Vol Hoops Media Monday

FULL RICK BARNES TRANSCRIPT

On moving Lamonte Turner to on the ball against South Carolina:
"It goes back to practice every day and what I had seen more than anything was that I felt like between Lamonte and Jordan Bone and James Daniel, there was a sense of complacency there. The bottom line was we have to continue to get better and I know that sounds like a broken record, but that's why we use Jalen Johnson in a game and Yves (Pons) last game, because we have to have everybody. When we've been at our best, we've done that. So throughout the year, you're trying to find ways to continue to get better. And Lamonte I thought went into the South Carolina game with a different mindset. He has a tendency, and I told him this yesterday about this game, that every time he has a big scoring game, he comes back and thinks that's what he has to do every game, and he ends up getting himself back to the bench. And I would same this is true of all of our guards and all of our players, that when they are locked in on what we need to do on the defensive end, the offense will take care of itself. And I do think the other night at South Carolina he found his groove defensively, and he's a good offensive player and he doesn't have to force things – no one has to do that. So that's the key, can he continue to keep that same focus. It's a mindset and I hope he can really develop it."

On having a set rotation of players for the rest of the season as opposed to using different players in different games:
"Well I think that's part of a set rotation. We're going to use everybody. We like to think that everybody is going to be on the top of their game every single night but you don't see that in athletics very often. So our rotation is that we have a team and we're going to use guys that if they're locked into what we're doing, they're going to play. And it's pretty simple when you think about it, but you wonder how you can have it one game and the next game you don't. And that's the consistency that every coach is looking for. But there's no doubt that we're a team that's going to use all of our guys. Some nights it might be this guy or that guy getting a call, and the next game it might be someone else. Kyle Alexander had played terrific, and Derrick Walker came in against South Carolina and was a difference maker for us. We'll go into practice today with Kyle as a starter, we don't change that so much, but everybody, I don't even like to refer to it as the bench because I'm not big on who starts or who doesn't start, but I just want everyone to have the mindset that we need them and they need to continue to get better."

On Yves Pons and Derrick Walker's physicality:
"There is a difference. Yves is long and he's out there. And you do see it on tape. Derrick is stronger in the post than say John Fulkerson, because he has the body that can do that. But the biggest thing with the both of them is the fact that they fill the role that we need them to fill. Yves I thought defensively was out there with the mindset that he was going to really defend and rebound the ball. There's never been a game where any of them have been perfect, but you could tell they were locked into that role. Yves moved the ball well, put the ball into the post well, and what you're hoping is that he begins to get more and more comfortable – the same with Derrick. But now the key is do the come back today, are they focused today in terms of getting ready. But it is a different look when those guys are out there. You're talking about a big, long and athletic wind in Yves, and Derrick's body is a thick, long and stronger body. And Derrick knows how to play defense, he's very good in ball screen defense. His deal, as well with a lot of young guys, is learning how to play through fatigue a little bit."

On Lamonte Turner's rebounding ability:
"I think it's a mindset. It's hard in this league when you have six or seven guys in there jumping around first jump, second jump, sometimes third jump, you need those guard to come in and pick up some of those. Again, it goes back to when Lamonte is playing defense and rebounding, he's a much different basketball player. We talk about sometimes players have to reinvent themselves in terms of what they think they are into what they need to be. And Lamonte I'm sure would tell you, he's always looking at himself as being a scorer, and probably that alone, and he can score. I think he's a really good shooter when he takes shots that he works on. But you can't go in the game thinking 'every time it hits my hand, I'm going to shoot it'. You have to play the game and you have to make winning plays. And when he's locked in, whether it's defensively or whether it's rebounding the ball, that's when he plays his best. Because I just think instinctively, his offense takes over for him. But when he's pressing on the offensive end, I think it hurts him."

