University of Tennessee Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: Tennessee 84, High Point 53
November 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes
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On if he anticipated the large deficit at halftime:
"Not based on the way we had practiced the last two days. I didn't think we looked too sharp Sunday, so that turned into a much longer practice than I had planned. We had to spend a lot of time the last two days working on ball-screen defense, and tonight, we were actually much better than I thought we would be with it. I thought the first half we really did play well defensively, and we did some good things. We knew coming in that High Point was going to drive the ball really hard at us and give us a heavy dose of some ball screens. We knew they would attack and defensively try to do the same thing. High Point has pretty much the same philosophy as we have to get down the floor. In the first half, I really thought we did a lot of good things. We played with three guards at times. We know we're going to do that some. We know we're going to be able to use Admiral Schofield a little bit like Robert Hubbs III where we play him both inside and out. It depends on the matchup we get defensively for him, but there were some good things. I was surprised at how we started the game based on what I watched for two days. In the second half, I think you have to give high point credit. We knew they were going to continue to fight. They are going to do well in their league. We told our team they (High Point) are going to be a team that wins a lot of games, and I think they showed their character by the way they kept competing in the second half."
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On James Daniel III's performance:
"I didn't start him because going back to practice, I don't think he responded the way he should have after starting against Presbyterian. He got the start after Clemson because of what he had done on the defensive end, and we just didn't think he came in with the attitude or the approach that he needed to have. I think he responded well to coming off the bench. I'm doing that to see if our guys start better coming off the bench. I think we have 10 or 11 guys who could start at any time. I want to see how guys are going to respond. I really don't care who starts. I thought by the way he handled the ball that he's getting a better idea of where he should be looking. 10 assists and no turnovers is a good night for anybody."
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On the team's defensive game as a whole:
"I thought the first half was good. They do some really good things. They create some angles off their ball screens. When we talk about ball screen defensive, we felt like we haven't been very good on the ball. I thought we were better there tonight than I thought we would be. Overall in the first half, I thought we were better than I thought we would be."
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On dominant stretches during the game:
"I think it starts with defense. We made some shots. There are going to be some nights where you have some pretty good looks. I thought in the second half we were shooting with no purpose. Guys were just looking to shoot. After those spurts, I don't think there's any question that we get our momentum from the defense."
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On Derrick Walker checking in late & Jalen Johnson:
"It's just where he is. Jalen is still working his way back, but he works hard. Derrick has to take care of the ball, and he has to realize that he is going to have to get some lift into his shot. I think he's got one or two shots blocked every game. If they blocked four shots tonight, I bet they blocked his twice in a short time. He can go rebound the ball, and he's got two good hands to lose the ball like he did up top. One of the reasons went with some of the offenses that we are running is that we think our post guys can handle the ball. He is a guy earlier in the year who was looking to make those passes, now he seems very anxious and trying to make something happen way to soon. He can rebound it, but he is going to really have to understand he's at a different level now and he's going to have to put more effort into getting his shot off."
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On UT's zone defense:
"We spread out, we get people far enough away from the basket. You really open the court up some, and we kept talking to our guys about pressuring the ball and keeping our hands back. They did a good job of getting into our bodies, and that's something that tonight we knew we would see that really for the first time. For the most part, I thought we adjusted pretty well with it, and we weren't as good the second half. You can say you've got a lead and all that, but you don't get that many opportunities to play, so I am disappointed that we didn't come out with more of a focus. It was almost the same situation as Presbyterian. You've got to give High Point credit for that, because I thought they really competed. They kept coming at us down-hill, they got to the free throw line more. That's what you do when you're behind, and they showed that they are a well-coached team. They came at us, and you know they are going to be playing with a shorter shot clock. They were just coming at us. First half, I thought we adjusted pretty well, second half I didn't think we did the things we needed to do. "
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On lack of focus:
"We talk about this time a year there is a lot you're trying to teach your team, and it's not about the score so much. Obviously you want to win and all that, but you're trying to teach them. There is certain parts of the game that you've got to understand momentum and how really important it is. The first four minutes of the second half we got out scored. The second four minutes we got back, but the first four minutes they outscored us 8-6. That's a team that the other night they scored 100 points against William and Mary, so we knew they had the ability to score. It comes a point in time in a game like this, where when you have a lead like we did in half time you are still talking about getting better. What happens is, when you're a player and you're not on edge and a team starts driving and you give up three straight blow-bys. The team you're getting ready to play next is watching that tape, and the team you're getting ready to play in two weeks from now because most coaches are going to watch a bunch of film are going to think we can drive this guy because I watched it happen three times in a row at the High Point game. Every time you're out there as a player you know that if you're not doing what you're supposed to do you're going to have to deal with it later. We'll deal with it ourselves tomorrow in the film room. There is certain things we'll learn from it. When we get ready with our team we talk about when we are playing ourselves what we do. We know ourselves really well and I know how I would attack us if I was playing against us, and it's up to us as a coaching staff to teach our players every play counts. That's hard to do because the mental side is equally as important as the physical side."
