Rick Barnes discussion (merged)

[berryvol]

Jerry Green went to one Sweet 16. His teams were not disciplined. He lost to Illinois State, SW Missouri State, and UNCC in the NCAAT. He never won a conference tournament. He won the East division once (not conference), and he tied with 3 other teams with the conference best record. He never had a ranking above #4, and then promptly lost about 8 of his last 13 games in the regular season. He had a total of 2 top 10 wins in his four years. Barnes has 11 top 6 wins, and 12 top 10 wins. 2 wins over #1 teams. So, please tell me how it was much more fun watching Jerry Green at Tennessee. Common sense; not weird.

But but but what happens when we lose 5 games in conference and end the season with 12 losses and a 4 seed? Riddle me that.

 

[BisonVol]

Lmao exactly. The insanity to say “all that matters is march” and incessantly post in game threads and in here is hilarious. How little must be going on in your life to live in this forum all the time, when all that matters to you is 3-4 weeks in the spring. I’d be chilling elsewhere. Just me tho.

Same. Some people just like to have something to complain about. If Barnes were to deliver a Final Four run, then Tony Vitello better look out because the Legion of the Miserables will be itching to have something / some one to pounce on.

 

[volplaya8]

Jerry Green went to one Sweet 16. His teams were not disciplined. He lost to Illinois State, SW Missouri State, and UNCC in the NCAAT. He never won a conference tournament. He won the East division once (not conference), and he tied with 3 other teams with the conference best record. He never had a ranking above #4, and then promptly lost about 8 of his last 13 games in the regular season. He had a total of 2 top 10 wins in his four years. Barnes has 11 top 6 wins, and 12 top 10 wins. 2 wins over #1 teams. So, please tell me how it was much more fun watching Jerry Green at Tennessee. Common sense; not weird.

I thought it was a ton of fun. He had some of, if not the most athletic basketball teams we have ever had with multiple NBA players and Sec player of the year. They definitely were not disciplined but they were super fun to watch. If you didn’t enjoy Harris, Yarbrough, Haislip, Slay, Victor etc then I am not sure what to tell you. They were entertaining. Now they were awful come tourney time and Barnes is paying the price for some of that unfortunately. Problem is Barnes is doing nothing to change the narrative, he is only continuing it.

 

[berryvol]

Same. Some people just like to have something to complain about. If Barnes were to deliver a Final Four run, then Tony Vitello better look out because the Legion of the Miserables will be itching to have something / some one to pounce on.

If Barnes makes the final four with us and we lay an egg in either game, this thread will be alive and well with the same characters. They’ll say there’s no difference in getting bounced then and in the S16. Championship brain rot is real. There’s more than 1 way to have a successful season in all sports.

 

[volplaya8]

Same. Some people just like to have something to complain about. If Barnes were to deliver a Final Four run, then Tony Vitello better look out because the Legion of the Miserables will be itching to have something / some one to pounce on.

No Vitello has already been to final 8 in his sport twice. In a sport that is harder in the Sec to win in. Vitello is the man and gets a pass for quite some time. But I bet Tony is hungry for a National Title and that’s why he is beloved. Does Rick Barnes and his top salary ever look hungry and mad in March.

 

[volplaya8]

If Barnes makes the final four with us and we lay an egg in either game, this thread will be alive and well with the same characters. They’ll say there’s no difference in getting bounced then and in the S16. Championship brain rot is real. There’s more than 1 way to have a successful season in all sports.

Nope…if I can get one final four shirt with a power T on it…I’ll say build Barnes a statue next to Pat baby!!! All I want is a final four and I’m willing to sacrifice a decade of us being terrible to do so.

 

[Tnphil]

No Vitello has already been to final 8 in his sport twice. In a sport that is harder in the Sec to win in. Vitello is the man and gets a pass for quite some time. But I bet Tony is hungry for a National Title and that’s why he is beloved. Does Rick Barnes and his top salary ever look hungry and mad in March.

