The real reason we were flat

#1
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BruinVol

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#1
I heard no less than 4-5 interviews with Barnes last week and even in his pregame yesterday he went out of his way to complain about how miserable life was in the bubble in every single one of them.

I think that mind set filtered thru to the team and they won’t admit it but they are glad they are free to go home.

one other thing Barnes mentioned in his pregame yesterday was the big 10 teams had been there much longer and we know they had a disaster of a day.

this tourney really is about the off the court battles imo
 
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#5
#5
The problem with yesterdays game was they had a 7'1 center and (2) players that could hit a 3. And we had 5* freshmen who could not figure out how to play together all season. I knew in the first 3 minutes of that game we were not winning. They came out hitting shots and we were unfocused and played that way all game. The team played hard and gave a great effort especially in the second half but just could not hit the shots that mattered.
 
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#6
#6
BruinVol said:
I heard no less than 4-5 interviews with Barnes last week and even in his pregame yesterday he went out of his way to complain about how miserable life was in the bubble in every single one of them.

I think that mind set filtered thru to the team and they won’t admit it but they are glad they are free to go home.

one other thing Barnes mentioned in his pregame yesterday was the big 10 teams had been there much longer and we know they had a disaster of a day.

this tourney really is about the off the court battles imo
Click to expand...
It seemed like to me Rick Barnes acted during the game like a head coach who's about to hang it up.
 
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#12
#12
VolBricks said:
The problem with yesterdays game was they had a 7'1 center and (2) players that could hit a 3. And we had 5* freshmen who could not figure out how to play together all season. I knew in the first 3 minutes of that game we were not winning. They came out hitting shots and we were unfocused and played that way all game. The team played hard and gave a great effort especially in the second half but just could not hit the shots that mattered.
Click to expand...

Either way or say what ever.... IT WAS EMBARRISING!!!
 
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#13
#13
BruinVol said:
I heard no less than 4-5 interviews with Barnes last week and even in his pregame yesterday he went out of his way to complain about how miserable life was in the bubble in every single one of them.

I think that mind set filtered thru to the team and they won’t admit it but they are glad they are free to go home.

one other thing Barnes mentioned in his pregame yesterday was the big 10 teams had been there much longer and we know they had a disaster of a day.

this tourney really is about the off the court battles imo
Click to expand...


Oregon St had been in the bubble
longer than TN as they flew straight to Indiana after PAC XII title game. I heard the same complaints from Barnes when asked about the bubble, stating it “felt like prison.” Leaders lead they adversity and build their team’s mental toughness vs complaining.

TN played like they didn’t want to be there which is a shame.
 
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#14
#14
VolsSportsFan said:
While I'm sympathetic.......that's an excuse. Every other team is going through the same thing. Not a good look for someone who has a reputation of not putting up with excuses from his players.
Click to expand...

No doubt it’s an excuse and when the head coach goes out of his way to mention how awful it is over and over he’s allowing that excuse. Very poor job of mentally preparing his team
 
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#15
#15
The problem Tennessee had is what they had all season.

There were two different Tennessee teams. The one that showed up and gave Alabama all they could handle, the one that beat Kansas, etc.

Then, you have the Tennessee team that lost to Florida by 20+, lost to Auburn, etc.

The wrong Tennessee showed up.

As an observer, the strange thing is that (with a few exceptions), when the wrong Tennessee showed up, there was nothing Barnes was able to do to get the right Tennessee to make an appearance
 
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#16
#16
Border Vol said:
It seemed like to me Rick Barnes acted during the game like a head coach who's about to hang it up.
Click to expand...
I don’t buy that at all but I do buy that he’s a head coach that feels like he’s already accomplished enough to coach in a way that doesn’t display a sense of urgency or any kind of hair on fire chip on his shoulder
 
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#17
#17
99gator said:
The problem Tennessee had is what they had all season.

There were two different Tennessee teams. The one that showed up and gave Alabama all they could handle, the one that beat Kansas, etc.

Then, you have the Tennessee team that lost to Florida by 20+, lost to Auburn, etc.

The wrong Tennessee showed up.

