University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Hoops Media Monday
February 19, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Rick Barnes Transcript
On if sophomore forward Grant Williams was bothered by Georgia's length:
"He's played against length. I don't know if that bothers him. We've talked about it, we talked about it last night actually. He's just gotta get back to being the guy that is not just thinking about scoring. I think he's gotta get back to where he's wanting to impact the game even if his shots aren't going in. Grant's always had to deal with length his whole life. I don't necessarily think that's it. I just think that he's gotta realize that this time of year that everything goes up and keeps climbing. The thermometer keeps going up, and you've gotta be able to do that as a player. Knowing he is gonna be game-planned for, which he's done. I don't think anybody has played him that much differently. I just think he's gotta get back to himself, and he will. He'll look hard at himself and know that he's gonna have to get back to the kind of work ethic, the kind of focus that he had when he was playing well."
On if Grant Williams talks to officials too much:
"There's no doubt. No doubt that he's had a habit of doing that. They don't want to hear it. I just think that he can't put his energy there. He knows it, and he would tell you that himself. A friend of ours told him earlier in the year, actually when we were in the Bahamas, that he just needs to be focused on playing basketball. He will. He's still young. Grant's 18 years old. He's in a position that he's probably never been in before, where at a very high level, there's a lot of focus placed on him that he's having to learn and deal with a lot of things that only going through it can bring that experience. He's 18 years old. He's learning a lot. There's a lot of guys he's playing against that are 22, 23 years old. A lot of guys his age, they're still in prep school. But he's two years into college. He's learning a lot, there's no doubt about it. He can't get away from what he's always been about. He's always been the underdog. Obviously, he wasn't a highly recruited player, but that's always been his motivation to go out and prove people wrong. He just can't get away from that."
On what goes into this team playing a good game versus a bad game:
"Making shots is a big variable. When you watch games, you see sometimes where guys miss pretty wide open shots and you see other games where guys make very difficult shots. But I think the biggest variable this time of year is rebounding. I think that you got to control the boards. You certainly have to control your defensive boards. I think another big variable is unforced turnovers. You cannot have unforced turnovers this time of year. You're playing against teams that have the ability to turn you over themselves, so you can't add to that with unforced turnovers."
On if team is accepting shift from being 'hunters' to 'hunted':
"Like I talked about with Grant, they're going through something something I'm not sure they expected. You can talk about it all you want, but you've got to experience it. We're still one of the younger teams in the country in a position no one thought they would be in. We just knew as a team, as a program, that we (were) gonna go in and try to compete every single day. We've done that. But now, these situations come up. They're realizing that it's more difficult than you might think. That's why you have great respect for those teams that year in and year out are at the top, because it's not easy. Again, this group is going through some things they never, ever had gone through. Kyle Alexander, with his high school team, he wasn't a dominant player where he was gonna be counted on. So he didn't even have that experience during high school. He's learning it for the first time, where he's a starter on a team that people are wanting to beat. I just think it's all a new experience for a lot of these guys."
On if he's noticed a difference in ways teams prepare for Tennessee:
"There's no doubt you see that. You can see that from the very start of the game. If you're locked in, watching the game in the first three or four minutes, you can pretty much tell the tone of the game is gonna be set. Whether a team blocks you out, or how hard you fight to get off their backs, are you locked in on their scouting report. I think we've done that. I still think that we give away too many possessions on offense. I still think we got a couple guys that don't understand exactly when they should shoot the ball. We take some shots we shouldn't take when we have the chance to move the ball to get a better one. That's learning how to make the extra pass, and realizing that there's a way we can get a better shot. Defensively, the last two games we've been okay, but when I say okay, we weren't great because of giving up offensive rebounds. There's certain points in a game, regardless of how the game is played, in the last four or five minutes you can't give up second shots. You can't turn the ball over. You absolutely can't get crossed up on a scouting report, where two guys are chasing the ball and leave a guy relatively open for a good shot. Even though you get back to try to contest it, it's too late. The last four or five minutes in a game, everything's gotta go to a higher level. We certainly didn't do that Saturday. Georgia did."
On how close Jordan Bone is to being a closer at the end of games:
"I don't know because we believe in habits. You see them make certain mistakes as a coaching staff and you know at certain times of the game, those mistakes can't be allowed. With him, it goes back to if he is going to be locked in to do what he needs to do and be consistent with it. That's what we're looking for with Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bone and James Daniel. The fact is that none of those guys has separated themselves. When's a game's going, we are going to see who is locked in. Whoever is locked in and is more consistent will be the guy that is going to play. With those three we've talked about mistakes they can't, and if they make them, we'll take them out to be honest with you. They've played enough games to know that there are certain things they can't do. If they continue to do it, they're either not listening or they don't get it. If they don't get it, we have to get someone in the game that gets it.
