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Tennessee basketball: 5 keys for Vols in NCAA Tournament

By Caleb Calhoun

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

4. Hot shooting night from at least two guards each game

As much as the team relies on defense to win games, the Tennessee Vols have got to have somewhat decent offense. They usually do, but that depends on at least one of Rick Barnes’s combo guards shooting well from outside.

Because of the way he’s set up his team, Tennessee has been alternating between Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and James Daniel III. All four guards shoot between 38 and 40 percent from the three-point line. And it’s a given that they will be largely reliable from the free throw line.

But for the Vols to win, at least two of those guards needs to have their shooting touch each time they’re on the court. Now, as has been all year, the law of averages dictates that usually two of the four are on.

If Admiral Schofield is hitting from the outside, just one of them needs to be on. But when they lose, it’s usually because Schofield is not on and three of the four guards are having bad shooting games.

Schofield and one guard or two of the guards being on is the formula for their offense to do what it needs to do. Turner has usually been the guy to step up, but Bowden and Bone have gotten red-hot too. And Daniel has added outside shooting as an element to his game his one year playing for Barnes. So any of them could step up.

If three of them are on, be it three of the four guards or Schofield and two of the guards, then the opponent has no chance. That’s what happened to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament. But if just one guard is on, Tennessee basketball will be in trouble this NCAA Tournament. The magic number is two.

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