Tennessee basketball: 5 takeaways from Rick Barnes recap of Vols season

Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes held a press conference recapping the Volunteers’ season Monday. Here are five takeaways from what he said.

Suddenly, Tennessee basketball doesn’t look too bad after that one-point loss off a last-second shot to Loyola Chicago. With the Ramblers in the Final Four and the Vols only losing that game after Kyle Alexander got hurt, they have a lot to look forward to next year.

Rick Barnes talked about the upcoming offseason and recapped the year in a Monday press conference. He talked about the need to get better everyday and gave a lot of coach speak. He also confirmed that the Vols will resume their rivalry with the Memphis Tigers.

But there was a lot of basketball talk as well on how Tennessee can take the next step. You can see the full press conference by clicking here. Here are five takeaways from things he talked about.

1. Conditioning is key to improving.

Rick Barnes was pretty clear on this fact. He noted that conditioning held the Vols back on a lot of things this year, most notably their top player, Grant Williams. Here’s a bit of what he said about Williams:

"“He needs to get himself in high-level conditioning. It’ll allow him to play longer, harder.”"

If conditioning will take Williams’s game to another level, the Vols could be deadly next year. So that’s exciting to think about. But Williams wasn’t the only subject of conditioning.

Barnes talked about John Fulkerson needing to be able to fill in better. That was obviously key in their NCAA Tournament loss when Kyle Alexander was out. It became clear how much the Vols missed Alexander in that game.

Obviously, that means Alexander could work on staying healthy too. Fulkerson, of course, was coming off his own season-ending injury from last year, so he has an offseason to get better.

Jalen Johnson and Yves Pons fought through injuries on the year as well, and Barnes said that both need a “great offseason” to get in proper shape.

2. Point guard play is the most important position.

When asked about what needs to improve, Barnes was first vague and said “a feel for the game.” He also talked about knowing the difference between good shots and great shots.

Then, he he pointed to Jalen Brunson and how great his play is with the Villanova Wildcats. What became clear for Barnes is that point guard play needs to improve.

"“They’ve gotten better, and that’s where we need to get better.”"

Barnes said James Daniel III was huge for the guards because he pushed them to get better. He added that his no. 1 priority is to sign a point guard for his one scholarship availability, looking for an immediate impact there.

So what’s clear is that he wants to focus on better point guard play overall. And the reason seems to be that he doesn’t want Jordan Bowden, Jordan Bone or Lamonte Turner to get complacent.

3. Admiral Schofield, Lamonte Turner and Kyle Alexander set the standard.

It’s no secret to anybody that Admiral Schofield and Lamonte Turner had the most dramatic improvement of anybody on the team this past year. Turns out, there’s a reason for that.

Barnes said the newcomers from that 2015 class all took great strides not in their game but their work ethic. He said he doesn’t know much more time those guys can put in.

"“You ask anybody in our program who puts the most time in the gym, and the first two names they’re going to call our are Admiral and Lamonte. And Kyle is in there, but I do think there’s another level for him.”"

Barnes said Turner embraced his role sixth-man, and that’s what made him great. We all saw that Schofield’s work ethic is what made him so versatile.

When it comes to Alexander, even though he has another level, Barnes still praised his work ethic. He also talked about Alexander accepting his role as the team’s “anchor” and “fix-it” guy and noted how evident his absence was in that final game. Barnes said Alexander needs to understand he’s e very valuable part of the program going forward.

4. Roles for young guys are still available. 

When it comes to guys who didn’t play, Barnes pointed to passion, maturity and injuries. Chris Darrington stands about above all of those guys in that regard.

Barnes noted that despite Darrington’s play overseas last year, he needs to have the passion, drive and willingness to accept roles that other guards have to get into the rotation. It seemed he was alluding to all the other guards in that conversation.

Meanwhile, Zach Kent is a guy Barnes said could be very good too, but he needs to improve defensively and mature emotionally. Barnes said Kent is hard on himself to a fault.

And when it comes to Pons and Johnson, they may have had roles this year were it not for injuries. As a result, it seems like they’ll see much more action next year.

5. Defense carried the team, but it can get better. 

Barnes said the man-to-man defense that Tennessee basketball used all year carried them. He praised their ball screen defense, which he called “terrible” the first two years he was there.

The next step, according to Barnes, is getting more versatile. That means keeping the man-to-man at the level it’s at but being able to implement a zone.

"“We have a zone, but we didn’t put enough time into it because we just wanted to be what we could be from a man team.”"

If there is room for Grant Williams to get better and a chance for more versatility on defense, Tennessee basketball could be a national title contender this year. That’s a scary thought. But it’s the biggest thing to gather from Barnes’s press conference.

The Vols now have an entire offseason to address those things. On top of that, they have a chance to add more talent and get healthier. As a result, barring injuries or unexpected departures, Rocky Top should be stoked about next year.