What Vols’ Barnes wants from Nkamhoua, Plavsic
Olivier Nkamhoua came to Rick Barnes recently with a revelation.
“I took minutes for granted,” Barnes recalled Nkamhoua saying.
The Tennessee forward vowed not to do it again.
“He did what he had to do,” Barnes said. “And we'll see now if Uros (Plavsic) does what he needs to do.”
Tennessee's primary backup forward duo has had bright spots for the Vols (14-10, 6-5 SEC), who face South Carolina (15-9, 7-4) on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network). But both have struggled to find consistency in helping starters John Fulkerson and Yves Pons since Plavsic was ruled eligible by the NCAA on Jan. 14.
Barnes has given them a clear message: Tennessee has played enough games and both have practiced enough that they must to do their job to earn minutes.
"You might have one chance to go into that game and you better show us that you are locked in mentally and doing the things that we see you do in practice,” Barnes said.
Nkamhoua has done that of late after going through a five-game stretch with few minutes.
The freshman played double-digit minutes in 16 of 18 games through midjanuary. Barnes labeled Nkamhoua's back-to-back outings against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss as his best games. Then he struggled and his minutes plummeted to 5.6 per game in the five games before UT faced Arkansas.
“Olivier went a game or so where he didn't play very much,” Barnes said. “Came to practice, did something about it.”
Nkamhoua played well in five minutes against Kentucky, then was the first player off the bench for Tennessee in its 82-61 blowout win against Arkansas on Tuesday. He played 19 minutes, made both field-goal attempts and made 6 of 8 throws.
“I thought the other night, he looked like he knew exactly what he wanted to do when he gets the ball,” Barnes said. “He was trying to do all the little detail things we asked him to to do.”
Nkamhoua's turn toward more playing time started in practice and Barnes wants the same from Plavsic. Barnes has stressed the Arizona State transfer needs to play with more physicality and less finesse, but his minutes center on the simple things.
“He's going to have to be productive,” Barnes said.
Plavsic started three games with guard Josiah-jordan James sidelined with a groin injury. He scored 16 points and played 26 minutes against Mississippi State in his first start.
He has played 24 minutes combined in the three games since. He sat for most of the second half against Alabama with the Vols using a small lineup, then played only one minute
Barnes said Thursday he was not surprised to see Plavsic slump after an apparent breakthrough.
“I think freshmen have a tendency to think when they have a good game it's going to be easy,” Barnes said. “It's going to be there. No realizing that the next game is going to be different. It's not going to be like a replay, an exact replay."
Barnes thinks that Plavsic's obstacle is mental, as he has played in only nine games after not playing in a live game for more than a year.
But the challenge is the same to both Nkamhoua and Plavsic.
“It's real simple with Uros and Olivier,” Barnes said. “We told them it's going to be strictly based on production. You go in, you do your job.”
Josiah-jordan James progressing
Guard Josiah-jordan James hasn't played in the past four games as he deals with a groin injury. But Barnes said the South Carolina native has “done some things on the treadmill” in working toward a return.
“I think he will do a little bit in practice today,” Barnes said. “But it is still day-to-day.”
Fulkerson is feeling better after being under the weather Tuesday against Arkansas, when he had 14 points and eight rebounds.
“Honestly, with knowing how Fulky felt, that is what jumped out (Tuesday),” Barnes said. “He was able to do some things that we weren't sure he would be able to do."
Guard Jalen Johnson, who started against Arkansas, was not “feeling great” Thursday and did not practice.