The Section 103 Postgame Report.

[WesternKyVol]

By year 6 it's more than reasonable for people to expect him to field a team of above average players given our success over the past few years. There's no reason that Pearl and McBee continue to see the minutes that they do. He chose the guys that play for him,, so the blame goes right back to him if the team isn't talented.

Hope for, yes, expect, why?????????????


The team aint bad. They're 16-11. Better than the average team from UT history. AND he is fresh off a freakin elite 8. Geeze, some of you people are delusional with your expectations. The success that you are speaking of from recent years is all due to Bruce Pearl himself, the guy you are blaming. lulz

My problem is not your displeasure with this year's team. The problem is the subtext by you and your hatvol96 ilk: "Fire the coach."

 

[Vercingetorix]

Hope for, yes, expect, why?????????????


The team aint bad. They're 16-11. Better than the average team from UT history. AND he is fresh off a freakin elite 8. Geeze, some of you people are delusional with your expectations. The success that you are speaking of from recent years is all due to Bruce Pearl himself, the guy you are blaming. lulz

My problem is not your displeasure with this year's team. The problem is the subtext by you and your hatvol96 ilk: "Fire the coach."

My expectations are that we get approximately the program that we pay for. We are paying in money with our massive investment in facilities and Pearl's salary, and we are paying in reputation with the NCAA mess that Pearl's stupidity got us into. I just don't see any reason to believe that the coaching we're getting is worth all that.

We're sticking our necks out for Pearl as though he were an elite coach. We are financing his program as though he were an elite coach. He's a pretty good coach. I don't think a pretty good coach is worth it.

The NCAA shiatstorm changes everything, and pushes the bar that much higher. No way I'd be calling for his head this year without it.

 

[Sudeepvol]

My expectations are that we get approximately the program that we pay for. We are paying in money with our massive investment in facilities and Pearl's salary, and we are paying in reputation with the NCAA mess that Pearl's stupidity got us into. I just don't see any reason to believe that the coaching we're getting is worth all that.

We're sticking our necks out for Pearl as though he were an elite coach. We are financing his program as though he were an elite coach. He's a pretty good coach. I don't think a pretty good coach is worth it.

The NCAA shiatstorm changes everything, and pushes the bar that much higher. No way I'd be calling for his head this year without it.

I'm a Bruce fan, but this is a reasonable view.

 

[Scottyhop]

I know Mcrae has done some dumb things, but shouldn't he get some sort of a look. He can't be much worse than Tatum/Mcbee are playing. No one score more than 3 pts today besides Scotty and Tobias. We need any sort of offense.

 

[Special Ed]

Ouch!

 

[WesternKyVol]

My expectations are that we get approximately the program that we pay for. We are paying in money with our massive investment in facilities and Pearl's salary, and we are paying in reputation with the NCAA mess that Pearl's stupidity got us into. I just don't see any reason to believe that the coaching we're getting is worth all that.

We're sticking our necks out for Pearl as though he were an elite coach. We are financing his program as though he were an elite coach. He's a pretty good coach. I don't think a pretty good coach is worth it.

The NCAA shiatstorm changes everything, and pushes the bar that much higher. No way I'd be calling for his head this year without it.

Bruce Pearl is compensated like a top-20 coach and he is getting at LEAST top 20 results. Again, I completely understand people wanting to fire Pearl for the lying, but the idea that his performance does not match his pay baffles me. He has truly elevated our program. There are not many coaches that can make this claim. Not only are we a top 20 program, we are a top 20 program BECAUSE of Bruce Pearl. Several of the coaches at the other top 20 programs cannot make this claim. Worst case scenario for this year: we miss the tourney. It happens all the time. It happens at UNC and UCONN and UCLA and Indiana.

As far as the better facilities go, they should be a tally in his favor. He is the reason we have a premiere arena. There is no way TBA gets renovated w/o Pearl. How are we now using that as a reason for his dismissal?