Tennessee Guard Lamonté Turner
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On the 32-0 run:
"It's definitely just focusing on the defensive end. This year, we are really just trying to bottle teams up full court, and it's been tough practicing against each other. I know it's tough on other teams, especially when they can't gain, so that's really been a focus and it's working out."
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On the improvement on the defensive end:
"I would have to say we are more dedicated to it. Now, guys are really locked in to picking up full court and taking pride in it and doing it without Coach Barnes telling us to do it and making it who we are."
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Tennessee Guard James Daniel III
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On the transition from being a scorer to becoming more of a facilitator:
"It's been really tough for me actually. I was talking to Coach Barnes the other day, and he just kind of put it into words that he needs me to run the team, get guys involved, and my shots will come. He knows I can score the ball. I just have to wait for it and get everybody involved."
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On putting more of an emphasis on his defense:
"I knew coming in that I may not know all of the ins and outs of the offense, but what I can control is my effort and my intensity on defense. So that's kind of how I like to approach the game."
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Tennessee Forward Grant Williams
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On the balance in scoring on the team:
"It's huge when you have, as Coach Barnes says, 11 guys that can start at any time. We have guys talented at every area. Admiral Schofield can do it all, Jordan Bone's really good at shooting and also getting to the basket with his speed. We have a little bit of everything, so that kind of helps me do my job, which is rebounding and guarding down low."
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On how much the team has improved defensively from last season:
"I think as a team we're 10 times better. Last year, it wasn't really a focus for us, we were just there to play in position, not really pressuring anybody, not really making people uncomfortable, and they got easy shots and easy looks. This year, we're trying to run guys out of their offense and not allow them to be really casual. I feel like now we're a lot better as a team, but we still have a lot to work on, like in the second half, we can't allow a team to score 40 points to our 32, especially if we held them to 13 points in the first half."
Â
On if he anticipated the large deficit at halftime:
"Not based on the way we had practiced the last two days. I didn't think we looked too sharp Sunday, so that turned into a much longer practice than I had planned. We had to spend a lot of time the last two days working on ball-screen defense, and tonight, we were actually much better than I thought we would be with it. I thought the first half we really did play well defensively, and we did some good things. We knew coming in that High Point was going to drive the ball really hard at us and give us a heavy dose of some ball screens. We knew they would attack and defensively try to do the same thing. High Point has pretty much the same philosophy as we have to get down the floor. In the first half, I really thought we did a lot of good things. We played with three guards at times. We know we're going to do that some. We know we're going to be able to use Admiral Schofield a little bit like Robert Hubbs III where we play him both inside and out. It depends on the matchup we get defensively for him, but there were some good things. I was surprised at how we started the game based on what I watched for two days. In the second half, I think you have to give high point credit. We knew they were going to continue to fight. They are going to do well in their league. We told our team they (High Point) are going to be a team that wins a lot of games, and I think they showed their character by the way they kept competing in the second half."
Â
On James Daniel III's performance:
"I didn't start him because going back to practice, I don't think he responded the way he should have after starting against Presbyterian. He got the start after Clemson because of what he had done on the defensive end, and we just didn't think he came in with the attitude or the approach that he needed to have. I think he responded well to coming off the bench. I'm doing that to see if our guys start better coming off the bench. I think we have 10 or 11 guys who could start at any time. I want to see how guys are going to respond. I really don't care who starts. I thought by the way he handled the ball that he's getting a better idea of where he should be looking. 10 assists and no turnovers is a good night for anybody."
Â
On the team's defensive game as a whole:
"I thought the first half was good. They do some really good things. They create some angles off their ball screens. When we talk about ball screen defensive, we felt like we haven't been very good on the ball. I thought we were better there tonight than I thought we would be. Overall in the first half, I thought we were better than I thought we would be."
Â
On dominant stretches during the game:
"I think it starts with defense. We made some shots. There are going to be some nights where you have some pretty good looks. I thought in the second half we were shooting with no purpose. Guys were just looking to shoot. After those spurts, I don't think there's any question that we get our momentum from the defense."
