After a stagnant 38-point performance against Alabama on Saturday, Donnie Tyndall made it clear that it may not get any better.
“Offensively, we’ve struggled, and I just don’t see that changing,” Tyndall said during his weekly media luncheon Monday. “I think we’ll get better at the offensive end, but with the makeup of our team there are going to be some nights — for lack of a better term — when it’s going to be ugly.”
With a short turnaround heading into the Volunteers’ contest against the No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday, the first year head coach is hoping another starting lineup — which will be UT’s eighth different lineup in 15 games — will be a short-term fix for the struggling offense.
Tyndall announced that if the game were to be played Monday he would start Josh Richardson, Devon Baulkman, Robert Hubbs III, Armani Moore and Derek Reese, marking the first time this season that junior college transfer Kevin Punter will be absent from the starting lineup.
The biggest reason for the lineup change is to put some more scorers around Richardson, who scored 17 points against Alabama and has scored at least 15 points in 11 of UT’s 14 games this season.
“Guys have certainly improved since the beginning of the season, but the problem is outside of Josh (Richardson) — and other teams know this,” Tyndall said. “We really don’t have a playmaker … But that’s the team we have and that’s why the ball is in Josh’s hands so much.”
And while their offensive focus has been on finding a helping hand for Richardson, the Vols’ defensive game plan has honed in on Arkansas sophomore forward Bobby Portis, who leads the SEC in scoring at 18.1 points per game.
“He reminds me a lot of Kenneth Faried as a young guy,” Tyndall said. “He’s bigger, he runs the floor, he challenges shots, he rebounds out of his area — he’s more skilled on the perimeter than Kenneth ever was — but he’s a lottery pick. He’s a top-15 pick whether it’s this year or next year.
“The biggest thing that impresses me about him is that his talent level is off the charts, but he plays extremely hard.”
The Razorbacks will be looking to change a long history of losing in Knoxville, where they are 2-10 and currently hold a six-game losing streak — their last win coming on Feb. 25, 2006.
“This is Mike’s fourth year, so he has his type of guys,” Tyndall said. “He’s had his program in place for four seasons and as teams grow and mature, struggles on the road go away a little bit, especially if you are a quality team.”
The Vols’ matchup against Arkansas is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m. EST inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
