Barnes' comments on the new signees this week

#1
Freak

Freak

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#1
Chris Ledlum

“Chris has many of the characteristics we value in our program,” Rick Barnes said on Wednesday. “He has a tremendous work ethic and plays with grit, toughness and a bit of swagger. We’ve seen similar traits in other Vols from New York, and we expect Chris to build on that history.”
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“He comes from a wonderful family and had a tremendous career at Harvard playing for a great coach in Tommy Amaker, so he’s coming in with a strong foundation,” Barnes continued. “He’ll give us an inside-outside scoring presence. And his versatility—scoring, rebounding and playmaking—extends our ability to create mismatches.”
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Dalton Knecht

"Dalton is just a terrific story of a guy whose hard work has enabled him to steadily improve his game," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "He's grown nearly a foot since he started playing high school ball. And as he's grown, he's expanded his skill set as well. He's a proven scorer and was one of the top offensive producers in the portal, so he immediately gives our team a boost in offensive firepower."
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"Beyond being a high-level shooter, his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack downhill with athleticism really drew our attention," Barnes added. "He's another guy who comes from a great family, and we're excited to welcome them into our Volunteer family."
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Jordan Gainey

"We obviously know and love Jordan's family, but his ability as a player stands on its own merit," Barnes said. "He plays with a high basketball IQ and is a guy who makes his teammates better. We love his offensive versatility and his ability to shoot and score the ball in a variety of ways. In addition to giving us another shot-maker, he also competes on the defensive end and led (the Big South) in steals last year."
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#4
#4
Willy14 said:
I noticed that Barnes made sure to mention each of their offensive abilities in order to help this team score more points. Very nice to be bringing in transfers that should help us on that side of the ball.
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Noticed that, too. And with no mention of any defensive limitations that could prevent them from making an immediate impact. Hoping that means CRB is becoming more willing to sacrifice a little defense for some major scoring pop.
 
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#7
#7
Willy14 said:
I noticed that Barnes made sure to mention each of their offensive abilities in order to help this team score more points. Very nice to be bringing in transfers that should help us on that side of the ball.
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Nah. He's just messin' with us, teeing it up for the usual suspects the first time one of them goes 2 for 10 from the field.
 
#9
#9
cncchris33 said:
Noticed that, too. And with no mention of any defensive limitations that could prevent them from making an immediate impact. Hoping that means CRB is becoming more willing to sacrifice a little defense for some major scoring pop.
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I would not mind seeing some more fast break points from this athletic roster ithis season since they scored under 100 fast break points last season.
 
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#10
#10
Volfan1000 said:
I would not mind seeing some more fast break points from this athletic roster ithis season since they scored under 100 fast break points last season.
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He did not have the personnel to go at a fast break pace. That requires foot speed, great passing and great rebounding in the block. If you have to send 4 people to rebound the ball ... that only leaves one guy for the fast break. The other opportunity is steals ... then you can get 2 or 3 people on the break. The last component is fresh legs.
I think the 2023 team has an opportunity to play faster, it will help if ZZ is full speed, fully recovered by end of January.
 
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#12
#12
SN-A-C Orange said:
He did not have the personnel to go at a fast break pace. That requires foot speed, great passing and great rebounding in the block. If you have to send 4 people to rebound the ball ... that only leaves one guy for the fast break. The other opportunity is steals ... then you can get 2 or 3 people on the break. The last component is fresh legs.
I think the 2023 team has an opportunity to play faster, it will help if ZZ is full speed, fully recovered by end of January.
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I get the feeling that Barnes' analytics indicate that more points are lost to offensive rebounds than are scored on fast breaks--at least, in the ways that one could initiate a fast break from our defensive scheme.

But maybe there's a personnel aspect within that. I'm trying to remember... which of his teams here had the most success producing layups from defensive rebounds?
 
#15
#15
I feel like Knecht will be the most likely to be "shell-shocked" a bit, but if he can adapt and works on his conditioning he should be a big time asset especially on offense.

Gainey is going to be a more instant impact player, he knows exactly what to expect already and plays with a motor the other two don't imo.

Ledlum is a gritty guy with a great worker mindset so he should adapt pretty quickly to what will be asked of him.

I'm very curious to see what the younger talent does... I think 1 or 2 of the transfers could end up being a 10+ points a night consistent threat to help Santi out, but there's some serious star potential from the incoming talent and the RS guys we haven't seen yet.
 
#17
#17
What if Jordan Gainey ends up being the defensive energizer that Davonte Gaines was, but he can actually shoot and score the ball? That would be best case for him IMO.
 
#21
#21
Vols All Day said:
Why do you think this? This years team seems to be less athletic than last years team.
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JJJ was not healthy enough last year to move up and down the floor at full speed.
JP as a freshman did not comprehend the game and was not a great passer.
Neither were able to take the ball to the hole effectively in transition.
It is not just athletic players (which certainly helps), it is rebounding, passing and understanding of the game or steals that set up fast transition basketball (imho).
The guys who I see filling their spots have more experience, and who are a threat to take the ball all the way to the rim.
On top of that we have more experience and in my opinion a deeper rotation ... those factors allow a team to speed up the game when you rebound the ball.

On the other hand, I do not have a link to Barnes strategic planning ... so we will see what he chooses to do.
 
#22
#22
SN-A-C Orange said:
JJJ was not healthy enough last year to move up and down the floor at full speed.
JP as a freshman did not comprehend the game and was not a great passer.
Neither were able to take the ball to the hole effectively in transition.
It is not just athletic players (which certainly helps), it is rebounding, passing and understanding of the game or steals that set up fast transition basketball (imho).
The guys who I see filling their spots have more experience, and who are a threat to take the ball all the way to the rim.
On top of that we have more experience and in my opinion a deeper rotation ... those factors allow a team to speed up the game when you rebound the ball.

On the other hand, I do not have a link to Barnes strategic planning ... so we will see what he chooses to do.
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I believe that Phillips is a victim of a high profile miscalculation that cost TN a game. He overthought pulling up on a probable game clinching dunk. He understood the game well enough to play his role in the Barnes well and also be on the all freshmen team.

I agree that the upcoming season is setting up to be more offensively focused.
 
#23
#23
We are replacing Phillips, Nkoumoa, JJJ, Plasvic, Key and Edwards for Knetch, Ledlum and Gainey, Dillione, Carr, Estrella and C. Phillips. I think overall our roster is slightly better
 
#24
#24
Sadie0051 said:
We are replacing Phillips, Nkoumoa, JJJ, Plasvic, Key and Edwards for Knetch, Ledlum and Gainey, Dillione, Carr, Estrella and C. Phillips. I think overall our roster is slightly better
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I hope lack of experience doesn't come back to bite us. Big difference between those 2 groups.
 
#25
#25
jp1 said:
I hope lack of experience doesn't come back to bite us. Big difference between those 2 groups.
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I get that there was a lot of experience in that first group but there’s not a single name on there who was clutch. Minus two games in ONs career.
 
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