GBO!!! This team overachieved!

[RockyTop140]

Is point guard a concern?
Would you like to see another post player?

What type of player(s) will we go after in the portal? Shooting guard, defender or rebounder like Mashack?

I don’t know as much about recruiting as a lot of guys on here, but we have a few guys committed out of high school. Dewayne Brown, a post player out of Hoover Alabama. 6’9, big strong guy, good motor. Amari Evans is a 6’5 shooting guard and is a prototypical Barnes recruit. Great defensively, needs to develop his offensive game. Similar to Mashack imo

 

[SGMVols]

You concerned of a drop off next yr @ BernardKingGoat?

No proven point guard
No shooting guard

Cade, Estrella, Okpara - post. Can any of the three build muscle and develop a post move?

I don’t see Bos running point.

I don’t follow recruiting so love to see your response.

I mean people said we’d drop off after losing Knecht and we actually won more games.

Not saying that’s going to happen again, but I think Barnes has earned more than enough benefit of the doubt for fans to be patient and let him work the plan I am sure he has.

 

[OrangeTsar]

It was a very good year. Sucked today, but Houston is just a better team. Hope they win it all.


This off season should be very interesting to say the least

The aggravating part for me was that it didn’t feel like we lost to a „better team“ as much as it felt like we just couldn’t hit the shots. Yes, Houston played good defense but we were just bricking even the open shots.

 

[RockyTop140]

The aggravating part for me was that it didn’t feel like we lost to a „better team“ as much as it felt like we just couldn’t hit the shots. Yes, Houston played good defense but we were just bricking even the open shots.

We were rattled right off the bat. We couldn’t get anything going inside and we were essentially forced into settling for 3s. Yes, we still missed a lot of open looks, but it was pretty clear we didn’t have anyone who could beat Houston to the rim. ZZ tried multiple times and all of his layups were getting volleyball spiked. If it weren’t for Gainey, the 2nd half would’ve been pretty similar to the 1st. It felt like we just ran into a better team. And there’s no shame in that

 

[columbia vol]

They earned a 2 seed, played like a 2 seed and finished right around where they should have in this year’s group of teams. Well played but not Houston and not Duke. A better post presence would help for next year but I’m proud of this team. They played very well. Gonna miss ZZ.

Agree, also I heard something that I hadn’t thought about this weekend, they asked to name a player Coach Barnes has had that got in trouble, can’t think of any.

 

[top5vols]

Hold your head high.

 

[johnnybravo]

We soundly beat Florida and Auburn. Had a miracle come back against Alabama. Dominated KY in the big tournament. Beat Calipari and Aidoo. Team was filled with a bunch of great kids. I had a lot of fun watching this team. I am proud of what they accomplished.

 

[foolonthehill]

Possibly Barnes best coaching job. Brought in a new team, made it work, they were much more consistent and had a great R2 and R3 tourney showing.

Still, it hurts they accomplished... literally nothing. No reg season title. No tourney title. No FF. Well I guess they got to the 30 wins, which was nice.

Meanwhile, Florida comes out of nowhere for a FF, Bama the same last year, and Auburn gets fortunate off Tenn misfortune in getting Pearl and about to make a 2nd FF with him. It gets old that it's never their turn.

Wow. This is a very negative take on an incredibly positive season.

 

[foolonthehill]

Posted this elsewhere already, but it fits here:

I so hate this forum after any loss with all the butthurt idiocy. "We choked", "I'm embarrassed", "Barnes will never win", "excuses", etc., etc., etc.

They came out flat as a pancake against a very good team that was on top of their game, and it snowballed. It happens. You can say it isn't an excuse, but teams coming out flat right off a highly emotional rivalry win is one of the most common things in sports, even at the professional level. These are kids, for crying out loud.

We didn't have a lot of room for error this season given the roster limitations, and the lack of a legit inside scoring presence really came back to bite us on the ass when the perimeter shots weren't falling. Barnes had nowhere to go and just needed to get to halftime, but unfortunately we got in too deep a hole to recover.

That Sweet 16 Kentucky win is how I'll always remember this group. I've been a UT fan for 45 years since coming to school here, and that will always be a Top 10 sports moment, if not higher. Couldn't be more proud of this group, and they have not the slightest thing to apologize for, as they gave us a fantastic four month ride with some electric moments. ZZ, Jahmai, and Jordan are all time VFL's, and I'll always love Chaz, Igor, and D-Stone for what they gave us in one season.

