Tennessee guard Chris Lofton said he had a "terrible'' practice Friday.
"I have got to get better on defense,'' Lofton said. "I was horrible today.''
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl respectfully disagreed, but he appreciated Lofton's remarks.
"Chris didn't really have a terrible practice, I don't think,'' Pearl said about the Associated Press SEC Player of the Year. "That's just Chris trying to be accountable with his defense. He's trying really, really hard to get better.
"But before, he may not have noticed how he did on defense. Now, he's aware of what he isn't doing.''
What the Vols did in the one allocated "team individual'' practice this week was work on defense, defense and more defense at Stokely Athletics Center.
"The main focus is defense, and I think it will be like that until we prove we can stop people,'' UT senior guard Jordan Howell said. "Coach Pearl told us we can score with the best; we were top 10 in the country last season. But we were near the bottom in the defensive rankings.
"If we can stop people, we can beat anybody.''
And so the shoes squeaked and Pearl squawked for 60 minutes.
"That's the best play in basketball!'' Pearl said at one point after players collided, the defender drawing a charge. "That's a turnover, and it's deflating. The best play in basketball.''
The Vols were missing one of their best players in transfer Tyler Smith, who was back home. Tyler Smith's father, Billy, died Thursday after a battle with lung cancer.
"It was tough without Tyler here,'' Howell said. "Our hearts go out to him and his family. We've all talked about it as a team, and there's not anything anyone can say to make it right.''
Pearl said the Vols' team and staff will attend Billy Smith's funeral today in Pulaski.
"We're going to support him,'' Pearl said. "Brian Williams lost his dad this summer, JaJuan (Smith) lost someone close to him, too. When we go in this type of situation, it's very hard, but we must support each other.''
Aaron Breaking In: Former UT guard Aaron Green is getting accustomed to working with the Vols as a graduate manager.
Green, who played for Kevin O'Neill and Jerry Green, said he was impressed with the way Pearl conducted practice.
"It was very good,'' said Green, who coached at Cleveland High School the past seven years, winning 20 games his first six seasons and 17 last season. "We're putting emphasis on defense.''
Green said he could see some similarities between Pearl and O'Neill.
"The intensity is very similar,'' Green said. "The biggest difference is the relationship coach Pearl has with the players and the energy he brings. The players know coach Pearl cares about them.''
Busy Bruce: Pearl flew back to Knoxville Friday morning from Boston. It capped a busy week that saw Pearl travel through Atlanta, Memphis, Kansas and the New England area.
Pearl will travel to California this week.
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Comments » 11
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
gosh.....i can't wait until the season starts!!
bleed_orange writes:
Now, Lofton might not refer to himself as an All American, but that is how he is acting. He is trying to up his game, especially his defense and he works hard on his conditioning. I hear alot of times he might be the fist one to practice and the last one to leave practice. Now that's what I call a leader (by example). You add his talent to that and we have an All American Leader on our BB team. That attitude rubs off on everyone else, we might have a National Championship alot earlier then people think. I cann't wait until the season. Go Vols!
JDS
WVVOLFAN writes:
one day closer to tip off. bring it on BP. Go Vols.
ULTIMATEVOLUNTEER writes:
tubby picked a good time to leave lexington.....and little ricky wants some more.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
couple of things;
-osu games: ftee throws killed us. you also have to creidt osu. they were semi-pro anyway, and they came on tough
--I'd place free trhows first. that simply killed us
---shot selection. there are times the ball HAS to be in Chris' hands. Ramar shouldn't have the ball with the game on the line. No offense to Ramar, but Chris has more weapons
----game sense; the boys have to understand ball control and pace better. Knowing how to keep the other team from getting comfortable is a key.
Like everyone else, I'm thinking it will be exciting!
Hoops43 writes:
I've been to both practices and several of the individual workouts. The primary emphasis right now is FT shooting and half-court defense. Coach Pearl pointed out to the team that they were ranked 9th in the country in scoring offense BUT ranked below 270th in FT % (and did it in the "nicest" fashion imaginable)They are currently charges with making 200 fts per week. Lofton was 98-100 the other day.
shoalcreekvol writes:
Good info Hoops43. Keep us updated. Some of us are WAY too far away to get to drop in on practice.
DSaVol writes:
It's not even October yet. PLEASE tell me the "free throw" crowd isn't starting already! Sure we can be better there but to say that FT's cost us ANY game is ridiculous and way too simplistic. I'll bet nobody posting that phooey can shoot 50% with 20,000 people screaming and a game on the line so STFU! You wanna be simplistic? If this team simply plays better 40 minute defense, they can be in San Antonio. Period. Same FT %. Same everything else. Just play defense with the same passion they play offense. BUT as I've said before the greatest opponent this team has this season is itself. If they stay clear of the hype, stay clear of ego's, and stay on the straight and narrow off the court, the sky is truly the limit. If they fall short in any of those area's, it could all unravel real quick. It's about personal commitment and sacrifice to the TEAM and it will be interesting to see if EVERYBODY can make it to the extent necessary.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
dsavol: you have a weak understanding of the gaem, plus maybe YOU need to learn to respond to others in a 'civil' way when the tone is civil. No one was bashing.
ft's are part of the execution of your offense. as a team, it helps your confidence to know you and your teammates can deliver at the line.
you complain about the defense, when, at least in the osu games, ut was clearly outmanned by a deeper, more talented team. the boys played great games against osu, buty, year, key ft misses hurt them. what you are askig for on d is sometimes impossible to deliver if the player you are playing is simply better than you.
Fans, the coahces, the playrers all recognize ft's is a weakness. I'm not a fan of constant reps, I think you get better by building in the ft's with the rest of practice so that you shott them in a game flow (how often do you shoott 100 ft's in a row in a game??)
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I think something else to add;
Burce just now has the vols talent up to Sec level. He probably doesn't have what you would consider 'top-10' talent.
Now, don't get all pissed. I like the players he has, and they buy in to what he's teaching. That is worth a lot.
Here's the real point: at times this season we will face teams with more talent, and who are well-coached. We have to remember that the players will be pushing themselve hard in these games, but may come up short. We are at the level now where a missed ref's call or a turnover make huge differences.
Kind of simplistic, just about us as fans staying a bit on the even-keel with this group of players.
Tennessee_Hoosier writes:
Well folks, I don't know if this suspension had anything to do with what I'm about to say, but it might.
Last semester, a friend of mine taught at UT. Duke Crews was one of her students. She said that he never showed up to class and was always late with assignments, etc. She gave regular updates about him to the people at the Thornton Center, but there was no change until the end of the semester. She said that if he didn't turn it around, she would not pass him regardless of what the athletic department wanted...
I never had a class with him, but I never saw him on campus either. I spotted Wayne, Chris, Jajuan, Josh, Ramar, and most of the other players on a regular basis. But rarely Duke.
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