What Rick Barnes said after No. 6 Tennessee's 91-71 win over Alabama

What head coach Rick Barnes said after No. 6 Tennessee’s 91-71 win over Alabama Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena:

If he’s happier with Tennessee’s defense or offense in that kind of game

“Defense, because, you truly, today, we played against one of obviously the best offensive teams in the country. And Nate (Oats) does a great job. He puts these guys in position. The schemes are great. They spread (you out). They’re really a difficulty team to guard from the time they get their hands on the ball. And obviously on the offensive (end), being happy with the fact that we shared the ball well. I think we had 21 assists on 32 baskets. But defensively, a lot of guys, I’m proud of all those guys defensively. But they can score so many different ways with different people and it takes a team effort. But Jonas (Aidoo) certainly had some terrific plays in there today, Jahmai (Mashack). And again, they’re really, really difficult to guard. But I’m just proud of the effort the guys put into it, both mentally and physically.”

Tennessee limiting Alabama’s Mark Sears, running Alabama players off the 3-point line

“Well, one, (Sears is) playing great basketball. You look at what he’s done, his numbers up at this point. And everything that we do is as a team-oriented defense. But we also got a group of guys that I think that they really do take pride in trying to guard the ball — one-on-one guard their man. But they realize in this league you’re playing against guys when they have space and room to move, it is difficult one-on-one. So I think that’s where they rely on each other to bail them out, do different things that we do. And we have to change ball-screen coverage and everybody’s on the same page or whatever it may be. But (that’s what) it takes against a team like, or a player like Mark, it takes a team effort. It really does.”

Having a player like Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack, knowing you can put him on an opposing team’s leading scorer and he can shut that player down

“Well, one, it’s a blessing because you very seldom have guys that really want to play that hard defensively and they take great pride in it. And I will tell you, whether you’re talking Santi, Zakai, Jahmai. Josiah does it in his own way, Jonas does it in his own way. And I think the improvement that we’ve made over the last couple weeks is Jordan Gainey’s gotten better at it. Freddie’s definitely getting there with it. It’s just a matter of the younger guys. Dalton, he’s gotten better. And I think as we continue to move forward, those guys will continue to get better. Will they catch up to those other guys this year? Probably not, but they’re taking, I think they watch them, they see them in practice, they see the effort they put in every day in practice. And hopefully it rubs off. 

“But you go back and look at the numbers that combined Santi and Zakai today, again, I don’t know what they scored, but I know they were involved in a lot of winning plays and things that they did were taking care of all the assists. But what they do defensively, not only guard their man, but helping their teammates, make fix-it (plays).”

This Tennessee team being able to win games in different ways, offensively or defensively

“You’re going have to be able to do that, (win in) different ways. Different teams are going to do different (things), but we went through that some in the preseason. And again, I go back to our preseason, non-league schedule, a lot of thought went into it. Coach Polinksy did a great job getting us different styles, knowing that we were going to play against some teams that would try to put us in long offensive possessions and shorten the game. So, yeah, you do have to do that. You got to be able to play differently. 

“And make no bones about it, Jordan Gainey was a huge factor in the game. A huge factor. I mean, we knew it was just a matter of time.  I mean, he came in went, what, 4-for-7 from 3, perfect at the line. Took care of the ball, really. And defensively, he’s working at it really hard. But that’s something that we’ve watched him practice. And I do think he went through a couple games there where obviously he was pressing and we kept on him to shoot it and because we watched him in practice every day. But he actually, the other night against Florida, I thought he looked really comfortable and he’s had a couple that went in and out and we just felt, again, from the coaching staff, and I think his teammates told it too, if he could just get one to go down, it would open up for him and for us. Of course it came today because he was definitely a major factor in the game.”

