My thoughts

#1
emainvol

emainvol

Giver of Sexy
Joined
Feb 4, 2006
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#1
I can say with confidence that I speak for even the biggest Pearl detractors when I say, none of us wanted this. This loss was terrible, there is no other way to say it, however, it is a nonconference road loss in December. There is still ample time for recovery. With that said, here are some of my thoughts.

1) These guys, from the coaching staff to the end of the bench, are competitors. They are embarrassed and certainly don't want this to happen again. The Kansas game looks like it will be a bloodbath right now, and while it may be, I expect this team to be a lot more ready to play from here on.

2) Anyone telling you that this is not Bruce Pearl's fault simply doesn't know what they are talking about. Does he deserve 100% of the blame? No, but he gets most of it. He got outcoached in every facet of the game today and it showed. The team wasn't prepared, and everyone including the coaches looked lost from the beginning.

3) I hope some of you now understand what we are all talking about when we say the halfcourt game is non-existent. When you are a team that relies that heavily on tempo and transition, you are going to run into nights like tonight when you simply can't go with what you are used to. However, you simply have to be competent in the halfcourt when those situations arise. There was no movement in the offense, the matador defense was sickening, and it translated into one of the worst regular season losses I can remember.

4) Kevin O'Neill can coach, I don't think anyone here can argue that one anymore. He took a vastly outmanned squad and laid the wood.

Again, I think this team can and will bounce back. Will this be the greatest UT basketball season ever? Probably not. However, there is still enough talent in a weak league to get a fairly high seed and win a game or two in the tourney. Work needs to be done, and I would like to think that work will be done.

Anyways, there it is. I am not going to sit here and bash the hell out of anyone, we all saw what happened.
 
#2
#2
Solid Emain.

I second that as much as I despise Tanning Bed, I never wanted to see this happen.
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#4
#4
Good post; but I think the talk about having "time to recover" is something that has been talked about way too much about this team since last season. Since we obviously haven't improved from last year's problems, I really don't have a lot of faith that we're going to get this issues resolved any time soon.

Call me negative, but I need to see proof.
 
#5
#5
emainvol said:
I can say with confidence that I speak for even the biggest Pearl detractors when I say, none of us wanted this. This loss was terrible, there is no other way to say it, however, it is a nonconference road loss in December. There is still ample time for recovery. With that said, here are some of my thoughts.

1) These guys, from the coaching staff to the end of the bench, are competitors. They are embarrassed and certainly don't want this to happen again. The Kansas game looks like it will be a bloodbath right now, and while it may be, I expect this team to be a lot more ready to play from here on.

2) Anyone telling you that this is not Bruce Pearl's fault simply doesn't know what they are talking about. Does he deserve 100% of the blame? No, but he gets most of it. He got outcoached in every facet of the game today and it showed. The team wasn't prepared, and everyone including the coaches looked lost from the beginning.

3) I hope some of you now understand what we are all talking about when we say the halfcourt game is non-existent. When you are a team that relies that heavily on tempo and transition, you are going to run into nights like tonight when you simply can't go with what you are used to. However, you simply have to be competent in the halfcourt when those situations arise. There was no movement in the offense, the matador defense was sickening, and it translated into one of the worst regular season losses I can remember.

4) Kevin O'Neill can coach, I don't think anyone here can argue that one anymore. He took a vastly outmanned squad and laid the wood.

Again, I think this team can and will bounce back. Will this be the greatest UT basketball season ever? Probably not. However, there is still enough talent in a weak league to get a fairly high seed and win a game or two in the tourney. Work needs to be done, and I would like to think that work will be done.

Anyways, there it is. I am not going to sit here and bash the hell out of anyone, we all saw what happened.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you. I watched the game and bascially we looked like we were on vacation instead of playing ball. I have said this before and will say it again as it showed today......poor guard play..........poor free throw shots.........and today rebounding really killed us. I really did not see anything today that would think we will be a top team when SEC play begins. I do however think one of the major problems is the quick subs and the continous subin and out hurts the flow of the team. Just think about it everytime a new guy comes in the whole team must adjust and having to adjust every minute or two is not helping in the long run.
 
#6
#6
I actually have about 100 more thoughts but a) I am at work and b) most of what I said was already a retread.
 
#7
#7
VolsSportsFan said:
Good post; but I think the talk about having "time to recover" is something that has been talked about way too much about this team since last season. Since we obviously haven't improved from last year's problems, I really don't have a lot of faith that we're going to get this issues resolved any time soon.

Call me negative, but I need to see proof.
Click to expand...
I do, too, but I figure a little optimism won't hurt me at this point.
 
#9
#9
The worrysome part is they look like 5 really talented guys who JUST MET. When the other team plays with purpose we are at a loss to stop them. I hope its just a bump in the road, but this is not new.
 
#10
#10
The final verdict is a total mess. From the shot selection, to the constant one-on-one plays to getting crushed on the boards, as a group need to stop and figure out how to play as a team. Total disarray out there today.
 
#11
#11
I'm not a believer in losing for perspective, but embarrassment looks like the onl. Thing that might get through to this crowd. Decent chance something positive comes of this. We might remember this game as a turning point. Here's hoping our coach uses this to make people actually play basketball.
 
#12
#12
Honestly, we have to beat Memphis or else we're going to have to win every SEC game except UK to get into the NCAAT. Without a good nonconference win, this team may not even reach the Big Dance.
 
#13
#13
UTLCA said:
Honestly, we have to beat Memphis or else we're going to have to win every SEC game except UK to get into the NCAAT. Without a good nonconference win, this team may not even reach the Big Dance.
Click to expand...

We will make the tournament. However, we aren't going very far without major improvement between now and then.
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#14
#14
We do not have a tournament resume, and Charlotte (who did beat UL) would not be a big enough win OOC if we only win 10 games in conference this year.
 
#15
#15
UTLCA said:
We do not have a tournament resume, and Charlotte (who did beat UL) would not be a big enough win OOC if we only win 10 games in conference this year.
Click to expand...

We'll get there. May not have a good seed, but we'll get there.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
#16
#16
I have been a VOL basketball fan for 39 years, we have many "good" teams but not great. I feel we have the talent to be a great team but until our half court offense improves, we will never be a final four or super eight team.
 
#17
#17
We probably will but if we drop Memphis and Kansas then it'd be more likely than not that we are the favorites for the NIT.
 
#18
#18
Floriduh and South Carolina both lost today, so the SEC schedule is not a lost cause yet.
 
#19
#19
But that also means that wins over them will count less to the RPI and selection committee.
 
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