The most disappointing game that I can remember.

[mccrackb]

The players are gassed and knew that regardless of what happened they were going to be a 2 seed. Them being exhausted showed and they wasn't to inspired for a SEC Tourney title. They'll get a few days rest and be ok for a tourney run.

1st statement =Wrong, so wrong

 

[tennrich1]

The mental side of sports is pretty complex. Every golfer has had that day where nothing worked. You feel like you have never played. It can get into your head and you can continue to spiral downward. Some can turn it around faster than others. Some never really do. Remember how good David Duval was?

In a team game you have others who can help you get it going. How many times have Schofield and Williams caught fire, willed their way to crucial big plays, and dragged their teammates along with them?

None of that worked yesterday. Turner tried, but the rest of the guys were so far off their games that there was never a big run. Yes, our team stunk it up. So opine away as to what caused it (personally I think they figured that if they could beat Kentucky the way they did that Auburn was just an afterthought).

But go off acting all butt hurt like the Big Blue Nation did 24 hours earlier and you really piss me off. Some of you whine and moan like somehow the guys and the coaches did this to you, forgetting what they've done for us the rest of the year.

Go Vols!

I was thinking the SAME EXACT COMPARISON sitting in that arena yesterday toward the end. Sports is such a mental exercise especially in that situation and golf is the perfect example. I've seen world class players shoot the course record on Saturday, take a huge lead in the tournament and be so hyped up then come Sunday they shoot a 78 in the final round to lose by 4 shots. What happened? Same player. Same talent level. Its obvious to me (and you) the Vols were never mentally or intensity wise in that game yesterday. As much as I enjoyed the win on Saturday I was thinking as we left the arena there's zero chance of the Vols play against Auburn with the same intensity we did in the last 2:35 of Saturdays game and we could be in trouble. And we didn't. And throw an incredibly inspired Auburn team in the mix and that was the outcome. People take this stuff so personal that the need to slam the team, coach, refs etc. to explain why their team lost. Great season so far...hope it continues but if not I'll not jump off the Titanic in despair!

 

[FranklinVol-615]

Other teams seem to do it. Tired of the excuses. That's why the Athletics never get better down there is because we don't demand that they do. We make excuses.

Look at the top 8. All four 1 seeds and all four 2 seeds. How many won their conference tournament? I guess the ones that didn’t have a fan base that makes excuses too.

 

[Pride85]

Wait, am I reading a football or a basketball thread. I am seeing some of the same wailing and gnashing of teeth on this forum now. Sheesh!

 

[FranklinVol-615]

The problem is this team lost twice to the same team. The same team that knocked us out of winning the regular-season championship knocked us out of winning the conference Tournament Championship... I'm tired of having fans sugarcoat everything. Basketball is a tournament sport nobody's going to remember the 30 wins in the record books. Banners are not hung for that. Rings are not given for that. We accept mediocrity and that's what we get.

So what is your solution? Bitch and complain some more?
Inform us fans and also Phil Fulmer what we need to do.

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

Look at the top 8. All four 1 seeds and all four 2 seeds. How many won their conference tournament? I guess the ones that didn’t have a fan base that makes excuses too.

The difference is this is every year in every sport. Our fans make excuses. It's been 40 years since we won that tournament. That's absolutely ridiculous when you consider Tennessee is the most successful overall basketball program outside of Kentucky in the conference. But for some reason winning championships isn't that important. And as long as the fans Embrace that and there is no pressure on the administration, players or coaches to win it will continue. The schools that have the most success always have the most demanding fans. That's just a fact.

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

So what is your solution? Bitch and complain some more?
Inform us fans and also Phil Fulmer what we need to do.

I'm not suggesting we fire anybody. But these players need to get through their heads that this is not acceptable. We don't need to be patting them on the back telling them how great they are and making tons of excuses when they flat-out do not show up to play a championship game. Fans do spend hard-earned money to go to these events and they should at least put forth some effort. There was no effort on Sunday. Try going to a movie theater paying to see the movie and they only show you half of it. You would be outraged. Same difference!

