A Reluctant Criticism of Barnes

#151
#151
I don't care about him being the 5th highest paid coach and demanding he have equivalent results, although I understand the contract bringing more heat on him to produce from the fans. What I do care is, if we are going to pay him a top 5 salary, are we getting the best option possible for the amount of money we are spending? If so, then great. If not, then that should be the only real discussion in terms of how much we are paying him.
 
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#152
#152
VolFreakJosh said:
Guarantee most of everyone on this board didn’t know Nate Oats would have Bama in this position.
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Guarantee, what you really mean was that you had never heard of him (not surprising)... but intelligent minds in the game knew he he had a great offensive philosophy and had great potential. Bama did it’s due diligence and it paid off... it wasn’t “luck”
 
#153
#153
bleedingTNorange said:
This team underachieved, and deserves criticism, not saying otherwise...but bigger picture they made the dance yet again which is the barometer for a good season as a program at Tennessee. I expect to make the dance, and right now Barnes is doing that more often than not and is poised to have us there again next year.
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That's a pretty easy barometer when it happens about half the time, based upon the last 45 years of Tennessee basketball, as it has in half of the seasons Barnes has coached. I think a good season is a little more subjective, depending on the season and factors surrounding it. If this was the result in Barnes' first season, then it would definitely have been a good season. This season, merely making the tournament was not a good result. It was not a good season, it was, at best, an ok one.
 
#154
#154
savannahfan said:
If this be the case why do some many guys get labeled "5*"? Should they be labeled with a lesser * or should there be a 6* for the truly good guys?
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The truth is, "5-star" is the smallest category of player, but probably has the widest variance per player. Not all 5* kids are created equal. Out of 25-ish 5*s, you have the ultra-elite group which you can usually count on one hand in any given class. I'm fine with reclassifying those kids as 6* or whatever designation you want to give them, because they really stand out.

JJJ was a 5*, but was also toward the bottom of that list. If the top of that list is one-and-done, the bottom of it is very often solid, 2-3 year player.
 
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#155
#155
1985Vols said:
Wrong, I recall Pearl made the tourney every single year he coached here and he also inherited a dumpster fire from Buzz. Additionally, he typically got past the first round of the tourney and made an Elite 8. Barnes has lost to a lower seeded team in all 3 years he has taken us to the tournament. Think about that
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And you recall wrong, at least on the dumpster fire part. Pearl inherited a roster that should have made the NCAAT. He gets credit for what he did, but Buzz Peterson is a terrible coach and it speaks more to him being a failure that he couldn't get 1 of his teams to the NCAAT. 3 of his 4 had rosters strong enough to make it. And the same thing happened with Kevin Keatts when he followed Peterson at UNCW.

Buzz Peterson was a terrible coach.
 
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#156
#156
1985Vols said:
Wrong, I recall Pearl made the tourney every single year he coached here and he also inherited a dumpster fire from Buzz. Additionally, he typically got past the first round of the tourney and made an Elite 8. Barnes has lost to a lower seeded team in all 3 years he has taken us to the tournament. Think about that
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Calling Chris Lofton, CJ Watson, JaJuan Smith a dumpster fire is one hell of a hot take
 
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#157
#157
VolFreakJosh said:
Is his salary really that important?
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Since he got that big raise, he's 19-16 in league play and 35-22 overall. We got clobbered in the first round of the tournament this season and wouldn't have made it last season had it been played. If you're investing $5m per year in a coach, it's very fair to expect good return on that investment. To this point, we haven't seen such returns.

I'm not on the fire him train like some are, but I do think next season is a big one for Barnes. He needs to modernize and replace some of the dead weight on the roster with guys who can actually play at this level. Another disappointing season, and it will be time to start questioning the direction of the program.
 
#159
#159
SGMVols said:
Calling Chris Lofton, CJ Watson, JaJuan Smith a dumpster fire is one hell of a hot take
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Don't forget Wingate and Patterson. They weren't stars, but both were very competent post players, something CRB's first roster lacked.
 
