Watching the game last night ...

#1

bnhunt

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#1
helped to eliminate any remaining desire I had to bring Bruce Pearl back. He looked buffoonish out there turning red and sweating profusely (which the ESPN halftime guys even commented on), while CRB just calmly stood on the sideline and coached circles around Pearl. The Vols were the much better coached and more disciplined team while AUB was jacking up quick shots and not rebounding or playing D.

UT got extremely lucky to get CRB, but the Vols are in great hands IMO. Pearl would trade AUB for UT any day.
 
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#2
#2
Loved Bruce when he was here. I think he was a great recruiter but a decent coach. I think Barnes is a phenomenal coach, and as we continue to win with him our recruiting will improve
 
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#4
#4
AU executed it's offense horribly in the 1st half. Their discipline cost them this one. You can point to coaching. You could also make the case that the "basketball maturity / intelligence" of that roster is not the greatest.
AU is loaded with athletes already, and more on the way. But the good guys looked very well coached and well disciplined, especially early in the game. I wondered out loud to someone last night that "AU's players just don't look bball savvy".
Pearl is a hype guy that get's results and CRB is a "under the radar" guy that gets results a different way. Both are proven winners using their philosophies.
 
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#5
#5
That same exuberance that you're saying is tacky now brought a level of passion and excitement for UT mens bball that hadn't been seen in a long time (if ever). Thompson Boling was rocking for every game of his tenure and his personality had a lot to do with that. The fact remains that BP is a solid coach.. be careful when trying to devalue his time here. The Auburn team just doesn't seem to have the chemistry required to be successful.. not always the coach's fault.
 
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#6
#6
That same exuberance that you're saying is tacky now brought a level of passion and excitement for UT mens bball that hadn't been seen in a long time (if ever). Thompson Boling was rocking for every game of his tenure and his personality had a lot to do with that. The fact remains that BP is a solid coach.. be careful when trying to devalue his time here. The Auburn team just doesn't seem to have the chemistry required to be successful.. not always the coach's fault.

It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if Bruce had dialed it back just a smidgeon while at UT, kept his shirt on, and not been a chronic liar.
 
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#7
#7
That same exuberance that you're saying is tacky now brought a level of passion and excitement for UT mens bball that hadn't been seen in a long time (if ever). Thompson Boling was rocking for every game of his tenure and his personality had a lot to do with that. The fact remains that BP is a solid coach.. be careful when trying to devalue his time here. The Auburn team just doesn't seem to have the chemistry required to be successful.. not always the coach's fault.

Correct. AU gave UT trouble late with the press, which was common in his early UT tenure. Jacking up 3's was the benchmark of his earl success as well, just so happened that our guys hit them, even Childress. He had Chris Lofton his first 3 years, and those guys aren't common. I agree that what we saw last night wasn't too different from what we saw at UT, but better chemistry and he had a much better staff, obviously. As for the other stuff, I always thought he was more style/antics over substance (when at UT), kinda like a certain football coach. I always thought Pearl was embarrassing at times, I just didn't care because we were having fun and winning games.
 
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#8
#8
It wouldn't have hurt my feelings if Bruce had dialed it back just a smidgeon while at UT, kept his shirt on, and not been a chronic liar.
To each his own. As a young student during his time here I thought it was phenomenal. Going door to door at Presidential to remind every day students there was a game the next day, pizza party outside Thompson Boling before the huge victory against FL. His sideline antics could have been a little over the top, but his kids certainly wanted to play for him. I thought the chest painting thing was an awesome way to show support for Pat and the girls. And chronic liar? Yup, he screwed up.. no doubt about that and he served his time. Chronic liar may be a step too far. He made UT Bball exciting.. much of the other complaints are simply minutiae.
 
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#9
#9
Correct. AU gave UT trouble late with the press, which was common in his early UT tenure. Jacking up 3's was the benchmark of his earl success as well, just so happened that our guys hit them, even Childress. He had Chris Lofton his first 3 years, and those guys aren't common. I agree that what we saw last night wasn't too different from what we saw at UT, but better chemistry and he had a much better staff, obviously. As for the other stuff, I always thought he was more style/antics over substance (when at UT), kinda like a certain football coach. I always thought Pearl was embarrassing at times, I just didn't care because we were having fun and winning games.
Hard to call it jacking up 3's when you have CL and Juwuan Smith in your backcourt. His teams dialed down their 3 pt shots when CL and Smith left, unfortunately his record after that reflected it. Won a few games with that press and it was awesome when it worked. I think he could have Auburn as a perennial tourney team in a few years. I personally never found him embarrassing.. would have been awesome to finally make a Final Four though!
 
#10
#10
That same exuberance that you're saying is tacky now brought a level of passion and excitement for UT mens bball that hadn't been seen in a long time (if ever). Thompson Boling was rocking for every game of his tenure and his personality had a lot to do with that. The fact remains that BP is a solid coach.. be careful when trying to devalue his time here. The Auburn team just doesn't seem to have the chemistry required to be successful.. not always the coach's fault.

Maybe it just looks sadder when his teams aren't winning as much. I would prefer CRB's coaching style any day, although I really enjoyed Pearl's tenure in Knoxville.
 
