KNOXVILLE – Rick Barnes has an offensive system in place that has, in the past, yielded results. Just look back at last basketball season when his Tennessee team averaged 82 points per game.
But the bulk of that production is gone and what’s left is a team full of new players or previous role players who really had not been asked to score. So it’s no surprise that the Barnes system – tried and true over the years – has sputtered this season.
The advantage that the Volunteers had a year ago was that even if an opposing team was able to disrupt their execution, they had several players who were able to break free and go create a shot – either for themseves or someone else. Those players don’t exist on the roster this season, and the offense has had its issues against the sort of competition Tennessee will face the rest of the way.
Barnes’ offensive system is predicated on constant ball movement on one end, with screens and cuts on the back end that can lead to easy baskets. Tennessee had multiple threats last season, so everybody had to be respected, but this year’s team has averaged just 61.3 points on 39% shooting against the seven similarly talented opponents it has faced: Washington, Florida State, Virginia Commonwealth, Memphis, Cincinnati, Wisconsin and LSU.
In those games, Tennessee (8-5, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) is 2-5 and has averaged just 12.9 assists. The Vols play Tuesday night at Missouri (8-5, 0-1) at 7 on the SEC Network.
Opposing teams’ scouting reports have been locked in on stopping guard Jordan Bowden, the team’s lone senior who has more than 1,000 points in his career, and Bowden has struggled, averaging 12.2 points on 36% shooting. In his last six games he has averaged 8.3 points on 25% shooting from the field and 23% from 3-point range.
But he’s Tennessee’s biggest threat, and opponents will continue to focus on the 6-foot-5 guard.
“Coach Barnes has a great system,” LSU coach Will Wade said after Saturday’s win over the Vols. “He’s running this same system they had last year. It’s just a little bit different: Slower is not the word, just not having as much freedom, I would say. (Admiral) Schofield and those guys (from last season) kind of break off.
“I told our guys that I thought we did a good job with this. I said, ‘If we make a mistake defensively, make sure we don’t let it be in the paint and we don’t give Bowden a clean look. Any other mistake defensively we can live with, but don’t let the ball easily in the paint and don’t give Bowden a clean 3. Anything else we will figure out.'”
The Vols got a jolt offensively from freshman Santiago Vescovi, who in his first game scored 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. But he also had nine turnovers, and now opponents have video of Vescovi, meaning it’s likely that they will attempt to take away his strengths, meaning that, again, other options need to emerge.
Maybe it’s Josiah-Jordan James. Maybe Yves Pons continues to make open looks, but how many more will he get?
It’s a problem if other options don’t develop. The offense is tried and true; the personnel will have to continue to progress.
“Not just one guy can win the game,” Pons said Saturday, “so everybody has to step up, play their role, do their job, execute on offense and play hard for 40 minutes.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.