The lying and the on-court performance are two separate issues. Pearl gets a D- on one and an A- in the other. If he should be fired, he should be fired for the D- alone, not the average of the two. He followed a pair of coaches that got a C and a D respectively in on-court performance. I for one appreciate the A- after wandering in the wilderness for so very long.

 

[BigPapaVol]

Bruce Pearl is compensated like a top-20 coach and he is getting at LEAST top 20 results. Again, I completely understand people wanting to fire Pearl for the lying, but the idea that his performance does not match his pay baffles me. He has truly elevated our program. There are not many coaches that can make this claim. Not only are we a top 20 program, we are a top 20 program BECAUSE of Bruce Pearl. Several of the coaches at the other top 20 programs cannot make this claim. Worst case scenario for this year: we miss the tourney. It happens all the time. It happens at UNC and UCONN and UCLA and Indiana.

As far as the better facilities go, they should be a tally in his favor. He is the reason we have a premiere arena. There is no way TBA gets renovated w/o Pearl. How are we now using that as a reason for his dismissal?

The lying and the on-court performance are two separate issues. Pearl gets a D- on one and an A- in the other. If he should be fired, he should be fired for the D- alone, not the average of the two. He followed a pair of coaches that got a C and a D respectively in on-court performance. I for one appreciate the A- after wandering in the wilderness for so very long.

He's only compensated like a top 20 coach because he forcibly gave up $500k per season in hopes that it would assuage the AA's hunger for retribution after having been blatantly lied to about an infraction that Pearl had committed previously and been slapped for.

It was inevitable for UT to stumble into a top 20 style coach and program with the resources we've committed. Acting like one guy is the sole reason is absurd.

Further, we've regressed as we've gotten deeper into his recruiting. His best teams were with someone else's players as the difference makers. We haven't any real difference makers of any consistency since. That trend absolutely sucks.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

 

[MphsBlues]

When we go 4-17 from beyond the arc, get outrebounded thrughout the game and shoot .600 from the charity stripe, our chances of winning become nil.

 

[BigPapaVol]

When we go 4-17 from beyond the arc, get outrebounded thrughout the game and shoot .600 from the charity stripe, our chances of winning become nil.

This team getting outrebounded is 100% effort and focus.

Edit: trotting Pearl out at the 4 is moronic for a team that needs d and rebounding to win.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

 

[MphsBlues]

This team getting outrebounded is 100% effort and focus.

Edit: trotting Pearl out at the 4 is moronic for a team that needs d and rebounding to win. Posted via VolNation Mobile

Agreed. And when GA was on a 17-0 run in the first half we did the same - on came Mcbee and Pearl. I thought 'this is supposed to help??'

 

[knowthevols]

He's only compensated like a top 20 coach because he forcibly gave up $500k per season in hopes that it would assuage the AA's hunger for retribution after having been blatantly lied to about an infraction that Pearl had committed previously and been slapped for.

It was inevitable for UT to stumble into a top 20 style coach and program with the resources we've committed. Acting like one guy is the sole reason is absurd.

Further, we've regressed as we've gotten deeper into his recruiting. His best teams were with someone else's players as the difference makers. We haven't any real difference makers of any consistency since. That trend absolutely sucks.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

I was not aware that the elite eight team of last year
were not Pearls players.

 

[BasketvolsFan]

Bruce Pearl is compensated like a top-20 coach and he is getting at LEAST top 20 results. Again, I completely understand people wanting to fire Pearl for the lying, but the idea that his performance does not match his pay baffles me. He has truly elevated our program. There are not many coaches that can make this claim. Not only are we a top 20 program, we are a top 20 program BECAUSE of Bruce Pearl. Several of the coaches at the other top 20 programs cannot make this claim. Worst case scenario for this year: we miss the tourney. It happens all the time. It happens at UNC and UCONN and UCLA and Indiana.

