To reach a final 4 we have to;

[Volfan1000]

Other than the obvious “make shots”, I think we have to figure out rebounding. Against these larger teams we’re getting killed on the boards. If we’re committed to small ball somehow we have to rebound better

Aidoo and Awaka and Estrella need to provide paint points to supplement the three point shooters.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Uros was the closest thing Barnes had to a force underneath. Barnes showed his appreciation by keeping Uros on the bench for most of the games. Hell, I think Barnes would’ve benched Shaq because he wasn’t disciplined enough - sometimes smiling and having fun.

Oh, to be on topic: We need to get some offensive boards from the post players and stick it in the hoop. Unless we have the next Steph Curry on the court, the 3 won’t take us too far. I’ve never seen the Vols have 4 hot games in a row.

I think that Uros spent a lot of time on the bench after UT was fouled 7x. Uros wasn’t going to make many free throws, even when he had two shots. Fouling him was a de facto turnover.

Barnes benches players for not playing as they are coached to play - not for having fun.

 

[ColinS]

And UT would probably have a FF or 2 with just an unlucky bounce that benefited Loyola and a whistle that helped Purdue.

Those were the teams that had the best odds for sure. I will give you that. Every year I keep reading how this is Barnes most talented team. That was the best group and it's not even close. They had the post scorer, the rim protecter, a good point guard, shooting, and played big time defense. We seem to be missing one or more of those ingredients every year since.

 

[calban]

Need to attain a #1 seeding . #1 seeds get preferential treatment in location. Their fanbases are more apt to travel and means they can turn a neutral court into a home court advantage.

Records for every seed in March Madness from 1985 to 2022

These are the all-time, round-by-round records for every seed in the March Madness men's tournament from 1985 (when the field expanded) to 2022.

www.ncaa.com

 

[adam.vol]

I think that Uros spent a lot of time on the bench after UT was fouled 7x. Uros wasn’t going to make many free throws, even when he had two shots. Fouling him was a de facto turnover.

Barnes benches players for not playing as they are coached to play - not for having fun.

Thats Barnes for you. Trading 5-12 free throws for Uros to get Awaka or Aidoo in foul trouble, while also giving free throws to the other team.. All because they’re too small to establish rebounding position against a true center. Barnes can’t get a 7 ft center to play for him because he won’t let them go to work.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Thats Barnes for you. Trading 5-12 free throws for Uros to get Awaka or Aidoo in foul trouble, while also giving free throws to the other team.. All because they’re too small to establish rebounding position against a true center. Barnes can’t get a 7 ft center to play for him because he won’t let them go to work.

Uros was a role player and Barnes used him exactly as he should have. Win the opening tip. Play extremely physical and get a few fouls called on opposing teams’ posts. Set high post screens and get some good early looks for UT’s best perimeter shooters. He wasn’t a 25 minute/game player.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It’s really weird seeing random a poster criticizing Barnes for not playing Uros enough. It has to be a troll job.

 

[turbovol]

Uros was a happy stiff for most of his career. He is a big man with minimal basketball talent. If he were more talented, he'd have been a true
asset and played more--but he wasn't, and Barnes used him appropriately.

This team seems to have been overrated. We might yet be good or even very good---but it's hard to be 1 Seed good if you don't have a serious
post presence and/or a couple of bangers who can make some plays inside, get rebounds and take some pressure off your perimeter guys. This has been our problem for years. The one year we had a banger in power forward Williams--a better team than this one, so far--we still had an issue at center as Alexander was never more than an average big. So we're dependent on outside shooting, and there will always be games when outside shots are not falling--and we've just twice seen the result when that happens.

 

[adam.vol]

It’s really weird seeing random a poster criticizing Barnes for not playing Uros enough. It has to be a troll job.

Not at all. You just have to be open minded enough to ask the question “who did we have that played the position better?” If you can show me the post player who established position and grabbed offensive boards against teams with strong post play, I’ll agree that Barnes made the right decision to keep his only 7 footer on the bench for most of the season last year.

