The Official #8 Tennessee vs. #12 Kentucky Game Thread, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN

[Vols till I fall]

Both Johnson and Springer came here for Barnes to learn how to play tough defense. They both had high level athlete parents who steered them here because of Barnes. Why do you think Chaz Lanier came here? And Igor? Barnes is on the record quite often insisting his guys shoot open shots.

I'm not the one complaining and you're suggesting, while bitching and moaning, I am the one upset. I am confident we will figure it out during this stretch

Oof, man, I couldn't stand watching that Springer and Johnson team lol

If you guys are complaining about this team's shooting, watch some games from that year lol

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

False.

Kevin Punter in his 1 year with Barnes averaged more PPG than DK. And if he doesn’t miss 8 games that team likely finishes with a better record.

Admiral Schofield, his final season 16.5 ppg and shot nearly 42% from deep.

Barnes inherited Punter. Admiral became a very good shooter and scorer but was not a Knecht type and was not recruited to be so. Barnes consistently prioritizes defenders with offensive weaknesses as opposed to scorers with defensive weaknesses in recruiting. Knecht was the first blatant defensive liability that Barnes has relied on here.

 

[Hoggervol]

Pope just said that they let the players shoot the ball that they wanted to see shooting the ball. I assume he meant Tennessee. Ouch!

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

He brought 2/3 of his team here and won. He outcoached Barnes pretty bad. I can’t help it if you didn’t see it.

I’m not saying he didn’t outcoach Barnes. I’m just saying late in the game, neither team was doing much to win it.

 

[OrangeInKy]

Wonder what we'd look like if Estrella was healthy and Barnes had kept Dillione and Carr? I know, I know...they didn't fit what Barnes was looking for. Thankfully we got Igor and Lanier to fill the void and we we certainly needed to save some scholarships and money so the short bench is a real plus in that regard.

I think the Estrella loss is the biggest factor of those you mentioned. Not sure what the other two would’ve contributed. Carr certainly, surely, surely, helped that 3 point percentage I just am not sure he was gonna figure into the plans much.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Kevin Punter was very streaky

22.2 PPG for 26 games shooting 46% FG & 37% from deep with only 2 games under 12 points is hardly streaky.

 

[GordonC]

Inexcusable. Barnes better have a good ****ing answer.

Or what?
What if you dont like his answer?

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Both Johnson and Springer came here for Barnes to learn how to play tough defense. They both had high level athlete parents who steered them here because of Barnes. Why do you think Chaz Lanier came here? And Igor? Barnes is on the record quite often insisting his guys shoot open shots.

I'm not the one complaining and you're suggesting, while bitching and moaning, I am the one upset. I am confident we will figure it out during this stretch

Johnson was a better defender than offensive player from day 1. I never said anything about Barnes not wanting guys to shoot an open shot. You’re really grasping at straws because you got scared that I said something that was too close to a criticism for your liking.

I’m sorry, but you don’t get to scream at the sky when your feelings get hurt and then claim someone else is bitching and moaning. You got really bent out of shape because I said that Rick Barnes prefers defense over offense. If that offends you or if you don’t believe it, you need to find another way to spend your time, because watching sports and discussing them is too much for you.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Barnes inherited Punter. Admiral became a very good shooter and scorer but was not a Knecht type and was not recruited to be so. Barnes consistently prioritizes defenders with offensive weaknesses as opposed to scorers with defensive weaknesses in recruiting. Knecht was the first blatant defensive liability that Barnes has relied on here.

Jaden Springer, Freddie, Carr, Bailey Jr., Powell all offensive players that had defensive weaknesses man. Inherited or not Punter was too.

Hell Turner & Bowden were also offense first players in HS too.

Barnes has brought in all types of players, the ones that seem to stick are the guys willing to play hard ass defense though.

 

[Vols till I fall]

Or what?
What if you dont like his answer?

Hea going to get mad

 

[wmcovol]

Barnes inherited Punter. Admiral became a very good shooter and scorer but was not a Knecht type and was not recruited to be so. Barnes consistently prioritizes defenders with offensive weaknesses as opposed to scorers with defensive weaknesses in recruiting. Knecht was the first blatant defensive liability that Barnes has relied on here.

