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Tennessee basketball: Vols guard Shembari Phillips is no loss

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 21, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Shembari Phillips (25) runs up court during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2017; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Shembari Phillips (25) runs up court during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee basketball combo guard Shembari Phillips is now set to transfer, according to reports. But he is no loss for Rick Barnes and the Volunteers.

Back in the heart of the season, as Tennessee basketball began to fade after a red-hot January, we wrote a piece you can see here on the combo guards failing the Vols. Shembari Phillips was at the heart of that piece.

The overall gist of it was that Rick Barnes relied on guys like Lamonte Turner and Phillips to step up. Now, Turner was coming off of injury, so he had an excuse.

But Phillips, as the season went along, regressed rather than progressed. And he was a sophomore who wasn’t coming off of injury.

Now, the news has broke that he is set to transfer. The Knoxville News Sentinel broke the story that he has joined Kwe Parker and asked for a release.

After his regression this year, we say good riddance.

Phillips was useless if his outside shot wasn’t falling, and he was maybe good for a non-atrocious scoring night once every three games.

It was honestly terrible down the stretch, as he failed miserably to score as a combo guard and finished his sophomore year worse than his freshman year by shooting under 40 percent from the field.

In fact, there was only a .9 percent difference between his three-point percentage (37.5) and his overall field goal percentage (38.4).

That says if he can’t hit his three-point shots, he’s useless. And that’s pathetic progression for a sophomore.

On top of that, he had nearly as many turnovers a game (1.4) as he did assists (1.7).

So he’s not efficient with his assists to turnovers, and he can’t create ways to score if his shots not falling.

Um….what’s the point of him then as a combo guard?

Phillips leaves as Barnes is bringing in junior college guard Chris Darrington. Lamonte Turner is still with the program as well, and Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden are still the point guards. Oh, and they also have redshirt freshman Jalen Johnson.

Add the front court of Kyle Alexander, Admiral Schofield, Grant Williams, and the return of John Fulkerson along with incoming recruits Derrick Walker and Zach Kent, and they’re set there too.

Finally, you’ve got four-star Yves Pons on the wing.

So with this depth and the returning experience, Phillips is no loss. His departure clears up room for better, more efficient players to make more of an impact.

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