Rick Barnes not concerned about Tennessee's injuries, shorthanded roster

Rick Barnes isn’t worried about his Tennessee Basketball roster numbers. Not after starting the season with 11 scholarship players. Not after losing sophomore center JP Estrella to season-ending foot surgery or sophomore wing Cam Carr to a thumb injury that will sideline him 4-6 weeks. 

“No,” Barnes said before practice Tuesday, when asked if he had any concerns about the Tennessee’s slimming personnel. “Started with 11 scholarship players and now we’re down to 10. 

“And I think when Cam gets back at Christmas, I think we’ll have as good a 10-man rotation that we’ve had since we’ve been here.”

No. 7 Tennessee vs. UT Martin, Wednesday, 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

Estrella announced on Monday that he would undergo season-ending surgery on his injured left foot, a linger issue that dates back to the summer. It was reported on Thursday that Carr would be out extended time after undergoing surgery leaving his left hand in a cast. 

Estrella, the 6-foot-11, 241-pounder from Scarborough, Maine, is averaging 4.7 points and 2.7 points rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game. 

“It’s tough because (Estrella) worked as hard as he could,” Barnes said. “In the offseason we were trying to figure out what what was the best way, or (what) is the best way to go about it. And we chose the route that we went and now you look back and say, well, maybe we should’ve gone the other way. That’s neither here or there now, but we’ll miss him.”

Carr’s left thumb appeared to bend back awkwardly as he was fouled with 7:10 left against Austin Peay. He averaged 4.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game off the bench through three games. He had four points and one rebound in nine minutes on Sunday, after scoring a career-high 13 points in 16 minutes in the 92-57 win over Montana.

The return of transfer wing Darlinstone Dubar, who missed the first four games of the season due to a personal matter, helped Tennessee deal with the loss of Carr in two games in the Baha Mar Championship last week in The Bahamas. 

The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Dubar plays on the wing but is big enough to give the Vols minutes at the four in a smaller lineup. He had seven points, seven rebounds an an insist in 23 minutes off the bench against Virginia and Baylor. 

“There’s no doubt that that D-Stone can help because, one, he’s a big body,” Barnes said. “He rebounds it. No doubt he’s working defensively to do what we need him to do. 

“And offensively, we’ve never questioned that part of his game. So the fact that he’s back, I think these next couple of weeks are really not just important to him, but to all of us.” 

Rick Barnes: ‘We feel like we do have versatility and we can play multiple ways’

Felix Okpara, the 6-11 Ohio State transfer, is averaging 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game as Tennessee’s starting center. 

The Vols have options to help replace Estrella’s minutes as the backup five, including sophomore Cade Phillips, 6-foot-10 stretch forward Igor Milicic and even senior wing Jahmai Mashack. 

Milicic giving the Vols minutes at center in The Bahamas is part of the reason Barnes has no concerns over his shorthanded situation. 

“Whether it’s Cade there, Igor there,” Barnes said of the center position, “what allows us to do that is as much as anybody is Jahmai Mashack. Because he can play every position on the court and defend every position on the court. 

“But we still feel that Igor is going to get better and better. And the more that we can put a team out there like that, that goes to the versatility of our team right now. We feel like we do have versatility and we can play multiple ways.”