As far as the better facilities go, they should be a tally in his favor. He is the reason we have a premiere arena. There is no way TBA gets renovated w/o Pearl. How are we now using that as a reason for his dismissal?

The lying and the on-court performance are two separate issues. Pearl gets a D- on one and an A- in the other. If he should be fired, he should be fired for the D- alone, not the average of the two. He followed a pair of coaches that got a C and a D respectively in on-court performance. I for one appreciate the A- after wandering in the wilderness for so very long.

You are simply a Pearl lover who doesn't want to accept reality. This team and this program is going down as fast as it went up under Pearl. Pearl is responsible for both trends.

 

[Vercingetorix]

As far as the better facilities go, they should be a tally in his favor. He is the reason we have a premiere arena. There is no way TBA gets renovated w/o Pearl. How are we now using that as a reason for his dismissal?

Aren't you putting the cart before the horse a little bit? I assume you've noticed that the only thing Hamilton's actually good at is raising enormous amounts of money to spend on facilities upgrades. Obviously Pearl's early success made Hamilton's job easier, but there's not really any doubt that if his first hire hadn't worked out, Hamilton would have raised money, upgraded the facilities, and then used them to lure a top coach. Pearl accelerated the process, obviously, but to say that he's the only reason it happened is to ignore everything else his boss his doing. A truly horrific period of UT football hasn't kept us from renovating Neyland.

The lying and the on-court performance are two separate issues. Pearl gets a D- on one and an A- in the other. If he should be fired, he should be fired for the D- alone, not the average of the two. He followed a pair of coaches that got a C and a D respectively in on-court performance. I for one appreciate the A- after wandering in the wilderness for so very long.

No, they're not. As we're constantly reminded by the announcers every game, almost every other school would have dismissed a coach who got caught blatantly lying to the NCAA like Pearl did. We've damaged the university's reputation and brand by keeping him around; the clear implication is that we're willing to take the hit because we think he's irreplaceable. And I would argue that nothing suggests that his coaching is irreplaceable.

UT's certainly not treating it like the lying and the on-court performance are separate issues; if they were, he'd already be gone.

 

[WesternKyVol]

He's only compensated like a top 20 coach because he forcibly gave up $500k per season in hopes that it would assuage the AA's hunger for retribution after having been blatantly lied to about an infraction that Pearl had committed previously and been slapped for.

It was inevitable for UT to stumble into a top 20 style coach and program with the resources we've committed. Acting like one guy is the sole reason is absurd.

Further, we've regressed as we've gotten deeper into his recruiting. His best teams were with someone else's players as the difference makers. We haven't any real difference makers of any consistency since. That trend absolutely sucks.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

I see where you're coming from, but you FAIL. You are looking at a snapshot instead of Pearl's work over time. A convenient manner of arguing that politicians employ to paint politicians' records as worse than they are.


His old salary was top ten, but it wasn't elite. He was compensated similarly to a couple of dozen coaches. His salary is in the pack. There are two coaches in his own division--Calipari and Donovan-- that were making double Pearl's salary before he got the pay cut. If you ask me his salary was commensurate with his success. That is a good thing. If any of the other 9 SEC schools would have had that kind of success, their coaches would have also been compensated accordingly. And Pearl was competitive with them. 1.5 million dollars was high, but he has absolutely earned it. He has either been been the best or second best coach in the SEC since he got there.

This is from two years ago, but I feel like it would not be too different if done today:

The Wall Street Journal Online - Interactive Graphics

Note the name at the top. Only Purnell, Boeheim and Dixon had better scores. He is still very much near the top as we have had excellent RPI's for the last 2 years.

You are blaming Pearl because he has won without All Americans. k:

There is nothing inevitable about paying big bucks and winning. And Pearl has been given raises because of his winning. He did not start off with a salary of that magnitude. Now, we are criticizing him because he performed well enough here to get his salary equivalent with his coaching skills. The absurdity knows no bounds.

