Head Coach Rick Barnes Transcript

On coming down from the win Saturday to take on Georgia…
“They better. We came in yesterday and told them after the game that it was a big win for us, enjoy it Saturday night. But know that you come in yesterday focused with laser focus knowing that we have another big game Tuesday night. We came in yesterday and went through the things we did not do very well. The message was today is the most important day we have. We have to come out and practice hard today and we have to be focused as we have been for the most part all year long. We have to play good basketball.”

On impressions on Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and the next steps for him…
“Consistency. After the game, we talked about how Brandon was one of the first guys we congratulated in the locker room. His mental preparation for the game has gone to a different level in the last week. He came in a couple of games ago and did it again wanting to know exactly what was expected of him on the defensive end. I think that is where he has changed. Most young players coming in have a way of looking at the game from an offensive side of the ball as opposed to realizing that there is so much more that goes into the guts of this game. You have to do away from the ball on each play and there is a responsibility. That is where he has really embraced it. I think he is really wanting to learn the game in a whole different way. It is fun to watch him do it. Now, we told him that he is showing what he can do, with what we have known you can do all along. You have to give him credit for really buying into it. I have told him that there is more there, we are going to get it. I think he is excited about what he has done but knows he has to continue to get better.”

On if this is the best rebounding team he has coached at Tennessee…
“I do not know if I can say that. It is something we have dialed in. I guess numbers will bear that out one way or another in the end. We look at each day with our guys and each team saying what does this team need to do to get better? We talked about a week ago that we had to get better with our ball-screen defense with both our guards and post players. We talked about rebounding and if we are going to give teams two to three shots we cannot get done what we want to get done. On the other end, we do think we can score the ball but there are going to be nights. We have had games where we had great looks but it did not go in. We have to be able to go in and rebound it at a high level. Exactly what we do not want teams to do to us is what we need to do to them by getting those second shots. It takes a lot of effort and work on each player. You know we have great respect for every team we play against and the coaches. We play against coaches that know what they are doing and they are going to say, you have to keep them off the board. They are going to block out and will you make those second or third effort plays to go get the ball on both ends? That is an area I can always tell you we need to get better in.”

On Tennessee’s consistent focus this season…
“I want to appreciate them because they are doing their part. I have said before that we have the best coaching staff in the country. I know how hard they work with these guys. It is not just a voice that they hear from me in practice. I know it goes on behind the scenes every day from the time we start early in the morning to the guys individually. I know how hard these guys work to prepare and in practice. We do spend a lot of time with our players. They are getting the right message from a coaching staff that has been around. They know what goes into this and they are doing their part.”

On where he thinks the change of focus came from in Brandon Huntley-Hatfield…
“I don’t know. I think you would have to ask him that. Brandon was one of the first guys that got here and made the jump from high school. He could still be in high school. I do remember back and it seems like a long time ago. As a coaching staff has poured a lot into Brandon, a lot. We love him as a person and we knew that he would come in with a lot of expectation and pressure in a lot of different areas. Sometimes you wish as a coaching staff it was not like that, but that is a process you have to go through. Young people only know what they know and what they have been told until they get into the thick of it. It is always harder than you think, it is harder. Unless you have been through it, it is really difficult. He has some teammates that have stuck with him all of the way. Olivier (Nkamhoua) was able to share with him, ‘Hey man, I have been here three years and these are the ups and downs I have gone through’. Josiah (James) and Santi (Vescovi), every one of these guys have had to deal with the ups and downs of understanding what college basketball is about. It goes back to where I have said this all along, I think these guys like each other and from day one want to be a good basketball team. With every team, you go through issues you have to deal with internally that sometimes come from outside people thinking they know more than what is going on in the in-house every single day. That is part of it and the part you deal with. These guys have not given up on anybody at any point in time. They have told Brandon from day one, ‘We need you’. It takes time, it does. But give him credit because he has stayed with it and he knows it has not been easy. What he is getting right now we are happy for him because he has stayed after it.”