Hit the nail with TV. And as you said he's done it in the toughest baseball conference in the country. And also losing commits to the MLB.

 

[BisonVol]

If Barnes makes the final four with us and we lay an egg in either game, this thread will be alive and well with the same characters. They’ll say there’s no difference in getting bounced then and in the S16. Championship brain rot is real. There’s more than 1 way to have a successful season in all sports.

So much of it is the football mentality. The football first crowd apply the football mindset to basketball which is like comparing apples to oranges.

There isn’t a more difficult sport to make a deep postseason run than college hoops imo because everything hinges on one game and practically every team in the tournament (most 16 seeds and most 15 seeds aside) are good. One off shooting night against a 13 seed is all it takes to end a season. That off shooting night doesn’t change the fact that a team had a really good season to get to that point and get a high seed in the tournament.

The gap between the number 5 team and the number 35 team in basketball is exponentially slimmer than the same gap in football which is not something the football first crowd understands often times.

 

[VolGee4]

No Vitello has already been to final 8 in his sport twice. In a sport that is harder in the Sec to win in. Vitello is the man and gets a pass for quite some time. But I bet Tony is hungry for a National Title and that’s why he is beloved. Does Rick Barnes and his top salary ever look hungry and mad in March.

It may be harder to win in the conference in baseball, but the NCAAT is set up to help deeper, more talented teams to advance with the double elimination (twice). I love Vitello, but it’s apples and oranges with the postseason set up.

 

[volplaya8]

Hit the nail with TV. And as you said he's done it in the toughest baseball conference in the country. And also losing commits to the MLB.

Look man you get it. I get it. Most of these guys don’t. It really is being on the right side of a conversion yet being outnumbered. Got to fight the good fight. What Vitello has done is nothing short of amazing and possibly can not be repeated. What Barnes has done, albeit good, has been done before and I have full confidence in Danny White that it surely can keep being repeated. If not we will fire that guy and bring in one that can just like we did after Green and Pearl. This school can and will do well in basketball. Baseball is a different animal and what Vitello is doing is flat out awesome!

 

[BisonVol]

No Vitello has already been to final 8 in his sport twice. In a sport that is harder in the Sec to win in. Vitello is the man and gets a pass for quite some time. But I bet Tony is hungry for a National Title and that’s why he is beloved. Does Rick Barnes and his top salary ever look hungry and mad in March.

Don’t lie. You all will jump on second the things aren’t going perfect. There was a crowd of folks dogging him after the slow start last season even though we were just a year removed from a season where we won nearly 60 games.

I don’t know what “mad and hungry” looks like, so I feel unqualified to say if Rick looks mad and hungry in March.

 

[volplaya8]

It may be harder to win in the conference in baseball, but the NCAAT is set up to help deeper, more talented teams to advance with the double elimination (twice). I love Vitello, but it’s apples and oranges with the postseason set up.

Clemson was the deeper more talented team in baseball last year and Vitello and the boys found a way in enemy territory. Then went on road in supers as well. When Barnes gets us to an elite 8 and upsets a team or two then he will get his credit. Too bad we get bounced by a seed lower than us every year.

 

[volplaya8]

Don’t lie. You all will jump on second the things aren’t going perfect. There was a crowd of folks dogging him after the slow start last season even though we were just a year removed from a season where we won nearly 60 games.

I don’t know what “mad and hungry” looks like, so I feel unqualified to say if Rick looks mad and hungry in March.

Not a chance. Vitello has earned the most forgiveness out of any UT coach since Pat Summitt. He really has changed the entire program and culture around in the toughest sport in the conference. Dare I say Sec baseball is even better than Sec football….it actually is

 

[BisonVol]

Not a chance. Vitello has earned the most forgiveness out of any UT coach since Pat Summitt. He really has changed the entire program and culture around in the toughest sport in the conference. Dare I say Sec baseball is even better than Sec football….it actually is

I don’t disagree that he’s changed the program…I also think there’s a massive failure to understand just how good our men’s basketball program has become under a guy that a certain crowd of which you a part will not appreciate until he’s gone. But I digress. We all have our opinions.

