ESPN analyst explains why this Tennessee basketball team can be different
ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg spent Monday with the Tennessee basketball program. He watched practice at Pratt Pavilion, he sat in on a film session and, by the end of the day, he saw enough to believe these Vols can be different.
The typical traits of a Rick Barnes team will be there. Tennessee will play its usual brand of suffocatingly physical defense.
But this team, according to Greenberg, will look different on the other end of the floor.
“Really impressed with this Tennessee team, for a number of reasons,” Greenberg said in a video posted on social media. “They’re going to defend, going to be physical, hard to score against. But this team is better offensively.”
Tennessee, while going 25-11 with a trip to the Sweet Sixteen last season, finished No. 1 in KenPom.com’s adjusted defensive efficiency ranking. The Vols were ranked just 64th overall in adjusted offensive efficiency, though.
The added offensive help in 2023-24 could come from the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Barnes and his staff added wing Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado) and guard Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) out of the NCAA Transfer Portal and signed freshman forward JP Estrella, freshman wing Cameron Carr and freshman forward Cade Phillips.
‘You know they’re going to defend … this team is pretty good offensively’
“A couple guys I look forward to watching,” Greenberg said, “Dalton Knecht, a big, big-time shot-maker with a floor game. Versatile. Can play the three and can play four. (Jordan) Gainey, another shot-maker.”
The Vols return both Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James for their fifth seasons, returning alongside sophomore forward Tobe Awaka, junior forward Jonas Aidoo, junior point guard Zakai Zeigler and junior wing Jahmai Mashack.
“Zakai Zeigler practiced some, especially in their full-court four-on-four,” Greenberg said. “The energy in practice changes when he’s on the floor. Really, really impressive.”
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Tennessee is widely considered a top-ten team in the preseason rankings. The Vols are No. 5 in Bart Torvik’s T-Rank projections, No. 6 in Chris Dortch’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, No. 8 in ESPN’s Way Too Early Top 25 and No. 9 in The Field of 68’s “The Almanac.”
Up Next: Tennessee at Michigan State, October 29, 3:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
Joe Lunardi has Tennessee as a No. 2 seed in his latest Bracketology update and, according to recent numbers from FanDuel, the Vols have the seventh best odds to win a national championship.
Kansas is the current favorite at +1000, coming in ahead of Duke (+1200), Purdue (+1400), Michigan State (+1400), Kentucky (+1600) and UConn (+1800). Arizona and Marquette are just behind the Tennessee, Houston and Creighton at +2500.
Tennessee, which played three exhibition games in Italy in August, will unofficially start the season with a charity exhibition game at Michigan State on October 29, with money going to Maui wildfire relief. The Vols start the season on November 6 against Tennessee Tech at Thompson-Boling Arena and play at Wisconsin on November 10.
“The pace at which they’re playing, the flow with which they’re playing, the concepts that they’re playing off of, that’s the thing that was most impressive to me with this Tennessee team,” Greenberg said.
“They’re going right from transition, exploding up the floor with great speed, into offensive execution, concepts, ball reversal and quick-attack mode. You know they’re going to defend. This Tennessee team is pretty good offensively.”
