Why Josiah-Jordan James is currently playing 'his best basketball' for Vols
This time a year ago, Josiah-Jordan James was watching Tennessee from the bench.
Injuries had hindered the Vols' guard through the first two months of the season, sidelining him multiple stretches. Now, James is arguably playing his best basketball.
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In a new-look Tennessee offense that includes two transfers in Dalton Knecht and Jordan Gainey, James has been the most consistent veteran, averaging 11.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
As productive as Knecht, who paced the Vols in scoring with 19.0 per game, has been, there has been minutes where James has taken over, including at the Maui Invitational and in Tennessee's 100-92 loss at North Carolina.
He's averaging more than 30 minutes on the floor.
“I think maturity. (James) has been around a long time and he understands the game and he understands what we’re trying to do," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. "But I just think that, he and Santi (Vescovi) coming back, we expect a lot from them. Mostly, we talked about it earlier in the year, their leadership, but Josiah has played at an extremely high level in Hawaii and I thought North Carolina, (he) was the one guy that carried that over and really played too many minutes, but he still fought through it. He just gives us a different dimension."
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Barnes cites James' shot selection as at least part of his success on the offensive end.
Experience has paid off. According to Barnes, James' vision on the court has led to Tennessee's offensive resurgence, providing an element that it did not have last season.
“I look at (James) and when he is really playing his best basketball offensively, I would call him a connector," Barnes said. "He connects the offense. Again, you would expect it with his experience that he knows when to shoot it. He knows the flow of the game. He knows if he has an advantage where he can get down inside. We are asking him to do different things and he feels like he can get up and shoot shots that he work on. We expect him to do it. If not, different things he can do coming out of the post. He sees the court. I think he is really starting to really see the court in a way you would expect him as time goes on. I think the game has slowed down for him a lot offensively.
"A lot of guys out there can only see two or three things. When you get a guy that can see 10 guys, eight, nine guys, those guys can really connect the whole offense together. I do think Josiah is starting to see the court in a great way.”
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One of the players benefiting from James' role as the team's "connector" has been junior forward Jonas Aidoo.
Aidoo has been dominant in the pant offensively, averaging 9.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 17 points in the Vols' 87-66 win over George Mason on Tuesday.
After playing alongside James the past three seasons, seeing him at full health has been paramount in the performance of the players around him.
"(James) has an edge to (his game)," Aidoo said. "He's been healthy all season. From the past two years, he's kind of been out with leg injuries, knee injuries. Now, just seeming him shine and doing everything he can do, it's just been great to see."
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