. You look at the numbers—and I’ve known Frank Martin for a long time, and I have great respect for him from our days playing against each other in the Big 12—you just know when you play against his teams they are going to guard you. They will challenge every pass and cut every play. They rebound the ball well. I think he has done a good job adding some younger guys where he lost players a year ago. One thing they have never lost is how they defend, and his teams always do that."
(On Admiral Schofield and Shembari Phillips bouncing back)
"I think when you deal with young players and young people in general, they have to hit rock bottom before they bounce back. And I think Admiral pretty much hit rock bottom. He said in front of the team the other day that he didn’t care about playing one minute or 20 minutes, he just wanted to do what he could to help us win. His actions (Saturday) spoke to what he said. In the last week, he had the best days of practice back-to-back that he has had since he got here, and I think it is a compliment to him that he worked his way back. He had to do it, and he did it. Shembari (Phillips) is going to have to do the same thing, and there is no question he is capable of doing it. Most of the time when you get down and things aren’t going well, and you can set aside your feelings and say, 'What can I do to help the team win?' it happens a lot quicker. When Jordan Bowden got hurt, he let up a little bit. But in the last week, he has put more time in the gym than any player we have. There is no secret to what we do, it is pretty much going to reap what you sow. Everyone was happy for Admiral because he was really locked in defensively and when he does that, his offense takes care of itself."
(On South Carolina senior Sindarius Thornwell, who was suspended earlier this season)
"Well he is obviously a good player. He is the kind of guy who can change things on your team. Frank Martin is one of those guys I have great respect for, and when he went to South Carolina there was no doubt in my mind he was going to build a winning program. You always have to make decisions based on moving your program forward and what you can do to help young people grow until that runs out. I admire Frank for how he handled that situation, whatever it was, and the fact is the kid is a terrific player and he is going to play the way Frank wants him to play or he isn’t going to play. All you have to do is look at it and see what (Thornwell’s) numbers are, how he shoots the ball from three and what his percentages are there and his rebounding. He is a game-changer. But I thought they were good even without him, and with him they are a better team than they were last year."
(On Vols freshman Grant Williams)
"With Grant (Williams), I think he can’t go into the game thinking about scoring because he did not have a good defensive performance against Florida. He got concerned with whether or not he was scoring and it affected him on the defensive end. The fact is, he is going to have to understand—unlike high school—teams will scout and take things away from him and he will have to work harder to get shots off. Everything he is seeing right now will be a learning experience for him."
(On the hostile environment at Florida helping the development younger players)
"Yeah. I mean, I thought it was a great environment. It was one of the first where the students were involved and everything. It was neat. They’ve done a nice job with their arena there. Again, I don’t think the crowd affected us. I don’t. I think now that we’ve seen enough of everything, where we should be able to handle anything that we’re thrown at. I think it goes back to the schedule that we played. But the fact is, you can’t turn the ball over 19 times. You’ve got to give Florida credit for some of them, but not all of them. You look at a lot of other things that we did well, but they were negated by the fact (turnovers) -- 19 turnovers, to even be in the game like we were (is amazing). Even though we didn’t handle the last minute and a half, and again, that’s my fault as much as anybody. That’s why we try to save our timeouts. That’s where I still don’t like that rule where I can’t call timeout during the game. Our guys need help still at the end of the game. But the fact is, in terms of environments, I think we can handle that. They’ve shown that, which I’ve been really pleased with."
(On what he would have done differently down the stretch against Florida)
"Well, I was telling Jordan (Bone) to go, or to yell “Time!” You know, if they don’t hear it, they don’t hear it. When he was standing there dribbling the ball, you can’t dribble (for so long). He and I watched the film on the way back. He sat beside me on the plane, and we watched it. I’m talking to him about it. The fact is, he doesn’t know. Because when you look at it, the guys didn’t help him either by just stopping. He was waiting on somebody, but in that situation, as a point guard, you can’t wait. The fact is, he wants to be perfect. I know the kid so well. It kills him that he can’t. He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s learning a lot about this. Again, it goes back where that rule, I have a hard time with it, because we need to be able to call a timeout when we can. The crowd’s into the game. People can’t hear it. It’s tough. But the fact is, watching the tape with him, believe me, when you sit there and watch the tape with him, you realize you’re dealing with a young person that is learning something that he’s never been involved with. The tough part about it is, he truly wants to do the right thing. I mean, there’s no question. It breaks his heart that he doesn’t understand it the way he wants to, but that’s why we love him, because he’s tough. There’s one thing I’ll tell you about Jordan, he’s tough. I’m hard on him for a reason. That part of it, he’s shown us as a coaching staff that he’s tough. But now, in terms of learning the game and understanding time, score, and situation, he doesn’t do that. Even Shembari (Phillips), he goes in the game. That’s why I wish there was a clock in high school. These guys still don’t, half the time, look up and see what the clock is. Shembari did that in the first half. He didn’t play very much, but he was just totally not aware of the clock situation. That’s something Jordan Bone’s learning to do. He’s learning that he can dribble all day without picking the ball up. In high school, you have the 5 second count. So, he should never pick the ball up, unless he knows he’s going to pass it. Some of that he’s still learning. The fact is, he missed nine big games. As a staff, we love him, and we know that he’s got a great future. Believe me, nobody is wanting it any more than he does. He’s a very unselfish player, sometimes to a fault. Again, it’s just him learning the game, and he will."
(On being a both a life coach as well as a basketball coach with a young team)
"It’s a little bit of all of it. It is. You all have watched practice. You know we’re demanding. I’m demanding of them. But yet, when it’s over with, that’s when you’ve got to spend a lot of time with them off the court, talking to them. You know, one thing I do know, our players know how much we care about them, as people, and how much we want to see them grow. But, they also know that we have very, very high expectations, probably higher expectations than people outside the program. We have set the bar extremely high for our players here. Not just what we do on the court, but the classroom, and the way we expect them to conduct themselves as people. There’s a very high standard that we set here, and we want to build something really special, something that the state of Tennessee will be proud of. Because, I think this university does an incredible job to do everything they can to help student-athletes be successful. So that said, I think it’s our job as coaches, not just to coach and be concerned about their basketball, but all parts of their life. So, we make sure that we’re going to be in touch with them and know what’s going on, as much as we possibly can. We’ve got a good group. We’re not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Every day, there’s something you’re going to deal with. You just hope that some of those things don’t get to a breaking point, but it can happen."
(On Jordan Bowden holding an advanced understanding of the offense)
"You know, I do think Jordan is comfortable in understanding the game. I do think he’s advanced in that part of it. I don’t think he, yet, still understands how good he can be. He’s a worker. He’s a kid that you have great trust in, that he’s going to do the right thing, both on and off the court. He’s never been a problem in any way, shape or form. He’s one of those guys, when you have a player like him that can hide a little bit, because you’ve got so much confidence in him and trust him. What’s the slogan about the child that gets in trouble all the time? I guess, the kid that acts up the most gets most of the attention. He never acts up, but we’ve got to make sure that we get him attention because of what we expect from him. That’s exactly what happened after we lost to Arkansas. I told the coaches, 'I want him in the gym. I want him putting extra time in.' He came in yesterday on his own. He started putting more time into it. Again, there’s no secret to it, but he does understand the game. We want much more from him than what he’s doing right now."
