Barnes likes Bone's off-season work
Getting head coach Rick Barnes to compliment players is not the easiest task or a normal occurrence. It's not that Barnes is against being positive but his expectations for how his teams are supposed to play is high and many things should be a given.
The position on his team that Barnes is most critical of is the point guard spot. To be Barnes' point guard you have to be tough. You have to understand the game and most importantly you gotta have thick skin. Junior Jordan Bone has seemingly been Barnes' crosshairs so to speak since he arrived on campus. Barnes has never questioned or doubted Bones skills. His inconsistency has been maddening.
So when Barnes gushed about Bone's off-season work Thursday at the Big Orange Caravan stop it was noteworthy.
“He came in as most with really not understanding out demanding and difficult it is. But he had without question the best spring he has had,” Barnes said. “I know he's working right now at home. With thing I know about him is he wants to be great. He really does. He knows the time he has to put into it. He's willing to do that. Just as he continues to mature, he knows how hard you have to work and he will do that now.”
The last image of Bone in the 2017-2018 season was an emotional sophomore devastated because the man he was guarding, Clayton Custer, hit the game winner for Loyola-Chicago. The play overshadowed a big afternoon for Bone, who had 13 points and 5 assists.
“He was crushed because he felt like he didn't contest the shot on the final play,” Barnes explained. “Even though in the NCAA Tournament it comes down to one play here or there. In the whole game, there's a lot of things we wish we had done better. But the fact is, he really has proven himself. He's had some games where you are like he's starting to get it. The key is now can he do it night in and night out. Some of it is mental. There's no question about that. Some of it is maturity. Some of it is blocking out the outside noise being just focused on what he has to do with his team. That's where now that he's a junior you expect him to be able to handle all the outside distractions and be just totally focused on what he has to do to lead and run a basketball team.”
Consistency for Bone has been elusive his who career. Post-season play was a microcosm of Bone's roller coaster. A ride that has been maddening to Barnes. In Tennessee's 5 post-season games, Bone went for 5, 19, 12, 4, and 13. In the 14 previous games, Bone had scored just 60 points and had only reached double figures once.
As Barnes seeks consistency, he's also seeking a different type of scoring from Bone, the quickest player on his team. Last season, Bone only got to the free throw line 56 times in 35 games. An area where Barnes is expecting improvement this season.
“We talk a lot about that,” Barnes said. “We want him to get to the rim. He's a terrific free throw shooter and he's got his quickness and speed. I think one thing he has worked on in the off-season is absorbing contact and playing through contact. We want him to get to the free throw line.”
Playing point guard for Rick Barnes is never going to be easy. Barnes demands not just good physical play but also a mental level high than other players on the floor. Jordan Bone will never “arrive” to the level that Barnes expects his position to play at, but the fact that Barnes likes what he has seen from Bone since the season ended is clearly noteworthy.