What if? (Bruce Pearl Edition)

#51
#51
K-town Vol Fan said:
Pearl sure had a lot of charisma, but I never thought he was an outstanding basketball coach. Watching his offense was really hard at times. Whats happening at AU backs up my point.
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He had a great staff. Hard to replace a guy like Forbes with Stevey Pearl.
 
#52
#52
BigOrangeMojo said:
And to circle back to Pearl, the only ways you get caught and get severely punished is the following 4 step method. Applies to Ole Miss football as well

1. You are sloppy (Which Pearl was)
2. You bring attention to yourself/program via recruiting at a previous unseen level (Which Pearl did with Tobias Harris/Josh Selby)
3. You have people in charge with an ax to grind due to way you carry yourself (i.e Pearl turning in IL had him blacklisted)
4. You tick off blue blood programs (which Pearl did)
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In Pearl's case I think the outcome would have been different had he just told the truth.
 
#55
#55
FleeceItOut said:
In Pearl's case I think the outcome would have been different had he just told the truth.
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I think the NCAA would have been here either way. UT was recruiting like a national blue-blood program and that ticked off the blue bloods. Pearl's prior history at IA made him a lot of enemies. In addition, the Kiffin tenure was still within the statute of limitations. I think Pearl lied in a pre-emptive strike against the NCAA. He didn't lie just to cover up a secondary violation. His plan backfired miserably though.
 
#57
#57
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Protecting an employee that lies to the employer isn't a wise strategy.
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Should have never come to that.

Dude you can keep trying to downplay history all you want but the best 6 years era of Tennessee basketball happened while Bruce was our head coach.

Bruce > every hoops coach we've had over the past three decades. And that includes the current semi retired Barnes that you love so much.
 
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#58
#58
BigZiti09 said:
Should have never come to that.

Dude you can keep trying to rewrite history all you want but the best 6 years era of Tennessee basketball happened while Bruce was our head coach.

Bruce > every hoops coach we've had over the past three decades. And that includes the current semi retired Barnes that you love so much.
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Bruce couldn't help himself. When he lied to his employer he was done. That's not rewriting history.

Pearl's recruiting would have tanked even had he not lied to cover up his lies. Once it was common knowledge that he couldn't be trusted, he wasn't going to win many, if any, recruiting battles for top players. Maybe he would have gotten some really stupid players.
 
#59
#59
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Bruce couldn't help himself. When he lied to his employer he was done. That's not rewriting history.

Pearl's recruiting would have tanked even had he not lied to cover up his lies. Once it was common knowledge that he couldn't be trusted, he wasn't going to win many, if any, recruiting battles for top players. Maybe he would have gotten some really stupid players.
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Your timeline is all jacked up.

They should have protected him BEFORE and DURING the NCAA investigation.

He lied to UT after he was already caught by the NCAA and they had him dead in the water. UT did a piss poor job protecting an asset prior to that. He should have been protected better and never been put in that position.
 
#60
#60
BigZiti09 said:
Should have never come to that.

Dude you can keep trying to downplay history all you want but the best 6 years era of Tennessee basketball happened while Bruce was our head coach.

Bruce > every hoops coach we've had over the past three decades. And that includes the current semi retired Barnes that you love so much.
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You mean the guy with a Final Four, a couple of Elite Eights, and zero show cause penalties.
 
#61
#61
Honest question...

For those that Pearl's success would've continued, why do you think it is that he's struggled so much at Auburn? The NCAA sanctions clearly didn't hurt his ability to come back into the game and recruit at an elite level, so level of talent is definitely not the issue. Just curious what those who think very highly of him believe that answer is.
 
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#62
#62
BigZiti09 said:
Your timeline is all jacked up.

They should have protected him BEFORE and DURING the NCAA investigation.

He lied to UT after he was already caught by the NCAA and they had him dead in the water. UT did a piss poor job protecting an asset prior to that. He should have been protected better and never been put in that position.
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He was caught lying to UT when Williams was failing drug tests. He was most likely lying to them by the time he set foot on Knoxville dirt.
 
#63
#63
FleeceItOut said:
Sometimes I like to play the what if game, and earlier I was thinking of one involving the once beloved Bruce.