 

[VolGee4]

Clemson was the deeper more talented team in baseball last year and Vitello and the boys found a way in enemy territory. Then went on road in supers as well. When Barnes gets us to an elite 8 and upsets a team or two then he will get his credit. Too bad we get bounced by a seed lower than us every year.

We had the better, deeper pitching staff. Who cares what either was seeded? Clemson did not want to see us coming.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

3 of the Final Four are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd losers, right?

 

[volplaya8]

I don’t disagree that he’s changed the program…I also think there’s a massive failure to understand just how good our men’s basketball program has become under a guy that a certain crowd of which you a part will not appreciate until he’s gone. But I digress. We all have our opinions.

I’m saying Pearl had our basketball program at the same level possibly better. Green had it close, and Devoe and Mears have as well. We have been and can and should be solid in basketball. Barnes either takes us to the next level or he is just one of those guys. Vitello has already taken us to levels never thought possible and I friggen love that. I’m so excited for next month and season to start.

 

[volplaya8]

We had the better, deeper pitching staff. Who cares what either was seeded? Clemson did not want to see us coming.

They had us beat and season over if not for heroics out of Zane Denton. I hope Barnes finds some heroics in this bunch. Could have used just a little of that tonight. Vitello moved our top pitcher to the bullpen, resulting in him transferring to Wake and still held the team together enough to make the College World Series. Last years team was not the juggernaut of the year before yet he made it. That is his best coaching job so far and maybe the best coaching job I have ever seen a non national title Tennessee team have.

 

[volplaya8]

3 of the Final Four are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd losers, right?

They get to hang banners which we don’t have any of. I would like to go to the arena and look at that for the rest of my life Then we can keep hanging more and more..why not!

 

[BisonVol]

I’m saying Pearl had our basketball program at the same level possibly better. Green had it close, and Devoe and Mears have as well. We have been and can and should be solid in basketball. Barnes either takes us to the next level or he is just one of those guys. Vitello has already taken us to levels never thought possible and I friggen love that. I’m so excited for next month and season to start.

I’ll give you Pearl despite the messy ending of his time here, but Devoe and Green both pale in comparison to Barnes, especially Devoe. Even Green never would have won had crazy Kevin not handed him the keys to a Cadillac.

Barnes is at worst the third best coach in the program’s history. It’s not crazy to suggest that he’s the best in the program’s history.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Vols likely lose more than just 5 conference games. Think #2 is coming Saturday.

 

[VolGee4]

They had us beat and season over if not for heroics out of Zane Denton. I hope Barnes finds some heroics in this bunch. Could have used just a little of that tonight. Vitello moved our top pitcher to the bullpen, resulting in him transferring to Wake and still held the team together enough to make the College World Series. Last years team was not the juggernaut of the year before yet he made it. That is his best coaching job so far and maybe the best coaching job I have ever seen a non national title Tennessee team have.

I don’t disagree with much of that, but that doesn’t change the fact that we were deeper. Just the fact that he could move Burns to the pen. When you get double elimination, it’s a different deal in baseball.

 

[VolGee4]

Vols likely lose more than just 5 conference games. Think #2 is coming Saturday.

Of course you do.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

They get to hang banners which we don’t have any of. I would like to go to the arena and look at that for the rest of my life Then we can keep hanging more and more..why not!

But they don’t get to wake up in the mornings and piss excellence.

 

[SGMVols]

I’m saying Pearl had our basketball program at the same level possibly better. Green had it close, and Devoe and Mears have as well. We have been and can and should be solid in basketball. Barnes either takes us to the next level or he is just one of those guys. Vitello has already taken us to levels never thought possible and I friggen love that. I’m so excited for next month and season to start.

Before Barnes we had 3 seasons of 25+ wins in school history. Barnes has had 4 by himself. He also won the first SEC Tournament title of my lifetime.

and I love Vitello, but he’s yet to do anything here that Delmonico didn’t do.