Good interview with Barnes on CBS Sports Network

#26
#26
Sometimes it thunders many times before it rains. I can’t think of any other Coach I would trust more to lead a team into the postseason. I am not sure our inside game is championship caliber, but I know this team has been taught on how to play like a champion. Here’s hoping it clicks this time.
 
#27
#27
Dalton can be the X factor, but he certainly looked a bit rattled by the stage on Friday. The pressure is only going to mount. I do have confidence he’ll figure it out, the bigger concern isn’t if Dalton can be the X factor, it is if anyone else is going to be capable of supporting him. Just look at the MSU game, they completely focused their attention on neutralizing Knecht and making him as uncomfortable as possible. They dared the rest of this team to be the one to beat them, and we couldn’t do it.

Dalton is fantastic. But we will go as far as his supporting cast takes him.
Yeah, in the games we lost to Ky and esp' MSU they double teamed and even triple teamed DK as soon as he crossed mid court. That situation leaves a man or two open, but the person Dk dumped to could not make a basket. The teams that make it to the final 4 will have a team full of Dalton's
 
#28
#28
Most coaches that get to the NCAAT as often as CRB does are at blue bloods and have rosters loaded with high 4 and 5 stars that can steam roll their way to Sweet 16s. Barnes doesn’t have the same advantages - his rosters often overachieve over regular seasons and are vulnerable to get picked off in a one and done contest being managed by part time referees.
I don't know who they are comparing Barnes with in NCAA tournament production, they never say. The only coaches I see consistently getting deep runs were running blue blood programs that recruit 2 or 3 5 star players every season, repeat, every season. UT and Barnes get the occasional 5 star, one season we got 2 5 stars. There are no 5 star players in our current lineup. Deep NCAA runs are a combination of multiple years of 5 star recruits and a good draw/upsets in your bracket.
 
#30
#30
Not bel
Ok that's simply not true. DK is absolutely one of the best players in the country. Don't belittle his accomplishments
not belittling him by any means. only saying the teams in the final 4 will not be depending on 1 good player like DK, they will have 4 or 5 players with his talent level. Fact
 
#31
#31
Not bel

not belittling him by any means. only saying the teams in the final 4 will not be depending on 1 good player like DK, they will have 4 or 5 players with his talent level. Fact
Which team is fielding 4-5 lottery picks? Starting 4-5 all Americans? You're essentially saying he's undeserving of the accolades since there are at least 16-20 players every bit as good. Why aren't they recognized as such?
 
#32
#32
Tennessee seems to either play tight or have dead legs going into tournament season under Barnes. The senior guards just haven't really played well and i have my doubts they're going to start playing well now.. I'd really love to see them string some consistency together and make a run, but after the last two games it's hard to see that happening. I'd put them on upset alert, it's all to familiar. The energy level goes up a notch when this tournament starts. Vols seemed uninterested the other day. Do that again and a first round exit could happen.
 
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#33
#33
Which team is fielding 4-5 lottery picks? Starting 4-5 all Americans? You're essentially saying he's undeserving of the accolades since there are at least 16-20 players every bit as good. Why aren't they recognized as such?
UCONN has a well rounded team that does not depend on 1 player to win a game for them. Houston as well. DK is one of the most exciting players I've seen at TN in a long time, but teams double up on him and makes it hard for him to score. Saying that does not diminish his talent or skills.
 
#34
#34
UCONN has a well rounded team that does not depend on 1 player to win a game for them. Houston as well. DK is one of the most exciting players I've seen at TN in a long time, but teams double up on him and makes it hard for him to score. Saying that does not diminish his talent or skills.
You didn't say well rounded you said multiple teams will have 4-5 players on his level. It's simple not true and yes it does diminish what he was able to accomplish this season
 
#35
#35
IMHO as Aidoo and Awake go, so goes UT..If teams HAVE to double team those 2 in the low post Dalton ZZ and the other outside shooters will get open shots..Now making them becomes the test..UT had so many open looks vs Miss St it was unreal..Low post play gets them deep into the tourney..Again JMHO.....
 