On what concerns him most about Georgia…
“I have a lot of respect for Tom Crean. I have known Tom for a long time, and I can assure you he is coaching that basketball team like tomorrow is the Super Bowl. I know Tom is very competitive and he is going to do everything he can, offensively, they really do a good job in getting you to spread out and excellent in running back cuts on you. If you watch them, they are a well-coached team, they really are. When you are in this league, and I tell everybody, you can throw out the records. Anybody, in this league, top to bottom, has a chance to put together a great game. It all goes back to focus, and I think every coach in this league will tell you when we get ready to play, we are more concerned with our team and what we have to do. I can assure you Tom Crean will have his team ready to play with a game plan against us with exactly what he thinks it will take to beat us.”

On if some of the team will be injury managed this week…
“We will probably have to manage some. The one thing is, maybe playing Tuesday this week will give us a little more time. This time of year, I believe we all have to manage that. It is a concern, and I think you saw in the game Saturday, the three guys we had to manage were a little sluggish to start the game, which you would expect. I am a big believer in that when you get in a rhythm and that rhythm gets broken, it might be subtle, but sometimes it takes you a little bit longer. All three of those guys got better as the game went on.”

On how you has seen Kennedy Chandler develop…
“I think Kennedy’s biggest improvement, since the Texas game, his defense has gotten so much better. He has become more locked in defensively and because of that he has gotten so much better with it. His preparation, knowing at that spot all eyes are on him, and if you are going to be out front and do the things that we need that position to do it takes a great deal of preparation. Kennedy, since the Texas game, has been a different player too in terms of his defense. I thought the other day, and I told him this yesterday, it was my fault because I thought I kept him out there too long, at the end of the game I felt like he had gotten fatigued a little bit. The fact is, he has improved a lot.”

On Brandon Huntley-Hatfield’s growth and how that changes the team…
“We will see. As we know, it’s a game of matchups. Brandon showed me a lot, he was running down rebounds and making those extra effort type of plays. It is fun to watch when you see a guy when the game starts out, and the specific couple things you give him, you can tell that he is locked into doing that. It was neat watching Brandon do that, and the effort he made to rebound and run down balls because Brandon has really good hands. We got some guys on our team, Josiah has great hands, Brandon does, Zakai (Zeigler), and Kennedy do. We have guys that have good hands and when they get them working, we can break things loose. Brandon running down the rebounds is something that he did not do a month ago, but now he is making all those plays and that all goes back into practice. He is coming into practice with a much better focus. I do think that these guys realize that practice is the most important thing that we do until the ball goes up and what we do to prepare prior to that is really important, and again, he has figured that out.”

Junior Forward Uros Plavsic Quotables

On the first game of his Tennessee career being at Georgia in 2020, and how far he’s come since then…
“I do remember that game well. That was my first game after I was cleared by the NCAA. At that point, I was missing basketball a lot. I didn’t play for a while and was just going through practices with my teammates, seeing them compete, and not being able to help them on the court. Stepping into that game, I had a lot of emotions. I was just waiting for the moment to happen and ready to play basketball, but once it started it was just another game for me.”

On how Tennessee is able stay focused no matter who the opponent is…
“I feel like that comes from the maturity of this team and the leadership from our older guys teaching the younger guys how to switch your mind from winning a big game at home, to going on the road against Georgia. Can you prepare for every single opponent differently than you prepared from your last game? You have to make sure you’re locked into the scouting report and what coaches show you. It’s hard winning on the road in the SEC and you have to be prepared for whoever is in front of you.”

On if he had any idea on how loud Thompson-Boling Arena can get before he arrived at Tennessee…
“I had no idea before I got here. The most people I’ve played in front of is about 500 people, so playing in front of 22,000 is unbelievable. When you get to the point where you’re on the floor, and you’re trying to tell your teammates something, you have to start screaming from five feet away so they can hear you. That just tells you how great this environment is and when you see the students camping out in front of the gym in the cold to get the best seats possible is amazing. I appreciate them and the amount of support and love they’ve shown us this year is amazing. We haven’t lost a game at home—that just shows you how great this environment is, and I don’t think there is a better home court advantage in college basketball.”