Â
On Derrick Walker checking in late & Jalen Johnson:
"It's just where he is. Jalen is still working his way back, but he works hard. Derrick has to take care of the ball, and he has to realize that he is going to have to get some lift into his shot. I think he's got one or two shots blocked every game. If they blocked four shots tonight, I bet they blocked his twice in a short time. He can go rebound the ball, and he's got two good hands to lose the ball like he did up top. One of the reasons went with some of the offenses that we are running is that we think our post guys can handle the ball. He is a guy earlier in the year who was looking to make those passes, now he seems very anxious and trying to make something happen way to soon. He can rebound it, but he is going to really have to understand he's at a different level now and he's going to have to put more effort into getting his shot off."
Â
On UT's zone defense:
"We spread out, we get people far enough away from the basket. You really open the court up some, and we kept talking to our guys about pressuring the ball and keeping our hands back. They did a good job of getting into our bodies, and that's something that tonight we knew we would see that really for the first time. For the most part, I thought we adjusted pretty well with it, and we weren't as good the second half. You can say you've got a lead and all that, but you don't get that many opportunities to play, so I am disappointed that we didn't come out with more of a focus. It was almost the same situation as Presbyterian. You've got to give High Point credit for that, because I thought they really competed. They kept coming at us down-hill, they got to the free throw line more. That's what you do when you're behind, and they showed that they are a well-coached team. They came at us, and you know they are going to be playing with a shorter shot clock. They were just coming at us. First half, I thought we adjusted pretty well, second half I didn't think we did the things we needed to do. "
Â
On lack of focus:
"We talk about this time a year there is a lot you're trying to teach your team, and it's not about the score so much. Obviously you want to win and all that, but you're trying to teach them. There is certain parts of the game that you've got to understand momentum and how really important it is. The first four minutes of the second half we got out scored. The second four minutes we got back, but the first four minutes they outscored us 8-6. That's a team that the other night they scored 100 points against William and Mary, so we knew they had the ability to score. It comes a point in time in a game like this, where when you have a lead like we did in half time you are still talking about getting better. What happens is, when you're a player and you're not on edge and a team starts driving and you give up three straight blow-bys. The team you're getting ready to play next is watching that tape, and the team you're getting ready to play in two weeks from now because most coaches are going to watch a bunch of film are going to think we can drive this guy because I watched it happen three times in a row at the High Point game. Every time you're out there as a player you know that if you're not doing what you're supposed to do you're going to have to deal with it later. We'll deal with it ourselves tomorrow in the film room. There is certain things we'll learn from it. When we get ready with our team we talk about when we are playing ourselves what we do. We know ourselves really well and I know how I would attack us if I was playing against us, and it's up to us as a coaching staff to teach our players every play counts. That's hard to do because the mental side is equally as important as the physical side."
Tennessee Guard Lamonté Turner
Â
On the 32-0 run:
"It's definitely just focusing on the defensive end. This year, we are really just trying to bottle teams up full court, and it's been tough practicing against each other. I know it's tough on other teams, especially when they can't gain, so that's really been a focus and it's working out."
Â
On the improvement on the defensive end:
"I would have to say we are more dedicated to it. Now, guys are really locked in to picking up full court and taking pride in it and doing it without Coach Barnes telling us to do it and making it who we are."
Â
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Tennessee Guard James Daniel III
Â
On the transition from being a scorer to becoming more of a facilitator:
"It's been really tough for me actually. I was talking to Coach Barnes the other day, and he just kind of put it into words that he needs me to run the team, get guys involved, and my shots will come. He knows I can score the ball. I just have to wait for it and get everybody involved."
Â
On putting more of an emphasis on his defense:
"I knew coming in that I may not know all of the ins and outs of the offense, but what I can control is my effort and my intensity on defense. So that's kind of how I like to approach the game."
Â
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Tennessee Forward Grant Williams
Â
On the balance in scoring on the team:
"It's huge when you have, as Coach Barnes says, 11 guys that can start at any time. We have guys talented at every area. Admiral Schofield can do it all, Jordan Bone's really good at shooting and also getting to the basket with his speed. We have a little bit of everything, so that kind of helps me do my job, which is rebounding and guarding down low."
Â
On how much the team has improved defensively from last season:
"I think as a team we're 10 times better. Last year, it wasn't really a focus for us, we were just there to play in position, not really pressuring anybody, not really making people uncomfortable, and they got easy shots and easy looks. This year, we're trying to run guys out of their offense and not allow them to be really casual. I feel like now we're a lot better as a team, but we still have a lot to work on, like in the second half, we can't allow a team to score 40 points to our 32, especially if we held them to 13 points in the first half."
Players Mentioned
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