Worst basketball team since

Maybe the 1994 Wade Houston team? This team makes the Kevin O’Neil teams look like championship teams. I’ve been watching Tennessee basketball for 50 years and have never seen more missed layups, air balls, and poor defense more than maybe 3 or 4 seasons . This team basically has no talent. Next season can’t get here soon enough
You must be 6 years old because we haven’t made it to the playoffs every hear and this team still might do that.
 
Maybe the 1994 Wade Houston team? This team makes the Kevin O’Neil teams look like championship teams. I’ve been watching Tennessee basketball for 50 years and have never seen more missed layups, air balls, and poor defense more than maybe 3 or 4 seasons . This team basically has no talent. Next season can’t get here soon enough
Then you remember the Buzz Peterson 2004-05 team that finished 14-17 with a back court that included C.J. Watson and Chris Lofton. Basically the same team went 22-8 the next season under Pearl. This season should be understandable. I'm not even disappointed. It just shows that we aren't a mature program that reloads. We rebuild... and we will be much better next season.
 
Top 25 should be, for that salary.
Bobby Knight went 36-0 in '76 and finished 17-16 the following season.

In Jay Wright's eleventh season at Villanova they finished 13-19

Adolph Rupp took Kentucky to the championship game in '66 and finished 13-13 the next season.

Billy Donovan went 36-3 a year before going 16-17 and subsequently being hired and given a raise by Oklahoma City.

Krzyzewski had losing seasons at blue blood Duke beginning in 1981 through 83.

These are just a few examples of sports reality.
Bottom line: sh!t happens
 
They do when thrust into the limelight. He has put so much pressure on himself because he feels the pressure of being “ the man”. Not everyone can handle the responsibility or pressure that goes with it.

I absolutely agree. I was hoping OP would expound upon his argument but maybe that’s as far as the thought process took him. Pretty sure if the entire argument that was originally made was thought out it wouldn’t even exist in the first place but 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
I gotta agree. Bone barely scraped by going undrafted and has seen minimal NBA time. He only last season honed in his PG skills. He would have had a chance to be the man on this team and surely elevate his stock to top 40 if not first round in the 2020 draft imo.

Bone didn't go undrafted. He's making 100,000 dollars a year to play basketball. He's honing his skills vs higher level competition and working with coaches specifically developing him for the NBA. I don't see any where that gambling on coming back another year was in any way better.

Our problem this year has already been discussed in this thread and in others. Barnes badly mismanaged the roster in 2017-2019 and its come home to roost this year. I can't for the life of me think of a reason we didn't hit the grad transfer market much harder earlier unless it was because Barnes was busy dealing with UCLA instead of working it. We should be good next year but you shouldn't have to punt an entire season in a coaches 5th season on the job when your coach is 700 wins into his career.
 
I just want to say I remember the Wade Houston era. Even at 9-10 years old I can remember thinking does he just tell his son to run to the corner and just stand there? When he made it to the NBA it completely shocked me that Allen Houston could, you know, move... but I guess he was saving all that energy for his NBA career.
 
Bone didn't go undrafted. He's making 100,000 dollars a year to play basketball. He's honing his skills vs higher level competition and working with coaches specifically developing him for the NBA. I don't see any where that gambling on coming back another year was in any way better.

Our problem this year has already been discussed in this thread and in others. Barnes badly mismanaged the roster in 2017-2019 and its come home to roost this year. I can't for the life of me think of a reason we didn't hit the grad transfer market much harder earlier unless it was because Barnes was busy dealing with UCLA instead of working it. We should be good next year but you shouldn't have to punt an entire season in a coaches 5th season on the job when your coach is 700 wins into his career.
We went all in on a grad transfer, Kerry Blackshear. It seemed like we were a lock for KB, then we were not and he picked Florida. Had jacksh!t to do with UCLA, but that would NOT fit your narrative. Plus, if u had any reading comprehension, u would realize Chris was saying Bone barely got drafted, one of the last 5 drafted, iIrc. Bone, probably would have been 1st round pick if he came back, especially, after watching this Vols team thru 16 games. But, once again, that would NOT fit your narrative, neither. The one thing I do agree with u about, Barnes did mismanage the roster. Kent was a bust that ended up transferring after the season started, which hurt, immensely. Would have been a lot better if he had transferred around the same time as Walker (another bust). Burns transferred late too, which hurt. Still, I'm an optimist and partially a realist, UT wins 3 out of the next 4 SEC games. That's Vandy/MSU on the road and Ole Miss/A&M at home. Well........they better or I may give up on them, also. Nah, probably not, a part of me still thinks they can beat Kansas even tho that's even a worse match-up than Georgia was.

