I love Basketball, I hate Basketball

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I mean hell, I just want it consistent. If it's a foul on us then it needs to be a foul on them. If they get to play rugby in the paint, then let our guys do it too.

It is really odd how often TN has key players sitting out with foul trouble while at the same time guys are getting the hell beat out of them with nothing being called. I really wish more of the TV fortunes would be used to upgrade the officiating. It looks really amateurish. It only gets decent around the time of Regional Finals when so many refs aren’t needed.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

It is really odd how often TN has key players sitting out with foul trouble while at the same time guys are getting the hell beat out of them with nothing being called. I really wish more of the TV fortunes would be used to upgrade the officiating. It looks really amateurish. It only gets decent around the time of Regional Finals when so many refs aren’t needed.

Yep 1st half Santi/JJJ then suddenly in the 2nd half it was Mashack. What's even more interesting is that neither Santi or JJJ had a foul called on them in the second half.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I know Barnes will never admit it, but if you look at the minutes against Mizzou it seems obvious they were trying to work new lineups and rest other players.

JJJ only played 22 minutes, ON just 25, Aidoo just 15, and even with 4 fouls Mashack lead the way in minutes with Santi at 31.

We saw a lot of action with Key, Mashack, Phillips playing together. More than we have all year. Hopefully it pays...you wonder if playing JJJ more in the 2nd half might have changed the outcome. We didn't lose much offense (in the 2nd half) but a big difference in defense relying so heavily on Key.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Yep 1st half Santi/JJJ then suddenly in the 2nd half it was Mashack. What's even more interesting is that neither Santi or JJJ had a foul called on them in the second half.

And ironic that, I think it was Vescovi, gets called for his second foul on what looked like him poking the ball out cleanly. When just a minute or two earlier Mizz does the exact same while drawing MORE contact and no foul is called as they score on a breakaway. I guess that’s just NCAA basketball. Players are going to miss bunnies and wide open, uncontested shots while refs make indefensible calls. It’s very random.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

And ironic that, I think it was Vescovi, gets called for his second foul on what looked like him poking the ball out cleanly. When just a minute or two earlier Mizz does the exact same while drawing MORE contact and no foul is called as they score on a breakaway. I guess that’s just NCAA basketball. Players are going to miss bunnies and wide open, uncontested shots while refs make indefensible calls. It’s very random.

Hell, JJJ got a damn technical foul on him half-heartedly contesting a shot where the Mizzou guy JUMPED INTO his out stretched hand after a whistle. Later in the game Hodge slaps one of our guys cleanly in the face and it's a common foul.

I've seen Uros get T'd up for far less than what they let the Mizzou players do. Carter at one point scored then clapped and yelled right in our player's face.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Hell, JJJ got a damn technical foul on him half-heartedly contesting a shot where the Mizzou guy JUMPED INTO his out stretched hand after a whistle. Later in the game Hodge slaps one of our guys cleanly in the face and it's a common foul.

I've seen Uros get T'd up for far less than what they let the Mizzou players do. Carter at one point scored then clapped and yelled right in our player's face.

I tend to get burned out on NCAA basketball around this time. Refs are just way too much of an unknown element. They have way too much influence and are unpredictable.

They shouldn’t miss so much. There used to only be 2 refs instead of 3. But don’t get me started on their video reviews. Games are often unwatchable.

 

[WhenUrVolUrVFL]

I have always loved the game of basketball. I enjoyed playing as a youth. But I also hate basketball because officiating plays too much a role in the game. Yes, the game tonight has me upset, but this is not a "they called against us" post. My issue is that basket's officiating by-in-large is SOOO inconsistent. Now look, when my kids played, I officiated some games and I hated doing it because you are never correct for one team or the other. But when I see a guy get mugged and no call, and then a touch on the shoulder that did not affect the player at all get called like I saw tonight, it is very frustrating.

Mizzou is a good team and they hit the shots to win, but I have to say, if they played with a Big 12 officiating crew with the style they played tonight, they would not have a player to finish the game. TN would probably have more calls as well.

Anyway, I vented..... thank you!

This. They played overly aggressive defense. Hand checking. Holding on screens. It was insanity the refs were letting them get away with it. I don’t know what the **** is wrong with SEC officiating but they have completely ****ed up this team that would have been a national championship contender going back to the Kentucky games. The Free throw discrepancy tells the tale. It’s ********. And I ****ing hate SEC officials across all sports.

