KNOXVILLE — If you’re a University of Tennessee men’s basketball fan who believes in omens, I’ve got bad news for you.

It’s rained in East Tennessee every second since Gonzaga got off the plane today, and it’s not forecast to stop until the Bulldogs leave.

The Zags have brought wet weather with them from the Pacific Northwest. At this rate, I’ll have to row, row, row my truck gently down the street to Thompson-Boling Arena tonight. Maybe I’ll use my Rock Band 2 drumsticks for paddles.

If nothing else, I have faith that all the animals here at the Rucker Ranch will give the house a Noah’s Ark-like ability to survive.

Also, here’s a fun fact: The Weather Channel and Gonzaga’s teleconference hold music contain two of the worst five beats I’ve heard since installing satellite radio in my truck three years ago.

Now that I’ve wasted a minute of your day, here’s the reason you clicked on this link — a Monday afternoon conversation with Vols coach Bruce Pearl.

Come back around lunchtime for a recap of my chat with Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

BRUCE PEARL

Opening statement ...

PEARL: “I’m disappointed with the way we played against Kansas, particularly the starts we’ve gotten off to in a number of our key games against some of our toughest opponents. We didn’t start well against Georgetown or Gonzaga, Marquette, Temple (or) Kansas. We were able to battle back against a few of those opponents. Obviously that’s something that we have to address. A lot of that is knowing our roles, making sure that our best players get the early touches. I think these are things that happen with a basketball team trying to find its identity, both on the offensive and on the defensive end.

“Looking back at the (Nov. 30) Gonzaga game, we played very well in Orlando. We played very well for the first 30 minutes, 35 minutes of that Gonzaga game, maybe 32 — maybe even played with more energy in that game than we had in the last game against Kansas.

“When you do lose, and especially when you lose against an opponent when you feel like you have a chance to win, your confidence is shaken. Our basketball team, let’s see now, we’ve lost three games. We’re 9-3 now. We’ve played 12 games. I’m going to cheat here for a second (looking at stat sheet). This basketball team has been away from home more than it’s been home by a long shot. As you look at some of the big wins that have taken place, a lot of them have taken place at home. This team probably, being a younger basketball team, needs that. I know it helped us in Orlando when we played Georgetown and we played Sienna and Gonzaga — we had great support. It helped us in Nashville when we played Marquette. You can see how much, I think, it hurt us on the road against Temple and Kansas.

“Now, the home crowd is not going to defend for us. It’s not going to make shots for us. It’s not going to show discipline at both ends of the floor. But it certainly can help. I know that on Wednesday night we are going to have a great home-court advantage because this basketball team needs it.”

Q: Do you talk at all with your players about the 37-game home-court winning streak? That’s the nation’s second-longest now.

PEARL: “I’ve never brought it up, so I probably won’t bring it up now. Obviously, when you get ready to play teams like a Gonzaga or in SEC play, that home streak is going to be challenged every single time out. I’m sort of a ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ kind of guy. I’m more concerned with winning number 10 than however many — I don’t even know what number, I don’t even know how many we’ve won at home, I really don’t. So whatever number that is, it means less to me than getting to the 10th win, so that’s what I’m going to focus on with the team.

“But I don’t mind that the kids care about it. I think it’s great. I think they should. And I think our fans should. I think it’s a terrific thing to right now have the second or third longest winning streak in the country, whatever that is. I think it’s great. But for me, it’s about number 10. It’s about Gonzaga. It’s about what we need to do to win that basketball game for 40 minutes.”

Q: What changes have you seen in Gonzaga in the five weeks since that loss?

PEARL: “You know, it’s amazing. They’re 8-4 now, and they’ve lost three out of the last four games, and they’ve lost three in a row. It’s just going to be so easy, you know, for the national audience or the color commentators or people in the media to go, ‘Oh, well, they’re really struggling.’