On Jordan Bowden's recent shooting performances:
"I would say it's a little bit of everything. There's no doubt that teams are going to game plan for him. If you see him on tape, they're not going to allow us to give him a lot of one pass threes. I don't know if he's in a slump, because when I look at him, and he's trying to play defense and doing things that help us win games. You're going to miss shots, that's part of basketball. You're going to miss them. I think the key though is, I would say a guy is in a slump when he won't take the shots he should take. That's when you know he's doubting himself. As long as he'll continue to take the shots he's supposed to take, whether they go in or not, that's part of the game. And we'll go and try to rebound it and play from there, but again, he's playing hard and a lot of this is uncharted for him too, he's never been a major target like he's been. I would have to think that people have game planned for him and for Grant and Admiral probably for the most part. But he'll come in today and there's no doubt in my mind that he's going to work hard today. He'll get back, but I don't think he's in a slump. As long as he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll be fine."

On changing the starting point guard position and managing quick turnarounds:
"I haven't thought about changing the lineup. I don't ever think about it until after practice. Something drastic would have to happen for us to do that. I still think we managed (the quick turnaround) this past week. This is the third game in seven days. We played Tuesday, Saturday, then Tuesday so we'll manage that again today. Wednesday we'll have a good day off. I think health wise we're fine. I don't think there are any major things going on right now. I haven't gotten any word of that today but I think we are fine.

On how this year's defense compares to years past:
"We haven't had the ability to do what we're doing right now in the past. We haven't been very good defensively until this year where we thought we had a chance to be a really good defensive team. We're not there yet. We've had our moments. I thought the game Saturday (against South Carolina) was the best game defensively since the Purdue game from start to finish, and that's kind of sad when you think about it. That's a long time ago to right now. I just thought we were locked in defensively the entire game. We're getting on through it right now so we need to get that consistency. We've got to know we want that on every possession. This year's team is able to do some things that we wanted to do in the past but we weren't able to. There are still some things we want to do with this team to improve defensively."

On what he expects Vanderbilt to do to shut down Grant Williams:
"I think they'll continue to double team him at times. I can see them playing more zone and things like that. What happened (against Vanderbilt in Nashville) was the most points (Grant Williams) has ever scored and since then he hasn't done that. We haven't changed. Some games turn into that where one guy is getting a lot of the buckets in a game like that. We expect them to make a lot of adjustments. We know how well they shoot the ball. I think one of the most under-talked about guys in the league is Saben Lee. We have a lot of good new point guards in the league and he is one of them. I really like his game. Riley LaChance has always been good against us. Their team will continue to get better. They could get in zone more and continue to double team with different angles. We've seen a lot of different things so we just have to be on edge and be ready for those adjustments."

On what he accredits being a different team this year to:
"I think we are at our best when we have great balance in scoring as opposed to Grant Williams getting 30 plus points. We're better when we have balance. We don't go into games thinking Grant has got to have a major game. We are going to play through him certainly, but when he's not on the court we are going to do some other things. Balance is a great thing, whether you're talking offense or defense. That's where the bench comes in. It comes back to what we're trying to do as a coaching staff. We're trying to let Yves Pons, Jalen Johnson, and Chris Darrington know that we need them. We know that two years in a row we lost key guys at the end of the year so we want these guys realizing that each day is an opportunity and a chance to get better and I hope they will take advantage of it."

On the main thing he would like to improve on as a team:
"The first thing would be to be consistent and be all locked in. Our ball screen defense has not been as consistent as we are going to need it to be. We're going to have to have it tomorrow night (against Vandy). We're not as consistent as we need to be. I want to get back to where we rebound the ball better. I think we've been out-rebounded more in conference play than we have out-rebounded other teams. I could pick a bunch of difference areas. Our ball screen is really important because we see so much of that. We're certainly going to have to be able to do it tomorrow night and Saturday at Iowa State."

