Could be the biggest underachieving team in UT history

[USAFgolferVol]

Bruce Pearl squad that made it to final 8 should have been in final 4 and could have won it all. They were that good. That was an underachievement.

2018-2019 team that won 31 games was and underachievement to lose like they did in the dance. They actually had a pretty easy route to the final 4 and bombed...

Jerry Green's team were very underachieving. He had lots of talent and did squat....

2010 team overachieved

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Bruce Pearl squad that made it to final 8 should have been in final 4 and could have won it all. They were that good. That was an underachievement.

2018-2019 team that won 31 games was and underachievement to lose like they did in the dance. They actually had a pretty easy route to the final 4 and bombed...

Jerry Green's team were very underachieving. He had lots of talent and did squat....

Huh? the 2010 team overachieved.

Are you sure you aren't thinking of the 2008 Tennessee team?

 

[VolsSportsFan]

The best UT team in history (imo) got steamrolled by Louisville in the S16.

I don't think this team is as good as that one was.

This is what tells me we have a lot of "fans" with very low basketball IQ or at the least too many with a football mindset. You'll still see people who will bring up that team beating Memphis in the #1 vs. #2 matchup and got the #1 ranking; great. But we got our ass kicked in the S16 and barely made it there since Butler took us to OT in the Round of 32. That's why I say the nostalgia glasses are very thick when it comes to Pearl here.

 

[Vol49er]

Bruce Pearl squad that made it to final 8 should have been in final 4 and could have won it all. They were that good. That was an underachievement.

2018-2019 team that won 31 games was and underachievement to lose like they did in the dance. They actually had a pretty easy route to the final 4 and bombed...

Jerry Green's team were very underachieving. He had lots of talent and did squat....

An easy route to the final four? Purdue was a great 3 seed and a bad match up for us and the team from that region that went to the final four ended up being the national champion (and Purdue gave them a game)

 

[lostsheep]

OP wasn’t around for the Jerry Green era.

4-20's baby!!

 

[munsterlander]

Just my 2 cents - I still enjoy watching this team - at least most of the time - but I'm in the overrated camp, and it makes it a little easier to stomach some of what we've seen. Pons is an absolute freak of nature athletically, but I don't think the bball light is ever going to come on. It is bewildering how unaware or lost he frequently is. I'm a big fan of Fulky, but he was an overachiever last year - he has some great "moments" like the SC game (he ran the floor awesome, great cuts, great passes) - but I've never seen him as the big man a great team could be built around. (It would be awesome to seem him paired with a great big.) The rest of the team is more than enough to have a great team without having to have any one or two players be near perfect every night - lots of weapons (though a true pg would be nice). But we do not have the front court we need and it is highly doubtful we will next year either. So I don't view this as one of the great underachieving teams in UT history by a long shot.

 

[YankeeVol]

It's hard to believe so many OTB haven't gotten used to Barnes' MO by now. His record in Feb/March aint too hot. It's been 7 years now.

 

[golfballs]

What’s this supposed to tell us?

 

[Ghost of Archvol]

I think it’s up for debate. I think the reality is this team was overrated from before the season even started. Media picked UT to win SEC. They flat got it wrong. We’re not as talented as they made everyone believe we were. We have no size(no front court). Vescovi can’t cover anyone. And our offense is horrific. Outside of that, we’re not bad.

i'm not sure. i mean we smoke a team by 20 on the road, but lose to the same team by double digits at home. 30-pt turnaround. see mizzou and ky. i think the biggest issue is sometimes this team appears focused and ready to play and sometimes it doesn't. i think that falls on the coaches. we're better than we appear.

 

[wmcovol]

Stokes was a man inside the day he stepped on campus as a high school senior. Tennessee has no one close to him on the roster right now.

 

[ZZ13]

I’m not sure Fulky has regressed. He may have just had one of those magical out of body years last year that an average player has once in a career. It’s happened over and over during my lifetime.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Stokes was a man inside the day he stepped on campus as a high school senior. Tennessee has no one close to him on the roster right now.

JJJ is the Jenny Craig version.

 

[robow]

Pearl was close, very close to building something very special at UT. Everyone knew it and no one liked it (except us).

The big traditional schools hated the success he was having here and the fix was in. He fell for the okie doke, the setup. Yes, he lied. But that was the excuse to derail him like they wanted to do. It was a slap on the wrist had he not lied and should have only been a very minor probation for the situation and UT should have stood with him.....

Did the FBI wiretap the BBQ?

 

[wmcovol]

Did the FBI wiretap the BBQ?

No the OSU dad had photographic evidence that he used. Stupid of Pearl to lie about it thou. Surely he didnt think he was getting the kid after the Dad did that? Surely he didnt want the kid after the Dad did that?