Perfectly stated.

 

[vol94]

I mean people said we’d drop off after losing Knecht and we actually won more games.

Not saying that’s going to happen again, but I think Barnes has earned more than enough benefit of the doubt for fans to be patient and let him work the plan I am sure he has.

I wasn’t at concerned as we had ZZ @ point along w/. Chaz.

You need strong guard play and one post player to advance to final four.

 

[RockyTop140]

Posted this elsewhere already, but it fits here:

I so hate this forum after any loss with all the butthurt idiocy. "We choked", "I'm embarrassed", "Barnes will never win", "excuses", etc., etc., etc.

They came out flat as a pancake against a very good team that was on top of their game, and it snowballed. It happens. You can say it isn't an excuse, but teams coming out flat right off a highly emotional rivalry win is one of the most common things in sports, even at the professional level. These are kids, for crying out loud.

We didn't have a lot of room for error this season given the roster limitations, and the lack of a legit inside scoring presence really came back to bite us on the ass when the perimeter shots weren't falling. Barnes had nowhere to go and just needed to get to halftime, but unfortunately we got in too deep a hole to recover.

That Sweet 16 Kentucky win is how I'll always remember this group. I've been a UT fan for 45 years since coming to school here, and that will always be a Top 10 sports moment, if not higher. Couldn't be more proud of this group, and they have not the slightest thing to apologize for, as they gave us a fantastic four month ride with some electric moments. ZZ, Jahmai, and Jordan are all time VFL's, and I'll always love Chaz, Igor, and D-Stone for what they gave us in one season.

Agree. Hate how it ended but ending UKs season was sweet. We got the last laugh there.

Watching Broome at Auburn makes me really miss having a good post scoring option. Hoping that’s what Dewayne Brown can be for us

 

[Flogballs]

Given preseason expectations and considering we lost Carr and Estrella, at the very least I’d give this season a solid B+

In respects to Barnes tenure, he gets a A.

State of the program continues to get stronger. When KenPom updates his program rankings well be firmly in the top 16. I think when he started we were outside the top 32.

 

[loosecannon]

We were rattled right off the bat. We couldn’t get anything going inside and we were essentially forced into settling for 3s. Yes, we still missed a lot of open looks, but it was pretty clear we didn’t have anyone who could beat Houston to the rim. ZZ tried multiple times and all of his layups were getting volleyball spiked. If it weren’t for Gainey, the 2nd half would’ve been pretty similar to the 1st. It felt like we just ran into a better team. And there’s no shame in that

I could be wrong but times like these are when I miss midrange being a thing. The bigs just camped for Houston and didn’t have to really move.

 

[Other_Guy]

Wow. This is a very negative take on an incredibly positive season.

I gave a very positive review of what Barnes did, season and tourney.

It's incredibly fair to point out they didn't accomplish anything of significance, outside or winning 30 games (which is very low on importance of accomplishments). You can't argue against that.

The last paragraph was mostly about being a Vol fan in general. It's always someone else's turn.

 

[livefaith]

I’m disappointed with us being so uncompetitive against Houston. The Cougars are good and the better team, but they aren’t THAT much better than the Vols. The way we lost is the thing that’s disappointing.

All that aside, I am grateful for Coach Barnes and this team. Barnes gets a lot out of his players. Back to-back Elite 8 appearances ain’t too shabby.

UT has never done that. Now, on to the recruiting trail. We need some elite scoring guards and a stretch 4. Looks like one proven elite guard is in the bag. Lets go.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Maybe I'm just still bitter over the Houston game. Maybe I'm bitter over Pearl reaching 2 Final Fours in the same amount of time as Barnes has been here. But after 10 years, I'm kind of tired of us being in the position of the "groveling mutt" who should be forever thankful to Rick Barnes that he has us in a place where we might not outright suck, but we are stuck being perennially "good" with no real hope of even getting to a Final Four, let alone winning it all. I feel like we are just spinning our wheels now, staying in the same place, going nowhere. Maybe this is who we are and we need to accept it. But it's a great big fat bitter pill to swallow!

