KNOXVILLE - Rick Barnes knows a step up in class awaits his Tennessee basketball team when it arrives in Brooklyn for tonight's Barclays Center Classic opener against George Washington.
The first-year coach also knows the two-game visit to the Big Apple will give him and his staff a clearer picture of his makeshift bunch heading into December.
"We've just got to continue to get better," Barnes said after the Volunteers beat Army 95-80 on Tuesday night. "That's what this time of year is about. You learn a lot about your team, and we've got to continue to get play from our bench.
"We're still learning some things about our team," he added. "As coaches, we're still learning ways that we can utilize each one of these guys."
The Vols emerged from a flurry of five games in 11 days with victories against UNC Asheville, Marshall, Gardner-Webb and Army and a two-point defeat at Georgia Tech.
Tennessee tonight faces George Washington, which is just outside the Top 25 of both polls after last week's upset of then-No. 6 Virginia, before a quick turnaround to play either Cincinnati or Nebraska on Saturday afternoon.
Armani Moore (21.8 ppg) and Kevin Punter (18.6) are leading the Vols in scoring as expected, and Robert Hubbs is providing a nice third scoring option (16.2) as Barnes and his staff emphasize to the former five-star recruit that he's more effective attacking the basket.
The staff wants Derek Reese rebounding, and he's averaged better than nine rebounds a game so far, and Devon Baulkman is applying more of a defensive mentality and letting his offense come to him on the wing.
What Barnes wants to do next is build the bench corps, which includes freshmen Shembari Phillips, Admiral Schofield and Kyle Alexander, redshirt freshman Jabari McGhee, junior college transfer Ray Kasongo and mercurial sophomore Detrick Mostella.
Barnes said the development of those players into specific roles will determine "how far we go" this season.
"I've got faith in these guys," Moore said Tuesday. "They do the same thing we do every single day, so there's no reason why they shouldn't be developing throughout the season just like we do. They're going to come along, and I think Coach Barnes is great with individual development.
"Shembari came in tonight and did some great things. Admiral came in and got a block and a crucial rebound. It's bit by bit, step by step, and I feel like by the end of the season Tennessee's going to have some very good players."
Phillips and Schofield are particularly important because they're the ones who spell Punter and Moore, the Vols' two most valuable players. McGhee and Alexander must provide reliable frontcourt play. Mostella plays the most among nonstarters.
Phillips on Tuesday scored five points, including a second-half 3, with no turnovers in nine minutes.
"I'm trying to fill a role to be K.P.'s relief right now, being the backup point guard," he said. "I'm just doing everything Coach Barnes is asking me to do running his system. When K.P. comes off the floor, I don't want a letdown, so I can either make things better or keep it to where he comes back in the game that he can take back over.
"Right now I'm just filling my role, playing defense and doing what I need to do."
After two games in two days Tennessee won't play again until a trip to Butler on Dec. 12, and that window as the players take final exams will give Barnes and his staff a chance to develop them in practice.
They'll have a better gauge of what's at their disposal once they return from Brooklyn.
"I think there's a lot more good (than what I expected)," Barnes said. "I don't know if there's anything bad. We're behind in terms of where we'd be like to be able to mix our defenses a little more. We haven't been able to move along that way quick enough.
"It's still early, and we knew this group of games would be hard to get through, and we're still not through it, but we have improved. Now we've got to keep moving; we can't take a step backwards. We still have to get guys coming off the bench truly to understand their roles."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com