Tennessee vs. Oklahoma State: Game Thread

[AmoebaVol]

Some of you guys are ridiculous. Pearl's not the greatest coach ever, but he's done nothing to deserve getting fired yet. There are a lot of very short memories around here. We're not UNC. We're not Duke. We're not Kentucky. We're not even freaking Gonzaga.

I'm not saying it's "ok" to bow out in the First Round, but it's far better to consistently make the tournament than to consistently not make it -- and since Pearl's been here, we've been in the tournament every year. Will we get better? That remains to be seen. But you can hardly say we're headed in the wrong direction. In my opinion, that's what gets a coach fired (see Phillip Fulmer).

 

[bigdaddy]

Four years of Pearl getting his own guys in and we don't have the talent to compete with a basketball powerhouse like Oklahoma State?

they have more NCs than we do. So I would consider them more of a powerhouse than UTK. ANd I would say that we competed with them. Just poor decision making on the floor by the players. He needs to get a true PG to win in tourney play, but that is obvious. That is what beat us today in the end. OSU had a PG hit his shot, we had a NBA wanna be shooting from outside.

 

[TennTradition]

Well...that season is in the books...I'm going to hate not getting to watch them play some more this year...but it's a bit masochistic...

 

[slobberknocker]

The worst stretch was when we were up 2 with the ball, at 67-65, and it took all of 30 seconds to turn the ball over twice and fall behind by 5.

That was a major reason for the loss, score on one of those possessions and we probably win. Can't believe all these DAs on here questioning Pearl, they are the losers, not Pearl.

 

[7maxims]

Right? Because Tennessee is a haven for McD's AA and high caliber players. He is supposed to just walk into any school and pick the guys he wants. 4 years, 4 NCAA's in a mediocre program, but run him off.

It's like arguing with wheaton...know you're roll and don't act like something you are not.

Is OK ST. a haven for your McD's all americans? How about Gonzaga? Missouri? I can keep going if you like...

 

[nashvol1]

Woolridge is awful, permanently. Yeah not saying they could improve but the whole '1 year older 1 year better' argument is never set in stone. BP is yet to find a point guard of CJ Watson's caliber, whom he inherited.

Woolridge will be a fine asset long-term. Not all guys can put it together as freshmen. He is a four year guy.

Agree with the point guard assessment, however, this team has talent and will HOPEFULLY improve. Trying to stay optimistic.

 

[VolsRule]

Will UT be any better next year. Someone said they will still be "young"! I need a drink.

 

[armchairvol]

shot--but you can't have him spending as much time as he does out on the perimeter on offense! That is just plain stupid. He should be down low, using his size and athleticism to wreak havoc. This is what I can't understand about Pearl this year: Every time I'd see the Vols on TV, Chism is jacking up a three!! 33 three attempts against a small team.

Take the rock to the rack--that's what good teams do. I realize we don't have the guards to do a lot of that, but teams that like to jack the three too much rarely last very long in the tourney. It was obvious when this team couldn't beat bama at home, last game, or beat a weak miss. state team with the sec title sitting on a silver platter, that this team had issues.

 

[TrueOrange]

Donovan took ten years to win a title at Florida and they went up-and-down. Down right now. It takes a while to build a great program. Bruce is a good coach with a young team.

Pearl's only fault is that they lack discipline at times. He needs to improve in this area.

People should realize this. I think at times our fans just want to win a NC so that we can turn to people like Florida fans and talk back without them saying "2 NCs" as a response to any of it.

We've seen rivals be that successful and now we want to be that successful ourselves...

 

[615 Vol]

Man, how quickly we become a spoiled group of fans. Making the tourney every year now since Bruce arrived, had a down year and still made the tourney, we lose and the mens program is considered a failure? From where this program has been for the majority of my life (35 years old), this is the good stuff with better still on the horizon and getting closer.

Don't get me wrong, I realize things are better but with that expectations rise. I guess I shoud use the term underachieved instead of fail because that was what I was getting at. When announcers are making comments that players don't even know a timeout has been called and the best play they come up with is shooting the 3 it becomes frustrating. I know the team needs a PG but I still think they had enough talent to be better than a one and done 9 seed.

 

[ridethelightening]

all around garbage game. They can't keep a lead/play defense/ or make easy baskets. The same story all season. If they don't come out hitting early, they lose. If the game is close at the end of the game, they lose.

It's called playing with freshman. If you learn to win those games, you become a good team

 

[vol4eva]

How in the hell did we get outrebounded against a bunch of midgets?

 

[dantheman617]

That was a major reason for the loss, score on one of those possessions and we probably win. Can't believe all these DAs on here questioning Pearl, they are the losers, not Pearl.

