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Tennessee basketball: Player awards for the 2018-2019 season

By Billy Williford

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 28: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 28: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Matt Haarms #32 of the Purdue Boilermakers against Kyle Alexander #11 of the Tennessee Volunteers during overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Matt Haarms #32 of the Purdue Boilermakers against Kyle Alexander #11 of the Tennessee Volunteers during overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

No.4 – Kyle Alexander

Best rim protector

No surprise here but Kyle Alexander gets our award for the best rim protector. Alexander does a lot of things that will never show up on the stat sheet under his name.

The senior big man had his best season yet when it came to protecting the rim. Alexander had a team-high 64 blocks which were seven more than last season.

Here is what won’t show up. Tennessee ranked 16th in the nation when it came to opposing two-point percentage. The Vols held teams to just 44,7 percent from inside the arc and a big reason why was Alexander protecting the rim.

Teams shot way more three’s against the Vols this season because they couldn’t feed the ball inside. Pair that with guards not being able to drive the ball and Tennessee had one of the best interior defense in the nation.

Some may view Alexander’s 99 personal fouls as a negative and in some cases, they were. But, if you’re an opposing player and you’re driving to the rack knowing you are going to take a tough shot or get fouled, you hesitate. That’s all Alexander needs for his teammates to recover. That’s what makes a great interior defense and it starts and ends with Alexander protecting the rim.

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