Rick Barnes says Zakai Zeigler has improved poise this season

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes is really happy with the poise and fight Zakai Zeigler has shown throughout the 2022-23 season. Zeigler is second on the team in scoring with 10.6 points per game and is leading the team in assists and steals.

While his shooting percentages aren’t great, he is finding ways to make himself a winning and effective player.

“I know I overuse the term DNA but it is in his DNA,” Barnes said after a practice. “He just gonna fight with whatever he’s got to get through screens. He’s a high level competitor. He’s going to do whatever he can. Sometimes when he’s not playing well, it hurts him because he wants to fix it right then and right there. That’s where I think he’s gotten better with his poise, knowing that he’s not gonna make every shot. He’s not gonna make every play. Can’t go to the rim when he gets upset and just throw up a contested shot. That’s where he’s getting so much better with his overall game.”

Zakai Zeigler’s poise helped him to double-double

Zakari Zeigler has started the last two games of the season, and has put in some of his best performances this campaign. In his first start against Mississippi State, Zeigler had 24 points on 7-for-14 shooting. In the next game against LSU, he had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Rick Barnes gave tons of credit to Ziegler and Santiago Vescovi for their performance in that game, which Tennessee won by 21 points.

“But he and Santi again, Saturday, just did a terrific job,” Barnes said.