So many doom and gloomers...

#76
#76
Volsfaninva917 said:
So, we're paying a coach national title money but shouldn't expect a final 4???? OK
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Which coaches are being paid “millions” less? Mark Few is the one exception at Gonzaga. He could name his price but just wants to stay there. All coaches who have made a Final Four (and Barnes has too) are making at least $3 million per year. We paid him a premium to keep him. I guess we could be paying Coach Midmajor $2 million and have a top 40 class next year. That would be really fun.
 
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#78
#78
Volsfaninva917 said:
Oh yeah so coaches who make millions less produce final 4s and national titles but we should hope for less? Dumbass
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really ? name one that has a NC making millions less -- but I did expect at least and EE or more the last 2 seasons ( loss to Loyola was pathetic)
 
#81
#81
utkCREW said:
Y’all breath.

The talent, IQ, and POTENTIAL on our young young roster really has me SUPER STOKED regardless of our struggles this year.

If I had to be Debbie downer about anyone, perhaps I’m a little underwhelmed by FRESHMAN Uros Plavic.[/Q
Pavlisc ain’t got nothing on Bowden
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#83
#83
Volsfaninva917 said:
Demanding a coach with a top 5 salary make the NCAA is unreasonable? He wanted to paid as if he were at a traditional power but doesn't want the expectations? He did this not the fans
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If Bone was on this squad and Turner wasn’t hurt, yeah I think this would be a tournament team, without any question. Not making excuses....Stuff happens....Barnes didn’t plan on not making the tournament, and as stated earlier he isn’t flawless and had some recruiting misses. But on the whole, I for one am very pleased he is our coach. You apparently can read Barnes’ mind by the comment that he “doesn’t want the expectations”. Ultimately being a head coach at UT is a results based business, (Barnes understands this), but I doubt you can find one person in authority in the administration, or the athletic department who agrees with you.

My previous point was, it should be irrelevant to the average fan what Barnes makes. I don’t know where that sentiment comes from....either jealousy or envy, I guess. When Fulmer seeks your counsel, please feel free to share your comments with him. Barnes took a bunch of underrated players with Grant, Admiral, Bone and Alexander and we were the #1 team in the country for a month. This period has allowed him to leverage that success to attract higher ranked recruits. We are not at the point in this program where we can reload every year....and again, stuff happened. Very few teams in the power conferences can claim to be able to reload every year and some like Kansas are cheaters. Frankly because of what Barnes inherited he had to play Alexander as a true frosh before he wanted too. He needed a redshirt year, but Barnes didn’t have that luxury early on. Alexander should be playing his senior year this year.

No one is taking money out of your pocket to pay Barnes. That is why it should be irrelevant in my opinion to your position. You are welcome to “demand“ whatever you want, but thankfully you aren’t a decision maker. What would your solution be, if you were? You would fire him I presume given your post, right? Dock his pay the next 6 months perhaps? Put him on probation and scare off any legitimate recruit we are after? If so, make your case, start a revolution. Convince others to stop attending games until he meets your expectations. Start finding his replacement when his contract expires in 2024. Howl at the moon how unfair it all seems to be. It is just unbelievable to you that Barnes is accepting his paycheck. How does his apparent failure this year affect you personally? You stop watching college basketball a few weeks sooner In the spring? I hope you survive.

Regardless if we don’t make the tournament this year, our program is in great shape. I’m sure you don’t agree. Your are welcome to your opinion. We are 3 close losses away against Memphis (a game Turner was playing with one arm and shot 1-11 from the field), A&M, and South Carolina from being a tournament team or certainly a strong bubble team despite all the turmoil we have had. This squad just isn’t quite mature enough to make a play here or there get a “W”. And/Or even perhaps scheduling 2 sure bet wins early in the year rather than choose to play Cincinnati on the road and Wisconsin, (both losses), from being closer to the bubble. Then in the Big 12 challenge, due to our recent success we get Kansas, on the road, rather than perhaps TCU or Texas who would have been easier opponents.

I look forward to watching the rest of the season play out, however many games we have left and regardless how much Barnes earns per game. We are building something special. You are welcome to believe it or not.
 
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#86
#86
508mikey said:
KA didn't matter much since they didn't guard that dude that had the lucky day raining down the 3s from all over
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You're thinking about Ryan Cline (7-10) (and Carsen Edwards (5-14)) knocking down 3s for Purdue last year. Had Kyle Alexander not had the bad hip and sat out TN would have beaten Loyola-Chicago in the S-16 two years ago. And had Lemonte not been called for the phantom foul on Edwards 3-point attempt, TN would have beaten Purdue last year.
 
