By Jimmy Hyams
Say this for Tennessee coach Rick Barnes: He says what he thinks.
And what he said after Tennessee blew a 14-point first half lead and lost to Auburn 94-84 Tuesday night was not complimentary.
In fact, Barnes sounded like he was describing the 13th best in the SEC – which is where the media picked the Vols in a preseason poll.
Barnes said UT players had too much “ego’’ and played “casual’’ and didn’t “play their roles’’ and played “awful’’ on defense and were “immature’’ and “guys don’t listen’’ and didn’t practice well.
Was he describing a middle-school team? Or a team ranked as high as No. 4 in one RPI just one week ago?
“We didn’t deserve to win,’’ Barnes said twice after the Auburn defeat.
Barnes was certainly disappointed with the Vols getting outrebounded on the offensive boards by the smaller – but quicker – Auburn Tigers, 22-14. Auburn had a 22-11 edge until the final two minutes. Auburn also took 18 more shots – it had taken 22 more until the final minutes, when UT was fouling and jacking up shots.
Barnes said his team was “outworked’’ on the boards by Auburn.
“We played like it didn’t mean anything,’’ Barnes said of the Vols (9-4, 0-2 SEC).
Barnes felt when his team bolted to a 14-point lead, his players thought: “Hey, this is gonna be easy.’’
It was anything but easy.
“Fool’s gold,’’ Barnes called UT’s early lead.
Asked about the ego comment, Grant Williams, Tennessee’s best player, said: “He’s absolutely right.’’
Williams added: “I’m immature. I need to grow up fast.’’
Williams said Auburn “bullied us’’ on the boards.
Williams’ post game comments sounded mature. Maybe he’s being too hard on himself. Or maybe he handles the media better than he handles issues on the court when things don’t go his way.
Nonetheless, Williams did agree once again with his coach that UT doesn’t practice well and hasn’t all season – which is hard to believe for a team that started 9-2, beat Purdue and pushed Villanova and North Carolina.
“We’re not a good practice team,’’ Williams said. “We don’t compete like we should.’’
While practice is one issue, rebounding is another.
UT assistant Michael Schwartz said rebounding was a UT concern before the season. And he certainly felt it would be a key against Auburn.
As UT was visiting with the ESPNU crew that called the UT-Auburn game, Schwartz said Auburn’s offensive rebounding and UT’s defensive rebounding would be a key.
“It’s been an Achilles’ Heel for us,’’ Schwartz said. “We knew going into the year it’d be a little bit of a challenge.’’
UT allowed 22 offensive rebounds to Auburn and North Carolina, two key reasons why the Vols lost those games. Auburn’s 22 offensive rebounds came off 44 missed shots, thus the Tigers rebounded 50% of their misses.
“It’s something we can’t allow to keep happening and we’re going to fix it,’’ Schwartz said.
Tennessee’s goal this season was to get 30 defensive rebounds per game. UT is averaging 25.
“That’s minus five from where we need to be,’’ Schwartz said.
Schwartz also said UT must do a better job of finishing games and finishing possessions.
Defensively, Schwartz said UT ranks among the top 25 in the nation in forcing turnovers (16.7 per game) and field goal defense (40%).
Tennessee’s perimeter defense has struggled lately. UT’s guards haven’t been able to guard Arkansas’ or Auburn’s guards. And that is a major concern. Arkansas’ top two guards combined for 61 points. Auburn’s trio of starting guards scored 52 combined points and drove around UT’s guards at will.
“I don’t think it’s a concern of, if we can guard them,’’ Schwartz said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re executing our game plan. … Team defense is a big piece of it.’’
UT seeks its first SEC win Saturday night, hosting Kentucky. If the Wildcats guards have their way against the Vols, then Barnes might once again rip into his team.
And if he uses the words “casual’’ and “ego’’ and “awful’’ and “immature’’ in his post game comments, then you know it’s been another long night on Rocky Top.
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