Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinsky previews Tennessee State game

What Tennessee Basketball assistant coach Gregg Polinksy said before practice Wednesday afternoon, previewing the Tennessee State game Thursday night at Food City Center:

Rick Barnes calling Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s second half against Rice his best of Tennessee’s season so far

“Well, first of all, I’m not going to disagree with the head coach. That’s a joke. And then secondly, I think what Coach is most pleased with was we preach cardio toughness, and in that particular game, the way that they played, like they were up on them, they were making it tough. They were physical, they were fast, then Ja’Kobi managed all that. And still was able to maintain a high level of focus, consistency, get us into our offense, keep us organized. And I think that’s probably what made Coach proudest of what he was doing and the steps that he’s taken to improve.”

Where Tennessee has improved the most over the first four games

“I think paying attention to detail. I think we’re getting a better effort defensively. And I would even include, if I can, like Ohio State and Duke (preseason games) because those two high level games, if you will. And so I think we’ve improved with our effort. I think we have more guys on the same page. Not having Bishop out there has been interesting to see which guards will step up and really defend. Because defending the dribble is obviously something we were able to do in the past very well. Something this team’s going to have to do very well.”

How encouraging it was that JP Estrella’s injury is not long term

“I mean, avoiding a serious injury was great to hear. And I think that’s something like, obviously, Coach Barnes will share with everybody tomorrow.”

What he hopes Tennessee forwards Jaylen Carey and DeWayne Brown will bring with Estrella sidelined

“Their physicality. They’re both excellent passers. I think you saw the post to post pass that Jaylen threw, and we all know DeWayne processes things really quickly, particularly for a freshman. Both those guys can really pass the ball. They’re loads to handle. And I mean, what we want to do is, I know that most of you are young enough. Do any of you guys remember boxing, like the really good era of boxing, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns. Yeah, 15 rounds of going at it. And that’s what we need because we have a core of five guys. And Nate’s pretty big if we include him in that from the perimeter position. So not just all our bigs, but everybody.We include our guards in that too. But to your question specifically, big guys have to play big, or you might as well play with 6-foot-4 guys. And I think both those guys are starting to do that in a way that wears on other teams, and if this makes sense, allows Cade and Fe(lix) to play in a little more space.”

Tennessee’s Ethan Burg and Amaree Abram getting more opportunities with Bishop Boswell sidelined

“So Mo (Amaree) has got elite hands. And we’re trying to get him to get up on the ball, use his hands, not necessarily to get off balance, but make it tough on the offensive guy. Ethan, I think, came in, he understands the level that it takes, but he’s still got to improve with what we’re doing technique wise, systematically, individually. But I do think we’ve seen improvement in both those guys. We just need to see it, I think, again, individually and in our scheme what we do defensively, we have to improve still.”

If the coaching staff Tennessee thought the Vols would offensive rebound as well as they have to begin the season

“We’re going to see here real soon because — it’s no taking away from the teams we’ve played — but just size, physical attributes. I thought Rice had some big guys that could really challenge us. And they did in the first half, I think it was 19-19 on the backboard, then second half, we out-rebounded them, 28 to 12. So that was encouraging. Kind of the theory we were talking about, right? Doing it as a group. But Tennessee State, very athletic team. That’ll be challenging. They’re a good offensive rebounding team. And then as we start to step up here — when I say step up, I mean bigger teams, more size, more athleticism — I think that’ll give us a truer picture.”

How the Tennessee coaching staff can create more lobs for Ja’Kobi Gillespie to throw

“I think it’s something that like, I was listening to Ja’Kobi — I listen to our guy’s interviews to see if there’s, you know, if I can help with any pointers. But we know from the past that I can’t. So I think them talking about the connection. (Felix Okapara) went into that. You know, it just takes time and he had that with Zakai (Zeigler). Ja’Kobi has talked about at his other stops, they’ve had good players, but not really lob threats. I mean, the big he played with at Maryland, (Derik) Queen. I don’t know what he went in the draft, number seven, eight. Whatever it was, was a really good player, but not a lot of vertical lift, right? Just a really good basketball player. And with Cade (Phillips), with J.P. (Estrella), with Felix (Okpara), obviously, he’s got guys now that that’s new. I can throw the ball up to the rim. And we always tell them if you’re gonna make a mistake, make it high, not low. So he’s getting used to it. It’s something we work on every day. It’s something Coach is preaching. We watch it in video. We show it, we see it. We talk about where he’s got to attack, when to make the pass based on where the defense is. And I think he’s starting to pick up on that. And I think it’s more Ja’Kobi than it is the bigs, because they’re used to it and they’re expecting it.”

If Nate Ament is a better perimeter shooter than he’s shown in Tennessee’s first four games

“Absolutely. And I think Coach showed him on video the other day. He goes through and says, you know, we talk about whether it’s a make or a miss, what’s a good shot. And when you’re on balance, you step into it, it’s a rhythm shot, it’s the right shot for you. Bottom line, is it a practiced shot? And if it’s a practiced shot, it’s a good shot. And I think Nate can really shoot the ball. Nate can really shoot it. It’s just a matter of him figuring out shot selection and I think that takes time for someone as talented as him that can probably go get a bucket a lot of times. When do I do it? When do I utilize teammates? How do they help me? How do I help them?”