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#89
#89
It's okay to say Rick Barnes had a bad year this year because it's true. It's also okay to say it's his fault, because that is true too. He did a poor job constructing the roster to maintain success beyond the two year run we just had. I think we all hoped for a Pearl like run from him but that's just not in the cards. Pearl is an elite coach that's never had an opportunity at a true basketball power because of personality. There aren't many coaches at his level in the country. The earlier suggestion that he couldn't develop players is laughable as is using Scotty Hopson as an example. Scotty went from 5 to 12 to 17ppg here before leaving early for the NBA. The grossly unfair NCAA penalty against Bruce and the lack of support for him from the Tennessee administration likely cost us a final 4 or two, had Bruce stayed and got a small suspension like Frank Haith did for much worse penalties, or nothing at all like Sean Miller. Wade. Roy Williams, Boeheim etc etc.

All that said, Rick Barnes at least has given us something to look forward to by actually deciding to earn his giant salary on the recruiting trail. Next year should be 22-24 wins and a top 6 NCAA seed. Barring NBA departures, the year after should be Final Four contention.

As for the people saying "Tennessee isn't a good program" in some bizarre defense of Barnes. GTFO. Tennessee is 40th in All Time Wins. 35th when you take out the Ivy League schools and other one bid league schools. We are also top 40 in All Time NCAA appearances when you take out some Ivy League/one bid teams too. That was with it taking us almost 30 years after it started to get our first bid due to the Kentucky factor. Basically no school in the SEC besides Kentucky got NCAA invites. We won the SEC Regular season and tournament twice in the early NCAA era and didn't get bids. Kentucky did the same in the same era and got bids.

In spite of all the crap we've had to face from the very unjust Pearl punishment and bad hires, we've been to 13 of the last 21 NCAA tournaments. People here act like the late Devoe/Wade Houston/Kevin O'Neil era is the normal for Tennessee basketball, it's actually not. We aren't a "Blue Blood" but we are a program that should make the NCAA 7 out of 10 years with the field being 68. Maybe even 8 of 10. We dedicate massive resources to the basketball program, have top flight attendance and play in a conference where a top 6 finish will normally get you a bid. None of those are too high of expectations. Nor is reaching a dang Final Four. People act like we're East Tennessee State talking about a Final Four. Memphis has technically been to the Final Four from the same state and by every metric except how far we've advanced into the NCAAs Tennessee is a better program. We have more money, we have more fans, we have more wins, we have more tournament appearances, we have a real league that gets respect and allows us to earn bids. Should we expect the Final Four in the next 5 years? You're darn right we should and that would apply no matter who the coach was or what his salary was. That is the level of basketball every major D1 p5 program should expect. For goodness sakes Auburn and Texas Tech just did it.
 
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#90
#90
This team just has low basketball IQ- witness Bowden counting down shot clock at SC to 7 seconds then looking to pass instead of take the shot. Bone or Turner wouldn't do that and neither would choke like Bowden does. Bowden 1-7, just regressed this year w/out Turner. Fulky is about the only threat we have to score, and that is all inside 15'. This is not a real talented team. Is what it is-
 
#92
#92
VolsSportsFan said:
Because they are. After repeating themselves for the 1000th time, maybe it's time to just STFU.

And I 100% believe we have some on here that want us to not make a Final Four under Barnes just so they can keep beating that drum.
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And some of y’all only want Barnes to succeed so you can pull threads like this back up in the future. Goes both ways.

I know it’s hard to imagine but some fans can want their team to win and be critical of the coach. They might not even like the coach, but they can separate the two. Loyalty to a team does not demand loyalty to a coach.
 
#93
#93
VolGee4 said:
Which coaches are being paid “millions” less? Mark Few is the one exception at Gonzaga. He could name his price but just wants to stay there. All coaches who have made a Final Four (and Barnes has too) are making at least $3 million per year. We paid him a premium to keep him. I guess we could be paying Coach Midmajor $2 million and have a top 40 class next year. That would be really fun.
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Up until this year that’s exactly what Barnes was doing.
 
