This team has redeemed itself.

#1
BOP

BOP

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#1
It hasn't overachieved, and the program still is in bad shape. Why in the world anyone thinks that a team playing the way it should have all along and beating Iowa, UMASS, and Mercer, deserves an apology for the garbage that we saw all year is just weird. Martin has earned himself another year, has he proven himself to be anything other than a mediocre coach and a terrible recruiter? NO. Unless he is able to parlay this into completely redoing his recruiting class the future remains bleak. The talent level next year will not be mediocre, it will be flat out bad. Some people act as if "we made the sweet 16 so I guess the program is in great shape going forward" Bull fing crap.
 
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#4
#4
Get ready to be hammered BOP. By a lot of the same people who criticized CM just weeks ago, who suddenly want to say "I told you so." Like they supported Martin from day one
 
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#5
#5
vols 30 said:
Get ready to be hammered BOP. By a lot of the same people who criticized CM just weeks ago, who suddenly want to say "I told you so."
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There is no I told you so. They received valid criticism. They've gotten their **** together and are playing great basketball. Why can't people just shut the hell up and enjoy it?

If we come out and lay a dud against UM, there's a long offseason to ***** and moan. The way we're playing though, we're a tough out.
 
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#7
#7
Thrasher865 said:
There is no I told you so. They received valid criticism. They've gotten their **** together and are playing great basketball. Why can't peopled just shut the hell up and enjoy it?

If we come out and lay a dud against UM, there's a long offseason to ***** and moan. The way we're playing though, we're a tough out.
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Why? Because of the 50 "my bad" threads and the overwhelming delusion of grandeur.
 
#8
#8
i posted this in another thread, but it seems more relevant here.

i wasn't going to to do this because i did not want to throw water on tennessee's run, but since we have all these "apology" type threads i think it needs to be said.

you don't judge anyone by a game or two. you judge things based on whether or not you like the future and direction of the program.

so, the question is does a win over iowa, massachusetts and mercer change where you think the future of tennessee basketball is headed?

i'm just asking the question.

because, one can easily make the argument that while reaching the sweet sixteen is impressive....just where the hell was this all year long? why was this team a legitimate bubble team at risk of not getting invited to the dance?

tennessee isn't kentucky with a bunch of freshman that needed to grow up.

this team is lead by juniors and seniors.

imo, everyone should be thrilled by advancing to the sweet sixteen. but, i wouldn't let a win over mercer erase the memory of a lot of inexplicable poor play throughout the season.
 
#9
#9
99gator said:
i posted this in another thread, but it seems more relevant here.

i wasn't going to to do this because i did not want to throw water on tennessee's run, but since we have all these "apology" type threads i think it needs to be said.

you don't judge anyone by a game or two. you judge things based on whether or not you like the future and direction of the program.

so, the question is does a win over iowa, massachusetts and mercer change where you think the future of tennessee basketball is headed?

i'm just asking the question.

because, one can easily make the argument that while reaching the sweet sixteen is impressive....just where the hell was this all year long? why was this team a legitimate bubble team at risk of not getting invited to the dance?

tennessee isn't kentucky with a bunch of freshman that needed to grow up.

this team is lead by juniors and seniors.

imo, everyone should be thrilled by advancing to the sweet sixteen. but, i wouldn't let a win over mercer erase the memory of a lot of inexplicable poor play throughout the season.
Click to expand...

True, the fact that UCLA is about to kick Florida's ass shouldn't completely erase the memories of that perfect SEC season.
 
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#10
#10
BOP said:
Why? Because of the 50 "my bad" threads and the overwhelming delusion of grandeur.
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Who cares how the season went. Do you think 10 years from now you'll remember how the season went or that we made it to the sweet 16 or maybe even elite 8? And before you judge the recruiting class remember one thing. People complained when we got Josh Richardson (3 star) instead of Kevin Ware (4 star).
 
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#11
#11
I'm betting there a several schools that wish they were in such horrible shape. As of now, and until Stokes says otherwise. UT will be able to start a 5* C (and the best rebounder in the nation), a 5* SG, and a the best defensive small forward in the SEC and possibly the nation next season. I would say that's a pretty good start.
 
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#12
#12
BOP said:
True, the fact that UCLA is about to kick Florida's ass shouldn't completely erase the memories of that perfect SEC season.
Click to expand...

if that happens, that would be exactly correct.

also...

way to re-establish that vol-fan card street cred
 
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#14
#14
I am stoked about how the Vols are doing as much as the next guy. But even though I don't think this is a great thread, it's a good place for me to throw out some stuff that I haven't really been able to post on other threads.

