That’s what head coach Rick Barnes said after No. 1 Tennessee’s 73-43 loss to No. 8 Florida on Tuesday night at ExacTech Arena in Gainesville.
What the Gators did to slow down Florida’s defense and Tennessee
“Well, there were a lot of open shots early on. I mean, first of all, let’s play the game, Chaz Lanier wasn’t that open for a long time. Then they weren’t going in. That’s when I I thought we lost our composure. I thought it was the wrong player shooting the ball at the wrong time. And again, big credit to Florida. They played well. They did what we wanted people to do on the boards. I thought that was the difference in the game. However, I thought we were also impatient and isolated offensively. Some players were taking open shots, but that was probably by design. But again, you can’t take anything away from them. They were great. I think that’s good for us, I really think so. I think we’re going to learn a lot. And the first thing I said when I walked in (to the locker room) was this is good for us. I mean, we’re going to learn what we have to do to get better, and obviously they had to play better from the front. We’ve got to do a good job. I thought they had to break in there on the front line and I thought that was really the difference in the game.”
Tennessee went 4-of-29 from the 3-point line.
“It happens sometimes. Again, that’s okay. But you can’t give up the offensive rebounds that we got. You can’t. You can’t give up on that. But give them credit. So that’s the idea. It’s an effort. I think their postmen played well. I think their post staff really understands their role and how they need to play. It’s Todd (Golden) and him. Kudos to our staff. And also, they beat us the way you want to beat us. And like I said, we have an opportunity to learn and get better. .”
Florida is a more physical team, so it didn’t happen much with Tennessee, even though that was the most surprising part.
“Yeah. That’s it. I think so, because, again, I thought we were really restless on both ends. We never kind of went up the lane like that.” Not about what we talked about. When things like that start happening right away, you’re again giving the opponent credit for taking advantage of that. But you also look at your players and say, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Am I doing something I know I shouldn’t?’ And I think that sometimes when players are struggling offensively, especially when they miss shots that they think they should have made, they just let it go (defensively). They lose focus and a good team like Florida takes advantage of that. But we just, again, when I was watching it, I didn’t see some of the things that were there. I don’t think our players weren’t trying to play hard. However, I didn’t think we played very smartly. ”
Tennessee’s reaction to this loss
“Well, we have a routine. We go back and scrub this out and talk about what you want to do. We’re a team that scores a lot of points. And just like we were bad offensively. I mean, I don’t know what they were doing on average. I know they’re way up there, numbers-wise. Defensively, if they get offensive rebounds, they probably won the game. We played well enough defensively to win, and maybe we did a little better offensively as well.
“But we didn’t. We didn’t. And again, give them credit. I thought they played exactly the kind of talent we expected them to be. That was the scouting report. At this point in the season, things are starting to settle down and play. You have some sense of what Yar is like and you can look at the analysis and do this or that. So there were no surprises there. Just when we went down. , shot selection allowed them to break out and transition into offensive rebounds. That’s all. And we were behind. And again, we didn’t do what we were supposed to do after the timeout. And that’s good for all of us. Once again, when did the season start? I never thought I would be where I am now. I’m so proud of this team. I thank the Lord that they’re our guys. And again, I love the players. We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to mentor them and we will continue to learn.
“Believe me, we’ve been here before and we’ve been treated worse than this. And we’ll learn from it. Otherwise, as you said, This league isn’t going to be that way — nobody in the league is feeling sorry for us tonight. , it’s our responsibility to fix what we have to do to improve. And once again, give them credit. I’m sure they’ll see that and tee the game plan the way they want to do it. I think you feel that you have had it up to that point.We cannot say that.”
Florida has plenty of offensive options.
“Again, I think they’re a really good team. They’re a good basketball team. I think they have a lot of options. I like their balance, to be honest. We’re probably more worried about the front guys coming in because we knew they were physical. Because I think they really understand their role, what they have to do, not just open them up like you’re talking about, but play against them. And when we get an opportunity, we take advantage of it. And our biggest thing tonight was always transition defense, going back and setting up the defense. The second thing is always to rebound the ball, but it was their way, so we didn’t work there. And you can talk about their options, this and that and whatever. It’s hard to win because you get hit so hard.”
What will happen in the SEC this season if Kentucky loses at Georgia and Tennessee loses at Florida?
“I don’t know. I mean, we know the league is good. What happened in our league in non-league is historic. And I think our team has gotten better overall. I mean, I think there are some great coaches and players in the league. I don’t think there’s any gimmicks along the way. I think that’s what this league was built for. But we should all be proud of the way we play basketball. There’s a lot left to do. The point is, honestly, I still don’t. 1st of January We’re in for a week or so, but if we don’t improve, we’re not going to get any better. We’ve got to get better. Obviously we’re doing it to prepare the team, but it’s me. It’s about ourselves, looking at ourselves, being honest, being real and saying, “Okay, we fell one step short, we lost to a good team, and we can lose no matter what.” And it will be good for us if we learn from that.”
His message to the Tennessee team after losing 12-0 to start the game
“Just stay set. Yeah, we missed some open shots. We had some open shots and we missed them. And I didn’t think we stayed calm. I thought we were going to lose if we did something, because if you look at the numbers and the stats, they took us away early. Because I’m sure you’re happy about some of the threes you made. Again, I don’t care about those shots, but when they don’t go in, you can’t all shoot threes. And like I said, some of that is by design, but other teams are leaving it open and doing whatever they want. And I think they’re physical, I think our league is a physical league, you know, trying to get guys off screens. Hitting the ball screen hard and things like that. Again, you have to give them a lot of credit. I think there is. I really do. But I’m disappointed that I didn’t feel like I was as prepared as I needed to be when I came down. And we’ve been down before, obviously. It wasn’t that bad, especially on the road. And we didn’t deal with it very well.”
