Is Coach Barnes UT's best ever.

Is Coach Rick Barnes UT's best ever?

  • Yes

    Votes: 115 55.0%
  • No

    Votes: 9 4.3%
  • No, the jury is still out

    Votes: 92 44.0%

  • Total voters
    209
#26
#26
Pearl who? Does that answer the question?

Edit: No disrespect for Bruce intended. I did enjoy his time here!
 
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#27
#27
Rick barnes will be a HOF coach I think. We will have claim to that honor as well as the other schools he coached.
 
#28
#28
Yes.

Bruce could recruit talent but never really could take them to that extra level.

Barnes gets the most of his players despite their rankings coming out of high school.

He’s a great X’s & O’s coach.
 
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#30
#30
I feel if Barnes gets this team to the Final 4 the answer is an obvious " yes". Barnes has the ability to get on his players when they make a mistake and they don't take it personally. I almost feel like it's a father / son relationship he has with his players. They really seem to not only like each other but they have the utmost respect for Barnes. Hopefully people realize This team is a once in a lifetime type of team and will appreciate and enjoy every minute, win or lose. It's a great group of young men as well as coaches that we can all be proud of.
 
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#31
#31
CRB has proven to me he is a great coach.That is just since he has been here.IMO no one could have done with this bunch of players,what he has.Picked 13th last year and winning the league says enough,but they have picked it up a notch this year.Just about every team has higher rated players and we keep kickin their a$$ as Jeremy Pruitt says. Mears was my pick up til now,but can you imagine what RB could do with Ernie & Bernie?Have we ever been no. 1 for 3 weeks? Have we ever won 18 games in a row? End of speech!
 
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#32
#32
THIS team responds well to THIS coach. Will another cast or characters do likewise? That's hard to predict. What happens with superstars joining this mix? Time will tell. Beyond that, there is a difference between being the best coach and getting the best results. If results are your only gauge, you can really only evaluate that after his UT career ends. Things can continue greatness or turn south quickly. Majors... Fulmer... Pearl....
 
#34
#34
I vote yes, but I started watching during the O'neill years. And I had to google his name spelling. I don't remember Ray Mears. I guess if Barnes gets a natty, there wont be no question.
 
#35
#35
Based on their work at Tennessee, it's definitely Mears.

Mears is largely regarded as the father of Tennessee Volunteers basketball, and was known for his trademark orange blazer, which he wore during games. Mears would often, particularly for big away games, walk the entire perimeter of the floor in his Big Orange sportcoat, enraging opposing teams' fans. Before his arrival, Tennessee fans almost never wore orange away from the field or court. Years later longtime Vols radio voice John Ward said that many of Tennessee's athletic traditions originated with Mears. For instance, the longstanding tradition of the football team running through a "Power T" formed by the Pride of the Southland Band originated with Mears having the basketball team run through a giant "T" as they took the court. He was also responsible for "Rocky Top" becoming Tennessee's de facto secondary fight song. (Thanks Wikipedia)

Coach Mears showed the rest of the SEC that you could compete with Kentucky at a time when few even tried.

Got to give the man his due. He is Tennessee's men's basketball coach.
 
#36
#36
Key word is team, this team feeds and plays off each other, fundamentally sound and disciplined. I loved the Bernie & Ernie teams don't think they got past
1st rd in tourney with all that talent. I never liked Mears's star system, 2 scorers 2 rebounders and point guard, if his shooters were off same game team WAS EASY GUARD.
I'm enjoying this watching this team play and its is a team not trying take anything from Mears, but this team is balanced doesn't rely on 1-2 players score every game.
GO VOLS

This!!

Mears got a lot of wins, but not when it really counted. HATED the star system - wasted so much talent. King, Grunfield, Darden, Jackson, Johnson could have won NCAA with CRB.
 
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#37
#37
Please, let’s enjoy this first. I go back to Red Robbins, Jimmy Cornwall, Howard Bayne and Ray Mears early teams. This $hit don’t just happen.

Still one of my most favorite Vol games of all time was when Bayne & Co beat Rupps Runts in 1966. Last game Ky lost that yr until the famous Texas Western game.
 
#38
#38
This!!

Mears got a lot of wins, but not when it really counted. HATED the star system - wasted so much talent. King, Grunfield, Darden, Jackson, Johnson could have won NCAA with CRB.

Game was so different then. Only 16 teams made the tournament early in his career and even in Ernie Bernie year it was 32 I believe. Them playing Syracuse in first game tells you it was much different then. Syracuse was Big East champ I believe. Who thinks SEC champ and Big East champ plays in first round today?
 
#39
#39
This!!