We need a monied booster to start getting SEC officials fired.

 

[Orange-U-Glad]

This has been a tough year for Vol basketball. Ranked #1, beat top teams, then slowly melt. Do enough to get your hopes up, then fade away. If anyone sees that girl named Hope kick her off the bus.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

This has been a tough year for Vol basketball. Ranked #1, beat top teams, then slowly melt. Do enough to get your hopes up, then fade away. If anyone sees that girl named Hope kick her off the bus.

Ranked #2

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Good post OP.

Hit on many of the reasons why my enthusiasm for basketball and March Madness have waned the last several years.

Still watch it and still enjoy the college game but I expect every single game, not just the Vols, to end up with phantom calls and head scratchers to make the bottom line stats look like it was called even.

I wouldnt put yesterday on the refs though.

JJJ being a complete no show and the inability of this team to consistently defend the 3 pointer doomed them yesterday IMO.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Good post OP.

Hit on many of the reasons why my enthusiasm for basketball and March Madness have waned the last several years.

Still watch it and still enjoy the college game but I expect every single game, not just the Vols, to end up with phantom calls and head scratchers to make the bottom line stats look like it was called even.

I wouldnt put yesterday on the refs though.

JJJ being a complete no show and the inability of this team to consistently defend the 3 pointer doomed them yesterday IMO.

No, Mizz just made the plays when it mattered most. The NBA range 3-pointer late and giving up that offensive rebound around the same time were too much. Also, TN had 5 stupid turnovers in the first four minutes and still managed to build a 7 point lead. Had that lead been 15 the game could have played out entirely differently.

But even with TN being their worst enemy, 2 fouls each on JJJ and SV in the first half sure killed any momentum. I really wish they’d give players 6 fouls since upgrading refs apparently isn’t going to happen.

Video replays have only made things worse. Back in the day, if refs weren’t certain they’d just call alternate possession and move on. That’s better even if wrong rather than completely disrupting games to go to the monitor for 5 minutes several times/game.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

No, Mizz just made the plays when it mattered most. The NBA range 3-pointer late and giving up that offensive rebound around the same time were too much. Also, TN had 5 stupid turnovers in the first four minutes and still managed to build a 7 point lead. Had that lead been 15 the game could have played out entirely differently.

But even with TN being their worst enemy, 2 fouls each on JJJ and SV in the first half sure killed any momentum. I really wish they’d give players 6 fouls since upgrading refs apparently isn’t going to happen.

Video replays have only made things worse. Back in the day, if refs weren’t certain they’d just call alternate possession and move on. That’s better even if wrong rather than completely disrupting games to go to the monitor for 5 minutes several times/game.

Bold part goes back to my point about refs making the bottom line looked even.

2 fouls in the first half on Vescovi and JJJ and they both end up with 2 fouls each for the game.

Still don't think that excuses how glaringly bad James was in particular yesterday and how bad this team has been at closing out games the past month and a half though.

Agree on the video replays but don't see that crap going anywhere. Too many extra TV timeouts and commercials for them.

 

[volfeeva]

Barnes cannot assemble a complete team, we continually have deficiencies each season with a position, historically he has not been able to assemble a top shelf front line, the expected impact players seldom make an impact on the front line, this year it was a struggle at the point guard to replace Kennedy Chandler, the
Knoxville kid isn't ready for whatever reason, the go to person for scoring is not there, offensive point production has been shakey against the better teams and embarrassing on the road. Hopefully there will be no more long term projects on the floor, opting to recruit and sign players with competitive competitive experience that can make an impact in year two not year four or five.

The early exits in tournament play, except for the tourney win last year, are well documented, perhaps the man defensive scheme is conquerable as the season wears on, the inconsistency is occasioned by weaknesses in the lineup that should be correctable now.

It is troubling to be this far into the season and the team seems to have regressed when you expect them to be finding a groove playing as a team and making shots. As a fan this season is all but in the books. They play hard as a team, but like you said, just can't make the shots when they need to. Hope we can find some talent in the portal or maybe the returning players get in the gym over the summer and learn to hit baskets more than 40% of the time.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Bold part goes back to my point about refs making the bottom line looked even.

