What Rick Barnes said Tuesday about Tennessee Basketball starting preseason practice

What head coach Rick Barnes said during his press conference ahead of Tennessee Basketball’s first official preseason practice Tuesday afternoon at Pratt Pavilion:

Which Tennessee players have stepped up as leaders after losing so many veterans from last season’s team

“Well, it’s the older guys that have been here. They know what we look for, they know how we want to attack every day. And whether it’s on the court, in the weight room, off the court, the way we want to do things within our program. So right now, and I do think we’re returning players, and we think retention is a huge part of where we are in today’s game. I think you’ve got to have guys that you trust, you believe in, and feel that way with our upperclassmen. And they’ve done a good job of really trying to get these guys to understand it. And I would probably tell you the number one thing we’re most excited about is the camaraderie that they’ve already developed. And I think that goes directly to the kind of people that we brought in, but also what our returning players have done.”

Tennessee guard Ethan Burg recently arriving on campus from overseas, how quickly he’ll have to acclimate 

“Well, he’s got time. You think about it, we used to didn’t really start practice until October 15th. And I go back, Santi got shoved into it right away and it didn’t take him long. But Ethan is older. He’s been around. You can easily sense his maturity. You can see his conditioning is at a level that, obviously, somebody’s just been here a week or so. He’s really good there, and he’ll pick it up quickly. Because he’s been around, he knows the game. 

“And he simply said to me one night, his first night here, we had dinner and he called me and he said, coach, you tell me exactly what I need to do to help this team and I’ll play that role. And he’s mature enough to do that.”

What he told Ethan Burg about how he could help this Tennessee team

“Well, there’s a lot that he’s going to have to do that, as time goes on, we’ll figure it out. Because we brought him here because, one, we need his experience. There’s no doubt he’s got a mental toughness about him, a physical toughness about him. He’s not afraid to compete. He’ll have to learn some rules that are different here in terms of maybe the biggest one being traveling, because they play a little bit different (overseas) in terms of being looser with a travel violation. But up to this point, I think he’s done a great job along with Clarence. I mean, Clarence got here late. I think both of those guys have been tremendous.” 

The sense of urgency with an exhibition game against Duke, playing a team like Houston in the non-conference

“I think there’s always a sense of urgency. I don’t think you ever want to waste a day. I don’t think you want to make this game more important, but the urgency is always there. It’s got to be there. And the fact that we played the exhibition game early, I wish we did more of them, I really do. I think it’d help all of us. But the fact is we’ve been working to get this team, and our urgency has been to be the best version of who we can be. And I don’t think we’ve gotten really started yet because we haven’t had our entire team together, totally, where everybody’s going at 100%. And that’s what we’re looking forward to hopefully get them out there. But it’s a long way to go till the end of the year, and obviously the main goal is to be the very best at the end. But we attack every game like it’s our last.” 

Where Tennessee is from a health standpoint

“JP (Estrella) had come back and was doing really well, turned his ankle and got it pretty good but again we made sure that we wanted to bring that along slow. Amari Evans is still not quite back 100%, but otherwise it’s the things that everybody deals with and we deal with it and we think that every day we’re going to have enough to do what we need to do and we’ll keep that philosophy.”

If Nate Ament can pick up where Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier left off, if that’s an unfair expectation

“I think all three of them are so different. DK and Chaz were so different in their game. Nate’s different. Nate is obviously, it’s his first year in college basketball. Those guys had years in college basketball, regardless of what level they were at, they had played in big games against some big people. But Nate, where he is, I mean, we’re more than pleased with what he’s done and the way he has come in. And we got everything that we thought we would get, plus 10 times more. And we’re excited about him.”

Cade Phillips working at the three

“We want Cade’s versatility to be wherever, but Cade’s had to deal with some shoulder injuries that he’s dealt with where he’s not been able to do as much, but he’s slowly getting himself back into it too, but I don’t know if I’d call it an experiment. I just call it moving guys around and getting them to play different spots and putting different guys on the court in different space and Cade’s certainly got the IQ to play anywhere on the court at any position.”