 

[gordonr24]

If the 214 team Cuonzo coached made the sweet 16, this team could too. That team was en feugo heading into the tourney, but barely made it in.

Maymon and Stokes

That team peaked at the right time. But that team also frustrated the hell out of me all season, because of how badly we were underachieving, given the lineup we had. We shouldn’t have been a borderline tournament team with Barton, McCrae, Stokes, Maymon, and Richardson.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

No the OSU dad had photographic evidence that he used. Stupid of Pearl to lie about it thou. Surely he didnt think he was getting the kid after the Dad did that? Surely he didnt want the kid after the Dad did that?

Did the BBQ pics come from Craft’s dad? I’d never picked up on that. I remember they were in Pearl’s kitchen and might have included assistant coaches’ wive(s) but Pearl pretended like he didn’t recognize those things. Did Pearl ask for the Crafts to lie AFTER the NCAA already had the pics? What a desperate fool. I guess he panicked and lost all common sense.

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

That team peaked at the right time. But that team also frustrated the hell out of me all season, because of how badly we were underachieving, given the lineup we had. We shouldn’t have been a borderline tournament team with Barton, McCrae, Stokes, Maymon, and Richardson.

Agree 100

 

[cncchris33]

What’s this supposed to tell us?

I guess it is supposed to tell us that Barnes's record suffers when we play the best teams on our schedule consistently over the course of our conference season. Revolutionary stuff, I tell ya. I wonder how many other SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, Pac-12 conference coaches have similar trends of beating up on out of conference foes before stepping into the throes of conference play?

 

[1Big_Orange_Fan]

I don't think we're actually as good as we originally thought. Obviously the W-L v Pre-season ranking. But, remember, last year we were not even an NCAAT team, The addition of 2 stud FR + 1 transfer guard and loss of 2 seasoned SEC guards does not compute into elite status on paper. Maybe Top25, top20?
But with JJJ out recently, Fulky in a regression, and Pons in and out of injury, we are just not consistently good. Even when JJJ was live, we have a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde consistency. Our vets have not made enough progression. Out FR are just that, so theyre up and down.
I got goo-goo eyed early at this team bc of the lockdown D, and figured w the FR progressing and vets stepping up a yr of maturity, and with possibly 10 deep on playing time ... that we could be special. Reality is the FR ARE getting it, vets as a whole average no real improvement, depth is not real (Ticket, Anosike, Pember non-factors), and D can be exposed to 3pt barrages etc.
We're just a slightly above avg SEC team it appears. When we decide to get in a funk, we got serious unity doing it!

Perfect recap of the season! Couldn't have said it better. I keep telling the wife that when we lose, we lose big.

 

[Unimane]

A lot of this stems from the fact our early schedule was littered with average to very bad teams. Even then, there were some pretty clear signs this team was oddly constructed.

 

[jeff1vol]

I guess it is supposed to tell us that Barnes's record suffers when we play the best teams on our schedule consistently over the course of our conference season. Revolutionary stuff, I tell ya. I wonder how many other SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, Pac-12 conference coaches have similar trends of beating up on out of conference foes before stepping into the throes of conference play?

Exactly. When he plays the tougher teams, his record is barely. 500. Not exactly HOF worthy. Like I said, he's an average coach that will give us average results. And that's fine with most Vol fans.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

A lot of this stems from the fact our early schedule was littered with average to very bad teams. Even then, there were some pretty clear signs this team was oddly constructed.

Early on the freshmen were still in bubble wrap. I don’t think that the roster is all that bad when the 1st 7 in the rotation are at 100% and not sitting with foul trouble. EJ and ORN and even Ticket aren’t bad options as 8th man role players but aren’t such great options right now as backups grabbing big minutes.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Exactly. When he plays the tougher teams, his record is barely. 500. Not exactly HOF worthy. Like I said, he's an average coach that will give us average results. And that's fine with most Vol fans.

Barnes is not an average coach.

You keep throwing out that garbage narrative when simply it’s not true.

 

[jeff1vol]

Barnes is not an average coach.

You keep throwing out that garbage narrative when simply it’s not true.

Really? What data do you use? You'll surely talk about his all-time wins, but ignore he's been a head coach for 40+ years. Nothing else he has done is overly impressive. One FF. No NC's. One tourney championship all-time. 3 conference titles and .5 an SEC title. Those are good numbers. Not great. How's that garbage?

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Really? What data do you use? You'll surely talk about his all-time wins, but ignore he's been a head coach for 40+ years. Nothing else he has done is overly impressive. One FF. No NC's. One tourney championship all-time. 3 conference titles and .5 an SEC title. Those are good numbers. Not great. How's that garbage?

A coach with over 700 wins on his resume is not considered “average.”