UT Vols see defensive details as key to stop losing streak

Tennessee guard Kevin Punter (0) is defended by Mississippi guard Stefan Moody (42) during an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in Oxford, Miss.
Tennessee guard Kevin Punter (0) is defended by Mississippi guard Stefan Moody (42) during an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 in Oxford, Miss.

KNOXVILLE -- The Tennessee men's basketball team left for LSU on Tuesday night for one of its toughest road games of the season, while hoping to snap a five-game losing streak.

And the Volunteers know what they have to fix to give themselves a chance against the NCAA tournament-bound Tigers.

"It's going to start defensively," Tennessee guard Kevin Punter said as the team boarded the bus to the airport to fly to Baton Rouge on Tuesday evening. "We've got to set the tone defensively, and offensively just play the right way, drive to the basket and play with some confidence, not that we haven't. We've got to play with some swagger about us."

In three of the games on their current losing skid, the Vols have allowed their opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, and Vanderbilt and Florida each shot better than 57 percent in wins against Tennessee last week.

The Vols entered Tuesday night's Southeastern Conference games 13th in the league in shooting percentage (.454) and 3-point shooting percentage (.371) in league games.

Tennessee's matchup zone befuddled some SEC opponents early in the conference season, but that's not been the case lately, as the Vols have lost nine of their last 11 games.

"We've got to be more detailed," forward Derek Reese said. "That's what we did when we watched film. We really watched the details of the mistakes we made. We really have to focus on the details and do the little things.

photo Tennessee forward Derek Reese (23) dunks against Mississippi forward Sebastian Saiz (11) during an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.
photo Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall reacts against Mississippi during an NCAA college basketball game in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.

"We're trying to get away from that losing streak and come out there and play the best we can," he added. "It's frustrating with this slide, but it's part of the business and part of the game. You've got to come ready every day."

It's the details, rather than any loss in energy or intensity, that have led the slide defensively, according to first-year coach Donnie Tyndall.

"I went back and watched the first South Carolina (game) where we won on the road, and I don't know that our team has lost any intensity," Tyndall said Monday. "I think the biggest thing is we've lost some detail.

"A large part of that is the last month, we've probably only been able to have two really what I call grinding, taxing practices because of our limited depth, because guys have been banged up and because guys are playing such heavy minutes.

"When you don't have your grinding, tough practices, and you're not doing your 3-on-3 rebounding, your 4-on-4 shell and those drills where you really grind them through the practice session, I think you lose a little bit of that."

The Vols planned to go back to those more challenging practices this week with just two games and next week's SEC tournament remaining.

"(Tyndall) really cracked down on our defensive drills and closing out the proper way," Punter said. "I think it's going to make a pretty good difference. He went back to his old ways, and I think we're going to be pretty fine."

Tyndall said both Vanderbilt and Florida used lineups with four perimeter-oriented players, as opposed to a more traditional three-guard, two-forward group, to spread out Tennessee's zone and attack off the dribble.

As Tennessee would collapse its defense, that would leave shooters open behind the 3-point line for quality looks.

"They've been successful with that," Tyndall said.

"It's totally about guarding the dribble," he added, "and there's a certain way you have to close out that we teach."

The Vols, according to their coach, actually have played between 20 and 25 percent man-to-man, or roughly 10 or 12 possessions per game, over the past couple of weeks, a break from the matchup zone Tyndall has mainly employed as a head coach dating back to his days at Morehead State with Kenneth Faried.

The defensive troubles all go back to one primary problem.

"The biggest thing, what some people don't understand, if you can't guard the dribble in a zone, you're probably not going to guard the dribble in man-to-man, and that's certainly a deficiency in our team," Tyndall said.

"It all starts with guarding the dribble and keeping the ball in front, and we just haven't done a good job of that -- both out top or out front, or on the wing spots."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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