If you read the conversation, we were talking about a lack of a big man. You came in and argued what exactly? That Barnes doesn’t need a big man because they struggle with free throws?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Not at all. You just have to be open minded enough to ask the question “who did we have that played the position better?” If you can show me the post player who established position and grabbed offensive boards against teams with strong post play, I’ll agree that Barnes made the right decision to keep his only 7 footer on the bench for most of the season last year.

If you read the conversation, we were talking about a lack of a big man. You came in and argued what exactly? That Barnes doesn’t need a big man because they struggle with free throws?

I said that Barnes used Uros exactly as he should have. He was the worst free throw shooter so using him before UT was in the bonus makes sense to get his minutes. Also it’s not a bad strategy to have upperclassmen in the game early until nerves have calmed.

Awaka and Uros basically shared the minutes as 5s. Awaka grabbed rebounds at a higher frequency. Uros also usually won tips, so using him to get that 1%-2% advantage was wise. Uros was a role player and Barnes use of him was optimal. Let him lean on the opposing center to use up some energy and hopefully log a few fouls on them and then go with a smaller lineup later after that center is worn down a bit.

Also, Uros wasn’t an ideal player to have on the court when the defense is built around switching off when screened.

 

[Namorto1]

Aidoo and Awaka and Estrella need to provide paint points to supplement the three point shooters.

Well, can't really blame Awaka. He is the team's best low post player and best rebounder but is only averaging 9.2 minutes per game after 6 games. Only played 7 against Kansas. Give him 20 minutes per game and some of these team deficiencies will self-correct in my opinion. Barnes' call on how much he is playing him. Aidoo is not a back to the basket low post scorer. The only time he scores in the paint is when it is off put backs or when he receives a pass rolling to the rim. He is better at high post but he just needs to make 12-15 foot jump shots at a higher percentage.

 

[adam.vol]

I said that Barnes used Uros exactly as he should have. He was the worst free throw shooter so using him before UT was in the bonus makes sense to get his minutes. Also it’s not a bad strategy to have upperclassmen in the game early until nerves have calmed.

Awaka and Uros basically shared the minutes as 5s. Awaka grabbed rebounds at a higher frequency. Uros also usually won tips, so using him to get that 1%-2% advantage was wise. Uros was a role player and Barnes use of him was optimal. Let him lean on the opposing center to use up some energy and hopefully log a few fouls on them and then go with a smaller lineup later after that center is worn down a bit.

Also, Uros wasn’t an ideal player to have on the court when the defense is built around switching off when screened.

I can appreciate that view.

I wish we had a better presence in the post. An entry pass to the post seems to be the best way to beat our defense. When we collapse to help underneath, the high percentage perimeter shots open up. By the same token, we are lacking in the ability to do the same on offense.

Our guard play is pretty darn good and that’s why a lot of people have us as a top team this year.

 

[calban]

It’s really weird seeing random a poster criticizing Barnes for not playing Uros enough. It has to be a troll job.

What's weird is that even when you're winning the argument some of you guys have to throw in the old TROLL card or start with the personal insults. Brings out the MaMaw in ya. Just sayin..

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

What's weird is that even when you're winning the argument some of you guys have to throw in the old TROLL card or start with the personal insults. Brings out the MaMaw in ya. Just sayin..

It was a legit observation. Show me another post criticizing Barnes for not playing Uros more.

 

[Lankykong]

What's weird is that even when you're winning the argument some of you guys have to throw in the old TROLL card or start with the personal insults. Brings out the MaMaw in ya. Just sayin..

I understood where he was coming from because that was the first poster that liked Uros that I’ve seen here. I thought Uros was good at his role but I was surprised too

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

What's weird is that even when you're winning the argument some of you guys have to throw in the old TROLL card or start with the personal insults. Brings out the MaMaw in ya. Just sayin..

