Jonas Aidoo reveals what led to his strong game against Alabama

Alabama is undefeated no more in SEC play. The Crimson Tide visited rival Tennessee in Thomson-Boling on Wednesday night and were handed their first loss of the conference season by a reeling Volunteers club, who rebounded with their biggest win of the season despite losing two of their best swingmen. Senior Josiah-Jordan James and freshman Julian Phillips — two of the team’s top-six scorers — both sat out. No matter, because underclassmen forwards Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka helped plug the gap.

Especially Aidoo, who recorded the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 11 rebounds along with some excellent defense. In a massive game with other players in the front-court down, Aidoo stepped up and gave easily his most important performance (and likely his best) in a Volunteer uniform. Also credit Rick Barnes for countering Alabama’s bigger lineups with some of his own, knowing he had to replace more versatile forwards with a traditional big like Aidoo.

After the game, Aidoo was one of several Vols who got the nod to participate in the postgame press conference, where he was asked how the coaching staff prepared him for the biggest matchup of his young career.

“Coach Barnes, he always tried to push people, so he tried to kind of mess with me a little bit,” admitted the big fella. “I don’t know what to say about that. To be honest, he’s just trying to get me going in practice so I can play hard. I feel like I played pretty hard tonight. It was a great team win.”

A little chess from Rick Barnes trying to coax his less-experienced big man into the right mindset ahead of such a huge game considering the injuries. But hey…it worked! Because Aidoo came through and said afterward he had plenty of confidence heading into the ‘Bama game.

“Just playing confident. Basketball, it goes up and down. There have been plenty of teams that have been knocked out the standings and stuff like that. We just have to keep playing hard. I keep talking about the second half versus Missouri. If we keep playing like that every game, I feel like nobody can stop us.”

Jonas Aidoo played with confidence all night and has even more after a strong performance and a win for his side. Obviously, Tennessee ideally gets Phillips and James back promptly, but Aidoo’s breakout is a nice development to see in their absence. Sometimes injuries can open doors for players further down the rotation to prove themselves in opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have had, and that’s exactly what Aidoo did on Wednesday.

After a real rough last week, Vols are trending upwards once again.