Tennessee Basketball assistant coach Rod Clark talks summer progress for new-look Vols

Tennessee Basketball assistant coach Rod Clark met with reporters Tuesday afternoon in Knoxville to discuss the progress made by the new-look Vols so far this offseason, with the addition of transfers Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic Jr., Felix Okpara and Darlinstone Dubar:

What stands out about this Tennessee Basketball team at this point

“I think that we are faster, which we played pretty fast last year. We have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball, spread the floor. A lot of guys, or I (would) say some more guys that make decisions off the bounce. I would say probably a couple more physical drivers, I would say. Got a lot of guys that can make plays with the ball in their hands as far as dribbling, passing and shooting at a high level. So it’s a different dynamic. Something different than we’ve had here in the past. Some guys that change us a lot offensively, and defensively with our length. Because where we’re not as tall and beefy as we’ve been in the past, I would say we’re longer, lankier and athletic. So we got a lot of guys that are really good and give us different dimensions. We haven’t had here.”

What North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier brings to the table for Tennessee

“Chaz is a really good player that has no clue how good he is which is probably a good thing for us to try to kind of tap into the potential that he does have. I think that Chaz, he comes from a school that he had a really good coach and Coach Driscoll that helped him with his mind offensively. Helped him play with him at a really good pace. And he understands offensive concepts pretty well. So he’s a skilled basketball player that obviously as everybody knows, he really shoots the ball. But the thing that we’re trying to help him show kind of people and help him prove to us every day is how much more he can do than shoot the ball. He has really good, like I said, pace and feel in ball screens. He’s a really, really good passer. Something that I could see on film, we saw, but you don’t know until you’re in the gym with him every day. And he’s a really good kid, really good guy. He’s a great teammate. He’s almost two nice of a guy at times, which his teammates have gotten at him about it a few times and trying to get him that extra edge. But he’s a really, really good player. But more importantly, he was a good fit for our program. As far as a person.”

Meshing Tennessee’s veteran portal players with returning players

“I don’t think it’s changed our process much. If you ask coach, I think he could say the same thing, expectations are just what they are. We spent the first few practices of the summer, I think kind of going through baby steps and more so teaching, talking guys through, helping guys understand our why and why we do things and why we want to do them at this pace and this speed. But now we’ve kind of like knocked the train wheels off of where we’re going and it’s kind of now, I think coaches is getting guys used to, I think the factor of the durability. How hard we go for. How long we go helping them understand how hard it is playing in the SEC, getting guys playing up-and-down with each other so they’re understanding I would say the pacing in which we have to play at night in and night out and kind of trying to simulate that in practice, which we’re doing a pretty decent job at I think.”

How useful Dalton Knecht’s story was for Tennessee in recruiting

“Oh, it was great. I think it showed that Coach Barnes obviously has, he’s coached a lot of really good players in his career, here in our program. We’ve always been big on development and that was a guy that no one really knew much about a year ago or around this time a year ago. Into a guy that everybody in the world knows now because he plays with the Los Angeles Lakers and the success he had. And it was a fun year. It was obviously great to be a part of that process and us as a staff kind of and as a team, as a program be around him and see him walk across the stage on draft night. But I would say in recruiting, obviously it’s been great. Every kid that can shoot the ball and is 6-foot-7 thinks that they can come here and play that way, which it’s not that easy. But it is definitely, we reap some benefits from it for sure.”

What it’s been like watching Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler and transfer center Felix Okpara play together

“If I’m being completely honest, watching them play together, you would think they played together for years. I think that they’re probably the perfect compliment to each other. And I think we said that as a staff when we first got Felix that he was gonna be a welcome addition here because of his vertical ability and going up and catching lobs, and Zakai being a guy that’s grown that part of his game as he’s been in college. And so it’s kind of like a safety valve for him. Anytime, it was like yesterday in practice there was a switch that happened late in practice where Zakai had a big switch onto him and Felix had a guard switch, they were on offense and Zakai, it was late in the shot clock, he kind of just threw the ball up at the rim and Felix just jumped up and got it and just scored it over the top. And I told Zakai like, great. That’s what you should do. That was a great job. He was like, I didn’t even know what he was, I just kind of threw the ball up. But I think that’s the benefit of having somebody like Felix and that’s the kind of dynamic that he changes with us is just someone that’s so talented vertically, but also a guy that plays with a lot of physicality and aggression down in the paint. I think he has another dimension to us that it’s kind of similar to what we’ve had in the past, but it’s a little bit more pop to it, I would say.”

How Tennessee sophomore wing Cam Carr has become a NBA Draft prospect without playing much last season

“I don’t think Cam necessarily just completely locks in on the whole lottery pick thing. I think it’s kind of interesting people are saying he’s a lottery pick and they haven’t seen him. But I think that that contributes to his body, his physicals. I think people obviously saw him at Pro Day last year. He had a really good outing and Cam works really hard on his game and has a chance to play at the next level. And I think for him it’s trying to create a part for him. It’s not a matter of if he will, it’s kind of when? And I think it goes with his development pattern. This summer, he’s worked extremely hard. He’s been in the gym a ton, he’s gotten a lot better. He has gotten his body probably bigger, stronger, more aggressive. He’s gotten even more athletic, which is kind of hard to do when you’re a guy like him and is so springy and bouncy anyway, but he’s gotten better man. He’s adjusted to the college game. He’s taken coach’s coaching in stride and has grown from that as well. So we’re looking forward to him taking a step forward this year for sure. And just honestly just continuing to work and build off of the success he had last year in the small increments and turning into big usage for him.”