Isn’t “brings out the MaMaw in ya” a personal insult? But you think suggesting a POST is a “troll job” is? Just askin..

 

[calban]

Isn’t “brings out the MaMaw in ya” a personal insult? But you think suggesting a POST is a “troll job” is? Just askin..

Yes, but is it necessary when you're actually debating. You're a pretty smart guy and in distracts from your argument. Thanks for responding . Most people have me on ignore these days. And I enjoy your posts til they turn into insults. Oh, I've been branded a TROLL. Actually a reactionary that talks without thinking before he calms down. No hard feelins?

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Yes, but is it necessary when you're actually debating. You're a pretty smart guy and in distracts from your argument. Thanks for responding . Most people have me on ignore these days. And I enjoy your posts til they turn into insults. Oh, I've been branded a TROLL. Actually a reactionary that talks without thinking before he calms down. No hard feelins?

Probably a reason for that

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Win the SEC reg season first. That will give us a high seed and hopefully a favorable draw

 

[KTrain]

Replace Rick Barnes with Nate Oates and add a couple of guards who can actually shoot consistently

He got owned last night by Ohio State 91-82 unranked OSU. If you were a Bama fan you would be looking for another coach. You cant lose to unranked teams. right. Not even in the others receiving votes for top 25.

 

[calban]

Win the SEC reg season first. That will give us a high seed and hopefully a favorable draw

Best run so far came from the 2 seed. Like to get the season and tournament championships and about 25 wins. I guess they could deny us a #1 but it'd be hard.

 

[calban]

Probably a reason for that

Have to admit, I earned it.

 

[DuckInAPen]

He got owned last night by Ohio State 91-82 unranked OSU. If you were a Bama fan you would be looking for another coach. You cant lose to unranked teams. right. Not even in the others receiving votes for top 25.

Oats hasn't yet advanced past the Sweet 16, but he gives us a better chance than the coach who's actually been to a Final 4 (and who beat Oats head-to-head last year)!

 

[Backwards K]

Be tougher. It's easy to settle for long 3's or off balance out of control floaters in the lane. It takes hard work to get to the rim and finish or get a good look out of your offense which allows you to shoot on rhythm. Vols have to find that level of toughness.

 

[Aladywhovolunteer]

The Maui Invitational Tournament is a bit of an outliner to form opinions about the team going forward.

For example Chaminade University (the host) has won 8 games in 39 years of the tournament . So, Kansas playing Chaminade in the first game is basically a warm-up drill for KU. Of course Coach Self is never going to say that but it's true. So our third game was KU's second (in reality). We were tied at the half and KU used their center (the second best center in the NCAA) too bury us. We could not guard him playing small primarily from fatigue.
Coach Barnes said after the KU game he and his staff had concerns about JJJ's minutes having played over 30 minutes in each of the first two games. JJJ was clearly not himself in the second half of the KU game.

Coach Barnes said ZZ played way to many minutes in the Purdue game and the staff had concerns about him in the KU game. I think we were up by seven when we hit the wall.

We could and should have beaten Purdue. Santi had a poor shooting night or we would have played for the Championship. Santi found the range in the KU game.

Referees are not prepared to ref physical games. Studio analysis said referees flipped 180 degrees on calling fouls in second half of the Purdue game. Called the Tech on Barnes (became a five point play) and gave a warning to Purdue's assistants complaing about calls. Changing the common foul to F1 on JJJ resulted in a 5 point play. Although it may have been the right call JJJ was making a play on the ball and not the Purdue players head.

Nate Oats when hired at Alabama said he wanted to emulate Coach Barnes' program at Tennessee. When pressed Oats said Coach Barnes does not cheat and everyone knows it.
Oats failed miserably last year in his quest to live up to that creed. The Brandon Miller saga made Oats look like a win at all cost coach. Although, I proudly display a diploma from UT, I would be disappointed if Oats was considered to replace Coach Barnes; one of the truely good guys left in the game.