For once, Tennessee enters a basketball season with a problem Rick Barnes probably won’t mind having: there may not be enough basketballs to go around.
Juke Harris can score. Dai Dai Ames can score. Terrence Hill Jr. can score. This roster was assembled with considerably more offensive ammunition than Tennessee fans have grown accustomed to seeing.
And yet, as the Vols prepare to open preseason practice Tuesday, one of the most important pieces of that offense won’t quite be operating at full speed.
Tyler Lundblade is expected to be limited at the start of practice after undergoing back surgery in August. The sixth-year Belmont transfer was also limited during summer workouts, although the latest indication is that he is progressing toward full health.
That’s worth watching. It isn’t necessarily worth panicking about.
Because Tennessee didn’t bring Lundblade to Knoxville simply to add another guy capable of scoring 15 points. They brought him here to do something that can change the geometry of an entire offense: stretch the floor until a defense has uncomfortable decisions to make.
Lundblade averaged 15.6 points last season while knocking down 40.6 percent of his 3-pointers. He made 115 of them—sixth-most nationally—and connected on at least three triples in 25 of Belmont’s 32 games. A year earlier, he shot an absurd 48.1 percent from deep.
That’s not somebody a defense occasionally remembers to guard. That’s somebody a defender follows around like he owes him money.
And that distinction could make life considerably easier for everyone else wearing orange.
Harris doesn’t need another player taking shots away from him; he needs space to attack. Ames and Hill don’t need Tennessee’s offense built around Lundblade. They need defenders thinking twice before helping off him, because one unnecessary step toward the paint can become three points going the other direction.
Barnes described Lundblade as one of college basketball’s best shooters when Tennessee signed him, pointing specifically to his ability to score off the catch, handoffs and the dribble. That’s a player who can influence a possession without ever touching the basketball.
There is also some perspective required here. Tennessee’s first exhibition against Xavier isn’t until Oct. 15, and assistant coach Amorrow Morgan said in late August that Lundblade was already “very close” to returning. The latest report indicates he continues to move toward full health.
September 22 isn’t a deadline.
If anything, Tennessee’s newfound scoring depth gives Barnes the luxury of treating Lundblade’s recovery exactly as it should be treated: patiently. September practices matter, but considerably less than having one of the country’s most dangerous perimeter shooters healthy when Tennessee begins playing games that count.
The Vols appear to have plenty of players capable of putting the ball through the basket this season.
The interesting part about Lundblade is that his greatest value may be making it easier for everybody else to do it.
– Vol Hoops Staff Writer