Tennessee Vols Basketball Recruiting

[Dallasbowlin]

Does Edwards pushing the decision break make us feel good? Him thinking it over may be better for us, than a whim decision.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Does Edwards pushing the decision break make us feel good? Him thinking it over may be better for us, than a whim decision.

Wasn’t really pushed back, he originally said announcing at Peach Jam, he now has said it will be the day after Peach Jam ends…I think he just doesn’t want it to be a distraction to him/his team during playoffs, but I wouldn’t count 1 day as really pushing it back.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Wasn’t really pushed back, he originally said announcing at Peach Jam, he now has said it will be the day after Peach Jam ends…I think he just doesn’t want it to be a distraction to him/his team during playoffs, but I wouldn’t count 1 day as really pushing it back.

Oh ok. I had not seen it would be the day after, just that he was changing the decision date.

 

[walkenvol]

Criteria, as with most Tennessee fans, is probably "I hate Cal the most so he sucks the most".

Cal is not the worst Xs and Os coach in the SEC. First off, Mike White still coaches in the SEC, so he automatically is at the bottom, and aside from that, the SEC is home to 5 new head coaches, all with a lot to prove in a conference full of good coaches.

I’d pose the same question to you Chris - what is the criteria to determine whether any coach is good / bad at x & o’s?

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Criteria, as with most Tennessee fans, is probably "I hate Cal the most so he sucks the most".

Cal is not the worst Xs and Os coach in the SEC. First off, Mike White still coaches in the SEC, so he automatically is at the bottom, and aside from that, the SEC is home to 5 new head coaches, all with a lot to prove in a conference full of good coaches.

Cal’s lifetime contract is worth 86 million.

You mean to tell me they can’t find a better X’s & O’s for that kind of money?

The only thing he has going for him right now is recruiting but even that will only get you so far.

 

[LeannaVol]

I’d pose the same question to you Chris - what is the criteria to determine whether any coach is good / bad at x & o’s?

I don't think Cal is a bad X's and O's coach or bad at game preparation. I don't think it is always that easy to win counting on freshman even when they are very talented. Cal's issue is his inability to make in game adjustments or
stop the bleeding when other teams get on a run or his team is struggling. When Memphis blew the national championship to Kansas, Cal seemed unable to make a decision or even offer any advice as his team was falling apart those last 90 seconds. It seems like I have seen other times when he just stood there as things went off the rails with no idea how to respond.

 

[Maxwell865]

Cal’s lifetime contract is worth 86 million.

You mean to tell me they can’t find a better X’s & O’s for that kind of money?

The only thing he has going for him right now is recruiting but even that will only get you so far.

Maybe you should google Calipari. He's had 2 years at Kentucky with less than 25 wins... You don't make it to a Final Four at Umass unless you can coach well....

 

[cncchris33]

Cal’s lifetime contract is worth 86 million.

You mean to tell me they can’t find a better X’s & O’s for that kind of money?

The only thing he has going for him right now is recruiting but even that will only get you so far.

You're moving the goalposts, and love your zeal for all things Tennessee, but you're exactly the type of fan I was referring to.

I never said it was a good investment by Kentucky. I never said that Cal was the best game-situation coach money could buy, either. Therefore I don't have to justify his salary solely on the basis of his schemes and in-game adjustment ability. You, however, being the one who brought it up, do have to take notice of the fact that UK doesn't pay him $86 million for his basketball acumen, alone. His recruiting prowess, his ability to motivate one-year basketball mercenaries, his ability to jell oftentimes difficult personalities and me-first players into a team...all those things play into his value as dictated by Kentucky. Add to it his ability as coach to put his team in position to win, which I've admitted isn't his greatest strength, along with his market value to other teams, both collegiate and pro, and you get his value.

So, on Xs and Os, alone, can UK do better for $86 million? Yeah, of course they can. But you're creating a false narrative to insinuate that dollar figure solely accounts for his on-court ability as a coach.

 

[cncchris33]

I’d pose the same question to you Chris - what is the criteria to determine whether any coach is good / bad at x & o’s?

In-game adjustments, game-planning, scouting the opponent, preparing your team to attack weaknesses, masking your own deficiencies, playing to your strengths, the offensive and defensive systems you run, use of TOs, etc.

Anything you do that directly impacts the play on the floor with the team you have.

 

[VolGee4]

Criteria, as with most Tennessee fans, is probably "I hate Cal the most so he sucks the most".

Cal is not the worst Xs and Os coach in the SEC. First off, Mike White still coaches in the SEC, so he automatically is at the bottom, and aside from that, the SEC is home to 5 new head coaches, all with a lot to prove in a conference full of good coaches.

No real reason for anyone to have to rank them in conference, but (as you have even said) X's and O's and on court strategy are not Cal's strengths as a coach. I am in Memphis and watched those years, too.

