It's tough to complain about a 15-point win to start off the new season, but Rick Barnes will be the first one to tell you that Tennessee basketball was far from perfect against Mercer. Sure, there were some great moments for the Vols, but sloppy play was also featured.
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More particularly, the veteran head coach didn't love the turnovers, with the Vols posting 19 of them against Mercer. Yes, life without Zakai Zeigler is going to be a bit tough, as the point guard was the floor general for the Vols. However, to flirt with 20 turnovers in Game 1 is unacceptable and Barnes wants to see things changed as soon as possible.
Rick Barnes was not happy with Tennessee's sloppy play in the win over Mercer
"Sloppy. We've been sloppy at practice," Barnes said via Tennessee reporter Ben McKee. We want to play quick, but some guys aren't seeing the court. The passes weren't good."
It'd be one thing if this was just a one-off and maybe some early-season jitters were showcased by Tennessee. However, Barnes mentioned that the team has also been sloppy in practice, which then moved over for the first game of the regular season.
This is the kind of sluggish play that Tennessee can get away with early on in the campaign. However, with the strength of opponents continuing to go up as the fall progresses, the more on point Tennessee is going to have to be.
In that win over Mercer, Nate Ament made his regular season debut and he impressed at times with his game-high 18 points, while also adding nine rebounds. Ja'Kobi Gillespie, a Maryland transfer, was a bit off with his game, finishing with eight points.
However, the more action he gets working with his new teammates, the better things will be there for him. The same can be said for everyone on the court. This is a new group playing together and all the new faces in Knoxville is still something people are getting used to. Despite that, Northern Kentucky is next up on the schedule this weekend and UT needs to do a 180 in terms of taking care of the ball. Barnes won't put up with another game filled with mental mistakes.