Irrational Rick Barnes takes (merged)

[Volhoops]

Are you really going to argue this point tonight, on a night when coaching had absolutely nothing to do with this loss? Take a deep breath and back away from the keyboard. This loss today cuts to the very core of many posters here. Let this narrative rest for a few days, please.

Barnes defenders will NEVER blame it on the one constant in all of Barne's losses in the NCAA tournament. The one constant is Barnes. I'm sorry but thru the hundreds of players in his coaching tenure from Durant to now DK you can't believe that Barnes is not the center for his lack of success reaching the final four. I heard a stat that he is 1-12 in the NCAA vs teams seeded higher than him.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Barnes defenders will NEVER blame it on the one constant in all of Barne's losses in the NCAA tournament. The one constant is Barnes. I'm sorry but thru the hundreds of players in his coaching tenure from Durant to now DK you can't believe that Barnes is not the center for his lack of success reaching the final four. I heard a stat that he is 1-12 in the NCAA vs teams seeded higher than him.

That’s what happens when you regularly earn your team being over-seeded. Do N.C. State, Oregon State, and Michigan deserve props for nearly missing the NCAATs and getting in way under-seeded?

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Barnes defenders will NEVER blame it on the one constant in all of Barne's losses in the NCAA tournament. The one constant is Barnes. I'm sorry but thru the hundreds of players in his coaching tenure from Durant to now DK you can't believe that Barnes is not the center for his lack of success reaching the final four. I heard a stat that he is 1-12 in the NCAA vs teams seeded higher than him.

Cry more.

Seriously, we just reached our SECOND EE ever and you whiny pissheads can't STFU for a few days.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Barnes defenders will NEVER blame it on the one constant in all of Barne's losses in the NCAA tournament. The one constant is Barnes. I'm sorry but thru the hundreds of players in his coaching tenure from Durant to now DK you can't believe that Barnes is not the center for his lack of success reaching the final four. I heard a stat that he is 1-12 in the NCAA vs teams seeded higher than him.

Quit crying

 

[omghulkhands]

That’s what happens when you regularly earn your team being over-seeded. Do N.C. State, Oregon State, and Michigan deserve props for nearly missing the NCAATs and getting in way under-seeded?

Duke hadn’t beat a higher seed since 1994 until this year lol. It’s just the nature of how math works sometimes.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Barnes defenders will NEVER blame it on the one constant in all of Barne's losses in the NCAA tournament. The one constant is Barnes. I'm sorry but thru the hundreds of players in his coaching tenure from Durant to now DK you can't believe that Barnes is not the center for his lack of success reaching the final four. I heard a stat that he is 1-12 in the NCAA vs teams seeded higher than him.

Go ahead and tell us specifically what Barnes did or didn't do yesterday that cost us the game.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I bet these are the same people that when TV got the BaseVols to the CWS only 3 seasons after Dave Serrano, they complained why we didn't win a game at that CWS.

Edit: Meant Serrano not Raleigh.

 

[RudyVol]

Go ahead and tell us specifically what Barnes did or didn't do yesterday that cost us the game.

He did not recruit Zach Edey

 

[VolsSportsFan]

He did not recruit Zach Edey

Creighton would eat our lunch. Our bigs stink.

Tell us more you clear basketball genius.

 

[rocketskates]

Go ahead and tell us specifically what Barnes did or didn't do yesterday that cost us the game.

100%. The gameplan worked. We had a chance to win all the way until the last 2 min; and that’s working against biased officiating as well. Had we made our free throws we would’ve won. Basketball is a game of what ifs but we didn’t get blown out. Blowouts are the sign of poor preparation/poor game planning. Not narrow losses.