 

[FranklinVol-615]

The difference is this is every year in every sport. Our fans make excuses. It's been 40 years since we won that tournament. That's absolutely ridiculous when you consider Tennessee is the most successful overall basketball program outside of Kentucky in the conference. But for some reason winning championships isn't that important. And as long as the fans Embrace that and there is no pressure on the administration, players or coaches to win it will continue. The schools that have the most success always have the most demanding fans. That's just a fact.

Sooo. Fire Barnes and kick off all the players. They clearly didn’t want it.

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

Sooo. Fire Barnes and kick off all the players. They clearly didn’t want it.

Nobody's suggesting firing anybody or kicking players off the team. But we also shouldn't be kissing rear-ends and talking about how great they are and making excuses. Losing is one thing losing because you don't show up or don't put forth effort is another.

 

[FranklinVol-615]

I'm not suggesting we fire anybody. But these players need to get through their heads that this is not acceptable. We don't need to be patting them on the back telling them how great they are and making tons of excuses when they flat-out do not show up to play a championship game. Fans do spend hard-earned money to go to these events and they should at least put forth some effort. There was no effort on Sunday. Try going to a movie theater paying to see the movie and they only show you half of it. You would be outraged. Same difference!

Every UT fan there was disappointed. The kids were emotionally gassed. I think an adrenaline dump contributed.

However, I know the roads were full of KY fans, headed back to KY that were disappointed too.

 

[JoAllan]

Sorry not much into participation trophies

Lol no one said Tennessee won anything or is anything. Just stating a Fact they are still playing and have a real good seed. Just because your a broken down fair weather fan doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be.

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

Lol no one said Tennessee won anything or is anything. Just stating a Fact they are still playing and have a real good seed. Just because your a broken down fair weather fan doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be.

Fair weather no.. broken down fan absolutely. You can only take so much of getting punched in the gut before you start wondering if it's worth it. If you can't get up for a championship game then what makes you think they can do anything in this tournament.?

 

[JoAllan]

Fair weather no.. broken down fan absolutely. You can only take so much of getting punched in the gut before you start wondering if it's worth it. If you can't get up for a championship game then what makes you think they can do anything in this tournament.?

Look I get it, but just look where Tennessee was, compared to where they are now. When Barnes got to Tennessee. There had been a few decent years then a .500 year. Two seasons ago Tennessee was a .500 team, three years ago they were sub .500. Now Tennessee has went 26-9 and now 29-5 so far. Until this year it has been around 19 years since Tennessee has had back to back single digit loss seasons. While that may not seem like much....... you got to have consistent winning and consistent “not” losing to become a consistently good program. Tennessee is not one of the blue blood programs and they don’t get the top talent every year. In order to become one, to get the top (or at least great) talent and to become a consistently a good team you got to start somewhere....... and hopefully this and last season is just the start.

Duke, UNC, KY may have a great year or a few then maybe not so great but they keep going because of the talent they get. Tennessee can’t do that because of the talent they get therefore they have to build the program, have to have some simply “good” seasons so they can get the talent to get to where we the fans want Tennessee to be.

 

[ColinS]

Barnes does have a role in contributing to the team's motivation. I've been very happy with Barnes, but he could/should have done more in preparation for today's game.

Right. He has to take his share of the blame. You can't have it both ways. The coach gets credit when your motivated and play well so he has to take blame when this doesn't happen.

 

[VolGee4]

Fair weather no.. broken down fan absolutely. You can only take so much of getting punched in the gut before you start wondering if it's worth it. If you can't get up for a championship game then what makes you think they can do anything in this tournament.?

Then don't root for them if it's not worth it. Easy solution. We don't want you back anytime soon.

 

[ColinS]

The players are gassed and knew that regardless of what happened they were going to be a 2 seed. Them being exhausted showed and they wasn't to inspired for a SEC Tourney title. They'll get a few days rest and be ok for a tourney run.

You can't be serious. If on the off hand you are right about this, I hope they lose to Colgate. They would not be worth mine or anybody elses time, for that matter.

 

[molsen81]

Maybe we just need to accept the fact that Bruce is and always will be poison to us.

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

Then don't root for them if it's not worth it. Easy solution. We don't want you back anytime soon.

