Argue the merits of Bruce Pearl (merged)

#76
#76
Ughhh said:
We blew it to Ohio State twice that year and yes, both times sucked and were disappointing BUT to say the season and the appearances in the Sweet 16 were disappointments is something I can't do. I'm glad we got as far as we did and like any fan, wished we would have gone further, but we didn't. We have another shot this year. (which makes 4 straight if you're keeping score at home, oh, and for Pearl personally, it is 6 out of the last 7)
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joevol24 said:
Remember, that was the first number one ranking for men's basketball in UT history. Not at all disappointing to me.
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I'm not arguing that Pearl doesn't deserve credit for getting us to the Sweet 16, getting us (albeit briefly) to that #1 ranking, winning the SEC last year, and so forth. He's had a really good start to his UT tenure. But it hasn't been so Urban Meyer-like good that you can't criticize the guy, like a big chunk of the Vol Nation (apparently including Pearl himself) seems to think.

We're in year four now, when Pearl has finally had enough time to get his own guys in and get his system established. It's fair to start speculating what his limits are as a coach.

(And one of those limitations, at least so far, has been crapping out weakly in the postseason.)
 
#77
#77
Vercingetorix said:
I'm not arguing that Pearl doesn't deserve credit for getting us to the Sweet 16, getting us (albeit briefly) to that #1 ranking, winning the SEC last year, and so forth. He's had a really good start to his UT tenure. But it hasn't been so Urban Meyer-like good that you can't criticize the guy, like a big chunk of the Vol Nation (apparently including Pearl himself) seems to think.

We're in year four now, when Pearl has finally had enough time to get his own guys in and get his system established. It's fair to start speculating what his limits are as a coach.

(And one of those limitations, at least so far, has been crapping out weakly in the postseason.)
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... and defense, discipline, halfcourt offense
 
#78
#78
No argument from me counselor about the criticism but to say this season was a failure as some have, hearing some of the "fans" say Pearl sucks at games (which I have heard personally), call in shows where people are saying he sucks, should be canned, etc, is absolutely asinine. He's not Urban Meyer BUT he is OUR basketball coach and thus far has done a great job. I guess you can't win 31 games one year then drop to 19 wins (to date) because that is inexcusable.

As far as crapping out in tournaments, 4 years ago we were'nt even in them so I think we've come a long way. Can we improve? Always.
 
#79
#79
We've been in 6 postseason tournaments under Pearl and he's underacheived in 5 of them. That's one of the biggest problems from my vantage point. He needs to have a decent run in SEC/NCAA tournament (such as maybe 4-5 wins combined) in order for this year to be a success in my mind. I think Pearl is a very good coach and can be successful at UT, but this year has not been his best.
 
#80
#80
Vercingetorix said:
But yet this thread exists because reportedly Pearl's feelings are hurt just because he's been heard some criticism. There has NOT been any sort of a major "Pearl sucks, fire him" movement; if he wants to know what one of those looks like, he can ask Phil Fulmer.

He's had a good start to his UT career, but for all the hype, it's resulted in one regular-season conference championship and three disappointing exits in the NCAA tournament. He cannot seriously believe he's earned being beyond reproach already.
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Eh. No.
 
#82
#82
Oldblood said:
We've been in 6 postseason tournaments under Pearl and he's underacheived in 5 of them. That's one of the biggest problems from my vantage point. He needs to have a decent run in SEC/NCAA tournament (such as maybe 4-5 wins combined) in order for this year to be a success in my mind. I think Pearl is a very good coach and can be successful at UT, but this year has not been his best.
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His teams have all played to their talent level in the NCAA's. They over achieved in the regular season.
 
#85
#85
emainvol said:
Losing to Witchita St. and blowing that lead against Ohio St. don't qualify as disappointing? In what world?
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The losses themselves were disappointing, but the teams played to their talent level. Wichita State loss sucked. That would be the only one I didn't expect. But, I also didn't expect Tennessee to reach the Sweet 16 that year anyway... so there's that.
 
#86
#86
Oldblood said:
We've been in 6 postseason tournaments under Pearl and he's underacheived in 5 of them. That's one of the biggest problems from my vantage point. He needs to have a decent run in SEC/NCAA tournament (such as maybe 4-5 wins combined) in order for this year to be a success in my mind. I think Pearl is a very good coach and can be successful at UT, but this year has not been his best.
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And in the sixth, we choked away a chance to beat the #1 seed by blowing a 20-point lead.