“They go to Connecticut ... actually, no. Connecticut plays them in the same tournament we played them at last year, in the Battle in Seattle, and they really outplay an undefeated (at the time) Connecticut team for most of the game and got a pretty decent lead. Then Connecticut makes some unbelievable plays, gets it into overtime and they lose in overtime to the No. 2 ranked team in the country.

“As a result of that loss, they’re somewhat affected when they go play Portland State at the end of finals and their students are gone — kind of like we play Belmont — except Portland State’s picked to win their league. I think Portland State’s only lost one game all year long, and they’ve got a very veteran ball club, and so they do upset Gonzaga. There’s no question about it. Portland State’s a really good team and picked to win their league, won their league a year ago.

“Then they go to Utah. Anybody who’s been to play Utah at Utah will tell you that’s just not a place where Utah loses many games. And they have a chance to win that one at the buzzer. So, you know, I think, yes, Gonzaga’s got to be disappointed that they lost a few games. I don’t know what it’s really done to affect their mindset. I know like us, that they were playing extremely well. I would say this: Gonzaga played as good against us and Connecticut as I’ve seen them play. They didn’t play as well at Utah. They didn’t play as well against Portland State. But they did play great against us. They made shots. They hurt us in transition and (Jeremy) Pargo was like a lot of point guards we’ve seen. He was very, very difficult for us to stop.”

Q: Do you think your team is better since the loss to Gonzaga?

PEARL: “Um, a little bit. We should be a lot better, and we’re not a lot better. We talked about teams getting better throughout the season. I think we’re a little better, but not a lot better. I thought that inspite of the fact that Gonzaga shot a good percentage, our half-court defense then was better than it is now. Our transition defense is a little better now, but I thought in the half court that we played Gonzaga pretty well.

“We obviously struggled with ball-screen defense against Kansas. Of course, that’s what Kansas does. We’ve got a lot of teams in our league that run great ball-screen offense — Florida, Georgia. I mean ball-screen offense is some of the most difficult offense to guard, when we’re guarding it poorly we’re going to see a lot of it.”

Q: You mentioned Pargo, and Kansas’ point guard Sherron Collins. But has your point-guard defense regressed a little bit?

PEARL: “Yes, our point-guard defense has regressed. You know Josh Tabb’s one of our best defenders, he couldn’t stop Collins. Bobby, you know I think the thing about Bobby is you’re not, we are not a contender for anything without Bobby Maze. So I am very, very pleased about him being here. I’m very pleased with how he’s played early this season. He, in our two wins, look, we have played against good point guards. It just seems like that’s been the matchups. We beat Marquette and Dominic James is a great point guard and we outplay him. He dominates Christ Wright from Georgetown and we win.

“At the same time, (Belmont’s Alex) Renfroe, Collins, Pargo, those three guys have had great, great, great, great games against us. You can’t point to our point guards defensively, and obviously any time you talk to an individual defensively, you’ve got to talk about your team defense. That’s probably what’s broken more than anything else is that we as a team: We’re not trusting our help and we’re not rotating and we’re leaving too many guys out there all by themselves, so we’ve got to do a better job helping those guys and trusting our help. So it’s a function of playing against great point guards but not giving our point guards enough help, and there are other areas they’re not helping.

“Our help defense is what’s been really compromised. That’s about experience, that’s about trust, and hopefully those things will improve.”

Q: How do you fix the defense?

PEARL: “Just keep coaching, keep teaching, keep watching film. We’ve talked about the defensive struggles from the very, very beginning. While I’m disappointed — and I’d say very disappointed — I’m not surprised. These have been things, my tone has stayed exactly the same.

“So what’s funny is if I were to read any criticism or hear any criticism about our basketball team, most of it’s true. Most of it’s accurate. But I’m not surprised by it, because that’s what it’s been. We have some challenges with our quickness, and so, therefore, we’ve just got to be able to be a five-man defensive team better than we are a one-on-one defensive team. It’s why zone bothered Kansas. But we can’t play zone against every opponent. Some opponents are too good from the outside to do that.”

Q: You played as much zone defense against Kansas as we’ve ever seen from your UT teams in a single game. Will you keep playing more zone, considering this team’s size?

