University of Tennessee Athletics
Rick Barnes Press Conference (12.1.15)
December 01, 2015 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes addressed the media for nearly 20 minutes on Tuesday at the Ray & Lucy Hand Digital Studio. Topics ranged from the Vols' most recent results to how his team will handle their 13-day layoff to his own coaching philosophies in regards to administering playing time and criticism.
(On the team's two losses at the Barclays Center Classic last weekend)
"Well one, we played against some teams (in George Washington and Nebraska) that had more size. And I think we played against one team in particular, in GW, that does a great job of really working that high-percentage area in the lane. That's who they are, that's what they do, that's their identity. (Secondly), I didn't think we played very well, obviously, in the Nebraska game. It was a tough turnaround, there's no question about it. We were out of the building and back in it within 10 hours. I don't know that I've ever been a part of anything like that, but it is what it is. The fact is, we just didn't defend and rebound the way you want to because we were getting blown by. We didn't guard the ball, and it was breaking down our defense and they were getting rotation from our post players. And then we were getting back-side rebounded. It all starts with the fact that we just got broken down on the ball. We didn't guard the ball very well at all."
(On how he thinks the team will respond to its first back-to-back losses)
"These guys will respond. We've got a good group of guys. I think we are still learning about these guys. They're learning about themselves, too. You go into a game like the Nebraska game, when you look out there and you see that the guys you're counting on aren't competing as hard as you want them to... then you make a decision during the game that if they're not going to compete, then we're going to give these other guys a chance to see what they can do. And you might not do that if it's in a close game where you feel like, `We've still got a chance right here.' But the great thing about the Nebraska game was the way that Admiral (Schofield) and Kyle (Alexander) responded. Those guys came in, and they might not have gotten that chance if we were in a closer game. But the fact is... there's a long way to go. There are a lot of teams this time of year that are still trying to find their identity, and we're one of them. We don't have it yet. We don't need the identity we need--definitely on the defensive end. As a coaching staff, we're learning that we can count on more guys then we probably thought we could at the beginning of the year."
(On the response from the seniors who played fewer minutes than normal during the Nebraska game)
"That's what they have to understand. You hate to say it, but if you're going to lose, you're going to lose with young guys. That's the bottom line. And I want to see our senior class be really successful, but I don't want them to think they can have a sense of entitlement. Everybody has got to earn their minutes--everybody. And we've got to be a more cohesive offensive team. We can't have guys breaking out of our offense and doing things (on their own). When you go back and look, when we go into those (offensive) droughts, that's exactly what happens. We just totally stop doing anything that we practice. And it's normally the older guys making that happen. Again, I want to see us win. I want to see our seniors have a great finish. And I think we have a chance to have a really good basketball team. But we're not until we understand exactly who we are and how we have to play as a team. And we have to be a great 'team.' We can't be a group of individual guys who think they can go get things done by themselves. We have to be a great 'team.' And that means everybody playing their role the best they can play it. Roles can change throughout the year, they really can. They're already starting to change for some guys. But the fact is, every player has got to earn the right to be on that court."
(On the importance of senior Armani Moore being a scorer if the team is going to be successful)
"Armani has to realize now that he is a person that teams gameplan for. I don't know that he has ever been gameplanned for in his life. So you know what that means? You're going to have to adjust, because teams are going to play certain ways on you now. You guys would know better than me--I don't know if (Armani) has ever been double-teamed in his life. He's going to have to learn to play with people double-teaming him. He's going to have to learn to get rid of the ball quicker in certain situations. I think that's a new role for both him and Kevin (Punter Jr.). They're the two guys, when we go into a game--I can promise you--that teams are (going to focus on). And do you know what teams are doing to both of them? They're making them play defense. That's what they're doing. (Nebraska) made a conscientious effort to go after KP, driving him every chance they got. They did the same thing with Armani, wanting to put fouls on them. You guys have watched it. It changes the flow. That's why it's important that our bench develops. We're only going to be able to go as far as our bench can go. We've got to get better and more consistent with (our bench). There are good coaches. We haven't played against a team yet that hasn't been well coached and hasn't had a good scheme. And it's real simple that Armani is going through something he's never gone through, and that is that he is a target of the other team. And it's hard to score 20 points a night when the other team is gameplanning for you. It's hard to do a lot of things when you're no longer being guarded by one person. You're being guarded by a team. That's an area where both he and KP will get better as time goes on."