 

[rocketskates]

He did not recruit Zach Edey

And neither did any of the college basketball “blue bloods”. No one knew that a big man like Edey would get all of the officiating love that he has gotten this season. Normally guys that are that big foul out all of the time. Im not one to complain about the officiating but the bottom line is you either call the game tight or you call it loose and let em play. Edey was committing three second violations and throwing elbows the entire game.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

100%. The gameplan worked. We had a chance to win all the way until the last 2 min; and that’s working against biased officiating as well. Had we made our free throws we would’ve won. Basketball is a game of what ifs but we didn’t get blown out. Blowouts are the sign of poor preparation/poor game planning. Not narrow losses.

I have criticized the offensive droughts in the past, and yes as the HC it still falls on him even if not completely fair.

But yesterday ZZ was missing a few wideo open 3s and he wasn't even close and couldn't get any floaters to go. He has to hit those wide open 3s and more of those floaters. Aidoo brought absolutely nothing. JJJ started great and then kinda faded. Vescovi was sick and hasn't been great for a good while. And too many sat back and just kinda watched DK take over.

And even with all that, and the refs letting Lurch do literally whatever he wanted, we still only lost by 6 and had a chance late. I find it hard to criticize Barnes this postseason.

 

[rocketskates]

I have criticized the offensive droughts in the past, and yes as the HC it still falls on him even if not completely fair.

But yesterday ZZ was missing a few wideo open 3s and he wasn't even close and couldn't get any floaters to go. He has to hit those wide open 3s and more of those floaters. Aidoo brought absolutely nothing. JJJ started great and then kinda faded. Vescovi was sick and hasn't been great for a good while. And too many sat back and just kinda watched DK take over.

And even with all that, and the refs letting Lurch do literally whatever he wanted, we still only lost by 6 and had a chance late. I find it hard to criticize Barnes this postseason.

My only criticism was him starting Aidoo, and that’s not a knock on Jonas, he’s a great kid but he just wasn’t having a good tournament. It happens, sometimes you go cold. But, even then Barnes was able to figure that out.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

My only criticism was him starting Aidoo, and that’s not a knock on Jonas, he’s a great kid but he just wasn’t having a good tournament. It happens, sometimes you go cold. But, even then Barnes was able to figure that out.

I think he did because he was hoping the light bulb would come on, plus Awaka is great but he fouls too much and yesterday had he started he'd probably have 2 in like the first 2 minutes the way they were calling them.

If Aidoo could start hitting that mid range jumper consistently he'd be possibly dangerous. But he can't lately and every time he shot he looked like he knew it was going to brick before he let it go.

 

[GAVol]

81 attempts versus 41 attempts is a big problem. Bringing back the rule for 3-second violations would be a good start at addressing it.

There’s literally no point in having a lane at this point. Just put some marks on the floor to show where to stand for FTs and end the charade. What Edey was allowed to do completely changes the game.

 

[GAVol]

Duke hadn’t beat a higher seed since 1994 until this year lol. It’s just the nature of how math works sometimes.

The higher seed argument is one of the funnier ones to me. I’ll bet the higher seed wins about 90% of the time in the tournament.

 

[RudyVol]

And neither did any of the college basketball “blue bloods”. No one knew that a big man like Edey would get all of the officiating love that he has gotten this season. Normally guys that are that big foul out all of the time. Im not one to complain about the officiating but the bottom line is you either call the game tight or you call it loose and let em play. Edey was committing three second violations and throwing elbows the entire game.

It was a joke.

 

[RudyVol]

Tell us more you clear basketball genius.

The first one is a joke. Look at my avatar lol. 2nd prediction turned out more true than I hoped just against a different team.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

The first one is a joke. Look at my avatar lol. 2nd prediction turned out more true than I hoped just against a different team.

All good, just ribbing.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Polish Joe is currently on Basilio spewing quite the rant. Do not let that clown bring his carpet cleaning operation into your home or place of business. He has anger issues.

He claims that the Catholic basketball coach would win more games in the NCAAT versus higher seeds than Barnes has.

 

[Volhoops]

Cry more.

Seriously, we just reached our SECOND EE ever and you whiny pissheads can't STFU for a few days.