Jonas Aidoo getting two fouls in the first half and Josiah-Jordan James being able to play the five for Tennessee

“Well it goes back to Josiah and Jahmai Mashack. We don’t have a problem playing that way because we know defensively those guys are just going to, they almost relish it, to be honest with you. They like it, they want to show they can guard. And I think with Josiah today, we kept him in coverage a little bit. Normally we switched with him, but when we were playing with the five, we changed the ball screen a little bit. But those two guys again, they played and guarded every position on the court since they’ve been here.  And they have confidence. We have confidence in them. And today I thought, Shack did a great job when we had him actually become the rim runner, getting down there, he created a great drive for Zakai today.  And that was all Jahmai doing his job. And it’s interesting, he loves doing it. And again, he does so much that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet for him. And I mean, again, it seems like every coach in the off season that talks to me about our team, they all say, man, I love Shack. And if you watch it from I think the eyes of the coach, you can’t help but love what he does and how he affects the game. But the same could be said for Jonas and for certainly Zakai, Santi and and Josiah. Those guys, they just make plays.” 

How much Tennessee switching defensively led to Alabama’s turnovers

“The turnovers, again, they play with such terrific speed. I mean, they get down there and I think they’re leading the country in shots under 10 seconds. And if you don’t get back and get your defense set, get that lane closed down— because they’re not, I mean, they’re looking for that early three if they can get it. If not, they’re going to put a lot of pressure on the rim. Very difficult to defend. And when they get into their actions, they run at such a speed. And it’s hard. But, you know, as hard as you try to play defensively and the speed they play with, the switching has to come into play sometime. And I do think a bunch of guys today— Jonas and even Tobe– when they got switched out there a couple times on the guards, they did a pretty good job. But we work on it. You guys watch us practice. We have a package where we do sometimes switch all five, not normally, but something that we do do. And I don’t think those guys are afraid of it.”

Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht scoring 25 points feeling like a quiet night for him

“He has that. But I can say the same thing about Jordan (Gainey). I mean, tonight I thought those were big plays when he hit those shots and I thought they (Alabama) did a good job on Dalton. I did. I thought they had his guys ready to guard him and do some things. We talked about it the other night, talked about it with him. There’s going to be times where he’s going to have to get off of it and let the other guys play. Like the end of the first half. He did a great job, Mark Sears, did a great job one time doing what Jahmai Mashack and Santi (do). They got under him and took the ball from him. And it goes back to knowing who’s guarding you and what you need to do against that particular matchup. But he’s going to get better with all the different defenses that he sees. But one thing he’s doing differently now, he is trying to get out in transition. Guys were looking for him. And he’s also, as you saw the other night, making more of an effort. And to be honest with you, I think he played too much tonight. I thought he got a little fatigued and that’s on me, obviously. But if we can continue to get everybody. And again, I’m proud of Josiah. He hasn’t practiced since our last game. He came down with the flu and missed two days and came in last night and did a little bit on his own, came back this morning, tried to do a little bit. Proud of what he did because he wasn’t feeling well. And again, I think those reps that Jamiah got with that first group paid off big today. And we thank the good Lord that we got a group of guys that are a team and they want to be a team. And I truly believe, they know that we can get better.”

How Tennessee’s staff evaluates high school recruits, how they compete on defense

“That’s a really good question. I think sometimes you’ve got to think about recruiting. You got to, and again, I think I’ve got the best group of assistants in the country and I think they know what we’re looking for. And I think when they go watch a guy, they spend a lot of time watching him from the time he walks on the floor to warm up and how he interacts with the team. And from the beginning we watch them and then certainly watch how they play. And I think you can watch enough games, you can see a competitive side of a player. But when we talk about it, we talk a lot about it, but I think most young people, they want to continue to get better. Like, I’m really proud of Freddie. I think Freddie is continuing to get better and better in practice. And because of that, I think he’s going to be a factor coming down the stretch too. I mean, you can almost tell, I tell our freshmen, we know by the end of January if they’re going to get it or not. And it’s all about mindset. And I told a couple of them the other day, you guys will just determine how well, what we need to do at the end of the year recruiting. But we like these young guys that we got and I’m watching Cam, I’m watching Cade, I’m watching JP and Freddie— they’re all getting better and they’re getting better every day and obviously we think that they’re a big part of our future. But it is just a simple mindset that you’ve got to buy into it. When you go against what you see us do out there, those guys can’t do what they did tonight if they didn’t do it in practice, they can’t. And you guys watch us. They get at it. Some days better than others. But details is, when we’re not as sharp in practice, it gets back to details.”

