Tennessee basketball: Notes from Rick Barnes presser at Vols 2018 media day

Men’s Tennessee basketball held its media day for 2018-2019 Thursday. Here are a few takeaways from Volunteers’ head coach Rick Barnes’s press conference.

Although Tennessee football is still trying to find itself heading into a bye week, morale is at an all-time high surrounding the men’s Tennessee basketball program. And the efforts to build off of last year’s SEC co-championship season have begun.

Rick Barnes spoke with the media Thursday afternoon about the offseason as the program held its seventh of 30 practices before the start of the season. With such high expectations, there’s cautious optimism.

Previous Barnes teams with the Texas Longhorns have come up short in handling such expectations. And there is always reason to worry about the bad luck that can hit the Vols as a program. So that’s why the optimism is cautious.

Nonetheless, Barnes seems to be doing his best to make sure there’s not a drop-off. His efforts in pushing players are certainly to be commended. Here are five key takeaways from his press conference Wednesday afternoon.

1. Focus on a better inside game

Tennessee basketball already has Grant Williams as a superstar, and Admiral Schofield can post up inside. However, Barnes clearly wants to make the overall inside game better, and the big focus is the biggest forward spot, or the center spot. Barnes said he wants to improve the depth at that position, and he specifically mentioned working with Kyle Alexander, Derrick Walker, John Fulkerson, Zach Kent before he got injured, and DJ Burns getting more reps.

In addition to that, Barnes talked about running a bigger lineup as well. That shows how much he wants to use his a major advantage he has. Here’s what he said in that regard:

“I do like length. I don’t know if we can get much longer inside, but we can get longer on the perimeter – obviously Admiral Schofield has played there. Our wings basically do the same things, they really do and they are pretty much interchangeable, and same with our post guys.”

2. More desired versatility at point guard

Barnes said int he press conference that part of building the depth was an attempt to “play around with different guys” at the point guard position. All three major guards, Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden will probably have roles there at some point. That was clear by Barnes noting that he could run two primarily off-ball guys on the court at the same time.

3. Still recognizing weaknesses in top players

Even as he defended Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams, Barnes talked about ways those players could get better. He addressed Schofield’s quickness, which if improved could make him a more versatile wing player, and added that he wants Williams to become a double-digit rebounder this year.

4. No specific goal, just get better everyday

This seems like a weird thing, but Barnes noted that Tennessee basketball doesn’t have specific accomplishments as goals this year. He’s only focused on the process.

“If you walk in our practice facility, there’s nothing about winning the SEC, winning a national championship,” he said. “All that stuff is a given. That’s what you’re playing for.”

This goes back to things Barnes said ahead of the offseason. His focus is on getting better, and as he’s always said, if you don’t, other people will and will catch you. It sounds cliche, but this is a big deal because he’s clearly aware that last year’s success doesn’t mean much if this isn’t his team’s focus. And that leads to our final takeaway.

5. Assurances that complacency with success is not going to happen

Again, you can look at previous Texas teams under Barnes to know why this is a concern. However, Barnes is clearly aware of that and said it’s his fault if it happens. He then touted his coaching staff’s work to assure that they aren’t going to let that happen. And he also added that the help of veteran players will make sure this doesn’t happen.

“With our older players, they expect a lot from themselves too,” he said. “They know it’s not going to be easy. They do.”

Barnes added that if any player does get complacent, there’s enough depth that they can replace him. And, as he said, there’s no better motivator than being sent to the bench.