What the points of emphasis are for Cam Carr’s development

“I think starting off with Cam is pushing himself to be the best defender on the floor. I think coach talks about it with Cam all the time, I talk about it, our staff. We all kind of get at him about he, because of his tools and his physical gifts, he can be the best defender on the floor every time he steps on the floor. He’s so athletic, he can block shots. He’s great in passing lanes because of his length. He’s quick twitch. He actually can stay in front of the ball. He’s a really smart basketball player with a pretty good feel. So you like to push him on that end to be great because it adds to his aggression on the offensive end where things come very natural for him on that end of the floor and he can get his shot off whenever he wants to because like I said, his size and his length, his quick trigger. He gets to the rim, he can finish over the top. Just a really good basketball player, man. And he’s complete but it’s him growing his understanding of the game, understanding for his teammates and I think as long as he continues to get better at that, he’ll be fine.”

Tennessee wing and Hofstra transfer Darlinstone Dubar

“He’s developing well. I think that for him it was coming in and figuring out exactly where he wanted to play in our offense position wise. He’s done that pretty well. Yesterday it was good because I think his attitude and approach is really good for us. He’s straight arrow, gets to work. You guys talk to him, he doesn’t say much, you know what I mean? You can get him to talk and smile but off his first impression he just kind of looks like a guy that isn’t about too much. I’m sure you guys saw the interview you had with Vol Hoops. It was really dry. But that’s kind of him in a funny way. But you know, like yesterday we had a time in practice where coach challenged him and he probably dominated practice from then on. So he shows a really strong competitive nature that he has. And I think a winning formula that kind of comes from his pedigree that he’s already brought with him that it’s definitely going to be welcome here.”

Watching Dalton Knecht in the NBA Summer League

“He’s not at Tennessee anymore playing defense. So he’s got to have his teammates help him a little bit more or maybe do some things on his end. But I actually talked to him a couple nights ago just getting his feel for the NBA game. I thought he performed really well. I think sometimes when people watch Summer League, they want guys to score 40, just completely dominate every single game. Where with him he had some games where he was extremely dominant and he showed his shot making ability and his ability to make plays defensively and make guys better. I think that the thing that I’m most proud of watching him in the summer league is him showing his ability to facilitate, pass the ball. He’s done that at a high level where here you saw it in spurts, but I mean a guy was averaging 25 in league play so it was kind of a little dude’s job to kind of pass everybody right. But he’s able to show that  and show different parts of his game. (Lakers coach) JJ Reddick has talked to coach a few times and he’s been super complimentary of Dalton. Loves him. He’s been watching film with him, putting extra time in with him. So I think the thing that the Lakers will love most is the willingness to work and be better.”

Charlotte transfer Igor Milicic Jr

“Igor is different. When I talk about the guys that have changed the dynamic of our team, he’s probably one of the main guys that you think about. Since coach has been here, I’m sure you guys have watched Tennessee basketball when he had a guy play for four (spot), that is 6-foot-10. Can dribble, pass and shoot. And when I say shoot, I mean could possibly shoot 38-plus from three, right? He hasn’t had that, coach be first one to say he’s never had anything like that. Things he can do with the ball. Coach had him run point for a little bit yesterday in practice actually and he looked good. We’ve tried some different things with him and he’s met the challenge. He’s really competitive. He plays really hard. His dad is a high level coach over in Europe and his dad called the other day and said that Igor said his hardest thing he’s ever done and it’s the most fun basketball he’s had.  So we’re playing really fast. He’s come from two programs that didn’t play super fast basketball and he’s came into practice and elevated practice completely with his pace of play and his skill and feel for the game. So it’s been fun and it’s been welcomed. I think he’s gonna add a completely different dynamic than we’ve had to our team and something that we’re welcoming. We’re just gonna continue to challenge him on defensive end and he’s met every challenge thus far, so he just hope he continues to do that.”

Tennessee sophomore big men JP Estrella and Cade Phillips’ offseason

“Great man, they both worked really hard. Cade went home for like six days, came right back. JP went home for 10, so they’ve been here a ton. They changed their bodies. JP got a six pack back, which was great. We were happy to see that because he got a little pudgy at the end of the year, you know what I mean? Too many team dinners. But Cade has changed his body. He’s worked on his shot a lot. He’s got a lot better. Cade is one of those guys that, he hadn’t played a ton of basketball when he came here. He was a football kid a lot when he was younger. He was growing into his body and he was hurt all the time. So it’s been, he told us in the end season meeting, I just need time to like completely just sell out completely basketball and I know I’ll get better. And this summer he did that and he’s gotten a lot better. He’s doing great in practice. Finishing the ball. Well he’s gotten better with his playmaking so he’s been great. 

“JP, just gotta continue to build off the end of his year because I felt like it was really promising. Obviously he played a lot of minutes in the Purdue game where he guarded Zach Edey and showed, he had enough toughness to do that offensively. He’s probably the best post scorer that we have. So he has to keep growing that area and he has to be the guy when we need to be bailed out and get easy two. We have to be able to throw the ball to him and get something easy. I think he’s growing that aspect of the game. He’s growing in his ball defense, so he’s going to continue to get better. Cade will too. And coach is gonna stay on him, but up to this point they’ve answered the bell.”