{"id":299268,"date":"2025-09-23T20:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/299268\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T20:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:08:12","slug":"everything-tennessee-basketball-hc-rick-barnes-said-at-start-of-preseason-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/299268\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Tennessee Basketball HC Rick Barnes Said At Start Of Preseason Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"March<\/p>\n

<\/a>Photo By Andrew Ferguson\/Tennessee Athletics<\/p>\n

Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the local media Tuesday ahead of the official start of the Vols\u2019 preseason practice that afternoon.<\/p>\n

The 11th-year head coach discussed the health of his team, early impressions of Ethan Burg<\/a> and Clarence Massamba and much more. Here\u2019s everything Barnes said.<\/p>\n

More From RTI:\u00a0Kim Caldwell Confirms Status of Lady Vols Basketball Guard Ruby Whitehorn<\/a><\/p>\n

On which Tennessee players have stepped up as leaders after losing so many veterans from last season\u2019s team<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019re returning players, and we think retention is a huge part of where we are in today\u2019s game. I think you\u2019ve got to have guys that you trust, you believe in, and feel that way with our upperclassmen. And they\u2019ve 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\u2019re most excited about is the camaraderie that they\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tennessee guard Ethan Burg recently arriving on campus from overseas, how quickly he\u2019ll have to acclimate\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he\u2019s got time. You think about it, we used to didn\u2019t really start practice until October 15th. And I go back, Santi got shoved into it right away and it didn\u2019t take him long. But Ethan is older. He\u2019s been around. You can easily sense his maturity. You can see his conditioning is at a level that, obviously, somebody\u2019s just been here a week or so. He\u2019s really good there, and he\u2019ll pick it up quickly. Because he\u2019s been around, he knows the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd 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\u2019ll play that role. And he\u2019s mature enough to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

On what he told Ethan Burg about how he could help this Tennessee team<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, there\u2019s a lot that he\u2019s going to have to do that, as time goes on, we\u2019ll figure it out. Because we brought him here because, one, we need his experience. There\u2019s no doubt he\u2019s got a mental toughness about him, a physical toughness about him. He\u2019s not afraid to compete. He\u2019ll 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\u2019s done a great job along with Clarence. I mean, Clarence got here late. I think both of those guys have been tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the sense of urgency with an exhibition game against Duke, playing a team like Houston in the non-conference<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s always a sense of urgency. I don\u2019t think you ever want to waste a day. I don\u2019t think you want to make this game more important, but the urgency is always there. It\u2019s 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\u2019d help all of us. But the fact is we\u2019ve been working to get this team, and our urgency has been to be the best version of who we can be. And I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve gotten really started yet because we haven\u2019t had our entire team together, totally, where everybody\u2019s going at 100%. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking forward to to hopefully get them out there. But it\u2019s 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\u2019s our last.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On where Tennessee is at from a health standpoint<\/p>\n

\u201cJP (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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amari Evans is still not quite back 100%, but otherwise it\u2019s the things that everybody deals with and we deal with it and we think that every day we\u2019re going to have enough to do what we need to do and we\u2019ll keep that philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

On if Nate Ament can pick up where Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier left off or if that\u2019s an unfair expectation<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all three of them are so different. DK and Chaz were so different in their game. Nate\u2019s different. Nate is obviously, it\u2019s 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\u2019re more than pleased with what he\u2019s done and the way he has come in. And we got everything that we thought we would get, plus 10 times more. And we\u2019re excited about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Cade Phillips working at the three-spot<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want Cade\u2019s versatility to be wherever, but Cade\u2019s had to deal with some shoulder injuries that he\u2019s dealt with where he\u2019s not been able to do as much, but he\u2019s slowly getting himself back into it too, but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d 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\u2019s certainly got the IQ to play anywhere on the court at any position.\u201d<\/p>\n

On if they\u2019re close to getting a pecking order at the two-guard spot<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re close with any of it yet. I don\u2019t. I don\u2019t. We\u2019ll wait and see. Our deal is to get everybody ready and we\u2019ll see when the separation starts to happen. But as we\u2019re getting ready to start, we haven\u2019t wavered from where we were when we started with this group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We think we have depth. We got depth, you really want to use it, but I\u2019ve 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\u2019t happen, that\u2019s kind of where we are right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

On who he feels good about running the offense if Ja\u2019Kobi Gillespie is on the bench<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019re trying to play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But if you, on a dead ball situation is really what you\u2019re asking, it would be certainly Ethan, certainly Troy, Bishop, Nate, he could do it. Mo. He could definitely do it\u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his reaction to Bruce Pearl retiring, Steven Pearl becoming Auburn\u2019s head coach<\/p>\n

\u201cBruce and I spoke last week, he sort of led me into his intentions and what he was thinking about doing. And I\u2019m happy for him. I really am because I think that what he said and what he meant through his statement and talking to him\u2014 he felt it was time and I certainly respect that. You look at him everywhere he\u2019s been, he\u2019s built a winning program, has done a great job and I think Steven will do a great job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, you can\u2019t live with someone like Bruce and not understand the game, being around the game. I think that over the years as I\u2019ve 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows, I mean, I know personally there\u2019s 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\u2019t make any decisions in the program that he didn\u2019t sit down with Steven to talk about. This is something that I knew that he wanted and I\u2019m happy for him. I\u2019m happy for Steven. And there\u2019s no doubt he\u2019s going to continue to do a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

On shaping an identity on the court, how this year\u2019s team compares to teams in the past<\/p>\n

\u201cYou 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\u2019ve got to get this in here some way. We\u2019ve got to work it in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as a group right now, we\u2019re 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\u2019re not preset, predetermined on anything other than getting better. And it\u2019s up to them to do that. You talk about separation, disposition, that apposition. I\u2019ve always said the players decide who\u2019s going to play. Their teammates know it. Everybody knows it. And that\u2019s 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\u2019s going to be a change in roles and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

On players wearing checkerboard overalls to the Tennessee vs. Georgia football game, if they tried to get him to join them<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, they didn\u2019t. I wish I would have. I\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Burg thinking he was going to have a grace period before Barnes got after him in practice<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, 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\u2019s the one thing about him.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to be able to handle anything that we throw at him or comes his way. But there is a standard and it\u2019s tough. And I told him that night we were talking, we\u2019ve been together for a couple months now. He\u2019s going to have to catch up quick, but I can\u2019t just stop and go back like from day one ago because the train\u2019s rolling. It\u2019s been rolling. And he\u2019s 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\u2019s been great. He\u2019s from day one, he\u2019s been terrific.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo By Andrew Ferguson\/Tennessee Athletics Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the local media Tuesday ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,231,772,1544,7926,1919],"class_list":{"0":"post-299268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-basketball","12":"tag-ncaab","13":"tag-rick-barnes","14":"tag-tennessee-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115255424212482860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}