On teams sagging in on Grant because of weak guard play and shooting:
"I don't think anyone has done anything differently when Grant gets the ball. It goes back to positioning and space on the floor. We put the ball in the post and we could probably get a little more movement around him. We think when the ball goes in there, those guys are going to get good looks at it (the basket). Sometimes might double teams and some teams might choke down a little bit. If we put the ball inside it doesn't necessarily mean those guys have to rely on threes. They can drive it, but we don't want guys trying to make difficult shots they might not be capable of making. Grant hasn't been played that differently. He has seen about everything he is going to see, to be honest with you. He (Grant) isn't fighting enough to be making aggressive, attacking rim type of shots. He is settling. At the start of the second half against Maten, we went to him to get a foul on Maten. Instead of really trying to drive the ball, he took one dribble and took a 8-10 foot left-handed jump hook. That is not his best shot to go to in that situation. That's where he is going to have to play harder with it. He's going to have to work on it and get more aggressive and really attack the basket more. ."
On if the team is in their transition offense enough:
"No, We want to really run all the time. I think it will be a really fast game. Florida plays fast, and if we play the way we want to play, it will be a fast game. We aren't consistent with it. That goes back to point guard play. You have to have a guard that really wants to push the ball. That's his number one objective. Jordan Bone has shown he can do it and he reverts back to, "maybe I should shoot the ball more". Lamonte Turner, same thing. James Daniel, same thing as opposed to someone that really wants to get down the floor and put pressure on the defense every single time. Not every three times, but every single time. We want to see more of that, and we talk about it all the time.
On all opponents scoring more than 65 points in a three game stretch being an indicator of the team not playing as good of defense
"Rebounding, there's no doubt. We gave up offensive rebounds the other night. We gave up two or three in the last five minutes of the game. That's six points. The other night we started fouling too, so there are some other variables that go into it. Defensively, we weren't as good as we need to be in the post. In the Georgia game, guys weren't fighting around or blocking out. Guys weren't getting rebounds and that's how points add up.
On the difference of the depth in the SEC this year and there not being an elite team in the SEC :
"Who's the elite team in the country, who is it? The top team, Purdue, was up there, but lost three in a row. Ohio State got beat by Penn State. Maybe there's not an elite team in the country. What makes the league so good, and I've said this before, is that there isn't a team in this league that won't go to St. Louis with the idea that they can't win that tournament. Not a lot of leagues can say that. Every team in this league has to believe, based on what it is. That's what happens. Everybody wants it both ways. They either want a team that goes undefeated and thinks it's elite, but when guys bunch they want to say the league's not that good. This league is as good of a league as I've ever been in, ever. I think it's tough, but it goes to show you how tough it is. The story is that this is probably the best year this league has ever had. This is probably the best league, top to bottom. I think it's indicative of everywhere we have gone this year on the road, crowds have been great. I think people have really appreciated how quickly this league has grown. I won't get into politicking, but this league is as good as any of them, I'm just telling you. If you look around the country, I don't think there are any elite teams. Nobody has shown it's an elite team. If they were (elite), they'd be undefeated since you're saying everyone else is mediocre. That tells you there is a great deal of parity."
On the challenges that Florida point guard Chris Chiozza presents:
"He's experienced and he's very fast and they do a lot with him. He puts a lot of pressure on you on defense past the ball. They'll even give him the ball in the extended post area and let him try to create some offense from there for his teammates. But he's moving the whole time and he keeps the ball moving. He's been around this league a long time and he's had a lot of success."
On his biggest concern going into the Florida game:
"This time of year I think really all coaches are more concerned about their teams getting better, for us it's about doing a better job defensively overall and rebounding the ball. They're a heavy ball screen team, we've talked about our ball screen coverage, we're going to have to do that. With transition, they get the ball down the floor. It's fundamental basketball, like I said, taking care of the ball and like I said, not turning it over. So I think every game right now, you're worrying about yourself, how can we get better, how can we keep getting guys to understand what they have to do to help making winning plays and out us in a position at the end of the game where we can we some basketball games."
On the drop off in offensive production:
"Some games, like Georgia, it's a different possession game. Some teams are going to play it slower possession. Every game can be different based on the other team wanting to get into long possessions, and if they're a good defensive team they put you into long possessions. So some games it's just possessions that have something to do with it. But the other night, we had some shots that were good looks, but we also took some shots that were not very good shots to be honest with you. At the free throw line we have to do a better job. And that's a big stat, when you look at how many times Georgia got to the free throw line. And some of it was skewed at the end because we were fouling, but still they were probably 10 or 12 shots ahead of us before we started fouling. So that tells you that we're not getting fouled and it tells me that we're not aggressive enough to get to the free throw line. But again, give them credit, because we were trying to drive the ball some, but they didn't foul based on what the numbers say. But there's a lot that can go into it. When we were scoring points, we weren't doing anything different. Some nights the shots fall. But again, some of it is based on possessions, and how many possessions you get here or there. But like I said, the turnovers can't be unforced, and we need certain guys to be better free throw shooters than they are too."
