KNOXVILLE - Jordan Bowden remained a starter for Tennessee's basketball game against Missouri on Saturday, but the freshman guard lasted only one minute and 16 seconds before exiting and didn't return.
With Bowden battling illness, more minutes were available for Shembari Phillips, who has become the Volunteers' biggest enigma, at least in the eyes of the coaching staff.
Phillips scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting with two rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes as Tennessee beat the Tigers 90-70. It marked just the third time since mid-December the sophomore has played 20 or more minutes in a game.
"Shembari is a guy we want to get going," Volunteers coach Rick Barnes said after the game. "He baffles us. I'll be honest with you. We don't understand why he doesn't see himself the way we see him. We think he should be just as effective as a Jordan Bowden, but the difference is Jordan lets things roll off of him and keeps going, and Shembari holds it in.
"I don't know if I've coached a guy like Shembari where we literally almost beg him to shoot the ball and he still won't do it. He can shoot the ball, but if he misses one his idea of playing is dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble and hope something opens up, where he should be a great catch-and-shoot guy, a great two-dribble pull-up guy, two dribbles and get to the rim. What we want from him right now - and I actually said to him this week - is, 'We want you to be the Kyle Alexander on the perimeter with your defense. That's what we want from you.' Today he didn't do it as well as he can."
Phillips hadn't scored in double figures since Tennessee won at Texas A&M on Dec. 29, the finale of his 10-game stint as the starting point guard in place of injured freshman Jordan Bone. In the 13 games between his 10-point performances, Phillips scored a total of 33 points, and the span included four scoreless games as well as him playing less than a minute at Florida and only five minutes against Kansas State.
Phillips said his disappearing act - he was a key player in November and December - was "on me" and dubbed his performance against Missouri one he needed for his confidence.
"Barnes needs me to be a defender and he needs me to score the ball and he needs me to take my open shots," Phillips said. "I just really haven't been doing that in the past, but I just need to continue to stay positive and stay ready, stay aggressive and do what I need to do and do what I have to do to help this team."
Whether it's during practice or with the media, Barnes always has been blunt with his assessment of his players, so it's noteworthy when he gushes about the potential he sees in someone and wonders why it's not being met.
"He just has to realize (his potential) and be confident in his game," said senior Robert Hubbs III, Tennessee's top scorer this season. "He can be one of the best two-way players in the league if he really wants to. He's getting there, though. We've been really encouraging him. He had a really good practice (on Friday). He did some good things today.
"Just like me, he can own that mid-range area. He has a good high-release shot, and he practices it all the time. I think as time as goes on he's really going to develop and figure it out."
In nearly two seasons at Tennessee, Barnes has proven he can develop players, particularly if he takes them on as one of his projects. Kevin Punter Jr. was the example last year, and now Hubbs is having his best season despite inconsistency and injuries as a senior. The freshmen playing the most have improved.
"He needs to be bringing energy," Barnes said of Phillips. "He's got to stop saying, 'My bad.' That's what he's got to get out of his system, because good players don't keep doing that. They're going to play hard and they're going to compete. None of them's going to play perfect, but you don't have to let everybody else know.
"People know, everybody knows whose bad it is. That's not hard to figure out. That's an insecurity blanket kind of, but he can be a terrific player. We think he can be an All-SEC defensive player if he wanted to do it, but he's got to start seeing himself that way, too."
Phillips appears to be Barnes' newest project.
"It's humbling," Phillips said. "It definitely is, and it's an experience, really. You know he's a great coach and you know he has a lot of guys he's put in the (NBA) and things of that nature. You know that he knows what he's talking about when he comes at you, but he just has a certain way of coming at you, and you just have to take it on the chest and keep it moving."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.