If they’re close to getting a pecking order at the two-guard spot

“No, I don’t think we’re close with any of it yet. I don’t. I don’t. We’ll wait and see. Our deal is to get everybody ready and we’ll see when the separation starts to happen. But as we’re getting ready to start, we haven’t wavered from where we were when we started with this group. We think we have depth. We got depth, you really want to use it, but I’ve said it many times, they will determine how deep we go. But right now, you got to play the what if game this time of year and different ways you can go if certain things happen or don’t happen, that’s kind of where we are right now.”

Who he feels good about running the offense if Ja’Kobi Gillespie is on the bench

“The other day, our last practice, I was watching the film that night at home, and we had, I think, seven different guys bring the ball down the floor, the way we’re trying to play. 

But if you, on a dead ball situation is really what you’re asking, it would be certainly Ethan, certainly Troy, Bishop, Nate, he could do it. Mo. He could definitely do it— Amaree Abrams could do it. I think those guys for certain can do it. And I think as time goes on, more guys will be able to do it.”

His reaction to Bruce Pearl retiring, Steven Pearl becoming Auburn’s head coach

“Bruce and I spoke last week, he sort of led me into his intentions and what he was thinking about doing. And I’m happy for him. I really am because I think that what he said and what he meant through his statement and talking to him— he felt it was time and I certainly respect that. You look at him everywhere he’s been, he’s built a winning program, has done a great job and I think Steven will do a great job. 

“I mean, you can’t live with someone like Bruce and not understand the game, being around the game. I think that over the years as I’ve grown up and matured every year, I think I could tell you from the first time I met Steven, the same thing. I will say that about all the coaches on my staff as I watch them grow, and I think Steven has worked hard, and I think the fact that Auburn has given him this opportunity speaks volumes of what they think of him. 

“Everyone knows, I mean, I know personally there’s three guys on our staff right now without question, maybe even four, maybe five, that if given the opportunity to be the coach here today, I think would be ready because of how much we have them involved in our program. And I think that Bruce, obviously over the last couple of years, probably didn’t make any decisions in the program that he didn’t sit down with Steven to talk about. This is something that I knew that he wanted and I’m happy for him. I’m happy for Steven. And there’s no doubt he’s going to continue to do a great job.”

Shaping an identity on the court, how this Tennessee team compares to teams in the past

“You know, we know how we want to play. We got the system that we believe in. Every year you tweak that system based on who you have. Players will make you change and sometimes they make you add things that you might not have. They show you some things that might not be a part of your system, that you say, we’ve got to get this in here some way. We’ve got to work it in. 

“But as a group right now, we’re just really trying to figure out what all we need to do collectively to be the best group that we can be. I think roles change throughout the year. I think players can do that. But at this point in time, we’re not preset, predetermined on anything other than getting better. And it’s up to them to do that. You talk about separation, disposition, that apposition. I’ve always said the players decide who’s going to play. Their teammates know it. Everybody knows it. And that’s what these next couple weeks will continue to be about. As we get closer, but I really do expect with this group as the season goes on, there’s going to be a change in roles and all that.”

Tennessee players wearing checkerboard overalls to the Tennessee-Georgia football game, if they tried to get him to join them

“No, they didn’t. I wish I would have. I’d like to drop one strap. But I would have been like Nate, I would have worn a shirt. But maybe not, maybe not. Depends on if I lifted that week or not.”

Ethan Burg thinking he was going to have a grace period before Barnes got after him in practice: 

“Well, you know I would somewhat, when I go on the court, I kind of get blinders on and I just see the mistake and regardless of who it is, I just have a hard time holding back. He can handle it. That’s the one thing about him.  He’s going to be able to handle anything that we throw at him or comes his way. But there is a standard and it’s tough. And I told him that night we were talking, we’ve been together for a couple months now. He’s going to have to catch up quick, but I can’t just stop and go back like from day one ago because the train’s rolling. It’s been rolling. And he’s going to have to jump on board quick. And the way to do that is to let him know what that standard is. But he’s been great. He’s from day one, he’s been terrific.”