Mears got a lot of wins, but not when it really counted. HATED the star system - wasted so much talent. King, Grunfield, Darden, Jackson, Johnson could have won NCAA with CRB.

Ignorant post.

Winning half of his games with Kentucky didn't really count? Winning 3 SEC championships didn't really count? Being SEC runner up 8 times didn't count? Never having a losing season didn't count?

Reggie Johnson only played for Mears his freshman season and nearly averaged a double-double. Darden only played for Mears his freshman and sophomore years. Mears had another outstanding player in the Grunfeld/Jackson class... but he had to quit because of cancer.
 
#40
#40
Anyone who says anything other than the jury is still out is getting way ahead of themselves. He hasn't even gotten UT to the Sweet 16 yet. Hell, I'm not sure this is the best team in Vol history, either. The team that won 31 games, the SEC title and went to the Sweet 16 was really good, too. They have this next month to cement their status and put Barnes at the top of this list.
 
#41
#41
Anyone who says anything other than the jury is still out is getting way ahead of themselves. He hasn't even gotten UT to the Sweet 16 yet. Hell, I'm not sure this is the best team in Vol history, either. The team that won 31 games, the SEC title and went to the Sweet 16 was really good, too. They have this next month to cement their status and put Barnes at the top of this list.

That 31 win team was flawed from the start because of the lack of PG. I feel pretty confident this team is better.
 
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#42
#42
That 31 win team was flawed from the start because of the lack of PG. I feel pretty confident this team is better.

It should be, but, as of now, the 2008 team is far more accomplished. We'll have our answer in a month and a half.
 
#44
#44
Game was so different then. Only 16 teams made the tournament early in his career and even in Ernie Bernie year it was 32 I believe. Them playing Syracuse in first game tells you it was much different then. Syracuse was Big East champ I believe. Who thinks SEC champ and Big East champ plays in first round today?
Game was so different then. Only 16 teams made the tournament early in his career and even in Ernie Bernie year it was 32 I believe. Them playing Syracuse in first game tells you it was much different then. Syracuse was Big East champ I believe. Who thinks SEC champ and Big East champ plays in first round today?
The point is Mears with elite players Bernie & Ernie, he didn't get maximum from talent on hand. I've watched lots games Reggie Johnson or Mike Jackson never get a shot
until King and Grunfeld on bench foul trouble, b/c Mears only played 5-6 players. Mike J great player Reggie J was nearly unstoppable Sr yr. King & Grunfeld best talent I've saw @ UT, I watched
Syracuse game Mears choked, and let VMI beat him n tourney KIng Jr year sad wasted BB talent...……..GO VOLS
 
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#46
#46
What would make you change your vote?

Going further in the NCAA tournament would trump everything the 2008 team did, obviously. Similar accomplishments would put me in favor of this team, as well. But, no SEC title of any sort and Sweet 16 or less, then I still gotta go with 2008.

It's no shame. That was a really, really good team who went 31-5.
 
#47
#47
The point is Mears with elite players Bernie & Ernie, he didn't get maximum from talent on hand. I've watched lots games Reggie Johnson or Mike Jackson never get a shot
until King and Grunfeld on bench foul trouble, b/c Mears only played 5-6 players. Mike J great player Reggie J was nearly unstoppable Sr yr. King & Grunfeld best talent I've saw @ UT, I watched
Syracuse game Mears choked, and let VMI beat him n tourney KIng Jr year sad wasted BB talent...……..GO VOLS

King didn't play versus VMI in the 1976 NCAAT.

In the 1977 OT loss to Syracuse King, Grunfeld, and Jackson fouled out and Johnson had 4 fouls. That game was in effect a 2 seed versus a 3 seed in the opening round... 2 top 10 teams facing each other. Exactly how did Mears choke?
 
#49
#49
If RB gets us to the Elite 8, he will match our best team ever. Get to the FF and i’ll Change my vote from Jury’s out to The best
 
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#50
#50
Going further in the NCAA tournament would trump everything the 2008 team did, obviously. Similar accomplishments would put me in favor of this team, as well. But, no SEC title of any sort and Sweet 16 or less, then I still gotta go with 2008.

It's no shame. That was a really, really good team who went 31-5.

This is my dilemma with NCAAT, what if CCM’s team that was Last 4 in makes the basket against Michigan to make the S16 and then makes the E8, are they the best Tennessee team ever? Many said that was one of the most disappointing and under achieving regular season teams ever, does a 4 game winning streak change that? Conversely, if this team say goes 28-3(16-2) wins the SEC regular season, SECT, gets a 1 seed and loses in the S16, how does that rank?

To me I try to separate regular season and NCAAT because of that, but jmo.
 

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