We've certainly accumulated a large enough body of work to make you wonder whether there's something about the way that Pearl's doing things that doesn't lend itself to success in the postseason. Considering our regular season conference record under Pearl, there's not much excuse for the fact that we still haven't even managed to make it to Sunday in the SEC tournament.
 
#87
#87
emainvol said:
Two of the three certainly were.
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Plus I don't see how anybody wouldn't consider the Louisville loss disappointing, considering that we were a #2 seed and we got our doors blown off.

I get that Tennessee basketball has been bad enough recently that we should still be in the "just happy to be here" stage in the early rounds of the NCAAs. But I don't think that means we should ignore a real pattern of underachieving in the postseason either.
 
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#88
#88
Vercingetorix said:
Plus I don't see how anybody wouldn't consider the Louisville loss disappointing, considering that we were a #2 seed and we got our doors blown off.

I get that Tennessee basketball has been bad enough recently that we should still be in the "just happy to be here" stage in the early rounds of the NCAAs. But I don't think that means we should ignore a real pattern of underachieving in the postseason either.
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The way UT played the game was disappointing, but Louisville was definitely the better team.
 
#89
#89
Oldblood said:
I seriously doubt Pearl receives an offer more attractive than what he's getting at UT this year.
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Let's see,,, Don Devoe, Wade Houston, Jerry Green, Kevin O'Neil, Buzzmeister,,, yeah, I would say Bruce has done aight.
 
#90
#90
Vercingetorix said:
We've certainly accumulated a large enough body of work to make you wonder whether there's something about the way that Pearl's doing things that doesn't lend itself to success in the postseason. Considering our regular season conference record under Pearl, there's not much excuse for the fact that we still haven't even managed to make it to Sunday in the SEC tournament.
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Considering the Mardi Gras Parade of coaches before CBP, he has been incredible. He has elevated the program higher than Mears (IMO). He wins,,, He is enthusiastic,... he puts a great face forward for the University. Other than Donovan, who is better in the SEC at this time?
 
#91
#91
emainvol said:
The way UT played the game was disappointing, but Louisville was definitely the better team.
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Go pull up the posts from last year. There were all kinds of people on here who said UT was superior to the 'Ville. Strangely, those people were hard to find with 5 minutes left in that game.
 
#92
#92
hatvol96 said:
Go pull up the posts from last year. There were all kinds of people on here who said UT was superior to the 'Ville. Strangely, those people were hard to find with 5 minutes left in that game.
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Louisville clearly had the better athletes and were definitely playing at a much higher level than we were at that time. The difference in talent between the two teams was obvious, and I think this year's team will probably be a better tourney team than Bruce's previous teams.
 
#93
#93
emainvol said:
The way UT played the game was disappointing, but Louisville was definitely the better team.
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Well, that's sort of my point. That's how we always go out in the postseason under Pearl.

Tampavolz said:
Considering the Mardi Gras Parade of coaches before CBP, he has been incredible. He has elevated the program higher than Mears (IMO). He wins,,, He is enthusiastic,... he puts a great face forward for the University. Other than Donovan, who is better in the SEC at this time?
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Note that I'm not advocating that we fire Pearl or anything; I'm just sneering at the notion -- apparently held by Pearl himself -- that criticism of him is somehow unfair.
 
#94
#94
emainvol said:
If you don't think that Jerry Green's coaching was a big part of the problem during those years, then you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.
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Dude wth? I never mentioned anything about Jerry Green. You are the one that brought him up. I could care less about him.
 
#96
#96
dickens821 said:
His teams have all played to their talent level in the NCAA's. They over achieved in the regular season.
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You could make that argument definitely. I was just pointing out that based purely on seeding, we have underachieved 5 out of 6 times. I'm probably one of the biggest Pearl fans on this board, but he has not done his best in the postseason, which is how coaches in college bball are ultimately measured.
 
#99
#99
Love the Brucester... If you're worried about whining fans, hang out this summer on the beach in Florida all day and get a thicker skin. It is hard for me to believe you have gotten your feelings hurt by a few disgruntled knuckleheads. Just recruit some players like cough, cough, Memphis has done and go kick some ass...
 
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