Its mediocre accepting fans like you that need to go away and not come back. People like you hold the program back. If you had kids in school you probably are okay with him bringing home failing grades..

 

[ThatVolGuy]

I think the worst part about yesterday was remembering that, with Pearl as our coach, I never felt completely confident that we could go the last mile to actually win tournaments and hang banners - it always felt like something would give. Turns out that isn't really true, and all it took to find out was pitting him against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament championship. Go figure.

I'm a little miffed at this point, and it's hard for me to shake off the doubt. We all start with a clean slate this week, which is nice, but to turn in such a tepid performance when a one seed is dangling right in front of your face is just ... alarming. There's no excuse for what we witnessed yesterday.

We'll always have some pretty cool memories from this season, but if we exit the tournament with a whimper I'm going to view things through a different lens. I hope they figure out what happened and fix it.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Its mediocre accepting fans like you that need to go away and not come back. People like you hold the program back. If you had kids in school you probably are okay with him bringing home failing grades..

And "fans" like you just like to show up to piss and moan. You aren't happy unless you have something to whine about.

 

[VolGee4]

Its mediocre accepting fans like you that need to go away and not come back. People like you hold the program back. If you had kids in school you probably are okay with him bringing home failing grades..

********! I drove 3 hours yesterday with my 8 year old son to try to find tickets. We ended up at a restaurant, watched, and drove 3 hours back.

I am as invested in UT athletics as many others on this board and have a degree from the university. I have seen UT football teams play at every SEC football venue except LSU, A&M, and Missouri, at Notre Dame, at Oklahoma, in Little Rock, in Memphis, in Tempe, in Orlando, in Tampa, in Miami, in Atlanta, in Bristol. I have seen UT basketball teams play at Florida, at Arkansas, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Mississippi State, in Memphis, in Nashville, in Atlanta. Is that enough?

I am as competitive as the next person and want our teams to succeed. I have a law degree, and my kids are doing quite well. Keep telling me that I am holding the university back. Get over yourself.

 

[SolidRockGolf]

I'm not suggesting we fire anybody. But these players need to get through their heads that this is not acceptable. We don't need to be patting them on the back telling them how great they are and making tons of excuses when they flat-out do not show up to play a championship game. Fans do spend hard-earned money to go to these events and they should at least put forth some effort. There was no effort on Sunday. Try going to a movie theater paying to see the movie and they only show you half of it. You would be outraged. Same difference!

Did you go? Did you pay for your tickets to this one game that UT was drained? You sure do run that keyboard in the ground and then stand on others shoulders saying they paid. So you didn’t? Right! Stop acting like you have a solid reason to be angry at players who care more than you do!

Let it go! Sheesh

 

[JohnD13]

I'm not suggesting we fire anybody. But these players need to get through their heads that this is not acceptable. We don't need to be patting them on the back telling them how great they are and making tons of excuses when they flat-out do not show up to play a championship game. Fans do spend hard-earned money to go to these events and they should at least put forth some effort. There was no effort on Sunday. Try going to a movie theater paying to see the movie and they only show you half of it. You would be outraged. Same difference!

Guys this is a troll. Look at all his posts since he signed on six weeks ago. Don't feed him

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

********! I drove 3 hours yesterday with my 8 year old son to try to find tickets. We ended up at a restaurant, watched, and drove 3 hours back.

I am as invested in UT athletics as many others on this board and have a degree from the university. I have seen UT football teams play at every SEC football venue except LSU, A&M, and Missouri, at Notre Dame, at Oklahoma, in Little Rock, in Memphis, in Tempe, in Orlando, in Tampa, in Miami, in Atlanta, in Bristol. I have seen UT basketball teams play at Florida, at Arkansas, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Mississippi State, in Memphis, in Nashville, in Atlanta. Is that enough?

I am as competitive as the next person and want our teams to succeed. I have a law degree, and my kids are doing quite well. Keep telling me that I am holding the university back. Get over yourself.

That doesn't impress me. People that accept mediocrity get exactly the same. PERIOD

 

[Trent4Pruitt4life]

Guys this is a troll. Look at all his posts since he signed on six weeks ago. Don't feed him

YEP..you find me near bridges not letting you cross unless you pay a toll.