He is a salesman and motivator.

 

[VolGee4]

In-game adjustments, game-planning, scouting the opponent, preparing your team to attack weaknesses, masking your own deficiencies, playing to your strengths, the offensive and defensive systems you run, use of TOs, etc.

Anything you do that directly impacts the play on the floor with the team you have.

While certainly not all-inclusive, the one thing that can be an easy indicator is the type of play a coach draws up late in a tightly contested game. Over time.

 

[walkenvol]

In-game adjustments, game-planning, scouting the opponent, preparing your team to attack weaknesses, masking your own deficiencies, playing to your strengths, the offensive and defensive systems you run, use of TOs, etc.

Anything you do that directly impacts the play on the floor with the team you have.

Each of those criteria are difficult to quantify in order to compare with other coaches. Guess that’s the challenge AD’s face when looking for a BB coach with a coach’s value being the impression of the community more so than their true effectiveness

 

[cncchris33]

Each of those criteria are difficult to quantify in order to compare with other coaches. Guess that’s the challenge AD’s face when looking for a BB coach with a coach’s value being the impression of the community more so than their true effectiveness

Some of it, perhaps, but certainly not all of it. Judging how a coach handles late-game situations, or uses his timeouts are tangible instances where one can say Coach A makes good decisions and Coach B makes bad decisions.

But yes, those things, some of which will come down to personal preference, are the kids of things an AD looks at to say, "Is this coach and his schemes a good fit for our program?". It's why it amazes me that Mike White got the Georgia job. I don't understand how anyone watches his offensive gameplan and plucks him away to be their head coach.

 

[walkenvol]

Some of it, perhaps, but certainly not all of it. Judging how a coach handles late-game situations, or uses his timeouts are tangible instances where one can say Coach A makes good decisions and Coach B makes bad decisions.

But yes, those things, some of which will come down to personal preference, are the kids of things an AD looks at to say, "Is this coach and his schemes a good fit for our program?". It's why it amazes me that Mike White got the Georgia job. I don't understand how anyone watches his offensive gameplan and plucks him away to be their head coach.

Well most of us on here along with the college BB community appear to view CRB as a good x&o’s guy and a good developer of his players yet there’s been several outspoken critics on here of his late game coaching and use of timeouts. So those items are judgement type of measurements too

 

[cncchris33]

Well most of us on here along with the college BB community appear to view CRB as a good x&o’s guy and a good developer of his players yet there’s been several outspoken critics on here of his late game coaching and use of timeouts. So those items are judgement type of measurements too

Well, certainly everything is subjective to a degree. Biases play a large role in that, as well. Specific to Rick Barnes, there are people on this very forum that think he can do no wrong and won't do hardly anything to criticize him. Likewise, there are some who don't think he can do anything right because they think he's overpaid.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Well, certainly everything is subjective to a degree. Biases play a large role in that, as well. Specific to Rick Barnes, there are people on this very forum that think he can do no wrong and won't do hardly anything to criticize him. Likewise, there are some who don't think he can do anything right because they think he's overpaid.

I don't think that Barnes can do no wrong. I, for the most part, don’t see what he’s clearly done wrong. Keeping time outs available for end of game situations at the cost of using them during any large opponent’s run is very subjective. There are no more than 4 available in the entire 2nd half and he takes the oath of letting his well prepared players push through most bad trends on the court. There is no evidence that calling time outs even stop opponent’s momentum. When certain players don’t work out we don’t have all of the information that he has. Nobody has won every game for over 45 years. I’m not sure what he hasn’t been doing “perfectly” that deserves the criticisms that get squawked about relentlessly by the chronic Barnes critics. They deserve to be put on blast most of the time and doing that is different from thinking he can do no wrong. Every minor misstep isn’t worthy of whining about.

 

[cncchris33]

I don't think that Barnes can do no wrong. I, for the most part, don’t see what he’s clearly done wrong. Keeping time outs available for end of game situations at the cost of using them during any large opponent’s run is very subjective. There are no more than 4 available in the entire 2nd half and he takes the oath of letting his well prepared players push through most bad trends on the court. There is no evidence that calling time outs even stop opponent’s momentum. When certain players don’t work out we don’t have all of the information that he has. Nobody has won every game for over 45 years. I’m not sure what he hasn’t been doing “perfectly” that deserves the criticisms that get squawked about relentlessly by the chronic Barnes critics. They deserve to be put on blast most of the time and doing that is different from thinking he can do no wrong. Every minor misstep isn’t worthy of whining about.

I mentioned parties to both sides of the fence in my response. Not everyone fits in either category. There is a middle ground that allows for reasonable criticism and also acknowledges achievement. Some fit firmly in one or the other, though, whether they want to admit it, or not.