Yes this team is in the sweet 16, much better than anyone predicted, but we have beat 3 teams that aren't anything to get excited about. Tell me if we played Iowa, Umass and Mercer 3 games in a row in the regular season if people would be saying "Cuonzo is a great coach, I was wrong." Probably not. I realize this is the tourney and the hype is there, but I don't know about this much crow eating already. We don't need to make 10 threads about Cuonzo needs an extention. It's impressive what they're doing and how they're doing it, but let's not make more of it then what it is. We have gotten a very favourable path to the sweet 16, arguably better than most of the other teams. Umass was a 6 seed in their conference tournament and were probably one of the worst seedings the ncaa has made in a long time. I love this team, I think we can beat michigan, but I don't think I'm ready to say "Cuonzo is a top tier coach, lets give him a 4 year extension" because of what's happened so far. I'm not saying we should expect him to get us to the final four, but if we did this year, then I would be like "okay, this guy might be the long term guy" but we haven't really beaten anyone this year besides virginia, who wasn't THAT big a deal at the time, that we were supposed to lose to. We were predicted to win all 3 games so far. Let's see how we handle Michigan and possibly the team after that before we start going 100% "Cuonzo is an amazing coach who deserves an extension" because most people wanted him gone until 5 minutes left in the Iowa game. Emotions can get the better of us, we're only human, but I'm just trying to be realistic here so I don't see all the same fans here asking for his head after next year's team starts off just as slow as his previous 2 seasons and this season did. He will have a lot to prove, so say we lose Michigan, I will still count this a succesful season, but I don't think Martin has earned a contract with just getting the sweet 16 the way we did. I've said it all the time, he will earn his contract by showing he can take a far less experienced team next year and having a good season. That is all.

Lets go vols and get us some wolverine skinned coats on friday! GBO!
 
#16
#16
VinylVols said:
I am stoked about how the Vols are doing as much as the next guy. But even though I don't think this is a great thread, it's a good place for me to throw out some stuff that I haven't really been able to post on other threads.

Yes this team is in the sweet 16, much better than anyone predicted, but we have beat 3 teams that aren't anything to get excited about. Tell me if we played Iowa, Umass and Mercer 3 games in a row in the regular season if people would be saying "Cuonzo is a great coach, I was wrong." Probably not. I realize this is the tourney and the hype is there, but I don't know about this much crow eating already. We don't need to make 10 threads about Cuonzo needs an extention. It's impressive what they're doing and how they're doing it, but let's not make more of it then what it is. We have gotten a very favourable path to the sweet 16, arguably better than most of the other teams. Umass was a 6 seed in their conference tournament and were probably one of the worst seedings the ncaa has made in a long time. I love this team, I think we can beat michigan, but I don't think I'm ready to say "Cuonzo is a top tier coach, lets give him a 4 year extension" because of what's happened so far. I'm not saying we should expect him to get us to the final four, but if we did this year, then I would be like "okay, this guy might be the long term guy" but we haven't really beaten anyone this year besides virginia, who wasn't THAT big a deal at the time, that we were supposed to lose to. We were predicted to win all 3 games so far. Let's see how we handle Michigan and possibly the team after that before we start going 100% "Cuonzo is an amazing coach who deserves an extension" because most people wanted him gone until 5 minutes left in the Iowa game. Emotions can get the better of us, we're only human, but I'm just trying to be realistic here so I don't see all the same fans here asking for his head after next year's team starts off just as slow as his previous 2 seasons and this season did. He will have a lot to prove, so say we lose Michigan, I will still count this a succesful season, but I don't think Martin has earned a contract with just getting the sweet 16 the way we did. I've said it all the time, he will earn his contract by showing he can take a far less experienced team next year and having a good season. That is all.

Lets go vols and get us some wolverine skinned coats on friday! GBO!
Click to expand...

In the regular season both Iowa and Umass were ranked in the top 15. Beating both of them would have been impressive.
 
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#17
#17
Stoked4Zo said:
Who cares how the season went. Do you think 10 years from now you'll remember how the season went or that we made it to the sweet 16 or maybe even elite 8? And before you judge the recruiting class remember one thing. People complained when we got Josh Richardson (3 star) instead of Kevin Ware (4 star).
Click to expand...

I care how the season went. You think we are going to be able to make sweet 16s from the 11 seed routinely or something? If 10 years from now people are reminiscing about a sweet 16 from 2014 that's going to be a major problem. So does Ware break his leg if he comes to Tennessee? You know he was getting significant minutes on a national championship team right? You act like Richardson has been doing this his whole career. And even if you have a valid point, is that all? Because the overwhelming majority of Martin's recruiting has been exactly what it was projected to be, underwhelming.
 
#19
#19
BOP said:
It hasn't overachieved, and the program still is in bad shape. Why in the world anyone thinks that a team playing the way it should have all along and beating Iowa, UMASS, and Mercer, deserves an apology for the garbage that we saw all year is just weird. Martin has earned himself another year, has he proven himself to be anything other than a mediocre coach and a terrible recruiter? NO. Unless he is able to parlay this into completely redoing his recruiting class the future remains bleak. The talent level next year will not be mediocre, it will be flat out bad. Some people act as if "we made the sweet 16 so I guess the program is in great shape going forward" Bull fing crap.
Click to expand...

Please explain the terrible recruiter comment. He managed to close the deal with Stokes, Hubbs was a top recruit, and this past class was rated in the top 30 by ESPN. No, he hasn't recruited five one and dones per year like Calipari, but no one else in the SEC has either.
 
