Barnes points to what bothered him most in Tennessee's exhibition loss at Duke

Rick Barnes came away from Tennessee's exhibition loss at Duke with one disappointment standing above the rest, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. The report centers on the head coach's own assessment of the defeat and the aspect of his team's performance that frustrated him most.

The available summary does not quote Barnes or specify what that chief disappointment was, so it cannot be stated here. What the report establishes is that Barnes was not treating the loss as a routine preseason setback; he had a particular failing in mind when he evaluated his team afterward.

For Tennessee, a coach identifying a single central problem can be more useful than a vague bad night. If Barnes' players respond to the point he made after the Duke game, the exhibition loss could still serve the purpose preseason games are meant to serve.