Hate truth much do you ? I will openly acknowledge he is king "Regular Season Rick". The teams that Rick Barnes has put together over the years have success sending players to the pros but he cannot utilize that talent to make a final four. Why is saying Barnes is part of the reason for that lack of tournament success such an offending statement when it is true. That is my only question.

 

[volbound1700]

Hate truth much do you ? I will openly acknowledge he is king "Regular Season Rick". The teams that Rick Barnes has put together over the years have success sending players to the pros but he cannot utilize that talent to make a final four. Why is saying Barnes is part of the reason for that lack of tournament success such an offending statement when it is true. That is my only question.

He has done alright in the post season.

To be frank, Purdue was the better team. We had no one that could properly cover Edey. Sure, the officiating around him plays a part but I think that is part of his game and he knows how to use it to get those calls.

I think Tennessee had a great run this year, no blame.

Last year was a missed opportunity, IMO. That was our year to make the Final Four and we blew it. Even then, it is an Asterix as we were missing Zeigler and it impacted the team (at least we made Sweet 16 last year). Still, scoring only 55 points against Florida Atlantic was just a big thud.

The only criticism that I can have for Barnes is that I felt he could have used time outs more strategically. I think he was slow to call timeout when Purdue started cutting into the 11 point lead and I saw a similar case in the last game against Creighton. Matt Painter, for Purdue, used his time outs better to stop momentum.

I am ECSTATIC that we got Barnes and I hope he stays longer. He is the best coach Tennessee has ever had and I think he could eventually get us there if fans can just be patient and don't listen to the trolls.

 

[volbound1700]

Hate truth much do you ? I will openly acknowledge he is king "Regular Season Rick". The teams that Rick Barnes has put together over the years have success sending players to the pros but he cannot utilize that talent to make a final four. Why is saying Barnes is part of the reason for that lack of tournament success such an offending statement when it is true. That is my only question.

You could say the same think about Bill Self at Kansas, Mark Few at Gonzaga, John Calipari at Kentucky, Tom Izzo at Michigan State, etc. Making Final Four isn't always easy.

Tennessee hasn't gotten a 1 seed yet either (which means we have never been actually FAVORED to make the Final Four).

 

[BigALWiLson]

Hate truth much do you ? I will openly acknowledge he is king "Regular Season Rick". The teams that Rick Barnes has put together over the years have success sending players to the pros but he cannot utilize that talent to make a final four. Why is saying Barnes is part of the reason for that lack of tournament success such an offending statement when it is true. That is my only question.

Probably because Tennessee Historically really has never had success making FF, EE and even S16. Also pro players every single year never see FF. Do you realize all the talent Kentucky has sent to the league in recent memory ? It takes luck and good basketball to reach the FF, Rick didn't make Aidoo or ZZ disappear. They mentally hamstrung themselves

 

[volbound1700]

Probably because Tennessee Historically really has never had success making FF, EE and even S16. Also pro players every single year never see FF. Do you realize all the talent Kentucky has sent to the league in recent memory ? It takes luck and good basketball to reach the FF, Rick didn't make Aidoo or ZZ disappear. They mentally hamstrung themselves

People on here are just not giving enough credit to Purdue's play style and how it impacted our offense IMO. Stupid Edey just sat in the paint and none of the other Purdue players bothered to defend it (now how he didn't get 5 second calls is beyond me, I think he stood on the edge a lot to avoid it).

Every time we tried to drive in a half court offense, the 7' 4" monstrosity was there to block any shots. It destroyed our confidence and ability to score in the paint. No matter who had the ball, it was the same every time, they drove, got to Edey, and had to pass it out. The other 4 Purdue players just sat on the edge and defended the 3. It was a nightmare for our offense. The only time we had a great chance to score was with the turnovers leading to full presses or quick missed shot leading to full presses because Edey wasn't there. Edey killed our offense. This is why ZZ "struggled". He didn't play that bad of a game.

Aidoo is another story. Aidoo was clearly not on the same level as Edey and he did get ticky/tacky fouls called against him that destroyed his confidence.