Argue the merits of Bruce Pearl (merged)

#376
#376
tennvols1198 said:
taking a dead program and making the ncaa tourny 4 straight years is the mark of a good coach. btw he has also won 20 games every year he has been in knoxville. just throwin that one out there.
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Jerry Green did both of those things. Just throwin that one out there.
 
#379
#379
emainvol said:
There are plenty of great basketball programs that are in areas comparable in size to Knoxville or smaller.
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I have to take this bait,,,, Lakeland, Chattanooga, B-ham, Lexington (had a hard time for years now),
Cincinnatti (for years now), Nashville, Little Rock, Omaha, Richmond, Asheville, Atlanta, St.Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, ,,,

Outside of Duke, WF, NC you have to go to DC or Baltimore to get quality players,,, TERPS and Georgetown recruit close to home. Are we recruiting in the metro DC Baltimore area? It does not seem like it.

So its not like any city of comparable size within 500 miles north south and west has a great basketball program. I still say BP is above average, not his best year here but he is above average and I beleive he is doing a good job here. Can he do better, absolutely.
 
#380
#380
and take Indiana Basketball for instance. They felt they were so great they could let Bobby go and their program is still trying to recapture the magic. So it is very easy to say we can be great in basketball and then take giant steps in reverse. I think it is much easier in Football to get better faster than basketball. Basketball seems to be a real science in how some programs achieve greatness,,,
 
#384
#384
GAVol said:
You are being very kind.
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I guess thanks are in order for your kindness on this sun shiny Friday afternoon in Tampa. I may have understated my intentions here and if I can put my foot in my mouth even further, There is a lot of parity in Football the past ten years or so, even a school like Cincinatti and Utah are playing in BCS bowls. Basketball to me seems like the same teams stay strong throughout the years. Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, Georgetown, Uconn, Syracuse, NC, Duke. Very few schools compared to the whole.

To me trying to make a dynasty -- or trying to make a consistently great team over a period of years seems very hard in basketball. Now having said this, if my foot is still in my mouth I will STFU! :crazy:
 
#385
#385
Tampavolz said:
I have to take this bait,,,, Lakeland, Chattanooga, B-ham, Lexington (had a hard time for years now),
Cincinnatti (for years now), Nashville, Little Rock, Omaha, Richmond, Asheville, Atlanta, St.Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, ,,,

Outside of Duke, WF, NC you have to go to DC or Baltimore to get quality players,,, TERPS and Georgetown recruit close to home. Are we recruiting in the metro DC Baltimore area? It does not seem like it.

So its not like any city of comparable size within 500 miles north south and west has a great basketball program. I still say BP is above average, not his best year here but he is above average and I beleive he is doing a good job here. Can he do better, absolutely.
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Are you suggesting that Kentucky is not a great basketball program. Also, are you aware that there is a world outside of a 500 mile radius of Knoxville?

Also, when did Little Rock and Omaha move east?
 
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#386
#386
Pearl doesn't have the right mix of players yet. When he gets a real big man and a true point guard, he'll make a final 4 run.
 
#387
#387
VolsRule said:
Pearl doesn't have the right mix of players yet. When he gets a real big man and a true point guard, he'll make a final 4 run.
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how long does Pearl get that excuse? Think about it this way, Murray Bartow doesn't have half the talent UT does and he's able to teach his team solid fundamentals that they can hang with Pittsburgh for all but 3 minutes of a game. Pearl can't do that. To expect a FF run out of this team would have been silly, but fundamental basketball is essential. It's not going to matter if it's one more year for Pearl to get "his guys" or if you try that excuse for five more years. He's still never going to teach them the simple things like defense, smart passes and a half court offense. And without that, this team will never be anything to fear in the tournament.
 
#388
#388
Basketball is, like football, a sport of fundamentals--and if your fundamentals are not solid, you will not beat many solid/good basketball teams, no matter your talent. Good teams tend to have certain qualities: They are tough-minded; they have leaders on the floor; they play very solid defense and make good decisions on offense. Pearl needs to find better guards--that's where it all starts, guys who can create off the dribble, lead the team, show toughness and talent in the clutch. There are a lot of good point guards out there, and it's not really enough to say that, well, they guy we really wanted and thought we might get opted to go to Duke, and that hurt us. Hello!! You can't count on getting anybody who is being actively recruited by the big boys! It's great to engage in recruit battles with Duke et. al, but you'd better have a solid list of PGs when your top prospects opt for more prominent programs. More generally, Pearl has got to get tougher with his players. There is no excuse for some of the soft performances we've seen this year--capped by yesterday. Bad defense and way too many threes.
 
#390
#390
BTW...I keep seeing people list winning the East this year as an accomplishment. I guess it is, better than not winning it, but is it honestly that much to brag about? No one else from the East even made the NCAAT and we still shared it with South Carolina. And other places listed sweeping Florida and Vandy...how is that impressive?
 
#391
#391
Bruce Pearl is the best coach in the SEC---when he gets the right mix of talent, he'll be winning big in the NcAAs!
 
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