#164
#164
The revisionist history about what Pearl inherited here is hilarious. He vastly improved everyone and everything on that team. It's the best coaching job in UT basketball history. Everyone on the roster except CJ and Lofton was considered a bust at that point. Especially Bradshaw and Wingate. That team went 6-12 in the SEC and lost its leading scorer and leading post/rebounder in McFagdon and Crump. We had Dane Bradshaw making the shift from incompetent back up PG to 6'3 power forward and it worked. JuJuan Smith was a freshman walk-on who averaged 1.9 ppg coming into Pearl's 1st season. Pearl developed players very few major programs wanted. He didn't luck into a gold mine. Good grief.
 
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#165
#165
Unimane said:
I don't care about him being the 5th highest paid coach and demanding he have equivalent results, although I understand the contract bringing more heat on him to produce from the fans. What I do care is, if we are going to pay him a top 5 salary, are we getting the best option possible for the amount of money we are spending? If so, then great. If not, then that should be the only real discussion in terms of how much we are paying him.
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He makes twice what Leonard Hamilton makes. I think a lot of the watch watch basketball when football is over fans don’t understand how much Barnes is getting paid in the context of college basketball. There aren’t many coaches who haven’t already won NCs that turn down 5 million to coach at UT.
 
#166
#166
CAVPUT said:
First, he gets us to the dance which is not something to be taken for granted around UTK. As for mediocrity and under achieving, this is UT friend. What were you expecting? I'm well past 60. In my lifetime...over SIX DECADES, I've seen exactly one football natty and only 7 SEC basketball championships. We've never sniffed a final 4 in hoops. When you recognize your position in the world of college sports historically, you'll find things a lot less stressful.
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Shooters couldn’t hit wide open jump shots this season...offense hit cold stretches this season. Defense was legit solid. No one will convince me that Tennessee wouldn’t have beaten Alabama and Oregon State if Fulkerson was healthy. Especially the Oregon State game. Blame Barnes for some of these games sure...but blame that Florida punk Omar Payne for the last 2 losses. Our only solid low post threat wasn’t there. That allowed Oregon State to clog the lanes to prevent dribble penetration all game long. That game is down to the wire if not a 10 point win for us with him on the court.
 
#170
#170
SGMVols said:
Calling Chris Lofton, CJ Watson, JaJuan Smith a dumpster fire is one hell of a hot take
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Lol, people like yourself saying Barnes inherited a dumpster fire is just as much of Hot take. Kevin Punter, Robert Hubbs, Admiral Schofield, Lamont’s Turner , Kyle Alexander among others that Barnes inherited . Pretty dang good squad talent wise
 
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#171
#171
VOLnVANDYland said:
Wait the bar is “they scored” ...??? My god.. the stupidity
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You’re acting like Pearl didn’t have players to work with when he got here which is completely false.

Boy, I’m sure any coach would have loved one of the best 3 point shooters to ever play college ball.
 
#172
#172
VolsSportsFan said:
And you recall wrong, at least on the dumpster fire part. Pearl inherited a roster that should have made the NCAAT. He gets credit for what he did, but Buzz Peterson is a terrible coach and it speaks more to him being a failure that he couldn't get 1 of his teams to the NCAAT. 3 of his 4 had rosters strong enough to make it. And the same thing happened with Kevin Keatts when he followed Peterson at UNCW.

Buzz Peterson was a terrible coach.
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I definitely don’t disagree with the Buzz Peterson statement
 
#175
#175
VolGee4 said:
If you think Pearl inherited a dumpster fire...there’s no help for you. NBA PG and one of the best shooters in conference history.
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And Barnes inherited a five star in Mostella (who Barnes couldn’t develop pattern sensing activated ) and admiral.


And I guess I’m confused Pearl and Barnes’s first two years can’t really be compared Pearl was so so so much better. so even if Pearl inherited a tiny bit more talent than Barnes his achievements were literally incomparably superior to Barnes.

It’s disgusting how Barnes’s amen corner craps all over Tyndall who did a pretty good job all things considered. Compare that to Pearl fans- which is to say people who were fans of Tennessee being a top 20 program- who aren’t constantly running Buzz down. There is no need to run Buzz down Pearl came in and worked miracles. Whereas Barnes had a worst winning percentage his first two years than Tyndall had at UT. So it is not a surprise that Barnes’s boys crap on Tyndall and gas up Buzz.
 
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