No, what kills us every year is inconsistency. The offense is fine. I highly doubt it's in his game plan for the players to shoot 33% from the floor on the night. We led most of the game with that kind of shooting thanks to the defense and their turnovers.
I don't agree that the offense is fine. There's a problem with either the offense or the lack of shot creators that Barnes recruits, but it's more likely a combination of both. The cold streaks have come far too often during Barnes' time here, and unfortunately they seem to come at some of the worst times.
The Vols get nothing in transition, rarely get good shots early in the shot clock, and there are very few uncontested shots on offense - they have to work hard for every point, and it's damn hard to win at this level playing that way, regardless how good you are defensively.
You see a team like FAU, with far less resources than UT, going 9-10 deep with players that can produce offensively, shoot the 3 ball, crash the offensive boards, and still not allow easy shots on defense. That's a problem either with the kind of kid that Rick recruits or with the system he plays, but it's probably a little of both.
Barnes has been doing this a long time with a lot of success, but it is past time he steps back and takes a really good look at both his recruiting and his offensive system. Great coaches have always adjusted as the game changes, and if he doesn't see that there will always be a ceiling to how far you can go today with a grinding defensive system that looks to keep games in the 50's, then we're 'doomed' to always be a 20+ win, first weekend team in the NCAA's. There are certainly worse things to be, but it wouldn't take a whole lot of adjusting to give us a shot at that next level.
