Consistency from Jonas Aidoo makes Vols' aspirations limitless

Waffle House never disappoints Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinsky. Jonas Aidoo's performance at Arkansas last Wednesday night didn't disappoint him either.

For the first time in a couple of weeks, Aidoo was back to playing like one of the top forwards in college basketball, notching his seventh double-double with a team-high 23 points and 12 points the Vols' 92-63 thumping of the Razorbacks.

When Aidoo is playing like that, Tennessee's floor raises considerably, especially when Dalton Knecht is scoring 25-plus points to match. The next step for the junior big is to be as consistent as the All-Star Special.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

"When you went into the Waffle House, you know what you’re getting every time, don’t you?" Polinsky said. "So I think just the fact, can you be trusted? Can the coach (Barnes) count on you and can your teammates count on you? An illustration being like, if we’re in a rotation and we’re asking our big to rotate over, does the guy on the backside really come down, smash down, get to the block, take away his man from the play? So if that post guy doesn’t feel like he’s going to get that support on the backside, I think that’s what we’re looking for.

"The best teams at any level play with a high level of consistency and I think that’s what Coach (Barnes) is talking about. A level of trust amongst teammates that, I got your back, you got mine.”

Aidoo is averaging 11.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and has provided the No. 8 Vols (18-5, 8-3 SEC) with a dominant presence inside, as evidenced by his last outing.

On a night where Tennessee totaled just five 3-pointers in a road game, the Vols put up 48 points in the paint, out-scoring Arkansas by 26 and out-rebounding the Razorbacks by 16.

After losing the boards in the previous two games, Aidoo was the catalyst in Tennessee's resurgence on the inside. It helped that Knecht provided another 22 points while Jordan Gainey scored 17 off the bench.

"(Aidoo) is a big help to get our offense going," Knecht said. "We know we've got a low-post threat down there and he's one of the best big men in the nation. It's always good when he's just going out there and being aggressive."

It's a formula that will do more than just keep the Vols in the SEC title picture. It could result in a deep run in March, too. But for that formula to be effective, Aidoo has to have the kind of impact he did against Arkansas.

He doesn't have to lead the team in scoring night in and night out, but Tennessee has more physical teams with better bigs left on its schedule, which will make the Vols' balance more paramount.

WATCH ON VOLREPORT: PRESS CONFERENCE: Tennessee assistant Gregg Polinsky previews Vanderbilt

“It’s gigantic (when Aidoo is playing well)...I think when you’re not making threes, and Coach (Barnes has) talked about this too all year, that we have to have a balanced attack," Polinsky said. "We have to be able to get the basketball inside right? And be effectively efficient. That comes from driving the ball our post guys. But we have quality post guys here — Tobe (Awaka), JP (Estrella), Cade (Phillips), obviously Jonas. And I think now the step for Jonas is can you do it against the bigger and more physical guys in the league?

"He has proven that he can be really effective and he’s been a factor in a lot of games and does a lot of things for us defensively as well at the rim. He’s a lot to handle. But when we get play from our inside guys, we’re impactful.”

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens.

–––––