Tennessee basketball: Admiral Schofield’s late-game decisions are concerning for Vols
Tennessee basketball held on for its NCAA Tournament win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. But Admiral Schofield’s March Madness play should worry the Volunteers.
He is the leader and the star for Tennessee basketball. And to many people, senior forward Admiral Schofield reached another level by asking to be on the bench in the Vols’ secound-round overtime win over the Iowa Hawkeyes to reach the Sweet 16.
But that’s not a good thing. In fact, it’s part of a series of things about Schofield that should worry UT fans if they are going to advance any further than next Thursday, when they face the Purdue Boilermakers in what could be a thrilling matchup.
Schofield asking to be on the bench is not admirable. He’s a great senior leader, and Rick Barnes would have to use him smartly in overtime due to his four fouls. But what player who is the second-best scorer on the team wants to be on the bench in crunch time? And how does it reflect on the player when that’s the best the team played at any time after the first half?
If any superstar said this in the NBA, we would ridicule them for weeks about being way too scared to take over. We still laugh at James Harden for a playoff comeback the Houston Rockets orchestrated years ago after they put him on the bench.
Why should Schofield be any different in college? He hit the key three-pointer for the Vols to beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs back in December and came through for them again to beat the Kentucky Wildcats late in the SEC Tournament.
In this game, he had 17 first-half points. The Vols were having trouble buying a bucket in the second half. You would think that the senior and leader of the team would want to be in to help take over, not ask to cheer from the sidelines.
Sure, he was in foul trouble. But Barnes could substitute him out on defense an back in on offensive plays. And he definitely could have put Schofield in for that last offensive possession in regulation, in which Jordan Bone missed a three-pointer.
That decision to go out, though, is not the only thing about Schofield that should concern the Vols. His late-game antics were a major question in this game, one that is completely unbecoming of a senior leader.
Remember, Schofield picked up his fourth foul with seven and a half minutes left trying to unnecessarily help on a defensive play. Then he raised his hand to admit he drew the foul? Why on earth would you volunteer yourself for the foul when you already have three fouls? That makes no sense.
Then, late in the game, the Vols had the ball up by two with 41 seconds left and 20 seconds on the shot clock. But for some reason, Schofield chose that moment to jack up a three, which he missed, allowing Iowa to tie it up in the first place.
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So you have a dumb foul, a rushed three-pointer and then a request to not play in the most important minutes of an NCAA Tournament game, all coming from your senior leader. That’s a really concerning thing.
It should be noted that as the leader, Schofield has some culpability when his team continues to go to sleep for long periods in the second half. It’s one thing for Tennessee basketball to take their foot of the pedal, which they clearly did in the second half, allowing Iowa to force overtime after being down by 25 points.
What was worse, though, was the fact that the Vols committed numerous turnovers while taking their foot off the pedal. It’s like if a team in football decided to run the ball to run out the clock with the lead but kept fumbling it. All that showed was an incredible lack of focus.
Now, Schofield himself wasn’t a turnover problem. He only had one all game. But he is the leader of the team and should not have allowed the rest of the guys to lose focus. That was a major issue. And, in an abstract way, it’s another one that reflects on him.
Schofield is still the most versatile and second best player for Tennessee basketball. He has proven himself to be clutch in the past. As the senior leader, he needs to do that again while also making smart decisions and holding other teammates accountable if the Vols are going to continue advancing in the Big Dance.