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#11
#11
Maybe it just looks sadder when his teams aren't winning as much. I would prefer CRB's coaching style any day, although I really enjoyed Pearl's tenure in Knoxville.
That's definitely all true. But remember that about 6 weeks ago, quite a few fans on here swore CRB was washed up and needed to be fired. Winning fixes everything.
 
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#12
#12
To each his own. As a young student during his time here I thought it was phenomenal. Going door to door at Presidential to remind every day students there was a game the next day, pizza party outside Thompson Boling before the huge victory against FL. His sideline antics could have been a little over the top, but his kids certainly wanted to play for him. I thought the chest painting thing was an awesome way to show support for Pat and the girls. And chronic liar? Yup, he screwed up.. no doubt about that and he served his time. Chronic liar may be a step too far. He made UT Bball exciting.. much of the other complaints are simply minutiae.

Shirtless was a bit much and made him look cartoonish and made TN look foolish. He could have kept his shirt on.

When he lied, lied in an attempt to cover up the lies, and even attempted to get others to lie as well... in my book that's a chronic liar.
 
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#13
#13
When we had a #1 ranking (albeit briefly) nobody thought BP was too over the top.

I'm extremely happy with the coach we have but I'll never understand why some UT fans hate on Bruce. He lied about a bbq ffs...a falsehood barely a shade worse than "no that doesn't make your butt look big."
 
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#15
#15
When we had a #1 ranking (albeit briefly) nobody thought BP was too over the top.

I'm extremely happy with the coach we have but I'll never understand why some UT fans hate on Bruce. He lied about a bbq ffs...a falsehood barely a shade worse than "no that doesn't make your butt look big."

He also lied about Brian Williams' failed drug test. He lied to his bosses. He tried to get a recruit to lie to cover up his lie. He also sat Maymon on the bench and played Steven ****ing Pearl instead. I'm glad he won many games, but I believe that many coaches could do the same thing at UT. TN was (and is) a great situation for a better than average coach.
 
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#16
#16
That same exuberance that you're saying is tacky now brought a level of passion and excitement for UT mens bball that hadn't been seen in a long time (if ever). Thompson Boling was rocking for every game of his tenure and his personality had a lot to do with that. The fact remains that BP is a solid coach.. be careful when trying to devalue his time here. The Auburn team just doesn't seem to have the chemistry required to be successful.. not always the coach's fault.

I don't think OP ever "devalued" Pearl's time here. Just said that he didn't look good last night. I agree. Obviously, I did not want Pearl to go. But something is different about his coaching now. Whether it's different assistants, players, or he is different, his team was not disciplined. Did not look like a team that he put out at UT.
 
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#17
#17
He also lied about Brian Williams' failed drug test. He lied to his bosses. He tried to get a recruit to lie to cover up his lie. He also sat Maymon on the bench and played Steven ****ing Pearl instead. I'm glad he won many games, but I believe that many coaches could do the same thing at UT. TN was (and is) a great situation for a better than average coach.

6 years - 6 trips to the tournament. All that stuff you listed doesn't matter if you're winning. Do I want him back? Hell No, but I sure appreciate what he accomplished here
 
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#18
#18
Eh, I didn't mind Pearl's antics. When you win, you put up with a lot of things that you find dumb in other situations. Now that he's not winning and on another sideline, it seems bad.

People here have long criticized Muschamp for his sideline antics, even though Jones has always gotten as red faced and animated on the sidelines. And no one had a problem with Jones doing it until this past season, when suddenly it was a bigger deal after we didn't meet expectations.
 
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#19
#19
6 years - 6 trips to the tournament. All that stuff you listed doesn't matter if you're winning. Do I want him back? Hell No, but I sure appreciate what he accomplished here

I didn't say that I don't appreciate the wins, the 6x NCAATs, the EE, the #1 ranking for a week, bringing Bernard back into the UTBB family. In my original post I said that I wished that he would have kept his shirt on and had been an honest man. He had a lot of things working in his favor... he inherited a great roster, the boosters stepped up and invested heavily in the program, the fan base was starving for success, he had a great staff with Jones, Shay, and Forbes.

Every coach has had flaws. Pearl was better at PR than most of them. Devoe and O'Neill were just as competent with the Xs and Os. But KO was an ass with a nasty disposition. Devoe was stubborn, wouldn't accept change, and was too much of a disciplinarian to land great recruits late in his career. Buzz could recruit as well as any UT coach, but was lost once the games tipped off. Green was toxic to fans and had no structure... just a roll out the ball and let them play type of a coach. Cuonzo's dull personality was too much after Pearl's hyper salesman persona. Tyndall would have been a better fit immediately after Pearl. Mears could have been huge on the national level if the meds of today would have been around in the 1970s. Tyndall... busted. Who knows what his potential was or how much trouble he would gave gotten TN into? TN dodged a bullet with him but still got winged by it. It could gave been a head shot had he been around for a couple of years.
 
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#20
#20
Pearl and Butch are (almost) identical coaching twins. A lot of hype, emotion, energy, and very good recruiters but average at best in game situations. IMO
 
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#24
#24
He also lied about Brian Williams' failed drug test. He lied to his bosses. He tried to get a recruit to lie to cover up his lie. He also sat Maymon on the bench and played Steven ****ing Pearl instead. I'm glad he won many games, but I believe that many coaches could do the same thing at UT. TN was (and is) a great situation for a better than average coach.

He also has the Deon Thomas incident
 
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