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#20
#20
drewtigeralum said:
I'm betting there a several schools that wish they were in such horrible shape. As of now, and until Stokes says otherwise. UT will be able to start a 5* C (and the best rebounder in the nation), a 5* SG, and a the best defensive small forward in the SEC and possibly the nation next season. I would say that's a pretty good start.
Click to expand...

No, there aren't a bunch of other schools that want our roster next year. It will be that bad. What does it take to get how bad it will be through people's head?
 
#21
#21
BOP said:
It hasn't overachieved, and the program still is in bad shape. Why in the world anyone thinks that a team playing the way it should have all along and beating Iowa, UMASS, and Mercer, deserves an apology for the garbage that we saw all year is just weird. Martin has earned himself another year, has he proven himself to be anything other than a mediocre coach and a terrible recruiter? NO. Unless he is able to parlay this into completely redoing his recruiting class the future remains bleak. The talent level next year will not be mediocre, it will be flat out bad. Some people act as if "we made the sweet 16 so I guess the program is in great shape going forward" Bull fing crap.
Click to expand...

Preach.
 
#22
#22
BOP said:
I care how the season went. You think we are going to be able to make sweet 16s from the 11 seed routinely or something? If 10 years from now people are reminiscing about a sweet 16 from 2014 that's going to be a major problem. So does Ware break his leg if he comes to Tennessee? You know he was getting significant minutes on a national championship team right? You act like Richardson has been doing this his whole career. And even if you have a valid point, is that all? Because the overwhelming majority of Martin's recruiting has been exactly what it was projected to be, underwhelming.
Click to expand...

Yes, 3 of the 5 starters on U.T.'s sweet 16 team are underwhelming.
 
#23
#23
good thing we had Trae d'ing up on opposing pg's during this run of wins, right BOP? Same guards last year lit our guards up for 41 and jrich got 6 shots in the game. Mercer pg yesterday didn't get a shot off in the first half, jrich and stokes had career highs as we win in a blowout with solid game management, defense and not being a turnover prone ballhog.
Without the trade, we are sitting at home like Trae is. I've been telling you for 3 months. Now maybe you have seen enough to realize pg is more than scoring 20 pts for the team and losing.
 
#24
#24
VinylVols said:
I am stoked about how the Vols are doing as much as the next guy. But even though I don't think this is a great thread, it's a good place for me to throw out some stuff that I haven't really been able to post on other threads.

Yes this team is in the sweet 16, much better than anyone predicted, but we have beat 3 teams that aren't anything to get excited about. Tell me if we played Iowa, Umass and Mercer 3 games in a row in the regular season if people would be saying "Cuonzo is a great coach, I was wrong." Probably not. I realize this is the tourney and the hype is there, but I don't know about this much crow eating already. We don't need to make 10 threads about Cuonzo needs an extention. It's impressive what they're doing and how they're doing it, but let's not make more of it then what it is. We have gotten a very favourable path to the sweet 16, arguably better than most of the other teams. Umass was a 6 seed in their conference tournament and were probably one of the worst seedings the ncaa has made in a long time. I love this team, I think we can beat michigan, but I don't think I'm ready to say "Cuonzo is a top tier coach, lets give him a 4 year extension" because of what's happened so far. I'm not saying we should expect him to get us to the final four, but if we did this year, then I would be like "okay, this guy might be the long term guy" but we haven't really beaten anyone this year besides virginia, who wasn't THAT big a deal at the time, that we were supposed to lose to. We were predicted to win all 3 games so far. Let's see how we handle Michigan and possibly the team after that before we start going 100% "Cuonzo is an amazing coach who deserves an extension" because most people wanted him gone until 5 minutes left in the Iowa game. Emotions can get the better of us, we're only human, but I'm just trying to be realistic here so I don't see all the same fans here asking for his head after next year's team starts off just as slow as his previous 2 seasons and this season did. He will have a lot to prove, so say we lose Michigan, I will still count this a succesful season, but I don't think Martin has earned a contract with just getting the sweet 16 the way we did. I've said it all the time, he will earn his contract by showing he can take a far less experienced team next year and having a good season. That is all.

Lets go vols and get us some wolverine skinned coats on friday! GBO!
Click to expand...

IMO... this says EXACTLY what the OP said... just much more eloquently.

and well said sir. :hi:
 
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#25
#25
Stoked4Zo said:
Who cares how the season went. Do you think 10 years from now you'll remember how the season went or that we made it to the sweet 16 or maybe even elite 8? And before you judge the recruiting class remember one thing. People complained when we got Josh Richardson (3 star) instead of Kevin Ware (4 star).
Click to expand...

One of my first generalizations of a past team (and this isn't entirely fair) is if/how far they went in the ncaa tournament. In retrospect, I tend to view mediocre teams that got hot at the right time as probably being a lot better than they actually were. Vice versa for great teams who choked early on in the tournament. If we somehow win it all, nobody will look back and remember the sweep at the hands of A&M, or the losses to UTEP. By default, the 2013-14 vols would be glorified and generally viewed as the greatest Tennessee basketball team of all time.

Tl;dr: you're only remembered for what you do in the tournament.
 
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