 

[Lankykong]

I feel like making the elite eight gives you a realistic hope of making the final four

 

[Lurker]

Maybe I'm just still bitter over the Houston game. Maybe I'm bitter over Pearl reaching 2 Final Fours in the same amount of time as Barnes has been here. But after 10 years, I'm kind of tired of us being in the position of the "groveling mutt" who should be forever thankful to Rick Barnes that he has us in a place where we might not outright suck, but we are stuck being perennially "good" with no real hope of even getting to a Final Four, let alone winning it all. I feel like we are just spinning our wheels now, staying in the same place, going nowhere. Maybe this is who we are and we need to accept it. But it's a great big fat bitter pill to swallow!

Don’t be bitter and sad. The Barnes years have been the best 10 years in Vols basketball history. Being a regular national player in basketball is a very recent experience in Knoxville.

As for Pearl reaching 2 Final Fours in his 11 seasons at Auburn, his FF success must be compared to the facts that Barnes has exceeded Pearl’s NCAAT appearances by 7 in 10 years to Bruce’s 6 in 11 years at Auburn. Barnes has also reached the Sweet Sixteen 5 times in 10 years (50% of the opportunities). Pearl has reached the second weekend of the NCAAT only twice in 11 years at Auburn (18%)! Both have 2 Elite Eights.

I’d love for UT to reach the Final Four, but Barnes has been the more successful coach over the last 10 years and he has conducted his program in a manner we can be proud of compared to Bruce’s chaos. Don’t be bitter! GBO!

 

[orangemadam]

I guess it's a matter of opinion. Anyone can come up with some
"facts" that will support their statement.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

It just feels like Barnes is our "Mark Richt." We'll always be in the conversation. But we'll never get to the big dance. There's definitely worse places to be in for sure! And I damn sure ain't suggesting we part ways with Barnes. He's earned the right to be here until he retires. But it does get frustrating to feel so close yet deep down know it's just never going to happen.

 

[VolGee4]

Maybe I'm just still bitter over the Houston game. Maybe I'm bitter over Pearl reaching 2 Final Fours in the same amount of time as Barnes has been here. But after 10 years, I'm kind of tired of us being in the position of the "groveling mutt" who should be forever thankful to Rick Barnes that he has us in a place where we might not outright suck, but we are stuck being perennially "good" with no real hope of even getting to a Final Four, let alone winning it all. I feel like we are just spinning our wheels now, staying in the same place, going nowhere. Maybe this is who we are and we need to accept it. But it's a great big fat bitter pill to swallow!

Just your opinion. The trajectory of this program from where Barnes inherited it is unbelievable. He took it to another level or more. We are more than perennially good.

 

[cncchris33]

Just your opinion. The trajectory of this program from where Barnes inherited it is unbelievable. He took it to another level or more. We are more than perennially good.

To add to that, being in the E8 two straight years is not "no real hope of making a Final Four". We were literally a game away in consecutive years. We've seen year over year improvement each year since 2020-21 (R64, R32, S16, E8) and then maintained that E8 level this year for the second straight time. It isn't like we're regressing. We're building towards that ultimate goal of a F4, and then obviously a title.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

To add to that, being in the E8 two straight years is not "no real hope of making a Final Four". We were literally a game away in consecutive years. We've seen year over year improvement each year since 2020-21 (R64, R32, S16, E8) and then maintained that E8 level this year for the second straight time. It isn't like we're regressing. We're building towards that ultimate goal of a F4, and then obviously a title.

We're banging on that door loudly right now, and not going anywhere for awhile.

 

[All Vol!]

Maybe I'm just still bitter over the Houston game. Maybe I'm bitter over Pearl reaching 2 Final Fours in the same amount of time as Barnes has been here. But after 10 years, I'm kind of tired of us being in the position of the "groveling mutt" who should be forever thankful to Rick Barnes that he has us in a place where we might not outright suck, but we are stuck being perennially "good" with no real hope of even getting to a Final Four, let alone winning it all. I feel like we are just spinning our wheels now, staying in the same place, going nowhere. Maybe this is who we are and we need to accept it. But it's a great big fat bitter pill to swallow!

Here’s a quarter…

 

[VOLtaism]

The goal of all schools is to be a perennial top-10 team. I would have liked to see this team with Estrella in the rotation. His height and weight would have helped in some of those 8 losses and in the NCAA tournament.