For Vols basketball, points start at the point

I wonder how many SEC coaches are coveting Georgia's J.J. Frazier about now. If I were Rick Barnes, I would be.

Point-guard play has been a suspect in Tennessee's mysterious February swoon. The Vols have lost four of their past six games, in three of which they failed to score 60 points for first time all season.

Thus, it will be interesting to see how Barnes approaches the position on an important Saturday at South Carolina.

February is gut-check time in college basketball. Some teams – South Carolina – are playing for postseason seeding. Others – Tennessee – are trying to make a case for postseason inclusion.

College basketball is also a guards game. An elite point guard is golden. Georgia's Frazier, for example.

The little senior willed the Bulldogs to victory over the Vols two Saturdays ago. He almost (36 points) carried Georgia to an upset of Kentucky last week.Thursday night, he scored 28 of Georgia's points in a 60-55 win at Alabama.

With a veteran with Frazier's skill set and heart pulling the strings, Tennessee wouldn't be stuck on 15 wins. Somewhere in the future, Barnes hopes the Vols will have a veteran effectively running the show in a season that extends deep into March.

For now, though, it's young guys learning on the job at crunch time.

Which has been more frustrating than seniors learning on the job. Last year Barnes moved Kevin Punter Jr. to the point, having no other options. Two years ago, Josh Richardson adapted effectively to a similar move.

With freshmen, though, it's a thrill ride.

Tennessee closed January on a four-game winning streak. February opened with a season-low output, a 64-59 loss at Mississippi State. Three games later at Kentucky, the Vols hit a wall at 58. Wednesday night, the bar dropped to 56 in a home loss to Vanderbilt.

To be fair, it's not all on the point guards.

"They've got to have somebody to pass it to,'' Barnes said. "It's the guys on the wing getting open. The timing of their cuts, how hard they work to get open. You've got to set good screens. It's all five guys, not just the point guards.''

Freshman Jordan Bone is thought to the long-term answer. One advantage Bone has over fellow freshmen Lamonte Turner and Kwe Parker and sophomore Shembari Phillips is that point is his natural position.

Barnes rides Bone hard because of his considerable potential. He has had exhilarating moments. A couple of games, the Vols wouldn't have won without him. He was the catalyst in the win over Vandy in Nashville.

But in the typical peaks and valleys of a freshman, he was in the doghouse during most of the return match Wednesday. He played only 13 minutes.

Much of the second half Barnes used a backcourt combination of Phillips and Parker. Neither lit up the scoreboard but they competed and defended. Phillips played a season-high 34 minutes. Parker's 17 minutes were his most in SEC play.

"We could see more of it,'' Barnes said. "This time of year is about being competitive, about doing your job. ... We're going to do whatever we have to do to win with whatever play to see if we can win some games.

"One thing we know about Kwe is he's going to compete.''

One thing we've come to know about Tennessee: finding an effective point guard should never be taken for granted.

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.