Auburn Postgame Thread

[ColinS]

And if you'd read the earlier posts you'd see my comment that shooting and rebounding was a bigger reason for losing yesterday. I also noted that it's a trend and was worse in previous games. If it makes you feel better to skip over some of the comments before making your snarky comments, more power to you.

Call it what you want but this is just a fancy way of blaming the refs. It gets old.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Call it what you want but this is just a fancy way of blaming the refs. It gets old.

It's a fancier way of objecting to the unchecked rough play, inconsistent whistles, and coach's sideline rants influencing referees.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Nu'Keese Richardson and Janzen Jackson say hi.

Yea and that had nothing to do with Bruce cheating and lying about it

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Yea and that had nothing to do with Bruce cheating and lying about it

Has a lot to do with the NCAA's radar being focused on Knoxville.

 

[i2amavol]

It still amazes me how some UT fans hate Bruce now, with no appreciation for what he accomplished here.

Has he made mistakes? Yes
Did he bend rules? Yes
Guess what, just about all coaches bend the rules. Of coarse, most are minor compared to Will Wade or Sean Miller

Do I want him back? No. And I believe most of us who appreciate him realize that probably wouldn't work again.

He wins everywhere he goes, and like it or not haters, he is the best coach in the SEC

I loved Bruce when he was here, but I know I was on a message board - I don't think it was this one - and someone supposedly in the know continuously told us we would one day hate him, because he was a sleazebag behind the scenes.

I think Bruce is a great on the court coach. He truly loves people. He also - in my opinion - does whatever he thinks he can get by with, behind the scenes. Like all people, he has his good side and his bad side. His fans will try to always see his good side - and they are right. His detractors will always want to see his bad side. They are also right. That is my opinion.

As for being the best coach in the SEC: all things considered, I would put Calipari at the top, because of recruiting (regardless of tactics). I would put Pearl second, because of gameday coaching. I would put Barnes in the 3 - 5 category due to player development.

 

[etsuvol13]

It still amazes me how some UT fans hate Bruce now, with no appreciation for what he accomplished here.

Has he made mistakes? Yes
Did he bend rules? Yes
Guess what, just about all coaches bend the rules. Of coarse, most are minor compared to Will Wade or Sean Miller

Do I want him back? No. And I believe most of us who appreciate him realize that probably wouldn't work again.

He wins everywhere he goes, and like it or not haters, he is the best coach in the SEC

Pretty sure he violated the rules, not bend them. He lied, doubled down, asked other to do the same, got caught, and was given a few years to think about it. Buck fruce.

 

[k-town_king]

Pearl was hammered by the NCAA because of Lane Kiffin. That guy (CLK) was totally out of control and the NCAA was going to nail TN on something. If it was just Bruce doing his sleazy business without Kiffin also thumbing his nose at them, TN could have pinched their nose from Pearl's stench and weathered the punishment.

This has to be one of the most ridiculous post ever. lol

 

[VolFreakJosh]

It still amazes me how some UT fans hate Bruce now, with no appreciation for what he accomplished here.

Has he made mistakes? Yes
Did he bend rules? Yes
Guess what, just about all coaches bend the rules. Of coarse, most are minor compared to Will Wade or Sean Miller

Do I want him back? No. And I believe most of us who appreciate him realize that probably wouldn't work again.

He wins everywhere he goes, and like it or not haters, he is the best coach in the SEC

I’m not saying he’s a bad coach.

He’s a good coach who did amazing things while he was here.

I just don’t believe he deserves to come back considering all the damage he done to cover himself up. He made the University into a National wide embarrassment all because he couldn’t tell the truth over something so stupid.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

Nu'Keese Richardson and Janzen Jackson say hi.

Once again, what do those players have to do with Pearl. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! They committed criminal acts, the NCAA wasn't investigating anything associated with those guys being arrested.

Just because you continue to spout this false claim, doesn't make it true. You're embarrassing yourself

 

[ColinS]

Yea and that had nothing to do with Bruce cheating and lying about it

What your saying isn't untrue about the general state of officiating in basketball. I get that but this game would be way down the list of games that would back those point. This was just men against boys. A coach with a plan vs a coach without one and no adjustment. I don't know how the score stayed as close as it did.

 

[Rickyvol77]

What your saying isn't untrue about the general state of officiating in basketball. I get that but this game would be way down the list of games that would back those point. This was just men against boys. A coach with a plan vs a coach without one and no adjustment. I don't know how the score stayed as close as it did.