Any other SEC school would have given a coach like Pearl raises in order to keep him from dashing off to Indiana or the Big East, which is where he is from. That's because AD's know that money does not always equal success: Redskins, Mets, Suns, Clemson, UCLA, and Texas A&M football, etc.

 

[WesternKyVol]

You are simply a Pearl lover who doesn't want to accept reality. This team and this program is going down as fast as it went up under Pearl. Pearl is responsible for both trends.

You will likely get your wish --another coach-- and you will be one of the ringleaders calling for his job too in a couple of years. Many of your posts will start with, "At least with Pearl..."

 

[WesternKyVol]

Aren't you putting the cart before the horse a little bit? I assume you've noticed that the only thing Hamilton's actually good at is raising enormous amounts of money to spend on facilities upgrades. Obviously Pearl's early success made Hamilton's job easier, but there's not really any doubt that if his first hire hadn't worked out, Hamilton would have raised money, upgraded the facilities, and then used them to lure a top coach. Pearl accelerated the process, obviously, but to say that he's the only reason it happened is to ignore everything else his boss his doing. A truly horrific period of UT football hasn't kept us from renovating Neyland.



No, they're not. As we're constantly reminded by the announcers every game, almost every other school would have dismissed a coach who got caught blatantly lying to the NCAA like Pearl did. We've damaged the university's reputation and brand by keeping him around; the clear implication is that we're willing to take the hit because we think he's irreplaceable. And I would argue that nothing suggests that his coaching is irreplaceable.

UT's certainly not treating it like the lying and the on-court performance are separate issues; if they were, he'd already be gone.

Pearl accelerated the process more than just a little! .

Neyland is not analogous in the least. It has been at or near capacity since Doug Dickey took over. Our recent downturn hasn't changed that. TBA on the other hand, came alive when Pearl stepped on campus.

I do not think that Pearl is irreplaceable. I also think that his lies are a good reason to fire him, although I hope we don't. What I do believe is that it is just highly unlikely that our next coach is as good as Bruce Pearl. Could he be? Sure. But Pearl is a very good coach. And as we saw in our football program's search for a coach last year, candidates don't just lineup to come to Knoxville because we think they should. Our football program is even more attractive than our basketball program, and we ended up with our 27th choice.

 

[vol1981]

Pearl accelerated the process more than just a little! .

Neyland is not analogous in the least. It has been at or near capacity since Doug Dickey took over. Our recent downturn hasn't changed that. TBA on the other hand, came alive when Pearl stepped on campus.

I do not think that Pearl is irreplaceable. I also think that his lies are a good reason to fire him, although I hope we don't. What I do believe is that it is just highly unlikely that our next coach is as good as Bruce Pearl. Could he be? Sure. But Pearl is a very good coach. And as we saw in our football program's search for a coach last year, candidates don't just lineup to come to Knoxville because we think they should. Our football program is even more attractive than our basketball program, and we ended up with our 27th choice.

Some of the football coaching candidates didn't line up to come to Knoxville because of the timing of the vacancy, and where did you come up with the number '27'?

 

[WesternKyVol]

Some of the football coaching candidates didn't line up to come to Knoxville because of the timing of the vacancy, and where did you come up with the number '27'?

Exaggeration.

Although, if you had put a gun to his head and made Hamilton list --starting with Nick Saban and Bill Cowher-- who he wanted as coach, Dooley finishes below 27th.

Not now but then. I'm a Dooley supporter by the way. Drinking more than my share of Dool-Aid.

 

[BigPapaVol]

Basketball is a game of one player making the difference. Acting like some miraculous turnaround has happened is absurd. They happen annually in basketball and will continue. The sustained success your pretending should put him in elite pay status is a figment of your silliness. Elite isn't a conversation about getting a nice draw to the elite 8 and losing to a team without its All American. Elite isn't 5 tourneys in a row and one conference title. The pay is reflective of the fan support and money made, not the quality of the coaching.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

 

[MphsBlues]

Hmm, ticket sales have to do with whether or not a school will stand by a coach w/ transgressions? who knew?

