What will be the 'X Factor' for next year's team?

[jasonvols2.2]

It might be Rick Barnes. We all know he has had terrible post season success in his coaching career. It is frustrating, because he has had a ton of success. But, it seems that he has a ceiling. Goodness, it is irritating!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It might be Rick Barnes. We all know he has had terrible post season success in his coaching career. It is frustrating, because he has had a ton of success. But, it seems that he has a ceiling. Goodness, it is irritating!

The SECT is in the post season.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Lol what a post


I think pretty clearly it’s how 8-9 new additions to the roster are going to mesh with returning players...never a given how good or bad that’s going to go.

 

[Catbone]

March Barnes

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Starting a thread to throw shade at Barnes.

You guys are so predictable. Lol

 

[wtmvol]

It's hard to pinpoint 1 X factor in an upcoming season like this. Like the post above says, we have at least 8 new players and we'll be counting on most of them to be very productive to have success. Or you could say the X factors might be the health (Fulky) and continued improvement (JJJ, Vescovi, Bailey, etc) of the returning players.

And don't forget, not only will we have a lot of new players. We're replacing 2 assistant coaches. That's a lot of change. I'm a little skeptical that it's all going to come together, but we clearly have a lot of talent.

I'm not sure I'd call a coach with 30+ years of experience an X factor. He has strengths and weaknesses, but at this point he just kind of is what he is.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

Man @VolFreakJosh, @bleedingTNorange, and @Thunder Good-Oil can sniff out an anti Barnes post in record time.....

You all are better than drug detection K-9s the cops use...

 

[TMvol10]

8 new players and 2 new assistants. That’s a lot of new parts. There is a lot that can go wrong and a lot that has to go right for next years team to make a run. It will be an interesting season, that’s for sure.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

So is CRB’s ceiling SEC Tournament finals, SEC regular season championships, AP #1 rankings, national COY, recruiting lottery picks, and Final Fours?

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

This is a misuse of the term X factor. An X factor is not an ambiguous/undefined downside. An X factor is a strong but unpredictable positive attribute. It is strong potential energy that may or may not convert to equally strong kinetic energy. Barnes is one of the best college coaches in the game, and we’re on a streak of the best recruiting in school history. He’s a pretty stable stock. He’s not an X factor. I was dumb enough to complain about a decade of ten win seasons and only one national championship in football. I’m not making that mistake again. We’re lucky fans right now.

 

[give_him 6]

 

[Dallasbowlin]

I would say you are correct. If he tries to force this team into being a mid range team we will lose some games we shouldn’t.

 

[Kinger]

Health is the x factor

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

Mac McClung......Oh, Nevermind.

 

[OffTackleVol]

It might be Rick Barnes. We all know he has had terrible post season success in his coaching career. It is frustrating, because he has had a ton of success. But, it seems that he has a ceiling. Goodness, it is irritating!

I think the leadership from the older players will be the "x" factor. We need JJJ and Fulky to step up in performance and be great leaders.

 

[Border Vol]

The X Factor the return of Fulk to the form he had before last season

 

[VolBricks]

X-Factor will be a packed TBA.

 

[TrumpedUpVol]

I really think that Nkamhoua is the x-factor for this squad.

 

[AngryButchJones]

Nice poorly-veiled thread here, buddy.

Hope you got the attention you wanted.

 

[Vol49er]

The X Factor the return of Fulk to the form he had before last season


View attachment 363914

This is a better example of an X factor. If we can get the Fulk from the second half of 2019-20, then we should be in good shape

 

[VOLnVANDYland]

It might be Rick Barnes. We all know he has had terrible post season success in his coaching career. It is frustrating, because he has had a ton of success. But, it seems that he has a ceiling. Goodness, it is irritating!

You’re gonna get burned by some homers... but... yup

 

[VOLnVANDYland]

Lol what a post


I think pretty clearly it’s how 8-9 new additions to the roster are going to mesh with returning players...never a given how good or bad that’s going to go.

At the end of the day don’t you think how well the team meshes is about coaching? I mean heck they were recruited here for a reason and a role in mind. The coach has to pull all the right strings, and get the team rowing in the right direction.

 

[Volfan1000]

I think JJJ is the ultimate X factor for next year's team.

If he can average a double double in points and rebounds next season, this team has the potential to make an Elite 8 run and possibly the first Final Four in school history.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

At the end of the day don’t you think how well the team meshes is about coaching? I mean heck they were recruited here for a reason and a role in mind. The coach has to pull all the right strings, and get the team rowing in the right direction.

At the end of every day doesn’t it all come back to the head coach at every school?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

At the end of every day doesn’t it all come back to the head coach at every school?

When Barnes started, the Bashers were all over his recruiting like it was the most important thing. “It’s been 5xx days since Ricky has signed a 4-star”. Now that the roster has been upgraded to a level that’s never been seen at TN before the Bashers narrative is that he’s Regular Season Rick (even though he’s 7-5 in the SECT). Right now I’d rather have a coach bringing in high rated players, rolling out the basketball and seeing what happens, and putting a dozen or more players into the NBA. It’s putting TN on the map. Top 25s and NCAAT invites should never be taken for granted. Not long ago TN was going about a decade without dancing.