#94
#94
Volsfaninva917 said:
For the last time this team is the result of lazy recruiting in Barnes first 3 years. Don't sit there and act like none of this is Barnes fault, its 100% his fault. He raised the bar by demanding more money, guess what the expectations have raised now. When you make that type money missing the tournament is unacceptable. He also owes this place a final 4 in the next 5 years anything less is an absolute failure. Sorry not sorry
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I really can't believe you're missing the message, here. NO ONE believes it is acceptable to miss the tournament. His salary is irrelevant to that discussion. Would you have been any more forgiving if he missed the NCAAT making $3.2 million? And before you disingenuously say "yes", we all know you would be here spewing this same rhetoric, so spare us the lip service.

His recruiting over the past two years that you are complaining about wasn't going to be fixed in 6 months just because he got a raise. At best, you could hope to see an increased focus and results in the next available recruiting class. That was the first realistic change in expectations. And guess what, he signed a top 5 class.

But that doesn't all for you to bitch and moan about him because you disagree with how you believe he landed his raise in salary, which is what the real crux of the issue is with people like you. Quit complaining about immediate on court results that are no reflection of his raise, and just be honest that you are mad that he makes almost $5 million, because that is what you really dislike. You're lying to yourself if say it's about anything else, and anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence can see right thru it.

If Tennessee misses the NCAAT next year, then we all have something to genuinely complain about regarding his salary.
 
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#95
#95
Roustabout said:
And some of y’all only want Barnes to succeed so you can pull threads like this back up in the future. Goes both ways.

I know it’s hard to imagine but some fans can want their team to win and be critical of the coach. They might not even like the coach, but they can separate the two. Loyalty to a team does not demand loyalty to a coach.
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Or we just want him to succeed to continue having fun basketball to watch and cheer for. 🤷‍♂️
 
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#97
#97
I’m done beating a dead horse but I’ll say it one more time.

Nobody and I mean nobody here thinks it’s ok to miss the NCAA Tournament.

However, most level headed fans knew this would be a down year considering injuries, loss of key players, and lack of leadership. I think Barnes tried to assemble the roster the best he could.

If Barnes misses the tournament next year with all the talent he’s got coming in, then there’s a legitimate concern. He would receive a lot of criticism from the fans as he should.

Right now, you can’t sit there and say that Barnes isn’t deserving his salary considering a lot of top notch coaches have down years. That’s the nature of the game. It happens whether we like it or not.
 
#98
#98
VolFreakJosh said:
I’m done beating a dead horse but I’ll say it one more time.

Nobody and I mean nobody here thinks it’s ok to miss the NCAA Tournament.

However, most level headed fans knew this would be a down year considering injuries, loss of key players, and lack of leadership. I think Barnes tried to assemble the roster the best he could.

If Barnes misses the tournament next year with all the talent he’s got coming in, then there’s a legitimate concern. He would receive a lot of criticism from the fans as he should.

Right now, you can’t sit there and say that Barnes isn’t deserving his salary considering a lot of top notch coaches have down years. That’s the nature of the game. It happens whether we like it or not.
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Say next year Pons unexpectedly leaves early to try his hand at professional ball, JJJ does the same, and Fulky plays poorly for the first several games then shuts it down for the season due to injury. You still going to complain about CRB for the shape of the roster?
 
#99
#99
walkenvol said:
Say next year Pons unexpectedly leaves early to try his hand at professional ball, JJJ does the same, and Fulky plays poorly for the first several games then shuts it down for the season due to injury. You still going to complain about CRB for the shape of the roster?
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1. Pons is a freakish athlete but I can’t see him leaving. He would definitely have to improve his shooting and develop some type of mid range game.

2. JJJ has shown flashes and has a lot potential as an elite defender however I don’t think he leaves either. Needs to work on his offensive game and be more aggressive taking it to the basket.

3. Fulky is pretty much what he is. Not a very good athlete but plays with a lot hustle and heart. He has developed a nice mid range game.

Next years roster should be nasty and I don’t have any concern about making the ncaa tournament.
 
#100
#100
Eastknox865 said:
I don't understand why fans are so upset. Tennessee has never been a great basketball program in its history. We've had a couple years here and there but fans act like we are Duke. Just appreciate what we had the last two years realize the next two has potential and stop acting like Tennessee basketball has always been something special.
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I humbly disagree, Tennessee has the money and resources to be a basketball powerhouse every year. Recruiting talent in the state has never been better and unlike a lot of power 5 schools, UT has fan support and shows up to the games. Fans have every right to be upset with the performance of this team this season especially after the last two. This team clearly shows Barnes lack of recruiting in 2017 and 2018 and he would have jetted to UCLA last summer if they had paid his buyout, so he doesn't really have any Tennessee loyalty, just a Tennessee paycheck.
 
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