Analyzing Tennessee's Starting Lineup Without Olivier Nkamhoua

Analyzing Tennessee's Starting Lineup Without Tennessee Vols Basketball Forward Olivier Nkamhoua

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– The No. 19 Tennessee Vols are without starting junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua for the rest of the season, per a Tennessee spokesperson before the beginning of head coach Rick Barnes' Monday afternoon media availability. 

Barnes discussed which players must step up in Nkamhoua's absence, dubbing a trio of freshmen in Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack as the most-likely candidates to see increased playing time while veterans John Fulkerson and Uros Plasvic may see a slight uptick. 

"Between Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jonas Aidoo, and Jahmai Mashack we'll decide who will give us the best chance to win basketball games and it will come down to who is the better defensive player," Barnes said on Monday. "All three of them are freshmen, we think they all can score, but we need consistency on the defensive end, and whoever shows us that will get those minutes. They won't get all those minutes because we can do some other things as well, but that is going to get guys on the court this time of year."

When asked about John Fulkerson, Barnes says the sixth-year senior may be in line for more play as well. 

"Well, again, I think John falls into that category too." Barnes said of Fulkerson seeing increased minutes. "There's minutes to be had there. I do think John is playing with more speed himself. I think he now understands he has to do that. Between Uros (Plavsic), John, Jonas and Brandon, those guys all have a chance to get more minutes. Like I've said many times, we're going to go with the guys that give us the best chance to win. We hope they all get consistent and find a niche in their role. I do think Uros is in a good spot, I think John is. I think John has been doing some good things. We're going to need some help out of those other guys."

Four-star freshman forward/center Jonas Aidoo's career-high in minutes is five when the Vols destroyed Presbyterian earlier this season. With Nkamhoua out, this is the best opportunity the freshman has had all season to see more action. 

"Two weeks ago, he was getting to where we wanted him to be and is playing with more speed," Barnes said of Aidoo's progression. "He is the best rim protector on our team, and I see it every day in practice. I think he is grasping what it takes to play at this level night in and night out. He and Brandon are here because we think they have a great future ahead of them, but they need to expedite it right now. If they don't take advantage of it, it's on them because the time is right now."

Per Tennessee Athletics Media Department's official game notes for the Vols' game against Mississippi State, the Vols will roll with Justin Powell at the three and move Josiah-Jordan James to the four, keeping Kennedy Chandler at the one, Santiago Vescovi at the two and Uros Plasvic at center. (See below)

Tennessee Athletics' Game Notes for Mississippi State Game

Quick Thoughts on the Lineup

Rick Barnes is choosing to use a smaller lineup and leaving John Fulkerson and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield on the bench. Fulkerson has slowly improved over the last few games following lackluster performances at the start of SEC play that led to Uros Plasvic taking over the starting role at center. 

Giving the starting nod to Powell over another big allows Tennessee's offense to stretch the floor even more. Starting John Fulkerson limits the Vols offensive upside, and Rick Barnes has to like the recent production he has gotten out of the veteran off of the bench. 

Starting Kennedy Chandler and Zakai Zeigler is an interesting strategy, but having the 'spark plug' in Zeigler come off the bench has been too valuable for Tennessee to make any changes in that department. 

"We could move Zakai into the starting lineup," Barnes said. "Although that doesn't matter to him because he just wants to win the game. He's been such a dynamic spark coming off the bench and it's hard to take him off that role right now."

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has not shown he is ready for a starting role defensively, but the freshman has all the opportunity in the world at his fingertips, and the five-star could make strides in Nkamhoua's absence moving forward. Aidoo is in the same boat as BHH to a lesser degree, but as Barnes said, the time for the pair of freshmen to shine is now. 

The bottom line is Tennessee has less room for error moving forward. Nkamhoua is a great rim protector defensively for the Vols and provides a threat from mid-range and from deep on offense. Fulkerson, Plasvic and Huntley-Hatfield simply do not do that at this point in the season. Fortunately for Tennessee, Josiah-Jordan James is playing the best basketball he's played since coming to Rocky Top on both ends of the floor, and Kennedy Chandler has vastly improved on defense. 

In fact, James and Chandler rank among the top players nationally according to Evan Miyakawa in terms of Defensive BPR.

Here are the most impactful defenders in the country, according to Defensive BPR at https://t.co/cegyfz8ykZ:

1 Eric Gaines
2 Josiah-Jordan James
3 Gabe Osabuohien
4 Matthew Mayer
5 Oscar Tshiebwe
6 Kennedy Chandler
7 Anton Watson
8 Micah Peavy
9 Vince Williams
10 Kevin McCullar pic.twitter.com/XafhNtiUuN

— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) February 7, 2022

Tennessee's first test without Nkamhoua will come against Mississippi State (14-8, 5-4 SEC) this Wednesday, February 9, at 9 p.m. ET in Starkville. 

Photo Credit: Tennessee Athletics 

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