Rick Barnes on Tennessee's defensive mentality: 'We have to have it'

Zakai Zeigler smiled, almost as if he couldn’t believe the question was being asked. But it was on Tuesday afternoon before Tennessee practiced at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Is it fair to say this team likes to play defense?

“Oh, definitely,” Tennessee’s fiery sophomore point guard said, “because if we didn’t a lot of us would not be out there.”

“I do think this team definitely loves playing defense,” Zeigler continued, adding his own clarification. “I wouldn’t say like, I would say love.”

Wednesday night was just another example of it. 

In No. 13 Tennessee’s 76-40 win over McNeese State, the Vols scored 30 points off of 24 forced turnovers and held the Cowboys to just 28.6-percent shooting from the field, the lowest number of the season so far. 

McNeese State went just 2-for-17 from the 3-point line and had just four assists on its 16 field goals. 

For the fifth time over the first seven games of the season, Tennessee held its opponent to 50 or fewer points, dropping the average to just 53.1 points allowed per game.

Kansas, ranked No. 3 last week, scored just 54 in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game against this Tennessee defense, the lowest offensive output by the Jayhawks since 2014. USC needed overtime to get to 66 against the Vols. Butler scored only 45 in the tournament’s first round.

There was no let up against an inferior opponent on Wednesday, because head coach Rick Barnes is never going to let up.

“Tonight,” Barnes said, “regardless of what the score was, we said if you don’t do your job (defensively) you’re coming out of the game. Whether it was a missed free-throw blockout, you didn’t rebound the ball, whatever it may be. Blow-by. And it wasn’t a lot. 

“We’re just trying to get this team to totally understand their roles. It’s a defensive mentality. We have to have it.”

Vols are No. 1 in KenPom.com’s adjusted defensive efficiency

Right now Tennessee (6-1) has it better than any other team in the country. Or any team over the last two decades. 

The Vols are No. 1 in KenPom.com‘s adjusted defensive efficiency — points allowed per 100 possessions — at 83.0. It’s the lowest number produced in the category in the analytic site’s history, dating back to 2002. The 2019 Texas Tech team holds the best single-season number, at 84.1.

Tennessee was fifth in defensive efficiency two seasons ago, at 88.1. The Vols were third last season, at 86.4.

Tennessee is 34th in adjusted offensive efficiency, at 110.4. The Vols had 21 assists on 23 field goals on Wednesday, but struggled to score in the first half against the McNeese State zone, shooting 34.6 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from the 3-point line and even missing foul shots, going 9-for-18.

Barnes said it wasn’t as much a struggle to score as it was a decision-making problem on the offensive end. The same should never be said on the defensive end. 

“You should never have an off night defensively,” Barnes said. “Ever. That’s just mental toughness and paying attention to a scouting report coming in. (It’s) your mental mindset and makeup before the game.

“And I think it is critical how you think from the time you start your prep until the time we have our walkthrough.”

Five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips continued his progression on the offensive end Wednesday, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds to go with four assists. He had a pair of steals, too.

Barnes had a defensive possession running through his mind — one second of one defensive possession, actually — when asked about Phillips during his postgame press conference.

“We would’ve had a five-second count,” Barnes said, “if he would’ve played hard for one (more) second. That’s where he’s got to continue to grow and understand that … he can’t be the guy that they can bail out to. But he’ll learn that.”

“He holds everybody to that high standard on the defensive end,” Phillips said.

Sophomore center Jonas Aidoo scored seven points, had six rebounds and blocked five shots as the anchor at the back of the defense, protecting the rim.

The progress he’s showing now, though, came after a year of eye-opening study on the defensive end. He said he first noticed it his first two weeks with the Vols.

“(Barnes) was just stressing defense a lot,” Aidoo said. “I was confused and everything because back in high school (I) didn’t really know coverages and we never really got into the details of defense but here they break down everything on defense.”

Up Next: No. 13 Tennessee vs. Alcorn State, Sunday, 6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

Offensive rebounds was a number Barnes was ready to break down Wednesday night. McNeese State had 18 of them. That’s 18 indictments on his team’s defense. 

“I could tell you 18 offensive rebounds means there were 18 possessions where we didn’t finish it,” Barnes said. “So we’ve got to obviously clean that up.”

It’s been a much cleaner product as a whole since the 78-66 loss to Colorado in Nashville on November 13. That’s when the Vols gave up 46 points in the second half alone, allowing their opponent to shoot 53.5 percent from the field.

Tennessee shot just 25.4 percent from the field in the loss, going 10-for-37 from the 3-point line.

“We all know, there’s some nights when you can’t make shots,” Barnes said. “That’s just the way it is. Some teams I’ve had just can’t make shots and they struggle. But you can always impact the game (defensively). You always can by doing your job, the details, creating something.”

You’ll do your job, as Zeigler pointed out himself, or you won’t be out there.

“There are certain things that are non-negotiables,” Barnes said. “There really are. If they don’t do certain things, they know they’re coming out of the game.”