No. 9 Tennessee went behind closed doors to face Davidson in a scrimmage at Pratt Pavilion on October 24, but don’t expect any deep dives into the action. The program announced the game on social media and dropped a few highlight clips, showing some buckets from Miles Rubin, Dai Dai Ames, Troy Henderson, and DeWayne Brown II. That’s it. No final score, no individual stats, just a peek behind the curtain. And honestly, after the preseason they’ve had, you gotta wonder if they’re trying to hide more than just a box score.
The “Highlights” Don’t Tell The Full Story
It’s one thing to have a closed scrimmage; it’s another to drop a few cherry-picked highlights without any context. Why the secrecy? Because the Vols are in rough shape right now. This “eager to get back on track” vibe from the program is an understatement after two brutal exhibition losses that have set off some serious alarm bells. You can post all the individual buckets you want, but they don’t erase what’s been happening.
A Preseason Disaster That’s Hard to Ignore
Let’s be real, this team has been floundering. First, they dropped an 86-70 game at home to Xavier on October 15. Losing at home in an exhibition is never a good look. Then, just five days later on October 20, they got absolutely R-O-U-T-E-D on the road by No. 2 Duke, falling 103-64. One hundred and three points given up! That’s not just a loss; that’s a defensive collapse. What’s even crazier is how much they’ve struggled with rebounding and defense in the preseason, which is a stark contrast to pretty much every team coach Rick Barnes has put out there in his twelve years. The time to fix these fundamental issues is running out, and fast.
The Vols open their regular season at Food City Center against Wofford on November 3 at 7 p.m. ET, live on SEC Network. They’ve got limited time to iron out these major rebounding and defensive woes before the games actually count. Let’s hope they figure it out because this No. 9 ranking is starting to look a little shaky.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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