Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse, point guard Ezra Manjon and forward Colin Smith met with the media on Tuesday, here's five quick takes from their press conferences.

Vanderbilt's level of belief in its defense is higher than the numbers would indicate

Stackhouse was clear, his team wants to be one that establishes its identity on the defensive end. The fifth-year head coach seems to believe that his group's length and athleticism can propel it towards that identity.

Ezra Manjon does, as well.

"I think we're pretty special on defense," the veteran point guard said. "We have a lot of length and a lot of guys with great instincts."

That thought is something that Stackhouse echoed when asked about what was different about his group this season as opposed to last.

The first words out of his mouth: “More length and more athleticism."

That improvement feels tangible in one of Vanderbilt's freshmen.

"Defensively he's special with his length," Stackhouse said of Jason Rivera-Torres. "He has a knack for getting his hands on balls and deflections and different things like that."

Vanderbilt's individual defensive numbers and 114th KenPom defensive efficiency rating don't provide much evidence that it can effectively defend, but Stackhouse and his players seem to push back on that.

Colin Smith is showing all the signs of being a leap candidate

When a guy with efficient peripheral shooting numbers notes that he's added around 20 pounds, will take on a bigger role and thinks he could show more off the dribble ability you listen.

That's the case with Smith.

It was hard not to expect a significant leap from the sophomore forward heading into Tuesday's availability, but it's near impossible after Smith's meeting with the media.

A bigger rotation seems more likely than the small one that Stackhouse teased at SEC Media day

When asked about what his rotation would look like, Stackhouse seemed to walk back his comments from two weeks ago and revert more towards his thinking in the past.

“We’ve got 10 or 11 guys that deserve to play," the fifth-year coach said. "We’re going to give our core group the bulk of the minutes early on, but the rotation could be as deep as 12 guys."

Stackhouse harped on the thought that his group wouldn't have made the late push it did in 2022-23 without some player development early in the season. Vanderbilt's head coach noted Colin Smith's development, in particular.

Smith along with Manjon, Tyrin Lawrence, Ven-Allen Lubin and Evan Taylor will likely get the bulk of the starts throughout the season but Paul Lewis, Tasos Kamateros, Lee Dort, Jason-Rivera Torres as well as a few other Vanderbilt freshmen will likely take up some minutes, as well.

Maybe we should've talked more about Malik Presley this offseason

All of the buzz around Vanderbilt's freshmen this offseason felt like it went towards Rivera-Torres, Isaiah West (who Stackhouse said will be Vanderbilt's third point guard) and JaQualon Roberts. Perhaps Presley deserved some of that praise, too.

"Malik Presley, he's been impressive, he's as good at getting downhill as anyone we've got. That's Tyrin (Lawrence) included."

Presley was the second name out of Stackhouse's mouth when referring to guys that could help Vanderbilt off the bench, perhaps that says something about the Texas native and his ability to help Vanderbilt with his unique skillset.

Vanderbilt's big men have had some injury trouble

Stackhouse mentioned, somewhat unsurprisingly on Tuesday that sophomore big man Lee Dort will be unlikely to play in the Commodores' opener against Prespyterian.

What was a bit of a surprise was Stackhouse's update on Lubin, though.

"He's missed a lot of time, he's had some groins and some foot injuries so he's not as far along as we'd like him to be, ideally," Stackhouse said.

Lubin will be ready for Vanderbilt's opening night game on Tuesday, but has missed some time this offseason that may have hindered him a bit.