(On his honesty and openness when talking with the media about players)
"I always tell (my players) that I'm never going to say anything about them (to the media) that I wouldn't say if they were standing here right now. I'm never going to go into a recruit's home and say something to a recruit that I wouldn't say here if my team were standing here right now. I don't believe in promising people things. They have to understand that they have a responsibility, and I think part of it today is dealing with the media. I've always believed that I want people to be honest with me; I want you all to be fair and honest with me. You can't be fair and honest with me if I'm not fair and honest with you. And I think (players) should want the same thing. What we're doing is not the most important thing in the world. You're asking athletic questions about basketball. I've always believed you have to have real truth tellers in your life. I don't think it's hard to look at a basketball game and see who's playing hard and who's not... to see who's got a good attitude and who does not. I think it's pretty easy to figure out I can come up here and make it sound like everything is perfect, but I'm just going to tell you the truth. If you don't want the truth, don't come. I think (my players) know that I'm going to tell the truth because I told them that. I told them I would never embarrass them. I'm not going to say anything about them that's not true. I make mistakes. There's not a game that I coach that I don't look back and think that I could have done something different and something better or I wish I could have helped them more. I wish I could have done this, I wish I could have done that. So when you evaluate a game, you're not just evaluating them, you're evaluating yourself and your coaching staff."
(On areas of emphasis at practice during the team's 13-day layoff)
"We have to get better defensively. We have to get better at everything, don't get me wrong. We have to stop bogging down for long periods of time when we change lineups. Our flow doesn't maintain what we want. We may get into a set, which we don't do consistently, but the fact is that we have to be able to guard the ball. If we don't, we'll get out-rebounded. We can't afford to give up possession. We've done a lot of switching, but that is not what has hurt us. What has hurt us is the fact that we haven't stayed in front of the basketball."
(On his philosophy when it comes to determining which players receive playing time)
"I can remember back in 2000, (my Texas team was) playing Duke in Madison Square Garden, and they were ranked and we were ranked. We were supposed to be really good. We had a group of seniors at the time who had one thought in mind, and that was to audition for a position in the NBA. Our chemistry wasn't good, but we go up there and there was a great crowd in the building. You know, everyone calls The Meadowlands and the Garden `Cameron North' because there are so many people up there that graduate from Duke. We were down 20 points I think early, and I decided that those guys aren't going to compete and execute the way that we needed them to. We put on the floor three guys that ended up being the backbone of our team that went to the Final Four (in 2003), as freshmen. I remember walking out of the building that day, and Royal Ivey's father came up to me and said `I didn't know my son was that good.' I said I didn't either. From that point on, he and Brandon Mouton and Brian Boddicker were huge parts of it, because when you're building a culture and really trying to build a program, you can't be afraid to lose. Players watch everything you do. I want them to know that I'm going to be brutally honest with them. We say as a staff that we need them to play hard, and if you don't play hard, then we have to back it up. I think the biggest thing that just erodes teams is a sense of entitlement with guys who think they are going to play, regardless. I don't think we have that here, but I can tell you that I'm not going to ever let it fester to do that. So if it means taking one step backward to move two forward, you have to do that."
(On Tennessee's 3-point field-goal defense)
"We don't want to let people have what we call one-pass threes. We want to run people off the line when we're in those close-out situations. We want to try to get people to play off of the college three line and start the offense outside the NBA three line. With that said, we are doing that but still I think in our players' minds, they think that gives them a license where they don't have to stand in front of the ball. It can't be that way. We have to try and get out there get them off the line, or even in a situation where we have to run them off the line, you have to get back in and make a play. We're just not getting our bodies in the right position to guard the drive. We played against a team in GW that does a great job of playing inside of 15 feet, and we knew that going in."