Admiral was a Tyndall recruit

 

[Vols till I fall]

Jaden Springer, Freddie, Carr, Bailey Jr., Powell all offensive players that had defensive weaknesses man. Inherited or not Punter was too.

Hell Turner & Bowden were also offense first players in HS too.

Barnes has brought in all types of players, the ones that seem to stick are the guys willing to play hard ass defense though.

And all those players mentioned were all overrated on offense

Punter was maybe an exception but I remember him being streaky

 

[D3Athlete]

Admiral was a Tyndall recruit

Who cares. Barnes developed him and the reason why he made an nba roster

 

[Vol737]

Kentucky ranks in the bottom 4th in defense and all we did was jack up 3s... 45.of them.... That's on Barnes.

45 would be great…. if we had one of those 6’1” point guards from Gonzaga, or the like, that just didn’t miss. Indeed…abysmal showing from 3 pt land, yet we kept shooting them while KY kept scoring.

 

[cardvolfan]

Zero influence on tonight’s game. Akin to saying I’ve flipped a coin 5 times and it came up heads 4 so it’s likely to come up heads the next flip. New coach, new players on both teams.

You missed the point. Of course there’s no correlation from one team to the next, and that’s not what I was saying.

 

[CAVPUT]

Big thing is I don’t think anyone is at 100% right now.

This could be a year where we lose immediately in SECT & then make an Elite Eight.

Every game we’ve lost has 100% came down to our own poor execution. We could also be a first weekend exit if we have a cold night against a team that can shoot it.

This team in the elite 8? Sorry. Not seeing that. This team reminds me of some of our previous squads that start fast then fade as the season wears on. Then they bow out in the first or second round of the NCAAT. Just don't like this years roster...at all. UF has to be licking their chops thinking about getting us again Saturday. Don't even want to think about the bama game. This might be a season crippling stretch for this team.

 

[wmcovol]

Who cares. Barnes developed him and the reason why he made an nba roster

Admiral developed Admiral. He’d been a good player for Tyndall if DT hadn’t got fired. The kid had a high work ethic before Barnes got here.

No coach can develop a kid that doesn’t really want it.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Johnson was a better defender than offensive player from day 1. I never said anything about Barnes not wanting guys to shoot an open shot. You’re really grasping at straws because you got scared that I said something that was too close to a criticism for your liking.

I’m sorry, but you don’t get to scream at the sky when your feelings get hurt and then claim someone else is bitching and moaning. You got really bent out of shape because I said that Rick Barnes prefers defense over offense. If that offends you or if you don’t believe it, you need to find another way to spend your time, because watching sports and discussing them is too much for you.

Uh huh

 

[GordonC]

Hea going to get mad

OH. C.H.I.T. do you think @Vols till I fall will get big mayud?

 

[SGMVols]

Who cares. Barnes developed him and the reason why he made an nba roster

Yep. Most people here asked “who TF is that” when he committed. Nobody thought he’d become half the player he ended up being and without Barnes he probably wouldn’t have, tbh

 

[D3Athlete]

Sittin 17-4, 4-4 in conference
10 games left.
6-4 at the minimum imo. Gets you at 23-8 and prob as a 4 seed with one in the sec tournament.
Tennessee has to re-find their identity on offense. Tonight has to be a wake up call.
Got a top 5 team coming in on Saturday. Let’s see what Tennessee is made of.

 

[Vols till I fall]

OH. C.H.I.T. do you think @Vols till I fall will get big mayud?

Do you think he can read this?

 

[GordonC]

an th
Do you think he can read this?

I mean the vocabulary words aren't complex. The syntax is pretty basic. He is a literate adult. I'd say he can.

 

[D3Athlete]

Also, based on shots. Shot Quality had this as a Tennessee win 83-68

 

[UTS4EVR]

Look, Pope coached a really good game. I mean Tennessee missed a ton of threes and you won't win many games that way. I feel like if we played them again here, we'd win. Igor got some confidence so hopefully that's good.

Your presumption doesn’t carry much weight. This is Tennessee’s third loss in a row at home to Kentucky….when the Vols were favored by double digits and Kentucky had starters out with injuries. Coach Barnes needs to reasses how he recruits, but more importantly how he game plans.