 

[Volfan1000]

The neon god?

Simon and Garfunkel.

 

[The Dog]

I'm not a Cal fan, but damn, 3 schools to the Final 4 and a , that's impressive to me. I know UMass and Tiger High was taken away, but, if it was the Vols, I would still count it. Plus, he loves Rick and that has to count for something. Point being, when Barnes retires and you tell me, Cal is going to replace him, I'm ecstatic. If you are not, you are probably lying

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I mentioned parties to both sides of the fence in my response. Not everyone fits in either category. There is a middle ground that allows for reasonable criticism and also acknowledges achievement. Some fit firmly in one or the other, though, whether they want to admit it, or not.

Every time that I point out how stupid the Barnes Bashing is, one of those dolts (not you) posts the they think he can do no wrong nonsense. No coach is perfect in every way. Barnes is probably the best at what he does more than every other TN coach. Mears will always be my favorite. I respected Devoe. Pearl was fun. But Barnes checks all of the boxes. Advancing far in the NCAAT incorporates a **** ton of luck. TN hasn’t had much of it.

 

[AngryButchJones]

Every time that I point out how stupid the Barnes Bashing is, one of those dolts (not you) posts the they think he can do no wrong nonsense. No coach is perfect in every way. Barnes is probably the best at what he does more than every other TN coach. Mears will always be my favorite. I respected Devoe. Pearl was fun. But Barnes checks all of the boxes. Advancing far in the NCAAT incorporates a **** ton of luck. TN hasn’t had much of it.

Yeah, people who want to put all the blame on Barnes for our lack of NCAAT luck clearly must not have paid attention to ALL of UT basketball history. We as a program have never had good luck in the tournament, no matter who our head coach has been.

I think a lot of that can be attributed to lack of consistency and stability at HC over the last 30 years. Pearl was rolling and had the best chance of getting us deeper NCAAT runs, but then he lied to the NCAA and had the rug pulled out from under him. Now, Barnes has UT the most stable we've been in men's hoops since the 70s or 80s. Even getting to the NCAAT in 3 or 4 straight years like we have has been difficult to do over the last 30-40 years.

You get there enough, eventually you'll find success. We just need to keep getting to the Big Dance.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

Prior to White, our AD has been the most inept in the conference for decades. It’s hard to overstate how lucky we are that Texas boosters are meddlers, and Dave Hart fell into a bucket of serendipity— giving us Barnes. He is the best hire our AD has made since Neyland. The idiots who complain about timeouts and lack of Final Four appearances just can’t comprehend what he’s done to stabilize our program, AD and university. Of course he makes mistakes. All coaches do. That said, I wouldn’t trade the guy for anyone who’d take the job.

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

Prior to White, our AD has been the most inept in the conference for decades. It’s hard to overstate how lucky we are that Texas boosters are meddlers, and Dave Hart fell into a bucket of serendipity— giving us Barnes. He is the best hire our AD has made since Neyland. The idiots who complain about timeouts and lack of Final Four appearances just can’t comprehend what he’s done to stabilize our program, AD and university. Of course he makes mistakes. All coaches do. That said, I wouldn’t trade the guy for anyone who’d take the job.

Too much rational thought for some unfortunately

 

[Nashvegas31]

Barnes isn’t perfect especially in tourney time but he is perfect for TN basketball. You can make your upgrades in the next hire when he retires as he will have created a sustainable brand easy to sell to a big time coach. I’m also a firm believer in those who consistently do things the right way will eventually reach their ultimate goal. Barnes winning SEC tournament was a good sign of some things turning in terms of his coaching in tourney setting. We just got screwed matched with a preseason top 5 team as our 11 seed opponent. I think Barnes gets a national title before he retires just my opinion.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

Yeah, people who want to put all the blame on Barnes for our lack of NCAAT luck clearly must not have paid attention to ALL of UT basketball history. We as a program have never had good luck in the tournament, no matter who our head coach has been.

I think a lot of that can be attributed to lack of consistency and stability at HC over the last 30 years. Pearl was rolling and had the best chance of getting us deeper NCAAT runs, but then he lied to the NCAA and had the rug pulled out from under him. Now, Barnes has UT the most stable we've been in men's hoops since the 70s or 80s. Even getting to the NCAAT in 3 or 4 straight years like we have has been difficult to do over the last 30-40 years.

You get there enough, eventually you'll find success. We just need to keep getting to the Big Dance.

You make your own luck.
The reason we knock Barnes is because there's a history of lack of success. He's not a young guy he's been around forever and barely ever makes any noise. Yes Pear had us rolling but the excitement came from him being a young coach who had no history at a big program so there was belief that he could build something big. As we as his tournament runs kept improving. With Barnes we know by the end of the first weekend he's gonna be gone. It's clockwork.