I wasn’t arguing auburn isn’t the better team talent or depth wise. That’s clear

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Once again, what do those players have to do with Pearl. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! They committed criminal acts, the NCAA wasn't investigating anything associated with those guys being arrested.

Just because you continue to spout this false claim, doesn't make it true. You're embarrassing yourself

I can't help you if you aren't capable of recognizing the association. Turning on your caps lock doesn't make your nonsense more accurate.

Kiffin's garbage was concurrent with the NCAA digging into everything going on at UT. You're naive if you don't think that they weren't aware of Nu'Keese and Janzen at Pilot, the January 1st traffic stop, even with the title IX allegations. Just because Kiffin wasn't convicted doesn't mean that enforcement wasn't looking into anything and everything going on. When Fulmer was the HFC, he had earned some level of immunity. As long as he was respectful of and cooperative with the NCAA they weren't in the habit of elevating the dealings with UT. With Kiffin being a punk thumbing his nose at the NCAA there was little wiggle room for Pearl to operate. The NCAA had him dead to rights with the photo and statements by the Crafts. Bruce panicked and lied. It was already written into his contract that he could be dismissed for any violation. Kiffin's actions lead to the elevated scrutiny, Pearl failed to adjust, Kiffin dodged the NCAA, Bruce took the fall. The NCAA doesn't care much about violations. They care about protecting their brand and revenue stream (most of which comes from March Madness). Under Hamilton's (lack of) control, TN was an embarrassment. If Fulmer was running football instead of Kiffin's band of clowns, Pearl likely walks a straighter line and isn't noticed. If Kiffin was never the UTFB coach then Bruce doesn't come under attack by the NCAA and the UT administration in that time frame. But Pearl's lack of character would have, IMO, eventually caught up to him even without Kiffin raising the scrutiny of the NCAA.

 

[walkenvol]

People overrate his D because he blocks a lot of shots. People say he should be a candidate for defensive player of the year but he’s not even the best defender on our team

I liked this because I believe Bowden playes the most consistent defense, but I don’t mean to downplay Pons on D. Much of the KY game Pons was guarding Richards to keep Fulky out of foul trouble. He was also on Wiley some yesterday. It’s pretty amazing that an undersized 4 is effectively defending 7’ tall centers regularly. His best asset is rim protection but he’s often leaving his man when attempting to block shots and he’s not boxing out for defensive rebounds. There’s a price to be paid when going for the block but I guess CRB thinks the benefits outweigh the costs?

 

[golfballs]

I liked this because I believe Bowden places the most consistent defense, but I don’t mean to downplay Pons on D. Much of the KY game Pons was guarding Richards to keep Fulky out of foul trouble. He was also on Wiley some yesterday. It’s pretty amazing that an undersized 4 is effectively defending 7’ tall centers regularly. His best asset is rim protection but he’s often leaving his man when attempting to block shots and he’s not boxing out for defensive rebounds. There’s a price to be paid when going for the block but I guess CRB thinks the benefits outweigh the costs?

I'm not saying he is a poor defender. Not at all. Just saying he's overrated. I don't mean that as a dig. It has everything to do with people considering him as SEC Defensive Player of the year just because he blocks a lot of shots.

 

[walkenvol]

I loved Bruce when he was here, but I know I was on a message board - I don't think it was this one - and someone supposedly in the know continuously told us we would one day hate him, because he was a sleazebag behind the scenes.

I think Bruce is a great on the court coach. He truly loves people. He also - in my opinion - does whatever he thinks he can get by with, behind the scenes. Like all people, he has his good side and his bad side. His fans will try to always see his good side - and they are right. His detractors will always want to see his bad side. They are also right. That is my opinion.

As for being the best coach in the SEC: all things considered, I would put Calipari at the top, because of recruiting (regardless of tactics). I would put Pearl second, because of gameday coaching. I would put Barnes in the 3 - 5 category due to player development.

Pay Summit appeared to really like him so if you value her judgement of folks then maybe he’s not quite the sleazebag you think

 

[gainesvol82]

Kinda off topic but I really dislike Anfernee Maclemore. He is a very dirty player. In both our games against AU he had multiple cheap shots.

The play where he got up from the baseline and intentionally put his shoulder in Fulk's back was ridiculous. Can't believe the refs didn't call that. Wiley plays similar as well but not as dirty.

 

[BreatheUT]

Kiffin was gone at that point and Tennessee was cleared. Bruce got axed because the Haslams wanted him gone and Hamilton was the hitman.

Well at least before big sweaty got fired he gave Knoxville, Ramar Smith.

