How Tennessee basketball used a halftime film session to beat Missouri

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Rick Barnes wasn’t happy.

The Tennessee basketball coach tramped into the locker room at halftime with 15 minutes to vent. He chose to pull up four minutes of film.

It was the first four minutes against Missouri on Wednesday. It was four minutes of Tennessee not doing what the coaches talked about. It was four minutes of showing the Vols winning was flashing in their faces and they were blind to it.

“Everything that Coach Barnes told us that was there, was there,” guard Zakai Zeigler said.

Barnes used the time wisely and well — and it worked.

No. 4 Tennessee had 28 points when it entered the locker room. It scored 57 after leaving it, crushing No. 16 Missouri 85-81 at Food City Center with a sensational offensive half brought about by Tennessee’s best offensive lineup deploying the film’s teaching points.

How Rick Barnes used a halftime film session to spark Tennessee offense

Barnes watched Missouri (17-5, 6-3 SEC) play as he expected in the first half Wednesday. He did not watch what he expected from the Vols (19-4, 6-4).

They didn’t take advantage of offensive opportunities. They made wrong passes or made the right passes poorly. They made incorrect cuts, didn’t force the Missouri defense to move, and turned over the ball.

They were not reading the Missouri defense.

“It goes back to understanding what we are looking for, and what we were looking for early was there,” Barnes said.

Barnes cited two wide-open 3’s that Tennessee never took because of “absolutely horrendous passes.” He wanted more easy scoring at the rim and back cuts to create post points.

Instead, Tennessee played into Missouri’s goals. Zeigler called the Tigers a “really rowdy team.” They’re turnover-hungry, and Tennessee fed them, suckered into passes that were easy turnovers, with eight in the first half.

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Barnes showed all of that in his halftime lesson.

“We didn’t realize it until we…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tennessee-basketball-used-halftime-film-100510971.html

Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Publish date : 2025-02-06 10:05:00

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