Rick Barnes looks back at Baha Mar title, Chaz Lanier's play in The Bahamas

Rick Barnes met with reporters before practice on Tuesday afternoon, looking back at No. 7 Tennessee’s Baha Mar Championship before Wednesday’s game against UT Martin:

If he’s surprised to see Tennessee’s offense clicking the way it has early on this season 

“I’m not sure if I’m surprised because I think our expectations are pretty high. But one thing we can’t control is making shots. Even in the Virginia game, we had some shots that we’d like to think that we’re going to make more than we’re going to miss them. But what we what we do know is that our defense has to be ready because you don’t expect to be, like we were making shots, obviously in a great way in the in the first half against Baylor. Second half, not as much. 

“And our defense let down, and that was probably the most disappointing part about the trip, that we got beat in the second half of Baylor by 12 and got away from it. But offensively, we think that we’ve got guys that if they take the shots they practice, that we can be a good offensive team.” 

How hard it is to lose a player like Tennessee sophomore center JP Estrella this early in the season 

“It’s tough because he’s worked as hard as he could. In the off season 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. With that said, it gives the opportunity to some other guys. We lose a little bit of the frontline bulk that we feel like we needed, but we’ve got what we’ve got and we’ve got to make it work.”

Igor Milicic playing some minutes at center in the two games in The Bahamas 

“It gets back, when he’s there at the five, he obviously creates a different look for us on the offensive end where he can definitely pull those guys away for the basket. But whether it’s Cade (Phillips) there, (Milicic) there, 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.”

If the return of Darlinstone Dubar helps Tennessee’s versatility

“There’s no doubt that that D-Stone can help because, one, he’s a big body. 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.” 

How nice it was for Tennessee to get Dubar back on the floor in The Bahamas 

“With Cam (Carr) going down, we needed him. And the fact that he only had two days of practice, we were really proud of what he did while we were over there. Because he came in and in the first game really got us going. He gave us a big spark. And he’ll continue to get better.”

If he wants Chaz Lanier to keep level of aggressiveness that he had in the first half against Baylor

“Probably more aggressive. And we keep telling him that. When he’s open, we expect him to shoot it. He’s going to find out like Dalton (Knecht) did a year ago that after a game like that, the attention on him is going to get even to a whole different level. So like our team, he’s going to have to continue to improve and learn how to move without the ball, set screens. Because kid he just stands around, that’s what teams want him to do. So it’s going to be a whole new experience for him going forward, but it’ll be good for him. And the way he handles it responds will determine how much further he’ll take it.” 

On how much of the defensive success starts with Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack

“Well, it is. You know, Zakai is a player that goes 94 feet normally and disrupts teams having to deal with him down the court. In the Duke game I mean, I’m sorry, in the Baylor game, we started with Jahmai on Jeremy Roach, who was at Duke when we played them a couple of years ago in the tournament. And so we don’t do that a lot. Normally, we keep Zakai on the point guard. But we just wanted to get more size on him. And so Zakai can go down to court and do it. And the fact that that versatility there gives us I think, obviously, one of the very best, if not the best defensive backcourts in the country at those positions. But Jordan Gainey had a great week of defense. I mean, he was really really good defensively. Along with Cade, I mean, there’s a lot of good things that we took from it. Now it’s about sustainability and keeping it. We didn’t put it together like we should in the second half, but we had to adjust a little bit because of the lead and knowing that we had to maybe stretch it out a little bit more to guard a three-point line. But we can get better and we got to get more guys doing it and we will.”

On if he has any concern about the number of scholarship guys now that they’re down to nine healthy ones

“No. We got, 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.”

On his assessment of what Cade Phillips has given them

“I go back with Cade and Felix. Those guys took— I can’t really throughout the summer and the fall, I don’t remember them ever coming off the court, and I think that work that they did against each other is gonna pay off a lot for both of them. But Cade’s just getting started as a player. The more he’s out there the better he’s gonna get, the more relaxed he’s gonna get. You’ll see him start to improve on offense. Again, the more he can play, and as this team, they continue to get to know each other and know what they’re looking for and looking for guys individually. That’s where he’ll improve, but he had, for the most part, gave us some really good solid defense too against as good a post player as we’ll play in (Baylor’s Norchad) Omier. I mean, he was as strong a player as we’ve coached again since we’ve been here, and Cade did everything he could to do his part trying to deal with him one on one.”

Zakai Zeigler playing pressure defense while playing so many minutes

“I think he’s a great talent. I think there’s certain things. I mean, whether you want to call it in his DNA, but I think playing hard is a talent. And not all players have it, obviously. And I think as coaches, if we could bottle that and give it to everybody, it’d be the first thing that we would do. 

“But I think it goes back to who he is, the way he grew up, the way—  it’s just in his DNA, and he doesn’t know any other way. He’s fearless. He’s stubborn in a good way. And the fact that he’s just out to prove everybody that he’s better and do more than anybody thinks that he can and hard on himself that’s where his stubbornness comes in, where he makes it sometimes harder on himself and he does, but he’s got so much pride in wanting to be not just the best he can be, but he wants to win above and beyond everything else. I mean, Chaz got it going the other day, I thought Zakai was the most exciting guy on court. Watching him play because he’s been waiting on him to do it and he did it. That tells you a lot about him and who he is as a leader.”

Zakai Zeigler’s inconsistent shooting from game-to-game this season

“I don’t even worry about his shots. I mean, you know, he’ll knock ’em down. I know this, when it counts, he’ll knock them down. He’s doing so much more. People don’t realize when you play 35, 36 minutes a game, and that’s my fault, but I love it when he’s out there and he wants to be out there. But I think if we gave him more rest, he probably would be shooting the ball a little bit better. But you ask the question, are we better with him being a little bit fatigued or someone else? 

“And I do think as Bishop continues to learn this and, you know, Jordan will play the point, but I do think Bishop can help him in some of those areas. As soon as Bishop learns to take care of the ball, value possessions — defensively, I mean, he’s ready to play as much as anyone. But that’s why I’m excited. We’ve got guys that I think are just gonna continue to get back.”

Cade Phillips being able to hold up physically while playing the five, despite being a little more slender

“Well, you can ask (strength coach Garrett Medenwald). I mean, Cade is a lot stronger than he looks. He’s very athletic. I think that what he does, the way he attacks the weight room and all that, but he’s stronger than he looks.”

If Chaz Lanier’s performances against Virginia and Baylor reflect how comfortable he is in the system

Barnes: “Well, since he just walked in and I don’t know Chaz, can you answer that question?”

Lanier: “What was the question?”

Barnes: “Why were you comfortable when we got ready to play Baylor? You wanna tell them what I told you when we were walking out of the locker room, you and I? What did I tell you? You remember? If you didn’t shoot it, I was gonna what? Sit you down.”

Lanier: “Oh, yeah. He did tell me that.”

Barnes: “So, he got the message.”

Mack Brown being fired at North Carolina

“When I saw that, obviously a little sadness because I have known Mack for over 30 years and he has been a real blessing in my life and I am just so thankful that God brought our lives together. Being with him at Texas for all those years, you couldn’t help but learn a lot from him with the way he did things. Certainly happy that after the Texas situation, he was able to go back to North Carolina and I know he did a lot of great things not just with the football program but overall. Truly one of the great coaches that have ever (coached). He loves his players. He is everything you’d want your son to play for. But I love Mack Brown. I really do. I am just thankful that God brought our lives together.”