 

[BreatheUT]

False. Bruce’s players got into robberies and other issues off the court and he tried to bend the rules and then straight lied to an investigator. His show cause was because of that

Go back and look. Pearl had at least one player kicked off or let go for a disciplinary reasons every year. It had to be a record.

 

[Volsfaninva917]

Bruce got axed because he lied right through his teeth to the NCAA and the University. After being told not to make some specific phone calls, he made them anyway. The Haslams had nothing to do with Pearl getting fired

Bruce went to Hamilton before talking to the NCAA, Hamilton offered nothing. A real AD would have sent his Coach into hiding and told the NCAA to go through its lawyers and compliance department. But that didn't happen

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Nice overreaction. Two mutually exclusive events, but hey, you're right to your ignorance

Seems like many others, including the OP agree with me. So I guess you better start calling out way more than me tough guy.

Also pointing out they are "two mutually exclusive events" doesn't in any way prove what I said wrong.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

It still amazes me how some UT fans hate Bruce now, with no appreciation for what he accomplished here.

Has he made mistakes? Yes
Did he bend rules? Yes
Guess what, just about all coaches bend the rules. Of coarse, most are minor compared to Will Wade or Sean Miller

Do I want him back? No. And I believe most of us who appreciate him realize that probably wouldn't work again.

He wins everywhere he goes, and like it or not haters, he is the best coach in the SEC

That's debatable.

I don't hate him at all, I hate Vol "fans" that use him as troll material. I also hate Vol "fans" who have orange colored nostalgia glasses about his time here. Fact is his teams generally underachieved in the postseason here, much like we're bashing Barnes for. He had 2 teams that didn't underachieve in the PS, but 1 of those was an infamous meltdown against Ohio St., and the other (Elite 8 run) came after we got absolute sh** kicked in the SECT by UK.

In fact I'm more pissed he's been able to do at Auburn what he couldn't do here, including being able to recruit point guards.

 

[cncchris33]

Pay Summit appeared to really like him so if you value her judgement of folks then maybe he’s not quite the sleazebag you think

Ehh, you can be a likeable person and still be a sleaze bag. In fact, the biggest sleaze bags are often the most likeable people because that is how they want to be perceived.

Ask Jason Shay, Tony Jones, and Steve Forbes how they feel about Bruce Pearl, and off the record, I'd venture to guess you'd be given an accurate portrayal of just how sleazy and self-serving he really is when the going gets tough.

 

[cncchris33]

Kinda off topic but I really dislike Anfernee Maclemore. He is a very dirty player. In both our games against AU he had multiple cheap shots.

The play where he got up from the baseline and intentionally put his shoulder in Fulk's back was ridiculous. Can't believe the refs didn't call that. Wiley plays similar as well but not as dirty.

I agree that the shove he put on Fulk should have warranted more than just a reset, which only allowed AU the opportunity to set up their defense.

That said, Plavsic plays the exact same way. He has given a couple cheap shots to opponents this year.

 

[tennrich1]

1. Zero defensive pride today. We let AU do whatever they wanted. We left open shooters on the perimeter, AU got to the rim whenever they wanted, we made them earn nothing. We allowed the worst 3-pt shooting road team in the conference to shoot 14-32 from 3 and 50% overall.

2. Zero pride in our rebounding. Outrebounded 42-26, and gave up 12 ORebs and second chances to a team we couldn't stop on most of their first chances.

3. Auburn is a bad matchup for us, and our absence of playmakers with the ball in their hands is alarming. Every point we score is earned. Pons on a fadeaway, Fulk on a spin move with a runner or a turnaround rising jumper...nothing comes easy. That is a real problem.

Clearly #3 is the major issue with Auburn. They are clearly more athletic than us which means quicker and that just spells trouble for the Vols with this current team. Auburn was able to defend us close all day and we weren't able to defend them all day because of the difference in athleticism. They are quicker on the rebound as well. Watching in person one could see the defense get lulled out of position all day and leave the three wide open. JJJ was lost most of the day which was beyond disappointing. But credit to CBP and the game plan as well.

 

[gainesvol82]

I agree that the shove he put on Fulk should have warranted more than just a reset, which only allowed AU the opportunity to set up their defense.

That said, Plavsic plays the exact same way. He has given a couple cheap shots to opponents this year.

Agreed. Plav needs to reign it in and learn how to be physical making basketball plays. You can be a very physical player within the rules.

Grant and Admiral are both good examples. I feel like JJJ can become that type of player. He should be able to abuse smaller guards. Excited for Springer as he seems to have that element to his game.