Tennessee basketball: Lamonte Turner has All-SEC potential

After losing four starters from a 31-win team, the Vols are looking for guys to step up. Lamonte Turner has All-SEC potential.

Last season wasn’t the best for Lamonte Turner. There were games that the Vols would have lost without him. There were also games where the Vols lost because of Turner.

I know he was working back through a shoulder injury, but I’m not convinced that was his problem with his shooting percentage. I’m not suggesting I’m an expert, and I will certainly listen to the other side of the argument. However, I pin the lackluster performance most of the season on pressing and horrible shot selection.

In Turner’s first three games back he took a total on 25 three-point shots. That is not the best offensive game plan when you had three players on the roster that were NBA talents. Out of those 25 attempts, Turner only made five.

In fact, in each of Tennessee’s six losses, Turner attempted at least six three-point shots. In those games, he shot 11-for-43, just 25.5 percent. Five of those losses came well after halfway through the season, and three came in March.

It was never about the injury, it was about the shot selection, and most of the time, it was terrible. I blame a lot of that on Rick Barnes for not stepping up and proving a point by sitting him out as a teaching moment.

However, when Turner played smart, he was one of the best players on the court, and that gives me pause with writing the Vols off next season.

When Turner is good, he is good and makes everyone else around him better. Next season he will be the leader of the team and will take on a lot of the point guard role, or at least that is what you’d think.

Last season, especially in tournament play, we saw a player willing to play the point guard role. Turner had eight assists against Mississippi State in the opening game of the SEC Tournament. He only took one three-point shot that game. Obviously, that isn’t ideal, but it shows his high basketball IQ getting his teammates involved.

Against Colgate, Turner dished out six assists while knocking down 2-of-7 shots from deep. Ideally, you’d like Lamonte to knock down 3 or 4 per seven attempts next season while averaging around five assists per game.

That’s not asking to too much. He’s got the potential.

As long as Turner plays within himself and plays within the offense, he will be one of the best players on the court every single game. He has to be the energy for the Vols next season, yet he has to play smart. If he can, look for Turner to be an All-SEC type of player.