The secret behind Jahmai Mashack's elite defense for Tennessee basketball
Jahmai Mashack swayed from side to side as he meandered to the layup line.
The Tennessee basketball guard broke out in song, belting Beyoncé’s “Love on Top” and bringing a smile to Jordan Gainey’s face. It was like that for Mashack during the final minutes as Tennessee’s battle with Alabama awaited Saturday. Mashack danced his way around the floor with his playlist booming at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
It’s easy to freely enjoy the moment when you’re as prepared as any player could possible be.
"I put in a lot of preparation behind the scenes outside of team stuff to get ready for games like this," Mashack said. "Games like these are important to me. Big games where there is a lot of hype and they have the numbers to back it up. They are supposed to be the No. 1 offensive team, the best offensive team.
“Stuff like that gets me motivated to want to kind of shut that down.”
And did he ever. Mashack unleashed a disruptive defensive display, parlaying his relentless preparation into menacing play as Tennessee (14-4, 4-1 SEC) terrorized Alabama (12-6, 4-1) with its ruinous defense in a 91-71 hammering of the Crimson Tide.
How Jahmai Mashack prepares for Tennessee basketball opponents
Vols guards Cameron Carr and Grant Hurst rose to their feet at the end of the Vols bench Saturday. They crossed their arms in the shape of a “X," a credit to Mashack’s signature effort in handcuffing an opponent again for No. 7 Tennessee.
“It sees like every coach in the offseason that talks to me about our team, they all say, ‘Man, I love Mashack,’ ” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “If you watch it from the eyes of the coach, you can’t help but love what he does and how he affects the game.”
Mashack showed why that is against Alabama. He spent every second of his 28 minutes playing as hard as he could — after all, he spent hours studying for those minutes.
The 6-foot-4 Mashack is a preparation junkie. He goes in-depth on the player he will likely guard, sure. But he also studies the players he probably will switch onto. He wants to know a player’s preferred move. He hones in on how they dribble and the rhythm to their movements. Shooting percentages are useful information, but why does a player shoot well or not shoot well? What does it look like when they are in rhythm or out of rhythm?
His prep involves film, talking to coaches, and a lot of alone time outside of team activities. It is the backbone to his game.
“I go into games with the utmost confidence in my defense and how I am going to guard whether is the top guy or the guy that is last on the bench,” Mashack said. “I am confident in how I am going to guard.”
How Tennessee basketball, Jahmai Mashack limited Alabama's Mark Sears
Mashack met Alabama guard Mark Sears at midcourt in the second half. He shuffled his feet, staying in front of Sears as he scrambled to get to the hoop. Mashack forced Sears — the SEC’s leading scorer — to the baseline and into a horrible pass.
It was Sears’ seventh turnover as the Vols hurled a vicious combination of Zakai Zeigler and Mashack at him.
Mashack gave a 212-word summary of Sears’ offensive game afterward, detailing everything he expected from the Alabama guard from his preparation.
"They really don’t know the stuff that I do before a game,” Mashack said. “I guess as the games move on, they start to see that I take a lot of preparation into that.”
Sears is a side-to-side dribbler who wants to size up the defender. He wants to get into stepback 3-pointers when he catches the defense expecting a drive. The Crimson Tide want to get him open through off-ball and on-ball screens and use backside movement.
Mashack wanted to take the 3-pointer away from Sears, who was shooting 47.8% on 3-pointers entering Saturday. He air-balled a second-half attempt and looked shaken by Tennessee’s defense, cobbling together a 22-point game with free throws and late points.
Alabama coach Nate Oats essentially confessed that Tennessee took Sears entirely out of the game with its defense with on-ball and off-ball defense.
That’s no surprise to Mashack. He makes a habit out of getting into players — physically and mentally. He did against Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr. in December. He did it against former Alabama guard and No. 2 NBA Draft pick Brandon Miller last season.
It's what Mashack prepares for avidly — and that’s why he can dance when all that's left to do is play.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Jahmai Mashack is elite Tennessee basketball defender because of prep