 

[WesternKyVol]

Hmm, ticket sales have to do with whether or not a school will stand by a coach w/ transgressions? who knew?

Never even hinted this. I have consistently said that Pearl's lie is just cause for dismissal.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Pearl accelerated the process more than just a little! .

Neyland is not analogous in the least. It has been at or near capacity since Doug Dickey took over. Our recent downturn hasn't changed that. TBA on the other hand, came alive when Pearl stepped on campus.

Hamilton has renovated basically every UTAD building on campus during his tenure. It's silly to pretend that basketball would somehow have completely missed out if it weren't for Pearl. Who gets credit for the upgrades at Tom Black Track? Has Todd Raleigh made Lindsey Nelson Stadium come alive?

I do not think that Pearl is irreplaceable. I also think that his lies are a good reason to fire him, although I hope we don't. What I do believe is that it is just highly unlikely that our next coach is as good as Bruce Pearl. Could he be? Sure. But Pearl is a very good coach. And as we saw in our football program's search for a coach last year, candidates don't just lineup to come to Knoxville because we think they should. Our football program is even more attractive than our basketball program, and we ended up with our 27th choice.

He might be; he might not be. If Hamilton's the one making the hire, there's no reason to be overly optimistic about it, that's for sure. But with the strong financial commitment that Tennessee is making to basketball, it shouldn't be that hard to hire another coach as good as Pearl. Or better.

I just can't get that worked up at the prospect of having to replace a putatively "very good coach" whose teams so frequently fail the fundamental eye test of actually looking well coached.

 

[WesternKyVol]

Basketball is a game of one player making the difference. Acting like some miraculous turnaround has happened is absurd. They happen annually in basketball and will continue. The sustained success your pretending should put him in elite pay status is a figment of your silliness. Elite isn't a conversation about getting a nice draw to the elite 8 and losing to a team without its All American. Elite isn't 5 tourneys in a row and one conference title. The pay is reflective of the fan support and money made, not the quality of the coaching.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

Which is it? Is the tourney the measuring bar or not. If it is, we are fresh off an elite 8. And absolutely no one was happy with our seed and having to play Ohio State in the sweet 16.

If the tourney is not--my personal leaning-- then let's use something objective like attendance or RPI or record against teams ranked number one or teams in ranked the top 25. I'm more than happy to go there.

How silly am I to let the record speak for itself! And to be deluded by the above benchmarks. You cannot find a comparable five year period in UT history --even the Ernie and Bernie years, which were more than a generation ago!

 

[Vercingetorix]

Which is it? Is the tourney the measuring bar or not. If it is, we are fresh off an elite 8. And absolutely no one was happy with our seed and having to play Ohio State in the sweet 16.

If the tourney is not--my personal leaning-- then let's use something objective like attendance or RPI or record against teams ranked number one or teams in ranked the top 25. I'm more than happy to go there.

How silly am I to let the record speak for itself! And to be deluded by the above benchmarks. You cannot find a comparable five year period in UT history --even the Ernie and Bernie years, which were more than a generation ago!

The main thing the last five years have proven is that there's an enormous pent-up demand for good basketball in Tennessee -- a demand which Doug Dickey ignored forever. Pearl did a great job selling the program, but he was selling to customers who couldn't get their wallets out fast enough. Any competent AD ought to be able to parlay the kind of support Tennessee has demonstrated into a consistently competitive program. The sad thing is that we could have had this all along. The potential support from the fans an boosters has always been there. The support from the AD hasn't.

 

[tvolsfan]

No, they're not. As we're constantly reminded by the announcers every game, almost every other school would have dismissed a coach who got caught blatantly lying to the NCAA like Pearl did.

I honestly don't believe that almost every other school would fire him right before the season like that.