On if the SEC has inconsistent teams or parity amongst teams:
"I think it's a little bit of both, to be honest. Certain teams when they're young and haven't learned to handle some situations they've been in, that has something to do with it. But then you look at key players and inconsistency of key players. It can be a lot of things. It can be guys, even seniors go through it at times, where they just can't seem to make a shot. So I think it's a little bit of both, I think it has to do with matchups too. You get in certain games, and how teams match up. What it gets back to is when this league is having the kind of year it's having, and when you look around the country, most every league is like that this year. And there's certain teams in the country right now that probably wonder if they have anything left in the tank, and then there's other ones that know that there's a lot of games to be played and you can still get something done. There's a lot of things that go on, whether it's youth, inconsistency, or matchups. But the fact of the matter is when this is all said and done, you want to be able to look at yourself and know that you gave yourself a chance, and by doing that did you make winning plays. There's other variables too, if you go back and look at some of the games this weekend, Bob Huggins was upset about officiating. So you can throw in officials, you can throw in a lot of things to it. February's a long month for players and coaches and referees, because of what's at stake. And you talk about teams getting tired, if they're tired, our officials have to be tired because they do it more than players. They're out there six days a week most of them. With officials, I think when the course of the year plays out it probably evens out I would assume. Maybe we should do some research on that, to see if it does even out. But the fact is, is it's a lot going on in college basketball, and I'm not sure if there's any one answer for anything."
On if the message to the team is talking about what it looks like to play for championship:
"We've been talking about it for two weeks. The message is still to get better. We know it's out there, but it doesn't matter if you take care of your business in terms of mental preparation and everyone being locked in. By now everybody should understand their role. I shouldn't be up here saying we don't know what we're going to get from three guards. We shouldn't be talking about that. I'm not saying they're going to able to make every shot or play perfect. We're talking about them playing consistent winning basketball. There should be absolutely no talk about that. Those guys should be doing it and to be honest, they're not. We have to ask the question, why aren't they. Where is their mindset right now? That's the key with coaches, trying to figure out why they aren't locked into these things because these things affect winning, and they certainly affect losing. I could go back to the fact that some of these guys are still young, but I don't believe that either. They've played enough basketball, we've talked about it enough, we've shown enough tape and been in it with them to where they know now what goes into winning and losing. The question now is can they get it out of themselves."
On if the biggest challenge for coaches is getting their players to consistently play hard:
"Playing hard is not a given. I think playing hard is a talent. Most guys do not play hard. Everybody thinks they do, but they don't. I do think playing hard is a talent. As a coach, we know that one of the biggest challenges is trying to get a group of guys to understand how hard this game is to play the right way, and how hard it is to get them to buy into playing as hard as you can possibly play. I told the guys the other day that if their bodies aren't hurting this time of year, they aren't playing hard. If they're not tired emotionally and mentally, they're not locked in. If they're having a laissez-faire attitude, love living on social media and that kind of thing, they're not locked in. This time of the year is when the stars start shining brighter and brighter. It's those guys that have the mental toughness that can do it day in and day out. It only takes one or two bad apples to spoil the bunch. What you hope is that you have a culture where the guys are really going to embrace each other, but then you have people from the outside saying you should be playing more or you need to do this. There's a lot of things that are going on, and it's amazing to me that there are so many people out there who are willing to give advice. That's why I would open my practices to parents or anybody that wants to see it, because if they saw what we see every day in practice, I think they would understand why we make the decisions we make. I'd sit down with anybody who wants to say why isn't this person playing and show them the tape. It's not that hard to do, to be honest with you. Playing hard has got to be something that's not negotiable. The other night, did Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield play as hard as I've seen them play in the past? Absolutely not. I don't know that anybody did. We got a little more energy from John Fulkerson for a little bit, but my question to him would be why has it taken him this long to get to this point. You look at it every day and you realize when you're getting ready to go to practice how hard you're going to have to get after it. It becomes a habit. You would love to be able to walk into practice knowing your guys are going to play hard. Playing hard is doing your job. I think if coaches knew that, this would be a much different job for all of us. We know that's not the case because we are dealing with young people who feel like they have all the time in the world. The window that they're in closes quicker than you think. That's a never-ending thought with coaches is how can we get our guys to play harder, work harder, and get better every day. It's probably the most difficult thing to do in coaching. That's why I say working hard is a talent. That's why I say some guys have it more than others, and some guys have talent but they don't work. It goes back to Kevin Durant saying, 'Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.' That's the truth. If you get a talented player that works really hard, that's a star."