What if Pearl had the character of Barnes, and was never fired from UT for being a complete jackwagon?

Would he still be here today? Did he already hit his ceiling? Would he have gotten UT past the Elite 8? Would he have ever won a championship?

Just curious to see what you all think he would have accomplished, or if you think he would have flamed out.

Assume that he was high character but still able to recruit at a high level. Nothing about his coaching changes.
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Tennessee basketball was fun under Pearl. I could even tolerate Kesling on the radio for a few minutes at a time.

I don't buy the PT Barnum reference. I think much of Bruce's magic was the fact he loved Tennessee. Had Bruce not violated the rules and lied about it, he would still be here, even if Hamilton had been fired for screwing up football. Hart might have been run outta town by Pearl's hard core fans if he tried to bring in his own hire.

Mind you, we are talking about Bruce without him screwing up. I think he could have brought in top end talent within the rules. How many titles? I am not going to go that far out on a limb, but Bruce would have kept us winning, and a constant presence in the NCAA tournament.

I am sure some of his assistants would have moved on eventually, but plenty of good assistants would have come along. And the brand of Tennessee Basketball would be one great players would want to be a part of. I felt the second saddest day in UT history was the day Bruce was fired, right behind the day Pat told us her diagnosis. If only...
 
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#64
#64
bleedingTNorange said:
Honest question...

For those that Pearl's success would've continued, why do you think it is that he's struggled so much at Auburn? The NCAA sanctions clearly didn't hurt his ability to come back into the game and recruit at an elite level, so level of talent is definitely not the issue. Just curious what those who think very highly of him believe that answer is.
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Buster Douglas effect
Weaker assistant coaches
Worse job
 
#70
#70
BigZiti09 said:
That was long after the NCAA had the goods on him.
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Do you know for a fact that UT wasn't aware that they had a dishonest man with a flawed character on their payroll long before they let him hang himself with the NCAA's noose? Why do you suppose they didn't help him save himself? Perhaps they knew exactly what they had and made a wise decision to end it.
 
#72
#72
BigZiti09 said:
Buster Douglas effect
Weaker assistant coaches
Worse job
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I believe the assistants are the biggest reason by far, and that's what makes me wonder how long he would've sustained that success here? Were Forbes, Shay and Savage around for the long haul? I don't know.

What does the "worse job" matter though, I truly never have understand that theory? If you put Cal at Auburn does he struggle to make the NCAAT? Auburn is a better job than UW-Milwaukee I think we can all agree, and Pearl won big there.
 
#74
#74
bleedingTNorange said:
I believe the assistants are the biggest reason by far, and that's what makes me wonder how long he would've sustained that success here? Were Forbes, Shay and Savage around for the long haul? I don't know.

What does the "worse job" matter though, I truly never have understand that theory? If you put Cal at Auburn does he struggle to make the NCAAT? Auburn is a better job than UW-Milwaukee I think we can all agree, and Pearl won big there.
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I just think it's harder to win at some places. Cal wouldn't win at Auburn like he does at Uk.

Auburn is possibly the worst job in this league. Pearl was a perfect fit here because he fed off the energy and his players bought in to him and he instilled confidence in them. Just harder to duplicate that at Auburn I think.

He's getting recruits but he's lost several to discipline/transfer right?

No doubt his assistants are weaker but who is to say he wouldn't have been able to make better hires had he stayed at UT?

I think the buster Douglas effect is the biggest reason. I am guessing you don't buy into that theory but I've seen it happen too many times in sports. Mike Tyson, Tiger Woods. Heck, even Phil Fulmer in the 2001 SECCG.

I believe Bruce would have kept winning here. I'm not sure he will recapture the magic at Auburn. What I really dislike is when people try to crap on his era here. It's just silly to me.
 
#75
#75
BurninOrange said:
When he left was the roster depleted? Honest question.
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Since Hopson and Tobias didn't stick around I'd have to say it probably was. It would have been better had McRae been getting experience over say... Steven Pearl. Maymon should have also been getting Steven's minutes. The roster would have been better if Maymon had good knees. Cam and Kenny and Trae and McRae and Jeronne look pretty solid on paper.
 
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