Btw, I think Anthony Edwards will be the number one pick in the NBA Draft.
 
Maybe the 1994 Wade Houston team? This team makes the Kevin O’Neil teams look like championship teams. I’ve been watching Tennessee basketball for 50 years and have never seen more missed layups, air balls, and poor defense more than maybe 3 or 4 seasons . This team basically has no talent. Next season can’t get here soon enough
Bwaa-ha-ha, I was right, u know sh!t about basketball. Wade won 5 games and lost 22 that year and UT already has 10 wins in 16 games. Keep posting, so u can keep proving it
 
We went all in on a grad transfer, Kerry Blackshear. It seemed like we were a lock for KB, then we were not and he picked Florida. Had jacksh!t to do with UCLA, but that would NOT fit your narrative. Plus, if u had any reading comprehension, u would realize Chris was saying Bone barely got drafted, one of the last 5 drafted, iIrc. Bone, probably would have been 1st round pick if he came back, especially, after watching this Vols team thru 16 games. But, once again, that would NOT fit your narrative, neither. The one thing I do agree with u about, Barnes did mismanage the roster. Kent was a bust that ended up transferring after the season started, which hurt, immensely. Would have been a lot better if he had transferred around the same time as Walker (another bust). Burns transferred late too, which hurt. Still, I'm an optimist and partially a realist, UT wins 3 out of the next 4 SEC games. That's Vandy/MSU on the road and Ole Miss/A&M at home. Well........they better or I may give up on them, also. Nah, probably not, a part of me still thinks they can beat Kansas even tho that's even a worse match-up than Georgia was.

Btw, I think Anthony Edwards will be the number one pick in the NBA Draft.

I don't want to hear about all in on Kerry Blackshear because even if that were the case, it's another roster boondoggle. Don't leave yourself with one pathway when you should have multiple pathways. Also, why would Bone be a 1st round pick if he came back? He went to the combine and blew everyone away and got drafted. He had a great year last year on an excellent team and was highly visible in the tournament. If he comes back this year, he's got a bunch of people around him who can't score. He's got no money in his pocket and he's had no exposure to the NBA and it's coaches at all. Bone going and getting drafted was very smart on his part.
 
My reading comprehension is fine, his lack of punctuation made it appear that he said Bone went undrafted. I don't want to hear about all in on Kerry Blackshear because even if that were the case, it's another roster boondoggle. Don't leave yourself with one pathway when you should have multiple pathways. Also, why would Bone be a 1st round pick if he came back? He went to the combine and blew everyone away and got drafted. He had a great year last year on an excellent team and was highly visible in the tournament. If he comes back this year, he's got a bunch of people around him who can't score. He's got no money in his pocket and he's had no exposure to the NBA and it's coaches at all. Bone going and getting drafted was very smart on his part.
I agree, Bone got drafted and got paid. But, he would be the main man on this UT team and could easily play himself into a 1st round pick. But, it could have backfired, especially if Bone didn't have that alpha Dog gene. Still, imo, a Bone led team would be sitting at 12-4 and well on their way to another NCAA Tournament and Bone, a 1st team SEC level performer, drafted in the 1st round with guaranteed money
 
Don't lie. Your post history suggests you'll complain about next season as well.
Possibly if they underperform based on expectations. How do you feel about last seasons team that has 4 players in the NBA now? Think they should have made it past the Sweet 16? Sometimes being a realist hurts.
 