2 fouls in the first half on Vescovi and JJJ and they both end up with 2 fouls each for the game.

Still don't think that excuses how glaringly bad James was in particular yesterday and how bad this team has been at closing out games the past month and a half though.

Agree on the video replays but don't see that crap going anywhere. Too many extra TV timeouts and commercials for them.

I hate how the spineless refs get intimidated by coaches barking at them and change up their whistle. I wish they’d tell the screaming coaches to teach their players to not foul if they’re unhappy with the discrepancy. I don’t know why there’s an unwritten rule that fouls need to be equivalent. The number of attempted free throws can sure get way out of balance while they make the number of fouls nearly identical. It’s almost like that’s something that they’ll be graded (# of fouls called on each team) on when it should be whether or not they are consistent half to half (and even media time out to media time out).

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It is troubling to be this far into the season and the team seems to have regressed when you expect them to be finding a groove playing as a team and making shots. As a fan this season is all but in the books. They play hard as a team, but like you said, just can't make the shots when they need to. Hope we can find some talent in the portal or maybe the returning players get in the gym over the summer and learn to hit baskets more than 40% of the time.

It’s hard not to regress when 2 starters are out with injuries and when they come back the glue guy has a season ending knee injury. I’d like to see the season record at full strength versus missing players.

People forget, even Vescovi had a really messed up shoulder. It’s not the low minute guys that have been missing games. It’s the most experienced and most talented.

TN just can’t catch breaks. Alexander. Fulkerson. Nkamhoua. Turner. ZZ. It’s chronic bad luck as seasons wind down.

 

[VolGee4]

The refs have let the game get too physical and now don't know where to draw the line. 3 guys bang in the air on a shot under the goal and it's a no-call, crazy. Walking, palming, 3 seconds are ignored. Its a full-contact sport and impossible to referee.

Common sense has been thrown out. The NCAA said they went to freedom of movement rules several years back, but it’s never been implemented. Otherwise, the charge/block calls would be called differently, and guys wouldn’t be allowed to hold while coming off screens. They will call a “reach” where both players are after a loose ball, and the offending player doesn’t gain an advantage or cause the other to lose the ball, but they won’t call body contact on a layup at the basket.

We want to review every slight contact or taunt or hit players with technicals on silly “play on” situations. As you say, officials refuse to call traveling or carrying now for some reason. If the officials want to set it a certain way, the players will eventually adjust.

It’s gotten out of hand and making it more difficult to watch.

 

[overseasorange2]

This has been a tough year for Vol basketball. Ranked #1, beat top teams, then slowly melt. Do enough to get your hopes up, then fade away. If anyone sees that girl named Hope kick her off the bus.

Unfortunately, it's not just basketball. I have been a TN fan since 1968. How many national titles
(Football, baseball and basketball, men's only) has TN won since 1998 (a 25 year span)? Heck even Vandy has 2 in baseball titles.

A few examples of the inability to live up to reasonable expectations:

We got beat in the 2001 SEC titles game that kept us from a potential title game. LSU should not have given us any trouble. WE beat them soundly during the regular season.

A couple of years ago, our basketball team was ranked #1 for almost a month in the regular season. How far did they get in the NCAA tourney?

Last year toward the end of the season, all the media was saying "UT hands down had the best Baseball team in the country. How far did they get in the post season?

This year in football, all we had to do was beat USC(I think we were favored by 3 or so TD's) to get into the final four playoff. We blew it! These opportunities to possibly win a CFNC game don't come around too often.

Finally this year's basketball......

It just seems we can't handle being in the spotlight....


Flame away...


PS. I just think a team that has UT's budget for these sports should have more national titles than they do!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Common sense has been thrown out. The NCAA said they went to freedom of movement rules several years back, but it’s never been implemented. Otherwise, the charge/block calls would be called differently, and guys wouldn’t be allowed to hold while coming off screens. They will call a “reach” where both players are after a loose ball, and the offending player doesn’t gain an advantage or cause the other to lose the ball, but they won’t call body contact on a layup at the basket.

We want to review every slight contact or taunt or hit players with technicals on silly “play on” situations. As you say, officials refuse to call traveling or carrying now for some reason. If the officials want to set it a certain way, the players will eventually adjust.