On if ball screens led to Vanderbilt shooting over Tennessee so much in their previous meeting:
"Well they've got shooters. They run good actions, get movement, and get into it. It could be whether the guard is doing his part, forcing the ball where we want it. We've gotten caught where our guards sometimes start jumping into the ball screen action before the screen gets there. People drive down the lane where the guard is anticipating a little too much as opposed to guarding the ball. We've had problems where the post guys coming out haven't called the screen in time to where we can jump into the coverage we're in. It's communication. It's a lot of guard perimeter defense and post defense when they're working together. Then there's the backside of it. There's a lot more that goes into ball screen defense that just what happens on the ball. We've had trouble in all of those areas: what happens in the ball with perimeter and post, and what happens on the back with our help side defense. A lot of people do it because it's a very effective offense so we just have to get better and more consistent with it."

On how scouting affects the game:
"I think this time of year from a scouting standpoint, I know how hard our coaches work at scouting. I give the other teams we play that benefit. I think they know what they're doing. We go through a scouting report and list every player they have and make sure we know that every one of these guys are at a level here. They wouldn't be here if they couldn't come into the game and make an impact. In a scouting report, you're going to make a game plan for certain guys but you know that any guy that comes in could be a factor. From that point of view, you've got to be on edge regardless of who it is because they could hurt you someway or somehow. It's our job to do that. For Yves (Pons), I doubt South Carolina thought he would play because he hadn't played up to that point. I don't think they saw anything from Derrick Walker to think he would play the minutes that he played. Sometimes we get surprised, but they do too. I had no idea that Derrick could make the impact that he did, but he showed us in Europe this summer. We can tell that Yves is getting more confident in what he's doing. The question is can he build on it and continue to improve. I give our opponents a lot of credit. I think they know us better than we want them to know us and I'd like to think we know them better than they want us to know them."

On the opportunity to sweep Vanderbilt for the season and how difficult it is to beat a team twice in one season:
"Well it is hard to beat a team twice because in our league, obviously with our three permanent opponents in Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and South Carolina, you really do feel like you know those teams better because you know you're going to see them twice every year. I think that you go into this game not thinking it's going to be played like the last game. You look back, and they had a really nice win on Saturday. We had one, and we did some different things that we hadn't done. So you're going to go back and scout, but know that changes are going to take happen. They're going to have some different things I'm sure that they're going to do that we're going to have to be prepared for. But for a big part of my career I was in a league where you really did play a lot of teams twice, and it is more difficult, there's no doubt when you're playing them twice every year. You just really kind of have a feel for each other. Probably more so than with some team you only play once a year."

On Yves Pons still adjusting to the offense:
"I think that's a good assessment, and we have to as a coaching staff maybe simplify some things for him when he goes in and help him, but he's starting to figure it all out, he is starting to understand it a little bit. I'm impressed with him, and there's no doubt in our minds as a coaching staff, we thinking he's going to be a terrific player here. Because anyone that works as hard as he works, and he has one of the best attitudes I've ever been around in my life. I've been around some great, great kids, and some people with big time winning attitudes, and he's one of those. He's never stopped working, I've never seen him. He gets frustrated at times, but he probably hides it as well as anybody you've ever seen, I'm sure he's still going through trying to adjust to my language, my slang, because I come at it pretty quickly. But that's where he's gotten better, being able to pick things up on the fly a little bit more. But again, you can see it starting to come to him a little bit more in the last week or so. If we have to simplify some things for him, well do that."

On Derrick Walker continuing his positive momentum:
"He just needs to keep doing the same things that we need him to do to play that role. A guy that can go in and get us some extra possessions, a guy that can defend and run and rebound the ball. We need him to bring us energy inside, and his physical presence there's no doubt can really help us in those areas, and we need him to continue to be a physical presence."

University of Tennessee Athletics

FULL RICK BARNES TRANSCRIPT

Players Mentioned

Kyle Alexander

Jordan Bone

Jordan Bowden

Chris Darrington

John Fulkerson

Jalen Johnson

Yves Pons

Lamonte Turner

Derrick Walker

Grant Williams

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