When the Vols exited the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium last March, Rick Barnes knew the next time he paced the sideline, things would look much different.
Seven months later, that time is here. Tennessee trotted nine newcomers out of the tunnel for an exhibition matchup with Duke, a preseason test for both squads meant to sharpen iron with iron. The Blue Devils came out on top with an 83-76 victory, one that the Vols’ 11th-year headman saw much to improve upon.
For Barnes, physicality is always sits at top of his list.
“We were not as physical as we were a year ago,” Barnes said. “We got to get there. We’re not there yet.”
There’s no true stat that can fully exemplify physicality in basketball. The term is a broad one, usually best evaluated by a simple eye test. Rebounds are a category where toughness is often stressed, an area of Tennessee’s game that it continues to stress after boards became one of the thorns in the Vols’ side a season ago.
The Blue Devils outrebounded Tennessee 48-39 in Sunday’s contest, finding 16 different instances of success on the offensive glass. Barnes is aware that his new-look contingent requires plenty of work, but it’s a realization he wanted to have when scheduling a battle with one of the sport’s perennial powerhouses. The learning experience is sometimes the most important part.
“I love these games,” Barnes said. “I think it’s really important we can get a chance to do this, but we’ve got a lot to learn from it, and we’ll see what we can do”
Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillespie may have learned the most out of anyone on the evening. Duke’s defensive approach to contain a pair of the Vols’ best offensive weapons put both under adversity, a struggle sparked by a new level of competition. The tale of two players features Ament’s ongoing transition to the college level, while Gillespie’s hurdle comes in the movement to one of the nation’s premier conferences. The pending campaign will feature different sets of growing pains for each.
“It is good for them,” Barnes said. “It’s good for them, because people are going to go after them like that. I think our guys have worked really hard being physical with Nate this summer, which I think is going to continue to help him. We’ve got to understand the whole different level we’ve got to get to. We know right now we’re nowhere near where we need to be defensively.”
The trademark of any Barnes-coached team needs to be on par with his expectations if Tennessee expects to get anywhere when more important games roll around. Duke exposed the Vols’ defense on several occasions, capitalizing on a series of wide-open looks early in the game. When Tennessee’s scoring ability falters like it did in the second half, things get dangerous if breakdowns start to occur. A 46-33 margin separated the two teams on the scoreboard during the closing frame when the shots didn’t fall.
“They had some easy layups going down the lane,” Barnes said. “We had guys who were just afraid to leave their man and step over, make him make another pass. We just did some things we can’t do. All of it, all of that can be fixed.”