How he feels about the plus/minus stats in the box score

“You know, it’s interesting. Sometimes I’ll ask the coaches about the analytics, but do I pay a lot of attention to it? I don’t. A couple years ago when everybody got into analytics, Coach Woodruff, our tennis coach asked me one day, he said, ‘what do you think about analytics?’ I said, ‘coach, I’m sure it’s gonna become an even bigger part of the game.’ But I said, ‘let ask you this question. You played against Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and those guys.’ I said, ‘were you ever in a five-set with them and match point?’ And he said, ‘yes.’ I said, ‘well, when Sampras is getting ready to serve it to you, what analytic did you go to?’ And he went, [points to his chest]. Heart. And that’s the analytic that most counts. Again, do I pay a lot of attention to it? I don’t. I’m not even sure I understand some of them that are put out there.

“But the bottom line is it’s effort and how you do that, I don’t know, other than what you see every day in practice. You see players, their competitive spirit. But as the season goes on, like tonight, I mean, there’s no doubt Nate (Oats) used analytics on Jonas (Aidoo). They were doing everything they could to get him to keep from going over his right shoulder and using his left hand. They were pushing him hard, trying to make him go back to his right. We actually told him during the game, you’ve gotta spin back ’cause he can do it, but you know, he’s worked so hard on that left. So I do think that’s where analytics come in. You know, they see how much a guy goes over his shoulder and I’m sure there’s more of ’em where some coaches know that when the guys in this area court, this is what he wants to do. That’s what he wants to do here. As a staff, I do have guys that pay attention to analytics. Me personally, not so much right now.”

What he thought of Dalton Knecht’s defensive effort against Alabama

“I do think he’s trying. Like one time, we got lucky on an out of bounds play. He was just standing there. We took him out real quick and I’m not sure what he was thinking about, but I think that’s my fault ’cause I think he was tired and I saw it. But when he’s out there, he draws so much attention that he can open up the court for guys and do some other things. Do I think we’re going to get him way up there to where the standard (is)? I know this, if we’d had him the entire time, he would. Because he’s got the ability to do it. Again, it goes back to a mindset. He wants to do it. 

“But going back to the question about recruiting, it takes time. Just like we’re talking about the freshmen, you know, in some ways he’s come in with a freshman mentality defensively because last year they played a lot of zone. But just like those younger guys are getting better, I do think he’s made great strides there and he wants to do it. There’s no doubt. All these young guys want to do it. It’s just, it’s hard. I mean, it is a hard thing to do. I mean, you go back to when, you guys were here when Josiah and Santi were here. They struggled as freshmen defensively, but they continued to work and physically — and I will tell you this, what Santi and Josiah and Zakai and Jahmai Mashack, too. You talk about cardio-toughness. When they get tired, they have a great way of fighting through it. They can fight it and they can stay there. That’s the hardest part for young guys. When you hit the wall, can you keep going? And that comes with time. And I think Dalton will continue to learn how to fight it.”

How Tennessee center Jonas Aidoo still scores so many points with his left hand when opponents are trying to force him to his right hand

“WhatJonas has done, he’s become more physical knowing that people are trying to beat him up and pound on him. And I think he’s done a better job of getting low and getting his leverage. And you know, Jonas has a terrific second and third jump. You know, some guys can jump one time and Jonas around the rim can go bang, bang, bang quick. And that’s where his length is a major factor. But some of it too, I think he’s really working hard at trying to score before he gets the ball. 

That’s what he likes. You know, for the longest time when he got here, I kept telling him, you gotta go the other way with the jump hook every now and then. And so I know he’s got it, but honestly he feels more comfortable that way. And think about it, he’s right-handed, but he almost plays like a left-hander. But as time goes on, he’s going to and he knows it. He’ll do it. He’ll use that right side because one, I know he can do it.”

Tennessee having a week off in the middle of January and how they’ll approach it

“It really seems like, because you know, we started conference play, it seems late too, but we gotta get guys healthy. Some of these guys need some rest just from simple fatigue, you know, so that part’s good. And it’s a big week for our young guys. We have gotta get our young guys better because I think all those guys are gonna have to help us at some point in time. What we know is there’s some unknowns that could pop up. But this is a big week for our young guys and we expect these guys who have played a lot of minutes to take care of their bodies and get healthy and that will be the focus of it. And like I said, a big big week for our young guys.”