(On practicing and playing more zone during the team's 13-day layoff)
"Our big emphasis has to be--there are a lot of big emphases--but one of them has to be our defense. We've got to get our zones right, where we are comfortable with them. Everyone has got to be. In each one of those situations, it was normally one player that wasn't in the right position. We've got to get better ... we're not going to be able to line up and play man every night--we're not. Some of it has to do with our size and some of it doesn't, but the fact is, these next seven, eight days, we've got to get our defense right and some of that is obviously on the zone side of it."
(On if players are more sensitive to criticism these days)
"I don't think players want to be demeaned. I think players aren't afraid to be criticized, whether you call it criticism or coaching, whichever way you want to do it. I think it's the way your present it. The way you say it speaks volumes. I'm ashamed of the fact that years ago, I don't think I respected players enough in the way I delivered my message to them. I don't think you've got to curse at players at all. I think you pretty much have the idea, `how would I want my son coached?' I can tell you, what I would want somebody to do with my son would be to hold him accountable, to make him earn everything that he gets, to teach him that life's not always going to be easy. You've got to handle the good and the bad, because one day when this is all done--and this is a little bit of a fairy tale world we're living in here in terms of athletics--because there is so much more going on in the world that is so much more important than this. Can they handle that? I know that many of my core values were learned from the coaches I was around. I think coaches will always be safe if they just say, `how would I want my son or my daughter coached? How would I want them treated?' And I think that we all--I would imagine many of you guys have kids--and you want your children to understand hard work. You want them to understand accountability. You want to understand when you're part of a team, and you're in a team sport, you want them to understand when things aren't going well, how do you handle it? Too many times I think (what happens)--when you're talking about recruiting--is what I said earlier. I think the reason so many kids transfer... they're told things that absolutely are not true. It's a lie from the beginning. They come in and they're disappointed, because they were told this, this, this, this and this. I've said it before, I've never ever told a kid we were recruiting that he was going to come in and start. I've always said this, too: the best players I've ever recruited, they never ask that question. They know they're going to play. So I think it gets back to honesty and respect and how would you want to be treated? And how would you want your kids to be treated? I think being honest and forthright, I think that's a great trait to teach people, I really do."
(On if true freshman forward Admiral Schofield surprised him last weekend with his 12-point game against Nebraska)
"I wish you all knew how hard (Admiral) worked. He's improved more than any player since we've been here. He's kind of where he had to get his body in shape. He's around more. You talk about a guy that cares... he really cares. What you want to see as a coach is just that. You start asking guys to do things, (and you want to see) which guys really change. I'm looking at Detrick Mostella. He's really trying, harder than he's ever tried in his life. He's has a lot to learn, but he's trying really hard. Admiral is trying really hard. Kyle (Alexander) is trying really hard, Ray (Kasongo) has tried harder the last couple of weeks. I think guys are still learning how to play. But if I'm a player and I'm trying to do what the coach asks me to do, and I'm not playing, tell me why. Are you going to give me a chance? And that goes back to sometimes you've just got to give guys a chance, and will they surprise you? I'm not surprised (Admiral) made threes because we've told him, if he takes his time and he's not looking forward, if he'll just let it come to him, he'll make them, because he's a good shooter. I thought he did that. And I was expecting him, after he made a couple, to shot a quick one because he thought he had it going on, but he didn't. If you go back (and watch the film), he actually turned down two wide-open shots earlier. I actually said that to him one day. Before you go in the game, be so wide open that the next time you get the ball you're like, `if he's not going to guard me this time I'm going to take my time and shoot it.' And he did that twice. He turned down two shots where he would of shot it in the past, and he waited and he shot with rhythm and he made two of them. But I can tell you he won't be left that wide open in the next couple games, because once you make a couple shots like that, it changes the whole perception of how people are going to play you."