PEARL: “We will against some opponents, absolutely. With our length, it’s something that we started to work on two years ago when we took our foreign trip. It was very much a factor in our beating Marquette. And as you guys know from watching us playing in the last several years, our system is designed to try to take away what the opponent brings.

“Without the zone we may not beat Marquette. So it’s a good weapon to have. It’s good to have, but it’s not going to be played against every opponent on our schedule.”

Q: Is this freshman class not as defensively able as others in the past?

PEARL: “I’d say one thing: Size is overrated. We’ve won big being undersized. There are some real advantages to being undersized, and one of them is quickness.

“Every one of our freshmen, with the exception of Emmanuel Negedu, is big for his position. Scotty Hopson’s a big 2-guard at 6-6, 6-7. Cameron Tatum’s big for a 2-guard at 6-6, 6-7. Renaldo Woolridge is big and tall, at almost 6-9 now as a 3. As a result, the quickness factor isn’t as there. Therefore, we’re not turning people over. And we’re getting beat more off the bounce. Therefore, you’ve got to rotate. Therefore, your back side’s compromised, and our bigs are having to help more, which was a function of Kansas’ success in their ball-screen offense.

“We’re a much better rebounding team. We’re blocking more shots. Our field-goal-percentage defense — in the three losses, teams have shot very well. The rest of the time, with the exception of the Georgetown win, we’ve held teams down. I think the other area where we’re struggling a little bit with our freshmen is just inconsistent shooting. Our three best shooters were three seniors last year, and this year our three guards that shoot the ball — Renaldo, Scotty and Cameron — are all freshmen.”

Q: So when, say, Wayne Chism or Ramar Smith was a freshman, it was different because they weren’t necessarily big for their positions?

PEARL: “I would say that, if we’re going to place (blame) and say, ‘What’s wrong? Why isn’t it what it ought to be?’ I’d leave the freshmen out of it. I would. I think they’ve been about what we thought they would be.

“Let’s talk about them. I mean, Scotty and Cameron and Renaldo have all shown signs and have been pretty much what I thought they would be. I think Scotty’s worked really hard defensively. He’s getting more loose balls, rebounding a little bit better. Cameron, the same way, inconsistent shooting. Renaldo, he’s a big man who can shoot the ball. Can he score another way? But his defense has improved. He’s rebounding pretty well from his position.

“I think if you asked our team, it’s about our returning guys. It’s about their coach, you know, that has to step up, I think. And I think the freshmen are coming along OK. They’re coming along OK. J.P. Prince getting back to playing as well as he’s playing. Wayne is. Tyler (Smith) is at times but obviously needs to start better and especially give us courage and confidence on the road. Brian Williams, as a second-year guy. Josh Tabb.

“If you want to point fingers, then I’m willing to take the hit. Point it at me, and point it at the guys coming back. Say, ‘Those are the guys, I think.’ And again, I’ve been saying that all along, too.”

Q: Your schedule previously was somewhat spaced out, but now you’re starting to play every few days. How does that change things for you?

PEARL: “What it does is, Gonzaga hasn’t played since the 31st, so they’ve got all this time to get ready for just Tennessee, and they’ve got a fairly weak conference opponent at home on Saturday. We come off Kansas, had to take Sunday off — although we did watch the film yesterday — and today will be our only practice day, and it will be for both Gonzaga and Georgia. We will have to physically go at both opponents today because, after the game Wednesday, Thursday will be a day where we won’t have contact after the game. And then we have a noon game at Georgia.

“Interestingly, not many teams in the league play. We open up on Saturday in the SEC. I think we’re the only (SEC) team that plays this week. We’re certainly the only team with a big game, so it does affect our preparation. Today will be a day of preparation for both Georgia and Gonzaga, and our only physical day of the week.”

Q: Why did the big men for both Kansas and Temple have good games against your defense?