I absolutely agree. I was hoping OP would expound upon his argument but maybe that’s as far as the thought process took him. Pretty sure if the entire argument that was originally made was thought out it wouldn’t even exist in the first place but 🤷🏻‍♂️
Wasn’t really meant to be an argument But just my opinion. I’ve been watching UT BB for almost 50 years and this years team, after Turner went out, is once of the most brutal teams to watch that I can remember. I’ve seen some of the worst shots, missed layups, turnovers, etc... that I have in a long time. Name me one thing they do excel at fundamentally? Name me one ” go to” player that we can consistently count on. Are they young and experienced, of course they are. I get all that. Again, I was stating my opinion that this team is not very good. They’ll be lucky to go .500 and all of you all will be screaming as well. Wait until they hit the gauntlet of their schedule in Feb- March.
 
The facts are he has been our coach for 3 years so he is responsible for this roster, another fact is he is a top 10 paid coach in the league, what are your facts LOL.

You were 1 for 2 in your reply...thanks for proving my point about your ignorance of facts...lol. Carry on with your drivel
 
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You were 1 for 2 in your reply...thanks for proving my point about your ignorance of facts...lol. Carry on with your drivel
If your referring to Barnes being coach for 3 years yeah I get it he’s been the coach longer, I was just making a generalized statement that after 3 years it’s his roster of players so he is accountable for the product. I understand he’s been our coach longer but that definitely does not hurt my argument so I didn’t see the need to clarify.
 
If your referring to Barnes being coach for 3 years yeah I get it he’s been the coach longer, I was just making a generalized statement that after 3 years it’s his roster of players so he is accountable for the product. I understand he’s been our coach longer but that definitely does not hurt my argument so I didn’t see the need to clarify.

Well say what you want about Barnes but if you think we’ll be able to upgrade our way into a better HC, you’re dreaming.

The last two hires obviously didn’t tell you nothing.
 
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Well say what you want about Barnes but if you think we’ll be able to upgrade our way into a better HC, you’re dreaming.

The last two hires obviously didn’t tell you nothing.
I didn’t say anything about firing Barnes. I said he should be held accountable for the team he has put on the court this year. Their can be a difference in being disappointed with someone and calling for their heads, most people don’t seem to realize this. It’s just a bad look to me to flirt with another job to get a big pay raise and become one of the highest paid coaches and then turn around and have a team that has basically regressed back to a roster similar to when he took over. In college basketball if your paying a guy top 5 money and you actually want top 5 results then we aren’t getting them. By that I don’t mean we should be a top 5 team every year, but the really good programs don’t take 2 or 3 years to build up a contender and then have a year where they completely regresss into a subpar team, the top programs reload much better than that. I’m not saying Tennessee is a blue blood I know they aren’t but the fact still remains we are paying blue blood money. We also have great facilities, fans and financial support, really there isn’t a reason with the right coach we couldn’t be a perennial top 10-15 type team.
 
I didn’t say anything about firing Barnes. I said he should be held accountable for the team he has put on the court this year. Their can be a difference in being disappointed with someone and calling for their heads, most people don’t seem to realize this. It’s just a bad look to me to flirt with another job to get a big pay raise and become one of the highest paid coaches and then turn around and have a team that has basically regressed back to a roster similar to when he took over. In college basketball if your paying a guy top 5 money and you actually want top 5 results then we aren’t getting them. By that I don’t mean we should be a top 5 team every year, but the really good programs don’t take 2 or 3 years to build up a contender and then have a year where they completely regresss into a subpar team, the top programs reload much better than that. I’m not saying Tennessee is a blue blood I know they aren’t but the fact still remains we are paying blue blood money. We also have great facilities, fans and financial support, really there isn’t a reason with the right coach we couldn’t be a perennial top 10-15 type team.
You won't get much sympathy with that argument, even though some of it's true. The one way to solve it is to stop recruiting the projects that can't contribute for 2 or 3 years. if you have to have projects upgrade your standards to guys that can actually play and need refinement. Mix in a few of the top players that we're getting now, but stop with the guys that need 6 years to develop.
 
