NEW YORK – When certain players speak, their teammates listen.
Tennessee basketball senior Josiah-Jordan James is one of those players.
So in a somber and quiet locker room, multiple sets of eyes were locked in on him when he admitted defeat in a way the Vols rarely have in the Rick Barnes era.
“They wanted it more,” James said. “That’s tough to say.”
Another good season, another NCAA Tournament disappointment. Tennessee's 62-55 elimination to Florida Atlantic at Madison Square Garden was just the latest loss to a lesser-seeded team. These continue to pile up on Barnes’ watch. They are all missed opportunities. Some are worse than others.
As a Tennessee fan, it’s understandable to emerge from this wondering what it’s going to take to finally get over the hump in March – and to fully expect that you’ll be sitting here doing it again a year from now.
Forever good and never great is a special brand of torture for a sports fan. I don’t know what to tell you. It sucks. Barnes deserves blame, but no school would or should oust a coach who is so highly respected and keeps earning high NCAA seeds. Let’s be real and stop that noise right here.
And let’s go back to dissecting this miserable performance – and why FAU wanted it more.
And the Owls did play like they wanted it more.
That, I didn’t see coming.
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Maximum effort was all that Tennessee had left, really, having been stripped down to this version by injuries and a late-season slide. The Vols had been reduced from a genuine contender in January to a group that was fortunate to even make it to New York this week.
It's not just me saying that. They did, too.
“A lot of people don't know all the things that we've been through internally,” James said. “Even to make it this far is a blessing. I mean, people counted us out after the second game that we lost to Colorado. They told us our season was over then.”
I followed up on that with James to ask who was counting the Vols out.
“There were just people talking on social media,” he said. “Sometimes you don't seek it out, but things get back to you. Things get sent to you.”
To remember that enough from November to mention it unsolicited after a loss in March, I’d suspect it wasn’t from random hoops aficionados. I’d imagine critics were probably from Tennessee’s own fanbase. And if you think the players on your teams don’t hear that stuff, well, they do.
As for what that has to do with what happened on Thursday, I’ve no idea. I didn’t bring it up.
I do know that the postgame vibe among Tennessee’s team wasn’t one that wanted to get back out there on the court and keep playing. They were sad, of course. But they mostly just sounded spent.
“I'm disappointed that we lost today,” Santiago Vescovi said, “but I think this team gave everything we could.”
I also know that of the four teams that played in the East Regional in New York on Thursday night, three played as if they belonged. They were loving every minute. They were eager to make the most of the moment, playing with jubilation and a swagger that’s required this time of year.
And then there was Tennessee.
Playing a winnable Sweet 16 game in the world’s most famous arena against a mid-major team that -- while undeniably feisty -- was smaller and less talented and trailed by nine in the first half. All that adversity in an up-and-down season? Didn't matter. The Vols had a priceless opportunity within reach.
When they didn't grab it, the other guys did. FAU had to find another level to survive, and it did.
And favored Tennessee wilted. Not due to a lack of effort. This was a lack of confidence.
Barnes said afterward that body language promoted coaches to take “certain players” off the court, since “they weren’t locked in as much as they needed to be.”
“You expect them to be,” Barnes said, “but it's a big stage.”
You can say FAU wanted it more, but it was mostly that the Owls looked like they wanted to be out there on that big stage, while the Vols did not.
Frankly, that shouldn’t happen. Experience should be an advantage in this tournament. Of the 10 players that started this game, only four were seniors. And all four of those seniors played for Tennessee: James, Vescovi, Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic. They’ve accomplished a lot and won a lot of games.
Fact is, though, when the time came to make something happen with a season – and perhaps college careers – slipping away, none did.
None of the four seniors scored more than James’ 10 points. None made more than Plavsic’s four buckets, all in the first half. They combined to shoot 29.2%.
Overall, it wasn’t good enough for Tennessee. Again.
Maybe one day.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.
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