How Rick Barnes oversaw Tennessee’s basketball renaissance

The Vols are on top of the college basketball world thanks to the incredible rebuilding effort done by coach Rick Barnes.

Tennessee is No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time since 2008. Bruce Pearl was the head coach a little over a decade ago for the previous Volunteers who would end up reaching the Sweet 16. Current head coach Rick Barnes is in his fourth season in Knoxville, and arguably doing his best coaching in the latter stages of his coaching career.

Barnes first two years in the SEC were difficult, respectively finishing 15-19 followed by 16-16. Tennessee took off last year and are currently on a roll.

The biggest surprise of the Rick Barnes era is how he has adapted and transformed his coaching philosophies. After all, most coaches do not change their systems after over two decades of successfully coaching at the major D1 level.

Tennessee has found great success on the offensive side by running Davidson’s Motion Offense, which was created by their current and long-standing head coach Bob McKillop. Coach McKillop has long been one of my favorite tacticians who has an absolutely beautiful basketball mind.

The Volunteers are absolutely elite on offense. They are more and more comfortable in their offensive system three and a half years in, and the comfortability is visible when watching them execute so efficiently on offense.

Any college basketball statistical database will highlight the well-oiled machine-like precision, in which Tennessee runs on offense. According to KenPom (subscription required), the Volunteers have the nation’s second most efficient offense! Efficiency is an umbrella that has numerous components, including how possessions are valued by respective teams. Tennessee is averaging 1.168 points each time they are on offense according to Team Rankings, which is good for fourth in the nation.

Similar to how Davidson shares the ball, Tennessee is one of the top teams in assist rate. The NCAA database has the Volunteers averaging the second most assists per game at 20.1, which is half an assist behind Michigan State.

So what does the Tennessee offense actually look like? The Volunteers system is primarily a 4-out 1-in system, however, there are so many converging actions that retracts and then expands the spacing of the offense. The offense doesn’t hunt for many 3-point attempts since its actions vary on the personnel that UT has on the court. Their system is dynamic and flexible but this season the Volunteers are at their best from the mid-range inwards, especially since they are great at getting to the free throw line and making their shots.

Let’s look below for Tennessee’s base continuity action:

The ideal offensive possession for Tennessee starts with a ball reversal from one wing to the other. Once reversed, a double stagger screen is set from the dead corner (weak side corner). The player receiving the stagger screen has the freedom to read the defense and react accordingly.

The corner player has the following reads:

1. Three-Point Attempt if the defender goes under screens
2. Curl to attack basket if the defender goes over screens
3. Move to the opposite block of neither option 1 or 2 is available, and receive another double stagger screen
4. Reject screens entirely and fill opposite block or corner

You can imagine the quick thinking and precision needed to read the defense on the move in real-time. Also since Tennessee is so heavily scouted the 3-point shot following a ball reversal is usually denied. The Volunteers will go through their continuity several times per possession sometimes if they believe their continuous ball and player movement can eventually break an opposing defense down.

Opposing defenses try constantly to deter the Volunteers from entering their primary continuity action. One counter entry I absolutely love is when Tennessee uses “Scissor Cuts” to start their offense.

This is called “Scissor Entry” because of the scissor-like shaped cuts that happen around the player who is standing at the nail of the free throw line at the time of this action.

Notice the constant shuffling of the defense, especially on the double stagger side. The scissor entry is not a static entry and defenses have to carefully communicate to make sure no breakdowns occur.

Another reason I love the scissor continuity is the effect of Tennessee’s converging and subsequent diverging movements. The immediate expansion of the court that follows the compressed movements of the Volunteers further stresses the defense with an unpredictable nature of where several Tennessee players will end up on the floor.

Let’s look at one more type of entry into Tennessee’s continuity action. I call this “wave entry”

Wave or dribble through, notice how the ball-handler seemingly waves off the wing player near him. My favorite part of this entry is when Tennessee’s post player moves from the nail of the free throw line to the top of the perimeter. The defense expands so much and there is plenty of room to attack the basket!

Tennessee also has marquee players to go with an incredibly sound offensive system. The Volunteers motion offense is strong, but sometimes you need to rely on your star players to go ahead and make a play. Fortunately, Barnes has potential All-Americans Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams who are threats to score at every level.

Schofield’s versatility is definitely on display with these two plays. The left elbow jumper he hits is in a rather tight space. Focus on his inside (left) foot and how he explodes into his jump shot. The subtle knowledge of refined footwork is the difference between a contested and an uncontested shot. The 3-point attempt is a classic roll and replace action. Schofield quickly reaches the perimeter and takes advantage of the passive closeout by the Louisville defense.

Ok, time to see Grant Williams at the office:

The first face up from Williams is one of the most ran plays by Tennessee. Williams will enter the low post via a cross screen and go to work. Here he uses a great pivot and pump fake to attack the defense and has the body control to absorb contact. The second GIF, which is an assist from Williams impressed me the more I thought about it. I was initially planning on showing Williams scoring in the half-court but this pass is too good to ignore. Williams threads the needle with a collapsing defense around him right into his teammates shooting pocket.

Tennessee is firmly entrenched in the national title conversation. Their dynamic offense has become even more potent as the Volunteers absorb the nuances of the system with every passing day. Tennessee is a lethal combination of skill and selfless team play that has Volunteer fans hopeful of a deep run come March.