Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey previews SEC-ACC Challenge vs. Syracuse

What Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said Monday afternoon while previewing the third-ranked Vols against Syracuse Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) in the SEC-ACC Challenge at Food City Center:

If Syracuse is much different in Year 2 under Adrian Autry, compared to what Tennessee faced last season in the Maui Invitational

“Yeah, they are. I think they are. They seem to be, again, he was just taking it over last time we played them. And this year, you could tell he’s starting to implement kind of his philosophies and what he wants to do. And I think his guys are responding. Obviously everybody at this time of year is trying to figure themselves out and figure out who they are. But they’re tough. They guard, not only zone but in man. And they have some guys that are more than capable of having big nights. So they feel to be a more connected group this year.”

If he anticipated Tennessee being this strong of an offensive rebounding team

“You know what, I did just because it’s something we went into the summer really emphasizing and something that we wanted to be better at. We’ve always talked about it. Last season we talked about it a lot. But, again, it started this summer and we put a big emphasis on it in everything we do, in every practice, talking about it after practices after games, putting a big emphasis on it. And so it’s good to see that it’s translating. And I think from a personnel standpoint as well, we have some guys that are maybe better offensive rebounders than we had last year. So I think that plays a part as well.”

If there’s conference pride going into an SEC-ACC Challenge game 

“Yeah, it is a sense of pride. I wouldn’t say that we don’t pay attention to it. We do. Our league is a monster. Every year, I always think, man, how can it get any better? And it does every year. And when we’re not playing those guys in our league, I root for them. I want them to do well because I know how tough and how brutal our league is and how competitive it is. And so it is a good chance for us, as a league, to see where we kind of stack up. So we take pride in it, especially non-conference, representing our league.”

Growing up in North Carolina and playing at NC State, his perspective of the SEC coming from ACC territory  

“Growing up in North Carolina, it was ACC country, right? You grow up and that’s all you see. And me not being a big football guy, I didn’t really have a a complete understanding of what the SEC meant from that standpoint.  And so I grew up as an ACC fan, and I played in the ACC. But it has been eye-opening to watch the development of the SEC through the years. And with me being in this league, going into my fourth season, to see the basketball just take off and arguably be the best basketball league in the country when you look at ranked teams, when you look at guys getting drafted, when you look at style of play, when you look at the physicality and the competitiveness of every game. It’d be hard to argue that SEC isn’t up there at the top. So it’s been great being a part of this league and being in the SEC and being able to compete at a high level in it.” 

Where Darlinstone Dubar is at, the next steps of improvement for him

“D-Stone, we’re really excited. He had stepped away a little bit for some personal issues, which we totally understand and respect, and it’s great to have him back in the fold. His teammates love him   on and off the court. I mean, he’s just a great young man. But getting him back in has been good, giving us a little more depth inside and at his position, the ability to shoot the basketball and stretch the floor and just another scoring option. So I’m excited about that. Want to see him continue to grow defensively and continue to attack the glass and just be that versatile guy that he is.”

Where Felix Okpara’s game is offensively

“Felix, I think he’s getting better. I think he’s getting better. And I think if you look at his role at Ohio State and you look at him here, you’ve seen growth. And we know it’s not going to happen overnight. I thought he had an unbelievable summer, and I was surprised at his ability to score inside over the summer and throughout this season because I don’t know if he was like a primary option for them inside or not. But his growth has been promising and with him, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve been around. After practice, every day I mean, he’s getting gains, reps at his low post game. I would say in the Bahamas, he probably didn’t play as well— not play, he probably didn’t score as well as he probably wanted to or we wanted him to, but we’re not discouraged at all at it. He put in the work. We see it every day in practice. Just like shooters miss shots, just because their bigs shots are closer to the rim sometimes. You kinda still lose perspective on how tough it is around the basket. Right? So I’m excited about him. We feel great about him and his work ethic, and we know he’s going to be fine.”

Felix Okpara facing Syracuse’s Eddie Lampkin

“I think the biggest challenge would be post position. And him maybe not being able to get him as deep as he would like off the initial duck ins for his initial catch. So he’s gonna have to work in different ways to get his catches where he wants them. So that’s something that we’ve been studying on film. He’s been studying on film, and he’ll be prepared to attack and Felix is strong as well. You know? He may be a little more wiry, but I mean, he’s got some wiry strength and he’ll be able to create some angles and kinda do what he does.”

If he’s surprised by how efficient Tennessee has been on both ends of the floor with the additions of four transfers

“It’s tough to say I’m surprised because I see the hard work that they put in. Obviously, when you’re adding that many new guys, you worry about how quickly it’ll come together. Not if it will come together, but how quickly it does. It has come together nicely per the numbers. It’s good. I would credit a lot of that to Zakai (Zeigler) kinda holding it together, right, that point guard who in his fourth year, he knows the system like the back of his hands. He has a great feel for, like, when to get guys shots, where to get them from. And then I would say just the new guys that came in being sponges, listening. We spent a lot of time in the film room. I think that has helped with it. And then in practice, our practices are competitive on both sides. I feel like, you know, we’re as deep as we’ve been, and so that elevates our practice intensity and our practice levels.”

How Tennessee’s defense changes when facing a team that doesn’t necessarily seek out the 3-point shot

“It really doesn’t change it too much, right? Because, you know, even teams that do hunt the three, I think the good ones try to get a piece of the paint first, and then they kinda make that paint touch and kick out three. It really doesn’t change it in that perspective as far as what we do with our help defense, what we do with guarding the basketball. From a physicality standpoint, you gotta be ready to bring your hard hat with these guys because they do have some physical downhill drivers with good size that you just gotta fight, man. You gotta fight. And we tell our guys, do your work early. Right? Do your work early. It starts with that positioning early, whether it’s on your close-out or whether it’s on your post defense.”

Seeing Chaz Lanier have so much success early in the season 

“It’s great, because when you’re recruiting out of the portal, you don’t necessarily know how it will translate, if it will translate, but, you know, his efficiency numbers spoke for themselves when he was at North Florida, and so we felt pretty confident in it. What he does at a high level, I feel like regardless of where he is, he’ll be able to do it, right? So, it’s exciting to see that, but it’s also exciting to see Igor (Milicic) having success. It’s exciting to see Felix (Okpara) having success, (Darlinstone Dubar), right? All of those guys that we brought into the fold and recruited this season, is great to have them. It helps us from an evaluation standpoint, know what we’re looking for as we move forward, and what things kind of translate, and what we see in our process of recruiting the portal has been effective to the extent. So, it’s great.”