Tennessee Basketball: 3 takeaways from Vols opening win over Colorado
By Ian Mumm
Reliable Depth
Barnes’ decision to begin the season with star freshman Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer on the bench was not a decision I preferred to see. However, the move allowed for program veterans to establish a favorable game situation for the young guards to jump on the court. Furthermore, Oregon transfer Victor Bailey was the only new player on the roster to start in this game highlighting the quality depth returned on the team from a season ago.
The 11 points each contributed by John Fulkerson and Vescovi were a far cry from monopolies in the scoring column for the Volunteers. There was balanced production in that regard from top to bottom on the roster.
There were four periods throughout the game where Tennessee went scoreless from the field for at least four minutes of play. The overall depth of this roster was a positive aspect for Coach Barnes to utilize to get out of these slumps and back to extending the team’s lead.
Moving forward and into games with more rhythm, the Vols will be able to rely on one of their biggest strengths, multidimensionality, to overcome tougher opponents. At this stage, no player is leaps and bounds better than the rest and it makes it more difficult for opposing coaches to game plan for Tennessee’s roster.