Rick Barnes explains how Chaz Lanier has grown

Barnes explains his development.

Coming off of an 0-7 shooting performance from three-point range, along with an overall 3-13 performance from the field — and another loss to Kentucky — things didn’t feel all that great for Tennessee and Chaz Lanier. However, the last two games and a mini-bye have reminded us of just how potent the Volunteers can been when Lanier is on.

Sure, Zakai Zeigler has been a consistent force lately too, but Tennessee goes to a different level when Lanier is locked in as a shooter. The Volunteers needed every ounce of Lanier’s white-hot start against Texas A&M over the weekend just to keep pace. His 30 points and a late-game dagger from Zeigler sealed the deal for a massive road win.

“We wanted to spread them out to start with,” Rick Barnes said of the gameplan against Texas A&M. “All we wanted to do with Chaz is get him a little bit of separation.

“He’s gotten so much better ‘cause he’s seen all kinds of defenses. Again, I don’t think anybody’s been fouled more than he’s been fouled. I told Fran Fraschilla last night, I said, ‘watch how much his shirt tail is out.’ He gets grabbed and pulled. And we’re just trying to screen him to get him a little separation.”

Lanier hit his first five shots from deep, quickly erasing a nine-point Texas A&M lead in the first half. Barnes mentioned trying to get him separation with scheme, but he also explained that more aggression getting downhill has also made a difference.

“As you know, he’s got a quick release,” Barnes continued. “But I love the fact he started the last couple weeks, driving the ball downhill to make people not able to always just sit on his jump shot.”

That was on full display as Lanier drove to the rim and slammed it down with his left hand early on against Texas A&M. It’s not something you see all that often from Lanier, but it will make that three-point stroke even more deadly if he can do it with any consistency at all.

“He’s worked hard, his teammates believe in him and, again, we’ve seen him do it,” Barnes said. “He’s done it before, early in the year. He had 25 points in the first half against Baylor and so we’ve seen him do that. And he’s had other games like that, but just really proud of the fact that he is continuing to try to get better every day.”

Tennessee has clawed back into the top four seeds of the upcoming SEC Tournament, which obviously means a Thursday bye. The Vols have big games left against Alabama and Ole Miss as they attempt to circle the wagons and secure the first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in program history. If Lanier keeps going like this, that’s a very realistic scenario.