'We need you to be who you are': Rick Barnes is begging Santiago Vescovi to take more shots

Rick Barnes found Santiago Vescovi Saturday night before he left Thompson-Boling Arena and let him know what he has to do moving forward. Tennessee’s fifth-year senior guard, the one that has made 323 3-point field goals over the last five seasons, has to shoot the ball.

“He and I had a moment together,” Barnes said Monday night during his weekly appearance on The Vol Network’s Vol Calls, “and I told him just that. I said ‘Hey man, you have put so much into this program, you got to let it go.’”

Vescovi was scoreless in No. 5 Tennessee’s 85-81 loss to No. 9 Kentucky Saturday. The same player that hit six 3-pointers in his first game at Thompson-Boling Arena, starting against LSU a week after arriving in Knoxville in December 2019, went 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-3 from the 3-point line on his Senior Day. 

Vescovi’s scoring is down from 12.5 points per game last season, and a career-high 13.5 points per game in 2021-22, to just 6.8 points per game this season. He’s shooting a career-low 5.4 shots per game, down from a career-high 10.2 last season, and is shooting just 3.9 3-pointers per game, down from 7.5 last season. 

His 3-point percentage has dropped to a career-low 34.2% on 120 attempts. He shot 40.3% on 253 3-point attempts in 2021-22, when he joined Chris Lofton as the only two players in program history to hit more than 100 threes in a season.

Tennessee’s offense running through Dalton Knecht, Zakai Zeigler, Jonas Aidoo this season

Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC) has a much different look on offense this season. It runs through Dalton Knecht and for good reason. On Monday the superstar transfer was named the SEC Player of the Year and First Team All-SEC after averaging 25.5 points per game in SEC play and 21.4 points per game for the season. 

Junior center Jonas Aidoo, who made Second Team All-SEC, has more than doubled his production from last season, going from 5.1 points per game last season to 12.1 this season. He’s shooting 9.7 shots per game after shooting 4.3 per game last season. 

Point guard Zakai Zeigler, another First Team All-SEC pick, is averaging a career-high 11.6 points per game and averaging 9.0 shots per game. Transfer shooting guard Jordan Gainey is averaging 7.1 points per game off the bench and is attempting 3.8 3-pointers per game, too.

“I think with Santi,” Barnes said, “it’s that he’s so team oriented that at times he feels that he is the one guy with his experience that knows if Dalton is going or if Zakai or Jonas is going it’s his job to facilitate that.” 

And that’s not what Barnes wants Vescovi thinking about on the floor.

“I told him that’s my job to get those guys going,” Barnes said. “If we need something we can call a play to get them going. Or if they are going well. we can do this or do that, but we need you to be who you are.”

The Vols need him to play his usual brand of defense, which he does. Offensively, though, they need Vescovi to get back to the Vescovi of old, the one who spent the last four seasons aggressively seeking his shot. 

“We need him when he’s open to take his shots, be aggressive and be confident in doing it,” Barnes said. “I have confidence (in him) and I hope that he will do that.” 

But Barnes can’t make Vescovi do it. He said so himself on Saturday night during his postgame press conference — “He’s going to have to trust in himself,” Barnes said, “and believe in how good a player he is” — and reiterated it again on Monday night.

“Coach (Justin) Gainey told me today,” Barnes said, “he said ‘Coach, you are begging him to take shots’ and we are. Santi is such an unselfish player and he understands the game, but he has got to let it go.”

Up Next: SEC Tournament, Friday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN

It has to happen now more so than ever, with Tennessee turning its attention to postseason basketball with this week’s SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena, then NCAA Tournament play next week.

Vescovi made eight 3-pointers in two SEC Tournament games last season, went just 1-for-3 with three points in the NCAA Tournament first round win over Louisiana, then went 4-for-8 from three against Duke in the second round and 3-for-9 against Florida Atlantic in the Sweet Sixteen.

“Some of the dynamics with our team this year (are different),” Barnes said. “As you know, it’s well documented, we struggled to score. We went out and got Jordan Gainey who can score the ball, Zakai is back. A year ago this time we didn’t have Zakai. We didn’t have Dalton Knecht and didn’t have Jordan Gainey. 

“We strictly won games last year on our defense and we just hoped one guy would step up and play great offensively and find a way to grind through it.”

Barnes described the Louisiana win in the first round as “a grinder right down to the end” and said the Vols got past Duke because Olivier Nkamhoua was “phenomenal” on the offensive end. 

“But it was still our defense that won those games,” Barnes said. 

The offense disappeared against Florida Atlantic. Barnes said the defense wasn’t good enough that night, either. It’s different on the offensive end this time around, but the Vols still need Vescovi to look for his shots.

“We are a different team,” Barnes said, “but with that said Santi is a big part of it.”