Tennessee basketball is hosting Indiana on Sunday for a charity exhibition before the start of the season.
Ahead of the event, Vols head coach Rick Barnes met with the media to lay out his expectations.
Here's what he said.
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No minutes restrictions, but they want to play all scholarship players
With this game not counting for regular season records, Tennessee is looking to play all of its scholarship players. Barnes intends to go deep on the bench with the physicality he hopes to play with.
This will also be a chance to get more reps for some of his players he is looking to improve. Barnes said he thinks they have two, maybe three, players ready to go at the level he expects so these matchups to prepare are critical.
Despite the long rotation, there won't be a minutes restriction on any starters including Zakai Zeigler who is expected to play big minutes in his senior year.
"We'll just play it," Barnes said. "We know we want to get looks with a lot of different guys and maybe some different lineups but if you don't have a full roster of guys I'm not sure how much we can do that."
Two players questionable to play
The reason the Vols may not have a full roster is injuries. Forward JP Estrella has already been battling injuries and banged knees with Jahmai Mashack recently which set both players back.
The pair are expected to return to practice before the scrimmage in a limited form but it is currently unclear if they'll be able to go in the exhibition on Sunday.
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"We'll see (at practice) today, both will do a little bit, then we'll see about tomorrow and then we'll see what happens with it," Barnes said. "If not, it's just an opportunity for guys who probably weren't sure how much they were going to play, gives them a chance to see what they're able to do."
If Estrella is held out, this likely means a bigger role for Cade Phillips — a fellow sophomore post player. If Mashack can't go, there's plenty of options to fill his minutes due to his versatility.
It's in the details on Sunday
Barnes isn't expecting perfection this Sunday. He understands that your best basketball won't be played in October and the team will grow throughout the season leading into March.
He did get an insight on what needs to be improved before the season in a closed scrimmage against Davidson this past weekend, though. To him, it's really everything that needs to get better.
"Some of the things that we didn't do well against Davidson that we've talked about and we've tried to improve on this week," Barnes said on what he'd like to see vs. Indiana. "You see that we're making progress to be alert mentally enough to do those things. There's a bunch of them to be quite honest with you. We've got to get better but we're always looking for the kind of effort that it takes to compete at the highest level. We want the concentration to details to be better."
He would get more specific on what some of these areas are, as well. Part of it is the basics while other aspects get more in depth.
"It's a little bit of everything in terms of consistency," Barnes said. "What we talk about, you're trying to execute the fundamentals of the game whether its passing, fighting for your space on the floor, rebounding both ways. Defensively, early gaps, getting there, doing your job, doing your work early. Certainly don't want us to be the best we're going to be right now but just knowing each day that you've got to continue to build in the areas you've got to get better in."
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