Tennessee freshman point guard Jordan Bone tries to drive past Moses Kingsley (33) of Arkansas during the second half of the Vols’ SEC loss Tuesday night in Knoxville.KNOXVILLE – Jordan Bone is finding the rust is more difficult to scrape off than expected.
Tennessee’s freshman point guard continues to work his way back into form after missing nine games with a stress fracture in his left foot, and he’s having to learn on the fly with the Volunteers two games into conference play heading into today’s game at 24th-ranked Florida.
“It’s been kind of tough getting back into the flow of things, getting back used to the pace and getting back used to how my teammates play,” Bone admitted before Friday’s practice, “so it’s been kind of tough.”
The Nashville resident scored 21 points in his debut against UT-Chattanooga, then had seven points and eight rebounds against Appalachian State before a cameo against Wisconsin in the Maui Invitational in November.
Tennessee went 6-3 with Bone on the shelf, and the Vols split two Southeastern Conference games with him back in the lineup.
Bone played just eight minutes – none in the second half – in the win at Texas A&M, and he scored six points on 3-of-10 shooting and handed out three assists in 20 minutes in the loss to Arkansas on Tuesday night.
Second-year coach Rick Barnes said Bone is still learning Tennessee’s style of play on both ends of the floor.
“I keep talking about him being in sync with us. He still doesn’t understand exactly what we’re trying to get done offensively, and defensively he’s just sporadic,” Barnes said. “He doesn’t stay in plays long enough. It’s going to take him time. I knew that coming in.
“We’re just going to have to keep working him in there, but it’s just going to take time, because he’s not at the level where he needs to be mentally with these guys yet, but you would expect that after missing nine games.”
Tennessee’s other true freshman guards are navigating their own ups and downs.
Kwe Parker dealt with an injury of his own, a sore left ankle that forced him to sit out the first two games of the season.
His role has increased recently, though, as Parker averaged 13 minutes off the bench in Tennessee’s past six games – the Vols are 4-2 in that span – and recorded 13 assists with just a single turnover in 77 minutes of action.
“I think he’s on the right track,” Barnes said. “I do think that. He does compete, and one thing when he’s on the floor, I think he has a good effect on getting other guys to even play at a higher level, and that’s a good sign. But he’s on the right track. He’s just got to keep moving forward.”
Parker took just nine shots in five games prior to Tuesday night’s loss to Arkansas, when he attempted seven shots.
“Kwe is doing a good job trying to get us into our offense and run our offense,” Barnes said. “He’s not a shot-first person. He’s definitely playing with (the mentality of) I’ve got a job to do and I’m trying to do it.”
While some freshmen are surging, Jordan Bowden is struggling mightily through both a minor toe injury and the metaphorical freshman wall.
Since he was named the SEC freshman of the week following games of 21 and 12 points against Presbyterian and North Carolina, the Knoxville native has failed to reach double figures in six straight games and was scoreless in a season-low five minutes against the Razorbacks.
He was one of the first Vols in Pratt Pavilion on Friday morning before practice, and Tennessee needs one of its better wing scorers to snap out of his slump.
“I think it’s simple: If you want to get your confidence back, you work at it,” Barnes said. “You get in the gym. You put more time in. You go into the game knowing you’ve got to play defense, you’ve got to rebound, you’ve got to get lost in the game. He’ll do that. He’s a guy that a lot of this is new to him, but he’s doing his part and he’ll bounce back.”
With all of Tennessee’s guards, aside from third-leading scorer Detrick Mostella, battling stretches of inconsistency, the Vols could use Bone’s return to form to stabilize the backcourt.
“I feel like it’s getting better, but I’ve done a lot of bad things that show that I’ve been out nine games,” Bone said, “so it’s just going to get better every game.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.