As an observer, the strange thing is that (with a few exceptions), when the wrong Tennessee showed up, there was nothing Barnes was able to do to get the right Tennessee to make an appearance
Click to expand...

Which is what we were afraid of.
 
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#19
#19
99gator said:
The problem Tennessee had is what they had all season.

There were two different Tennessee teams. The one that showed up and gave Alabama all they could handle, the one that beat Kansas, etc.

Then, you have the Tennessee team that lost to Florida by 20+, lost to Auburn, etc.

The wrong Tennessee showed up.

As an observer, the strange thing is that (with a few exceptions), when the wrong Tennessee showed up, there was nothing Barnes was able to do to get the right Tennessee to make an appearance
Click to expand...

and why did that bad team show up??

a coach that allowed and provided them the excuse for it loud and clearly at that
 
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#20
#20
BruinVol said:
I heard no less than 4-5 interviews with Barnes last week and even in his pregame yesterday he went out of his way to complain about how miserable life was in the bubble in every single one of them.

I think that mind set filtered thru to the team and they won’t admit it but they are glad they are free to go home.

one other thing Barnes mentioned in his pregame yesterday was the big 10 teams had been there much longer and we know they had a disaster of a day.

this tourney really is about the off the court battles imo
Click to expand...
BruinVol said:
I heard no less than 4-5 interviews with Barnes last week and even in his pregame yesterday he went out of his way to complain about how miserable life was in the bubble in every single one of them.

I think that mind set filtered thru to the team and they won’t admit it but they are glad they are free to go home.

one other thing Barnes mentioned in his pregame yesterday was the big 10 teams had been there much longer and we know they had a disaster of a day.

this tourney really is about the off the court battles imo
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, Barnes would always talk about how he didn't think people outside the program realized how hard it was for the players and how much they had to sacrifice just to continue playing. This is actually a very plausible explanation for their lackluster play and a good observation on your part, OP. I don't know if you're right or wrong, but it's as good an explanation as anything else I've heard.
 
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#21
#21
BruinVol said:
and why did that bad team show up??

a coach that allowed and provided them the excuse for it loud and clearly at that
Click to expand...

I don’t know the reason.

But, it felt like all you needed to know whether Tennessee would win or lose a game was to watch the first 5 minutes. I know there were some exceptions (positive and negative).

In the first 5 minutes, you knew if the effort was there, the focus was there, etc.

I don’t mean to sound crazy, but the contrast was so distinct, it almost made me wonder if they were throwing games.
 
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#22
#22
VolBricks said:
I knew in the first 3 minutes of that game we were not winning. They came out hitting shots and we were unfocused and played that way all game. The team played hard and gave a great effort especially in the second half but just could not hit the shots that mattered.
Click to expand...
When I saw the graphic Oregon State hadn't won an NCAA tournament game since 1985, I knew Tennessee was going to lose. UT always seems to be on the wrong end of these "hasn't happened in decades" / feel good stories. Just add it to the loss to Loyola with the 98 year old nun.
 
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#23
#23
Wonder if the chemistry on the inside game was lacking without Fulkerson? The Bama game was close enough to where he could have been the difference had he been healthy. Could have cost us an SEC tourney championship as well. I'm laying some of this at the feet of Florida.
 
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#24
#24
ptcarter said:
Wonder if the chemistry on the inside game was lacking without Fulkerson? The Bama game was close enough to where he could have been the difference had he been healthy. Could have cost us an SEC tourney championship as well. I'm laying some of this at the feet of Florida.
Click to expand...

Fulky being out put more pressure on Keon. No reason at all for him to take that many shots. Yesterday when we cut it to 12 he went 1 on 3 for a fade away corner 15 footer. Fulky being out was the end
 
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#25
#25
99gator said:
I don’t know the reason.

But, it felt like all you needed to know whether Tennessee would win or lose a game was to watch the first 5 minutes. I know there were some exceptions (positive and negative). In the first 5 minutes, you knew if the effort was there, the focus was there, etc.

I don’t mean to sound crazy, but the contrast was so distinct, it almost made me wonder if they were throwing games.
Click to expand...
There was a massive bet for TN, I think it was reported as the biggest bet of the 1st round. Maybe they did throw it...
 
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