Prove me wrong:

#51
#51
OrangeInKy said:
It took me years to attain worst post, and I’ve had some bangers in the past. Im sure it won’t surprise you all to know I am capable of dumber posts. Apparently I didn’t know all of Tyndall’s discretions. I admit that, and I accept your award. With embarrassment, awkward pride, and much humility, I accept it and will live with the consequences of my actions with this stupid post of mine.
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Something to be proud of, the more I think of it. I’ve had some wild ones for sure, I gotta get my game up.
 
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#52
#52
berryvol said:
Something to be proud of, the more I think of it. I’ve had some wild ones for sure, I gotta get my game up.
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Haha. You will get there, Grasshopper. Im sure back in 2010 I had some post about Steven Pearl being an asset to the team(though I don’t wanna know if I did). Like I said, I’ve had some bangers.
 
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#55
#55
OrangeInKy said:
Bro, Im glad I deleted Twitter because when Mahomes was drafted I said he’d be a colossal bust. Although, I just told you all I tweeted it so now it’s out there again. Man, Im an idiot.
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Im glad we didn’t have VN back in 1994 or there would be a post of me saying “Kevin O’Neill will be the guy to finally get us to a Final 4”.
 
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#64
#64
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Because they didn’t have 16 seeds. Actually they didn’t even use seeds. And Bernard sat out 1976 with an injury and in 1977 the refs fouled out King AND Grunfeld. And Mears was already checked out in 1977.
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True Bernard was hurt in 76 but it was VMI. Good point on the officiating in 77.
 
#67
#67
From all indications Barnes is a fine man and a great mentor to young men, however this years team was boring. I would love for him to recruit some pure shooters regardless of size or playing position. Nobody on this years team could create a shot. As good as Viscovi can shoot, he has to be pretty open to hit from outside. He kind of reminds me of JJ Redick from several years back at Duke. He had the same measurables as Viscovi but Duke would run an offense to get him open. Both would run continually but Duke used double screens to get him open. That isn’t in Barnes repertoire. He mostly runs his offense and whoever gets an open shot takes it.
He has some excellent front court players returning next year, but mostly rebounders and defenders. Backcourt still has no scorers, even if. ZZ returns completely healthy. Imwould prefer to win 18 games with a high scoring offense than win 24 games 55-50. Offense sells.
 
#68
#68
EasternVol said:
Why didn't they then?
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Back then only 32 teams made the field. Rupp was at Kentucky and he could do whatever he wanted with recruiting and the university turned a blind eye, UCLA had Wooden and he took the best of the best and let All Americans sit on the bench, like football in the early 70s there was no limit on number of recruits, and the game was slower with no shot clock. I’m sure there were other rules that affected those teams.
 
#69
#69
BigOrangeTrain said:
Yeah let’s just keep the guy that’s getting paid top 5 money and giving top 20 results. Let me guess. Who are we gonna get that’s better than Barnes right? 🙄🙄🙄
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Serious question, no sarcasm intended whatsoever….why does it matter that he’s getting paid $5mil? What’s $3mil difference to pay someone who doesn’t consistently make the tourney?
 
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#70
#70
Eastknox865 said:
Tennessee basketball fans as a whole have become greedy instead of grateful. No Barnes hasn't gotten us over the hump but he has the program at the best position its ever been. No other coach in its history has had this much sustainable success.
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True. Barnes has brought us back to relevance and beyond. And I confess to being “greedy” for championships…more than the SEC tournament. I am greedy for a program that is also greedy, that always hungers for a national championship, that is talented and balanced and well-coached enough to go deeper in the tourney than we have ever been, a team that is never satisfied, and a team where every single player is greedy for the ball when the game is on the line.

I think Coach Barnes may want those things, too. But it seems he may not really know how to build such a team and program. I write that with great respect and simply looking at his body of work over the years, here and elsewhere. Seems his teams are always good enough to get to the tournament but with an expected low ceiling. He seems stubborn and not open to making changes to improve his results…and I mean significant changes at the strategic level, from recruiting to in-game coaching to player development.

Building a strong tournament team begins with recruiting of course. And coaching a strong tournament team begins in August…not at the end of the regular season. Does Coach Barnes have a tournament-winning strategy each August? Who knows?

Finally, I get the sense that Coach Barnes always recruits and coaches players to fit into his system rather than adapting his system to the skills and talents of each player on the team. We have a few four- and five-star recruits on our team, if memory serves. But they have all underachieved, it seems. Why? I think one reason might be that he won’t let them play unless and until they master his defensive regime.

I have heard him use the phrase “defensive liability” when describing some players, e.g. when asked why this it that player was pulled from a game, why this or that player wasn’t getting minutes.

I respect that but, as I see it, high school basketball players do not get rated four and five stars by being defensive standouts or making the fewest turnovers. I believe that, rightly or wrongly, they earn those stars primarily by being scorers.

And then some of them get into Barnes’s system and they learn how to play his brand of defense. If they make a mistake, he sits them down and limits their minutes. So, when they next get into a game, they play tight and afraid of screwing up rather than playing and attacking like greedy, fearless young men who want to light up the world.

This is all pure speculation on my part, of course, the theory being that Barnes’s system is not really built for scorers. It’s “defense first” and whatever happens after that. My opinion is that maybe he’s not letting some players be who they are —scorers first. As a result, they never play loose but uptight and risk-averse because their coach is risk-averse. Scared money can’t win.

Our defense absolutely won us some games this year, like Duke. But our lack of scoring absolutely lost us some games…probably more games than our defense won for us. Everybody sees the obvious…that we need more scorers. But what good would that do if they’re not allowed to make a few mistakes while helping the team put up 80 points most times out?

Barnes needs to turn these guys loose and let them play loose while also playing suffocating defense. It can be done.

Adapt your system to the players you have, Coach Barnes. Let them be who they are. If you do that, I am confident your legacy will improve…as will our team’s wins in the tournament.

Above all else, get greedy.
 
#73
#73
Eastknox865 said:
Tennessee basketball fans as a whole have become greedy instead of grateful. No Barnes hasn't gotten us over the hump but he has the program at the best position its ever been. No other coach in its history has had this much sustainable success.
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This narrative has grown old for me - and I’ve spun it myself. I lived through the Houston-O’Neil-Peterson years when it felt like TN didn’t have the same potential as other programs in basketball, but it’s just not true. I do think CRB is a very good coach, and there’s a high probability that there will be a drop off when he leaves. However, I’m not just grateful to have a good basketball program - with TN’s resources and support, that should be the baseline expectation. It’s not unrealistic or ungrateful to expect better tournament results than we’ve gotten. I do think CRB should take some inventory of why his regular season success has not translated to success in March over his 36 years.
 
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#75
#75
Hank Patrowski said:
Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. Before Barnes came along, Tennesse fans would have been happy squeezing into the tournament and playing their first game in Dayton. Now, under Barnes, we have been no less than a 5 seed. This continued success is being taken for granted by some fans
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This is just a lie, plain and simple. We made the sweet sixteen with Cuonzo Martin, and the elite eight with Bruce Pearl. Stop lying. There probably isn’t a basketball program in D1 that has made more trips to the sweet sixteen with less to show for it than us. If Bama football had more fans like you they never would have won anything. I wish all you people so desperate to cling to mediocrity would root for Vandy.
 
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