If Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes was granted one belated Christmas wish for his erratic 2020-21 team, he wouldn’t take long to determine it.
“We need to get consistent scoring from inside,” Barnes said Monday. “We need John Fulkerson and Yves Pons to really give us that, because there are going to be nights when you’re not making threes. We’ve worked on posting our guards up, too, because you’ve got to have a presence in there some way, and it would help us a lot if those guys could give us what we expect and what we know that they’re capable of giving us.”
The two senior veterans of Tennessee’s roster have undoubtedly struggled at times this season, particularly this month. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Pons has averaged just 7.3 points in his last four games, missing the Feb. 10 win over Georgia due to knee soreness.
Asked Monday whether the knee has been a factor, Barnes said, “I think it’s a problem, but he would never say it. He’s just not one of those guys.”
The 6-9, 215-pound Fulkerson has reached double figures once in six February games, scoring 19 points last Wednesday night against a reeling South Carolina team that was missing two starters. In Tennessee’s two recent losses to LSU and Kentucky, Fulkerson was a combined 3-for-12 shooting.