You won't get much sympathy with that argument, even though some of it's true. The one way to solve it is to stop recruiting the projects that can't contribute for 2 or 3 years. if you have to have projects upgrade your standards to guys that can actually play and need refinement. Mix in a few of the top players that we're getting now, but stop with the guys that need 6 years to develop.
Right, that’s kind of my point. If your going to pay a guy top 5 money you expect Him to Run the program like the big boys run there’s, no excuse for a division 2 type roster this far into his tenure here.
 
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No seriously let’s here the facts bud? We all know what the facts are, we aren’t disagreeing about the facts, we have a difference of opinion about the facts. Just because my opinion on the facts are different than yours does not make me ignorant, of course generally when someone runs around calling people ignorant they in fact are the ignorant ones. You carry on.

The point






Your head


Suggest you re-read and analyze your initial response to me. When you figure that out maybe we can then have a fact-based discussion...lol
 
The point






Your head


Suggest you re-read and analyze your initial response to me. When you figure that out maybe we can then have a fact-based discussion...lol
Good god you are one condescending dude. I know what the facts are, everyone knows what the facts are surrounding this team. It’s not hard to see them. Again as I said earlier you look at the facts and they draw you to a conclusion that this level of play this year is acceptable. I look at those same facts and I come to a different conclusion, this is called an opinion. Just because your opinion is different than mine doesn’t make it the cold hard truth. It’s ok to have different opinions I just got tired of people like you who when someone does have a different opinion than you they are just ignorant and don’t know the facts. Get over yourself man.
 
This year's team is not a good one. I agree when u pay a coach blue blood money you expect at least a top 25 ranking. Also...when u pay that kind of money u expect great recruiting...that's a HUGE part of what u are paying him for. I get that programs aren't gonna be 4-6 loss teams every year...but we shouldn't be in a position of missing the NCAA tourney in ANY year if you have a top coach like Barnes is supposed to be...and is being PAID to be. Each year should be a reload...not "have a great year...then take 3 years to get really good again" type program. It is what it is. We can cling to the hope that Verscovi and Plavsic will somehow save the season...but really down years like this shouldn't happen.
 
Do the same people that constantly whine and complain in the football forum simply create a new handle and rant, rave and whine on this forum. I am seeing the same type of anti-logical, emotional based bash responses aimed at players and coaches I see there. Worthless players....worthless team....worthless overpaid coach......bad recruiting.....BLAH,BLAH,BLAH. With some on this site, we should fire the coaching staff after every bad game.

The team as it is now has little playing time together. They will get better the more they play together. Not great this year, but not horrific either. The ridiculous delay by the NCAA in getting Plavsic approved really put CRB behind the -ball with his original game plan for this year. It messed up his planned rotation schedules and set plays. Losing Lamonte Turner and Bowden's mental block were inopportune as well. If there is no real improvement shown over the next few games, then this season may be lost. This is where we see if the coach can earn his money. There are some that will never be satisfied with anything other than an undefeated NC season; but then there is the other 95% of the fanbase.
 
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Good god you are one condescending dude. I know what the facts are, everyone knows what the facts are surrounding this team. It’s not hard to see them. Again as I said earlier you look at the facts and they draw you to a conclusion that this level of play this year is acceptable. I look at those same facts and I come to a different conclusion, this is called an opinion. Just because your opinion is different than mine doesn’t make it the cold hard truth. It’s ok to have different opinions I just got tired of people like you who when someone does have a different opinion than you they are just ignorant and don’t know the facts. Get over yourself man.

Maybe I came on too strong but you were the one who initially responded to me and did so in a tone that was not exactly respectful...I am willing to start over.

Opinions are fine but you came out firing about certain facts which are self-evident (i.e., CRB is accountable for roster mgmt, CRB receives a top 10 salary, etc...)...no reasonable person disagrees with that so let's move on to more salient points. Also, I have never stated that the level of play this year is acceptable so do not put words in my mouth.

My position is that there are certain nuanced cause/effect facts which should be acknowledged and factored into the discussion if one is going to attempt to evaluate CRB's performance with respect to roster mgmt (which is what you are doing). Once those facts are taken into account, my OPINION is that where we are is not exactly a surprise and that most reasonable people knew this season was going to be challenging and that was BEFORE Plavsic was ruled ineligible for half the season and then we lost our best player and leader of the team.
 

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