Rick Barnes on Josiah-Jordan James: 'It's killing him that he can't get out there'

Josiah-Jordan James is doing everything he can to get his sore left knee healthy. But Tennessee’s senior wing, who has missed five of the first 10 games of the new season with the ongoing pain, just can’t get it right.

“It’s important for him to get there more than anything,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Monday night on Vol Calls. “If you know Josiah, it’s killing him that he can’t get out there. He wants to be 100 percent, his teammates do. We all feel for him because we know how hard he works at it.”

James, who had his left knee scoped in the spring and had three injections done in October, missed Tennessee’s 56-53 win over Maryland on Sunday at Barclays Center in New York.

He was shut down during the preseason, played the first three games of the regular season, then missed the next four. He returned in Tennessee’s 94-40 win over Alcorn State on December 5, then played 17 minutes off the bench against Eastern Kentucky last week.

“Every time that he’s played,” Barnes said, “it’s just pain that he has to deal with. We just want to get it right. He wants to get it right.”

The sixth-ranked Vols (9-1), winners of eight straight games, don’t have a midweek game this week with finals taking place on campus. They’ll play at No. 9 Arizona (8-1) on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) in the first true road game of the season.

Josiah-Jordan James has missed five of first 10 games this season

James has struggled to find his shot in his return, scoring three points over the two games against Alcorn and Eastern Kentucky, going 1-for-12 from the field and 0-for-8 from the 3-point line. When he was sidelined with the knee issue last month, he was Tennessee’s leading scorer (13.7 points per game) and rebounder (6.0).

“It’s hard,” Barnes said. “The hard part on that is just what Santi (Vescovi) went through. It’s hard to go a week and not shoot the basketball.”

Vescovi missed the games against Alcorn and Eastern Kentucky after spraining his left, shooting shoulder against McNeese State on November 30. 

He played 37 minutes against Maryland, scoring seven points while going 2-for-11 from the field and 1-for-9 from the 3-point line. He added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals despite the shooting woes. 

“If you go back and watch the game, the way Santi affects the game, you think about it,” Barnes said. “The way he screens for his teammates, he gets them open all the time because the guy guarding him absolutely doesn’t want to give him any daylight. 

“Even though the fact that he had a tough day shooting the ball, they’re still not going to leave him because they know he has the ability to put the dagger in at any point in time. 

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee at No. 9 Arizona, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

“Santi, Zakai (Zeigler), even Tyreke (Key),” Barnes added, “they’re all getting to the point where even if they’re not hitting shots, they’re doing things to help win games.”

Tennessee has won eight straight games despite not having Vescovi and James on the floor at the same time since November 16, in the win over Florida Gulf Coast. Sophomore center Jonas Aidoo missed the Maryland game Sunday with flu-like symptoms, with freshman power forward Tobe Awaka filling the void with career-highs in minutes (17), points (7) and rebounds (8).

“What excites me about watching the film,” Barnes said on Vol Calls, “is is when we ever get it all together, we have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team. You think about it, we beat Kansas with 24 turnovers. We played (Maryland), what did we shoot, 29 or 30 percent? But it’s a credit to the effort our guys are playing with.”