It’s gotten out of hand and making it more difficult to watch.

I think that Barnes got duped by that freedom of movement idea and he recruited to favor that style. And now it’s gone away - at least in the SEC. Clutch and grab while avoiding key players getting into foul trouble seems to be the formula.

 

[first time caller]

Jeopardy answer: What it's like watching Tennessee basketball. Question...What's I hate basketball, I love basketball?

 

[KeyVol14]

Yep.... losing ZZ is glaring

Just my opinion but other than ZZ being a great on ball defender, I thought his offensive play was still in need of a lot of improvement. He was way to loose with the ball. It’s obviously glaring he was our only true PG on the roster however.

 

[cwbytruckers]

I have always loved the game of basketball. I enjoyed playing as a youth. But I also hate basketball because officiating plays too much a role in the game. Yes, the game tonight has me upset, but this is not a "they called against us" post. My issue is that basket's officiating by-in-large is SOOO inconsistent. Now look, when my kids played, I officiated some games and I hated doing it because you are never correct for one team or the other. But when I see a guy get mugged and no call, and then a touch on the shoulder that did not affect the player at all get called like I saw tonight, it is very frustrating.

Mizzou is a good team and they hit the shots to win, but I have to say, if they played with a Big 12 officiating crew with the style they played tonight, they would not have a player to finish the game. TN would probably have more calls as well.

Anyway, I vented..... thank you!

the announcers made a comment on the NCAA tourney and Tennessee and their success may depend on the ref crew they draw. Read into that what you want. But the announcers saw something as well.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

the announcers made a comment on the NCAA tourney and Tennessee and their success may depend on the ref crew they draw. Read into that what you want. But the announcers saw something as well.

I want consistency in officiating.

Don’t just call everything one way then even out the calls.

That’s the main problem I have with college basketball.

 

[livefaith]

That little window @ the 7minute mark of 2nd ½, we tied them back, then played great D, got Key a wide open 3 in transition and he missed, then played stifling D again, and SV got right to the rack and rimmed it off ... In my mind I thought we should've taken control of this game and stretched it out . But, was not to be and they just beat us the rest of the way.

 

[stillwater5]

I have always loved the game of basketball. I enjoyed playing as a youth. But I also hate basketball because officiating plays too much a role in the game. Yes, the game tonight has me upset, but this is not a "they called against us" post. My issue is that basket's officiating by-in-large is SOOO inconsistent. Now look, when my kids played, I officiated some games and I hated doing it because you are never correct for one team or the other. But when I see a guy get mugged and no call, and then a touch on the shoulder that did not affect the player at all get called like I saw tonight, it is very frustrating.

Mizzou is a good team and they hit the shots to win, but I have to say, if they played with a Big 12 officiating crew with the style they played tonight, they would not have a player to finish the game. TN would probably have more calls as well.

Anyway, I vented..... thank you!

I thought the same thing, if they even looked at Brown they would call a foul.

 

[hUTch2002]

You can't predict who White Danny would eventually hire, but I'd suggest looking at successful coaches and program builders/maintainers sitting in conferences which are crumbling in around them, offering them a chance to come to the SEC rather than wait for their current employer to decide what they are going to do, along the lines of Tommy Lloyd at Arizona or a Scott Drew at Baylor, Dennis Gates at Missouri, long time assistant to Leonard Hamilton would be a possibility, but he just signed a significant extension this week, Jerome Tang, Kansas State, longtime assistant to Scott Drew would be a possibility.

Barnes coaching tree from his tenure at Tennessee isn't proven enough to come back to Tennessee yet, but the Texas interim, Rodney Terry, might be an option depending on what happens down there.

Barnes is in the twilight of his career and you would hope Danny has a list in his pocket, Barnes is a program builder and brings a significant amount of stability to a program he builds, but his post season record is tepid and his teams have inexplicable shortcomings and wholesale breakdowns in clutch moments during the regular season and the post season, but that was a known propensity when Nike steered him to Tennessee when Texas fired him in 2015.

Would you take an interim coach from Texas or a bench coach over Barnes today? I wouldn’t. There’s not many I would take over him today so we wait, he retires and then we figure out the who. That’s my opinion anyway.