Tennessee basketball: Should Vols abandon or improve mid-range game?

Rick Barnes’ use of the mid-range more unpopular than ever right now. It’s been an issue all year but hit boiling point when Tennessee basketball lost to the Auburn Tigers on the road less week, falling to Bruce Pearl for the sixth straight time in four years.

Despite outshooting the Auburn Tigers from the free throw line and the three-point line and only committing one more turnover, the Vols still lost 77-72 because they couldn’t sink enough two-pointers. They were 1-of-17 at one point on mid-range shots and finished the game 15-of-35 on two-pointers, nowhere near where they needed to be.

One week earlier, Barnes defended his use of the mid-range by saying that Tennessee basketball wants to score at all three levels and can be effective from the second level. On the other hand, in this off-week, a Matt Norlander and Kyle Boone of CBS Sports on how Nate Oats turned the Alabama Crimson Tide into a powerhouse overnight. He purposely devalued the mid-range.

Well, Oats’ strategy worked. The Tide are regular season SEC Champions with a 20-6 overall record and a 15-2 conference record. They are in the top 10 of both polls, and they handed the Vols their first loss of the year. UT, meanwhile, is 16-7 and 9-7 in the SEC.

Alabama leads the league in three-pointers attempted with 790. Auburn, who just beat Tennessee basketball, is second with 718. The LSU Tigers, who also handled Rocky Top, are fifth with 545. This may not be a coincidence.

So what does this mean for Barnes? To be fair, it’s not like he doesn’t take enough three-pointers relative to the SEC. The Vols are sixth in the league in attempts. They are also sixth in three-point efficiency, hitting 34.5 percent of their shots.

On the other hand, they are tied for 10th in the SEC on two-point efficiency, shooting 49.4 percent. This is where the difference is. That all comes down to the mid-range game and the lack of ability to make those shots.

The fact of the matter is that if the Vols are going to be that bad on two-point shots but want to be the best team in the league, they have to be dominant on three-point shots. Being sixth in the SEC on that front won’t cut it.

Now, the Tide are only slightly better than UT, coming in ninth at 49.8 percent on two-pointers. And they’re only fourth in the SEC in three-pointers. However, by leading the league in attempts, they’re making up for that lack of efficiency.

It’s pretty clear what Tennessee basketball needs to do given those numbers. They either need to dramatically improve their mid-range game or start shooting like Alabama from the three-point line. There’s no in between.

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Given his previous statements, Barnes truly believes his team can be effective from the mid-range. Maybe he’s just a coach who firmly believes in the ability to score from there and wants his players to develop that ability.

That would explain why he has inexplicable underachieving seasons some years with loaded talent and is dominant other years with less talent. He forces his players to adapt to a certain style more than adapting to their strength, and to be fair, it serves them well at the next level because they develop in the process.

He can’t just rely on hoping his players get better there, though. He needs to have spent this week with a dramatic focus on that area. Without the proper improvement, the Vols will be doomed to a quick exit from all postseason play.

There’s been talk for years now that the analytics suggest the mid-range is the worst shot. A three-pointer may have a higher degree of difficulty, but the reward outweighs the risk. Three-pointers and baskets at the rim all make sense. Mid-range jump shots wouldn’t.

Of course, at the NBA level, Michael Jordan relied heavily on the mid-range, and he still is the all-time career leader in PER, win shares per 48 minutes and box plus/minus. That may just be a testament to how great he was individually, though. The Golden State Warriors obviously took their dynasty to another level with the Splash Brothers by ignoring the mid-range.

Still, Barnes was an up and coming coach in MJ era, when the mid-range was dominant. He has stuck with it since then and still had great success, and Tennessee basketball can still have great success with him utilizing it. However, he has to make sure he has the right players and work with them constantly in that aspect of the game.