PEARL: “I would say that (Kansas’ Cole) Aldrich played as well as he did as a function of our ball-screen defense. He got a lot of open looks and lobs, and we didn’t press up on him when he took his jump shot. So not good ball pressure, not good ball-screen defense. And I think that (Sergio) Olmos was a guy that just played better. He played better home and probably gave that Temple team a lot of confidence. He’s a big 7-footer, but he’s been inconsistent. He made a couple shots and got some confidence.”

Q: With the roll Chism has been on offensively, are teams starting to defend him differently?

PEARL: “Not yet, no. I think Wayne’s a guy that we’ve got to continue to get him more looks, and he’s got to be one of the focal points of our offense. As far as a big man is concerned, does that happen in the fastbreak and does that happen in the continuity, or does that happen in the play calls? And it really happens in play calls. The players themselves have got to make it happen in the fastbreak and in the continuity.”

Q: Are you worried about your team’s toughness at this point?

PEARL: “Yeah. Absolutely. I’m not worried about my team’s toughness at this point — I’ve been worrying about my team’s toughness all season. It’s certainly going to be tested and is being tested.”

Q: How do you deal with that?

PEARL: “I think you face it. I think sometimes these things really can be helped within the framework of a team itself. I mean, the team has been very, very accountable. I think they realize that that’s an area that we’re being challenged in. It’s either step up or be exposed, and our lack of toughness has been exposed. So obviously we’re trying to step up. We’re not denying it. We’re not hiding behind it. We’re clearly working on it.”

Q: What stands out to you about the SEC this year?

PEARL: “I think it’s better than what people think. I guess it’s easy for me to say. The top is not as strong as what it’s been the last three years. I’ve been in the conference three years. We’ve had a two-time defending national champion in Florida, and last year Tennessee probably had as good of a regular season as anybody in the country, finishing number one in the RPI. And I don’t think I see any team as strong as any one of those three teams. And, because of that, I think there’s going to be tremendous balance in the league. It’s going to be very competitive. From the last-place team to the first-place team, there’s just not that much difference.

“You see improvement in Florida, and a couple years of recruiting and a couple years of coaching by Coach Donovan. They’ve not played the toughest nonconference schedule yet, but I think they’re a much better basketball team than they were a year ago.

“South Carolina has got a great veteran backcourt playing with a lot of confidence, and they’ve got a great record. Almost had a great home win against Clemson and beat Baylor at Baylor, which was a huge win for our league.

“Vanderbilt, as long as Kevin (Stallings) is coaching them, they’re not going to beat themselves. They’re getting better. They did lose a couple of games, but they are awfully competitive.

“Georgia has got a terrific, young front line. They’re improving.

“Kentucky had a great shot at Louisville last night, and between the combination of Patrick Patterson and (Jodie) Meeks, two of the top 10 players in the league reside on that one Kentucky team. You’ve got great balance in the East.

“Out West, Arkansas and LSU are the most talented teams in our league (in terms of) size, athleticism. Arkansas is young, but they’ve had three or four unbelievable recruiting years and just great personnel. They’ve got a terrific win over Oklahoma. LSU hasn’t been as tested, as they’ve had two great games against Washington State and Texas A&M. They beat Washington State, which is a good win for our league. They’ve got a couple guys that are still back from a Final Four team, and lots of experience, lots of athleticism, lots of length.

“Alabama was picked to win that side. There’s three (good) teams.

“Auburn’s playing much better, with a win over Virginia. They’ve won a number in a row. A lot of seniors. Auburn was one of the teams that I was kind of pointing at and saying, ‘This could be Jeff’s (Lebo) best team.’ They’re not deep on the front line, but they’ve got as much experience as anybody in the league.

“Mississippi State has been up and down, but a great win against Houston in their last game. Houston has got a number of really good wins.

“Ole Miss has had some injuries, and particularly in their backcourt.

“I think there’s great balance — great, great balance — in our league. I think every game is going to be hard-fought, and I would say the winner of the SEC will have — what did we win it with last year, two losses? I think the winner of the SEC will have at least double that.”