Plenty of new things to look out for.
And just like that, basketball is back. Tennessee will unofficially tip things off this weekend in Knoxville with a scrimmage matchup against Indiana. Both the Vols and the Hoosiers are ranked in the initial AP top 25, checking in at No. 12 and No. 17, respectively.
The game is set for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, with SEC Network+ streaming the action.
Tennessee is no stranger to these big-time scrimmages, playing Gonzaga and Michigan State in the past two seasons. Last year gave us an introduction to the brilliance of Dalton Knecht — what will this year bring?
How will Barnes structure his lineups?
The core of Tennessee basketball exited the building this offseason. Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Tobe Awaka and Jonas Aidoo are no more. As he has in recent years, Barnes attacked the transfer portal in hopes of an immediate reload. Tennessee ended up landing four big targets there, with each set to play major roles right off the bat.
We know Zakai Zeigler will return to his starting point guard role, now (somehow already) a senior. We know Felix Okpara will take over the rim protector role at center. From there, Barnes has plenty of versatility built into this roster.
We could see either one of Chaz Lanier or Jahmai Mashack start alongside of Zeigler, or even both. Darlinstone Dubar is your likely starter at small forward, while Igor Milicic gives you a little bit of everything. Then you’ve got other pieces of the puzzle like Jordan Gainey, Cameron Carr and Cade Phillips.
Sophomore center JP Estrella has been battling through injuries in camp, so that’s a bit of a wildcard entering the season.
Barnes will have the ability to go big or small. He’ll have shooting all over the floor, with perhaps more length than he’s ever had during his time in Knoxville. We’ll get our first glimpse of how all of these new pieces fit together on Sunday.
How good will Chaz Lanier be?
Arguably Tennessee’s biggest pull out of the portal, Lanier probably has the best chance to follow in the footsteps of Dalton Knecht. Nobody is expecting him to duplicate those results, but the shooting and scoring ability he flashed last season at North Florida is exciting to say the least.
Lanier averaged nearly 20 points last season as the light came on after a few years as a role player. After never averaging more than five points per game, the Nashville native exploded to average 19.7 points per game while shooting 44 percent from three-point range.
“Normally, when he’s really playing his best basketball, he doesn’t he doesn’t mess with the ball very much,” Barnes said of Lanier. “You know, he gets to a shot, he gets where he needs to be.
“But (we need him to) do it at a much quicker pace.”
Barnes has also noted that going up against Zakai and Jahmai daily in practice has given him a much different look than what he’s been used to seeing. There may be some growing pains, especially with him dealing with a bit of a foot injury that’s caused him to miss some days.
It’s always interesting to see transfers adjust to the Tennessee culture, which heavily values defense. We’re all assuming Tennessee is going to get big shooting numbers out of him, but he’ll have to embrace the defensive end first, as we all know.
Jahmai Mashack’s improved shot
Most college basketball fans now know about Mashack’s defensive abilities — we also know about his offensive struggles. The California native has yet to average more than five points per game, despite playing a key role within the Tennessee defense. That could change during his senior season.
Barnes has been talking up his improved jumpshot this preseason, calling him Tennessee’s most consistent shooter a couple of weeks back.
“He’s worked on it really for four years and, you know, he’s a guy now that when he takes the shots that we know that he practices and gets set, we’re really surprised that he misses them as long as he does what he practices,” Barnes said. “He’s worked hard at it and we need him to do that. If he’s open, he’s worked hard enough to be a guy that we expect to shoot open shots when he gets them. He’s done a good job. He really has. I think probably pretty much through the preseason, he’s probably been our best consistent three-point shooter overall.”
Mashack will be a part of a potential offense-defense platoon look at shooting guard with Lanier. The elite defender shot a career-best 35 percent from three-point range last season. Now with more minutes available, Tennessee is going to need that number to continue to move north as the season goes.
Look for more offensive volume this season out of No. 15.
How is Igor Milicic used?
Milicic comes in from Charlotte after averaging 12.8 points per game for the 49ers last year and is going to give Tennessee a different feel offensively. The 6-10, 225 pound senior may have the frame of a typical big man, but he’s got the ability to put the ball on the floor and shoot, too.
Tennessee will ask him to help in the frontcourt, sure, but Milicic is also going to space the floor and give the Volunteers yet another big-time shooter. He connected on over 37 percent of his shots from long range last season with Charlotte.
Milicic will likely slide into the hybrid-4 role that Josiah-Jordan James had last season. That’s obviously going to bring more size to the table, and perhaps some more consistent shooting. Barnes has kind of been forced to play smaller in recent years at the ‘4’ spot, but that won’t be the case this season.
Is the Cam Carr hype real?
Carr seemingly out of nowhere appeared in a mock draft back in the summer, going eighth overall to the Utah Jazz. The publication, NBADraft.net, cited his performance at a Jayson Tatum Elite Camp as the reason why. Carr’s size, shooting and athletic ability were highlighted in the write-up, but we didn’t see much of him last season.
It was a loaded roster, however. With minutes up for grabs, Carr is a natural candidate to take a large step forward.
“I think Cam, over the last two and a half weeks, have have made strides to him,” Barnes said. “Really trying to simplify things, making it easier on himself by not trying to overdo things. We know that, again, he’s one of those guys when he gets his feet set and not rushed, you know, he’ll shoot the ball at a higher percentage.
“We talk about taking care of the ball and being able to finish the possession defensively and offensively the way we want to, and he is getting better — he is, but we need him to get there quicker and so we’re gonna push him to get there.”