Maze perfect fit for faster tempo

Tennessee senior point guard Bobby Maze has a vision of himself playing in the Vols' vaunted "Controlled Chaos" press this season.

"You're like a defensive back, playing aggressive, reading the inbounder's eyes and making plays,'' Maze said. "Kind of like Eric Berry; I want to be everywhere.''

Maze arrived in Knoxville before last season with a great deal of hype; a junior college All-American with open-floor moves and some freestyle rap game to match.

There was no doubt few in the Big Orange Nation could wait for Maze to "Put on for Tennessee.''

But a not-so-funny thing happened on Maze's way to stardom: UT coach Bruce Pearl discovered the Vols couldn't press effectively just prior to the start of the SEC league games and a half-court game ensued.

"I'd played a lot of uptempo coming in, but we didn't end up doing much of it last season, so I wasn't doing a lot of what I was accustomed to,'' Maze said. "I was still working hard, but I wasn't working on the right stuff.''

Pearl said he wasn't so much disappointed with Maze's performance as the situation the incoming JUCO transfer was put in.

"You've got to remember, Bobby came late in the summer, and he never really got to know his teammates,'' Pearl said. "And we had lost four guards; we had to move Josh (Tabb) to the point.

"Without Bobby Maze, we don't win the SEC East.''

But winning the East wasn't enough, nor was Maze pleased with his individual performance.

How could he be? His mother left Thompson-Boling Arena disappointed on one occasion after driving eight hours from the Washington, D.C., area to see him play.

"She'd be like, 'how come you didn't take that guy off the dribble? I know you can do it,' '' Maze said. "It was frustrating.''

So Maze did the only thing he could: he went back to work.

"Now, I know my spots in our offense and where my shots will be,'' Maze said. "I wasn't used to catching and shooting . . . I was used to scoring off the dribble.

"I've also learned to make the extra pass to get the assists. I'm just a lot more confident in my game, man.''

Pearl said Maze has been dominant at times in practices and should benefit from the Vols adding another JUCO point guard in Melvin Goins.

"Our tempo this year is better suited for Bobby, and he's seeing where he can make plays,'' Pearl said. "It's bringing out the best in him.''

As for his defensive responsibilities, Maze said he just needs to turn on the tape.

"We've been watching film of past teams, and you see JaJuan Smith, Ramar (Smith) and C.J. (Watson),'' Maze said. "Seeing those tapes, and really studying them in detail, has opened our eyes.''

Step Up: Pearl said one new challenge for his team will be learning to be role players in different situations.

"We lost Emmanuel (Negedu) and Josh (Tabb), and those were two key role players,'' Pearl said, referring to Negedu's health issue and Tabb's indefinite suspension. "If you put three guys out there who can score and two that can screen and rebound you're going to be successful.

"But the ultimate situation is when you have five guys who can score and two of them realize they need to screen and rebound.''

Pearl said Monday's practice didn't go as well as the previous one.

"We have to make better reads in our transition offense as we've given them more flexibility on the fast break,'' Pearl said. "I've told them, sometimes less is more . . . we don't need five guys trying to score.''

Another Snub: USA Today's College Basketball section is on the shelves, and the Vols have no one on the preseason All-SEC first-team. Tyler Smith is second team.