Vol Hoops Report: Oct. 21

Oct. 21, 2011

Sound Bites

Head Coach Cuonzo Martin

» (On his defensive scheme)

"Eeverybody always talks about the execution of your offense. For us, we have to be able to execute on defense and carry out certain assignments. There are certain rotations for our big guys and certain rotations for our perimeter guys. So when you talk about the intricacies of what we're trying to do defensively, it means that guys need to know where they're supposed to be at all times."

» (On the Vols' two exhibition games)

"The most important thing right now is to be ready for that first (regular season) game Nov. 11. Obviously we need to execute what we're trying to do in our exhibition games. It's great we have those exhibition games because you can make those mistakes to see where guys need to be. For the exhibition games, we'll probably have an 11- or 12-man rotation. But come (the regular season) we'll want to shorten that up to be ready to go."

Junior guard Skylar McBee

» (On mental aspects of a Cuonzo Martin practice)

"Everyday he is going to make you give 110 percent, and these practices are a tough thing to go through. When your mind gets tired, your body gets tired, too. But he does a good job of giving us motivation to push through, knowing that it is going to help us in the long run. Even though it is mentally and physically tiring, I think we all know it's going to pay off.

"We all help each other push through it. I even see some of the younger guys trying to encourage some of the older guys from time to time. We're all one unit. Anytime you see a teammate who is mentally fatigued, it's good to give them those words of encouragement. I think everyone has been doing a good job of that."

Freshman guard Quinton Chievous

» (On Coach Williams' harness drill)

"It's not easy, but we've been doing similar drills since individual workouts. So it wasn't totally new. A lot of times it depends on what manager you get. If you get a big manager who weighs more, it's harder than if you get a little manager. When times are hard, you just have to push. When you're breathing hard, you have to fight through the drill, so I see the benefit to it."

"ASK A VOL"

» Watch assistant coach Tracy Webster answer a question from Vol fan @ageeezy in today's Twitter "Ask A Vol."

»Send your questions for a player to @Vol_Hoops and you might be selected to have your question answered.

The Tennessee basketball team spent three spirited hours practicing in Pratt Pavilion Friday. With the first exhibition game less than two weeks away (vs. Carson-Newman, Nov. 3) junior forward Kenny Hall is pleased with the team's progress under first-year head coach Cuonzo Martin.

"We've progressed a lot," the Stone Mountain, Ga., native said. "As far as team chemistry and working together, we've gotten better week by week. We've also really been getting to know each other--everyone's tendencies on the court. That helps offensively finding open players and knowing where certain guys want the ball. And defensively, we go hard... all-out all the time."

Assistant coach Kent Williams spent a portion of practice working on harness drills with Tennessee's backcourt players. The drill requires the players to don harnesses with straps on the back. Student managers then apply body-weight resistance by pulling on the straps as the players dribble down the court or work on balance in game situations.

The Vols also spent significant time Friday working on offensive spacing, specifically looking to improve on the ability to move without the ball, set effective screens and get open within the framework of Martin's system.

Calling Stu Aberdeen
Assistant coach Jon Harris channeled his inner Stu Aberdeen during Friday's practice, breaking out a broom to poke, prod, block and bully UT's big men.

Aberdeen, standing at 5-feet 2-inches tall during his tenure as a UT assistant under Ray Mears, needed a broom to swat away Vol legend Tom Boerwinkle's shots with a broomstick. For the 6-7 Harris however, his stature was not the reason for the broom. It's simply a good, time-tested teaching tool.

"It prepares guys to go against length," Harris said. "It helps you learn how to score over taller players--how to use their shot fakes, step-throughs, and learning how to get better shots off. We get them to hustle after their shots. Even if their shot gets blocked, we make them hustle after the rebound and make another move to score. It teaches good second effort."

For junior forward Kenny Hall, the broom drill was helpful... once he got over the initial shock.

"It kind of laughed when I first saw the broom. It showed us we have to change our technique on our moves down low, altering our hook shots, things like that. He gave us different moves to work on--it's all in technique."

For more on Aberdeen's broom work, read The Broom that drafted Boerwinkle.

Price Observes Practice
Former Tennessee guard Jay Price (1989-92) observed practice Friday. The Chattanooga, Tenn., native is now the head coach of both the men's and women's basketball teams at Chattanooga State.

"I like this practice--things are very intense and the kids seem to be very focused and seem to be very disciplined," Price said. "I know a lot of these guys are returning from last year and they seem to already have bought into Coach Martin's system. The way he does things is very structured and I really like it.

"Coach Martin and I had some conversations over the phone after he first got the job. Today is the first time I actually had a chance to meet him in person. And I'm impressed. I'm impressed with his demeanor and how he handles former players and really the way he's done everything since he got here."

Price played under former Vols head coach Wade Houston, and averaged 17.2 minutes per game during his Big Orange career.

Fellow UT graduate Michael Hubert--who received his degree in Psychology in May and is now enrolled in graduate course work--also watched practice. Hubert was a guard from 2009-11 and was a member of Tennessee's 2010 Elite Eight team.

Preseason Video Shoot
The Vols participated in a unique video shoot Wednesday for pregame intros. UT's athletic broadcasting staff employed the use of a special camera capable of shooting 500 frames per second. Sophomore guard Jordan McRae was one of a handful of Vols whose skills were on display for the slow-motion camera.

"It was pretty cool how the cameras could shoot everything so slow," the Midway, Ga., native said. "I'm glad I was able to do it. It was a really fun experience and it's something that most college players don't get to do. This video shoot was something that they are probably doing at the next level."

"My favorite part was actually watching Renaldo do it. When it was slowed down, you could see how high he was flying off the ground and it was crazy to watch it at that speed."

Click here for a photo gallery from Wednesday's video shoot

adidas Product Testing
For the past several weeks, select number of Vols have been wearing special adidas prototype basketball shoes that are still in the development stages for public release. Tennessee is one a handful of programs nationwide that works closely with adidas to provide feedback on high-performance products.

"We feel fortunate to be able to test these prototypes," Tennessee director of basketball operations Houston Fancher said. "adidas works to stay on the cutting edge in terms of product development, and we're glad to be able to help in this testing practice.

"Our players have an opportunity to wear the next generation of adidas shoes before they hit the market."

After a one-month testing period, Fancher returns the prototypes, along with in-depth evaluation surveys completed by the players.