I guess Pearl had nothing to do with them shooting 33 3pters out of 56 shots? I guess he was not responsible for not taking a time out with 6 seconds left to go in the game.... I guess he is not responsible for shooting a 3 pt when you had time to drive to the basket. Point is, they have done this all year, it has not been corrected. That is called poor coaching. With that being said, Pearl doesn't deserve to get fired or anything else. Anyone who says so needs to get smacked

 

[nashvol1]

How in the hell did we get outrebounded against a bunch of midgets?

Yeah, overweight midgets.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

It's called playing with freshman. If you learn to win those games, you become a good team

Are we still using the "we're young" excuse? You'd think after about 4-5 times they might actually learn how to deal in those situations.

 

[nashvol1]

I guess Pearl had nothing to do with them shooting 33 3pters out of 56 shots? I guess he was not responsible for not taking a time out with 6 seconds left to go in the game.... I guess he is not responsible for shooting a 3 pt when you had time to drive to the basket. Point is, they have done this all year, it has not been corrected. That is called poor coaching. With that being said, Pearl doesn't deserve to get fired or anything else. Anyone who says so needs to get smacked

I will agree that he did not do his best job a lot of games this year, but he is still a good coach like you stated.

 

[nashvol1]

Are we still using the "we're young" excuse? You'd think after about 4-5 times they might actually learn how to deal in those situations.

No, we are saying that we will improve next season. It's called optimism.

 

[jlounsbury]

Why oh why do we not alter our offensive strategy when the 3’s aren’t working. Why could we not do more dribble penetration or shoot some shorter jump shots where our bigs could have a chance for more rebounds and putbacks? We will be much better next year, but we could have done much better this season.

 

[armchairvol]

box score on espn, Ok. state shot 57 percent for the game! Tell me that isn't right.

 

[ridethelightening]

Is OK ST. a haven for your McD's all americans? How about Gonzaga? Missouri? I can keep going if you like...

Mark Few has had 10 years to build that program. What is Gonzaga's greatest accomplishments? Making it to the S16 E8 when no one expected them to? Once the anticipation was there for them to advance, what have they done? Oklahoma State and Mizzou have way more name recognition than Tennessee in basketball.

I'm not saying Pearl is a championship caliber coach. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be blameless for this season. I am saying he realized early on that this team could not play the way he likes to coach and he still won several games in spite of it. He can't just go out and get the guys he wants to fit his system. When you are in the position of rebuilding an always underachieving program, you are going to have ups and downs and inconsistent play. But, maybe I'm confused and UT is an elite program, now.

 

[7maxims]

Why oh why do we not alter our offensive strategy when the 3’s aren’t working. Why could we not do more dribble penetration or shoot some shorter jump shots where our bigs could have a chance for more rebounds and putbacks? We will be much better next year, but we could have done much better this season.

Be careful with your criticism some here may say you're
'brain dead' and want Pearl 'fired'! lol

 

[7maxims]

Mark Few has had 10 years to build that program. What is Gonzaga's greatest accomplishments? Making it to the S16 E8 when no one expected them to? Once the anticipation was there for them to advance, what have they done? Oklahoma State and Mizzou have way more name recognition than Tennessee in basketball.

I'm not saying Pearl is a championship caliber coach. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be blameless for this season. I am saying he realized early on that this team could not play the way he likes to coach and he still won several games in spite of it. He can't just go out and get the guys he wants to fit his system. When you are in the position of rebuilding an always underachieving program, you are going to have ups and downs and inconsistent play. But, maybe I'm confused and UT is an elite program, now.

I think the whole 'elite' program thing is reserved for Duke, NC, UConn, the like. OK St has had some great history but elite? Miss St, LSU, George Mason have all made final 4's. Are they 'elite'? Now I'm not saying make the elite 8 or it's all crap but, when you consistently see the same careless type of play, especially at the end of games, from BP's teams, why does he deserve all these huge accolades? Yes he's a GOOD coach. But with the salary and the mansion he now enjoys, shouldn't we expect some improvement?

 

[bigdaddy]

I think we had to pay that salary to him to keep him here instead of going to another school like IU. I do expect improvement but I give people more time than 1 average season to recover. I guess I am old school.

 

[ridethelightening]

I think the whole 'elite' program thing is reserved for Duke, NC, UConn, the like. OK St has had some great history but elite? Miss St, LSU, George Mason have all made final 4's. Are they 'elite'? Now I'm not saying make the elite 8 or it's all crap but, when you consistently see the same careless type of play, especially at the end of games, from BP's teams, why does he deserve all these huge accolades? Yes he's a GOOD coach. But with the salary and the mansion he now enjoys, shouldn't we expect some improvement?

Yes, never said that you shouldn't.

 

[7maxims]

I think we had to pay that salary to him to keep him here instead of going to another school like IU. I do expect improvement but I give people more time than 1 average season to recover. I guess I am old school.

I hear you but I don't think IU was really seriously interested in the first place.