Although it may be hard to believe given the high-level of recent success, Tennessee Basketball is seeking it’s first 5-0 start to a season under Rick Barnes. Undoubtedly, a significant portion of that accomplishment will be attributed to the performance of Yves Pons.
Yves Pons’ emergence for Tennessee Basketball has been genuinely unexpected and a sight to see through their first four games. Truthfully, unexpected may not be the best description, as underestimated is likely more accurate. The next-level performance he has displayed is eerily similar to the jump Admiral Schofield made for the Vols in 2017-18. Now may be the right time to put the deserved weight on the impressive coaching development Rick Barnes & co. has instilled at Tennessee. Hopefully, the correlation presented can potentially be a stepping stone to help inhibit future underestimation going forward. Let’s dive in.
The previously stated significant step forward taken by Admiral Schofield came in the 2017-18 season, which was his third year for the Vols. You might remember, that is the year Tennessee cut down nets as they defeated Georgia in-route to the SEC regular season title. Aptly so, this year also marks Yves Pons’ third year with Tennessee.
As a basis for this developmental correlation, let’s divulge into some statistics and compare. In 2017-18, Admiral Schofield’s numbers virtually doubled from the two years prior in the following categories:
• Average field-goal attemps per game
• Average three-point attempts per game
• Overall points per game
From combined averages of his first two years to his third—Schofield’s output went from 6.2 FGA to 11.3 FGA per game. Naturally the same relationship occurred with his three-point attempts, increasing from 2.25 3PA to 4.6 3PA per game. Ultimately, as result of the observed growth, his average points per game jumped from 7.9ppg to 13.9ppg. Among the many factors that can affect these values, coaching development and the associated increase in confidence are likely of the most significant. Both attributes were exemplified by Admiral Schofield and can be easily identified with game-film analysis.
For Yves Pons, a very similar jump in values within the same categories can be found on the same relative time-interval. From years one and two, to the beginning of his third year—Pons has gone from 1.2 FGA and 0.4 3PA to now averaging 9.0 FGA and 2.5 3PA for the Vols. The result of the associated increases has been even more apparent for Pons, with his average points per game leaping from 1.45ppg to 15.0ppg to begin this 2019-20 season.
Let it be understood—this is a small sample size and should be taken with a grain of salt, but Pons would only have to sustain a relative portion of his current output to equate or exceed Schofield’s third-year increases. Regardless of a small sample size or not, the upward trajectory observed is significant nonetheless. Circling back to the previously stated coaching development and related increase in confidence seen in Admiral Schofield, the same been seen in Yves Pons thus far.
Rick Barnes and the rest of the coaching staff need to be credited and deservedly so. Admiral Schofield is not the only example of exceptional development for Rick Barnes, he is simply one such player that skyrocketed from one year to the next. Truthfully, in Barnes’ tenure, player development and relative year-to-year progression as a whole has been superb for the Vols. Yves Pons’ hot start to the season is just more proof of that fact.
Looking ahead, Tennessee Basketball hits the court tonight in Thompson-Boling Arena for their contest against the Chattanooga Mocs. The Vols will hope Pons can continue his incredible level of play throughout and further into the season. If that can happen, Tennessee will have the best chance to disprove other underestimations with a deeper-than-expected run in the postseason.