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Tennessee basketball: 5 vulnerabilities Vols need to address for a Final Four run

By Billy Williford

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bone #0 (second from left) of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bone #0 (second from left) of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 2: Admiral Schofield #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers defends during the second half of the game against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 2, 2018, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 79-51. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /

No.4 – Force more turnovers

Tennessee does a lot of things great. In fact, they do a lot of things better than most teams in the nation, hence the No.1 ranking. However, forcing turnovers isn’t one of them. In fact, they rank among the middle of the pack only forcing around 14 per game.

I know what you’re thinking, turning the opposing team over 14 times per game doesn’t sound that bad. But, if you are comparing them to the SEC, there are seven teams forcing more turnovers. A majority of the teams Tennessee hasn’t played yet so it will be interesting how they can handle the pressure.

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It’s even worse when you look at steals per game. The Vols rank almost at the bottom of Division 1 only averaging 5.8 steals per game. The only SEC teams that average fewer steals are Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Missouri.

No, you don’t have to force turnovers and steals to have a good basketball team. Obviously, the Vols are proving that with a 17-1 record and a top-35 adjusted defensive efficiency: points allowed per 100 possession according to Kenpom.com.

The Vols aren’t necessarily built to play full-court pressure defense but playing the passing lanes a little more could end up being beneficial since Jordan Bone, and Jordan Bowden are so great in transition offense.

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