#36
#36
Tennessee seems to either play tight or have dead legs going into tournament season under Barnes. The senior guards just haven't really played well and i have my doubts they're going to start playing well now.. I'd really love to see them string some consistency together and make a run, but after the last two games it's hard to see that happening. I'd put them on upset alert, it's all to familiar. The energy level goes up a notch when this tournament starts. Vols seemed uninterested the other day. Do that again and a first round exit could happen.
I agree with you unfortunately.

Just seen the story with Barnes' teams too many times at this point.

Someone besides Knecht has to step up and put the ball in the basket consistently and we haven't been seeing that much recently.

Aidoo seems to disappear when teams get physical with him on defense. No sense beating a dead horse with Vescovi and James. I'm just not sure who else is ready to step up and help Knecht at this point. Zeigler maybe but he is struggling as well.

Think they get by Saint Peter's but the second round matchup against VA or Texas worries me. Either of those teams or CO St has enough athletes to turn a game into a defensive struggle.
 
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#37
#37
UCONN has a well rounded team that does not depend on 1 player to win a game for them. Houston as well. DK is one of the most exciting players I've seen at TN in a long time, but teams double up on him and makes it hard for him to score. Saying that does not diminish his talent or skills.
Alabama and Kentucky found out that limiting Knecht won't help you.
 
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#38
#38
I think that could be part of it. I'm sure it's in some part of their minds. Especially the constant social media and sports media talk, where people make fun of him for being so unsuccessful in March.

I think what Jimmy Hyams in that same show said was far more interesting though - he said he asked a number of coaches over the years, including two recently, why Barnes struggled late in each season. Those coaches told him they thought Barnes put his players through too much practice and too much film study, wore his teams down mentally and physically, and didn't have a habit of moderating that approach. Hyams also said one coach explained that Bobby Knight would, for example, cut his practice time in half, and reduce the amount of film study going into March. Barnes, supposedly, doesn't subscribe to that approach.

That seems like a pretty reasonable explanation to me. I had no idea, but apparently Barnes wins 75-78% of his games in November and December, and then by February and March his winning percentage falls to 55-60%. The players come in fresh from the off-season, they have the energy to handle the grind, and you get a lot of superior defense and really high energy play, but then you get to the end of the year and the grind wears everyone down. They get to the tournament and shooters suddenly look like they're mentally burdened, rather than freed. I've wondered about that for years, even going back to his time in Texas (which I lived through, being in Austin at the time). A lot of teams with good players and good ratings that just flame out on approach.
Well tbf November and December is usually full of weaker non-conference teams. But I do still think there is some truth to him wearing down players.
 
#40
#40
You talking about the same Kentucky that beat us a couple games ago ?
The same Kentucky that lost when they limited Knecht to 16 points and got thrashed by the other players. He scored 40 in a loss against Kentucky, 37 in a loss against UNC, 28 in a loss against Mississippi State, and 31 in a loss against South Carolina. 3 wins when he scores over 30, 3 losses. Limiting Knecht is not the key to beating us.
 
#42
#42
The same Kentucky that lost when they limited Knecht to 16 points and got thrashed by the other players. He scored 40 in a loss against Kentucky, 37 in a loss against UNC, 28 in a loss against Mississippi State, and 31 in a loss against South Carolina. 3 wins when he scores over 30, 3 losses. Limiting Knecht is not the key to beating us. DK had a good game in the Kentucky loss. He's a good player and love watching him. But he was doubled and tripled teamed in the MSU game and it most certainly had an effect on the outcome/final score. He was 4-12 /2-9 shooting 3's & 3 turnovers and 14 points .All I've said is I wished we had 4 or more like him, and for some reason folks want to be defensive for some reason.
 
#43
#43
Yeah, in the games we lost to Ky and esp' MSU they double teamed and even triple teamed DK as soon as he crossed mid court. That situation leaves a man or two open, but the person Dk dumped to could not make a basket. The teams that make it to the final 4 will have a team full of Dalton's
A team full of first team All Americans would be pretty good.
 

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