Pearl pressing for Vols to press

Tennessee coach wants to recruit to team's strengths

By Mike Griffith

Originally published 05:59 p.m., August 23, 2009
Updated 05:59 p.m., August 23, 2009

The Tennessee men’s basketball team will be pressing when it begins individual workouts at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

Pressing to get better, pressing to get into top-notch condition and pressing when it takes to the defensive side of the court.

Coach Bruce Pearl said UT needs to return to the style that made it most effective his first three years as head coach in Knoxville.

“I do believe we’ve got to get back to playing that way,’’ Pearl said on the News Sentinel’s Sports Page radio show. “I have to recruit to that style, and that gives us an opportunity against those teams with three or four NBA players.’’

Pearl might as well had said “Kentucky’’ or “Kansas,’’ which are two of the more challenging opponents on this year’s schedule.

The Vols didn’t press much last season, largely because of personnel and experience limitations.

“I want to do it, I need to do it, and it was difficult to not do it as much last year,’’ said Pearl, whose uptempo style has enabled his teams to lead their respective conferences in scoring 16 of his 17 years as a head coach. “In order to (press) we’ll have to get a little smaller and quicker.

“It helped us tremendously in my first few years here with the teams that all overachieved.’’

Pearl said last year’s personnel was not the right match for the press.

“Because we were too big and we had inexperienced guards, I still don’t think we could have pressed last year,’’ Pearl said. “Last year we got away with that (not pressing) because the league was down.’’

That said, Pearl said not being able to run his “Controlled Chaos” press caught up to the Vols in the postseason.

“We weren’t unique, we weren’t a tough matchup going into the NCAA tournament,’’ said Pearl, whose team was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Oklahoma State. “We were more like everyone else. ... If we stay like that forever, we’re going to finish third or fourth (in the SEC).

“If we can recruit to our system a little better, and continue to run and press and be a little different ... I do know I’m going to be committed to pressing.’’

The Vols will break down into individual workouts three days a week until Sept. 15, when the team can practice together on a limited basis. Practice begins in earnest Oct. 16.