Rick Barnes discussion (merged)

#4,527
#4,527
What happened all the fire Barnes posters finally pass out from drinking lol what a bunch of "great individuals " very knowledgeable not
 
#4,530
#4,530
Volfan1000 said:
Hubert Davis and North Carolina are the defending champions so I think that buys him a few years at least.
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No, they lost in the final last year to Kansas

Almost winning a championship doesnā€™t really buy you anything at a blue blood if you immediately fall off a cliff afterwards.
 
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#4,531
#4,531
Hereā€™s my thoughts on this team and Barnes.

- THIS team is only as good as the system allows them to be. With zero shot creators and zero go-to post players, what you see is what youā€™re going to get. Muck on offense, grit on defense.

- From a coaching perspective, itā€™s very tough to coach a team with players who still lack basketball IQ in many areas (yes, thereā€™s a lot on this team that lack this especially the post players). For example, most of our post players are playing high-side in the post when they should be low-side, or vice versa. Another example is when defending a dribble handoff and hedging the screen, they play so high that they get blew by or open up a lane for a back-door. Sometimes one step on defense can be the difference in a stop or 2 points.

- Barnes established an identity and a strong foundation for the program. However, I believe his old-fashioned view of the game may hamper his teams. As good of a defensive minded coach as he is, the strategy to recruit pure shooters and a solid post player and then teach them his ways of defense would be the most effective IMO. Itā€™s tough when you have players that canā€™t create their own shot or drive to the hole at any given time and get you a basket.

- In order for this team to salvage the season and cap it off the right way, thereā€™s gonna have to be some sense of urgency from everyone involved. No more clenching your a**cheeks and holding your breath just hoping you escape with a win. The mentality canā€™t be just ā€œsurvive and advanceā€, it has to be ā€œweā€™re here to destroy every team we play and weā€™re gonna make sure you can barely walk out of the arena afterwardsā€ type of mentality. There are moments where some players look disassociated from the game and they get in their corner of the floor and let everyone else play and just watch. If nothing else comes to fruition, at the very least they need to come out and leave the nice-guy versions of themselves in the locker room. At the end of the day, you donā€™t play to be liked, you play to be the best. And sometimes to be at your best, you gotta be the bad guy. Iā€™d like to see all of them play that way for a full 40 minutes at least once.

On another note, someone needs to tell Tyreke Key that itā€™s okay to smile every once in a while.
 
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#4,532
#4,532
TrumpedUpVol said:
An SEC Tournament champion, which Pearl wasn't. Pearl did get this school to its only Elite Eight, which was great, but the program has had just as much (if not more) sustained relevance under Barnes as it did under Pearl.
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Yeah, in the regular season. Barnes shot his wad in the loss to the Sister and ULC. Neither he nor TN will ever advance past the SSā€”that was the chance and they choked (with or without K Alexander).
 
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#4,534
#4,534
knoxvol52 said:
What happened all the fire Barnes posters finally pass out from drinking lol what a bunch of "great individuals " very knowledgeable not
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Making the tournament is number one priority-- after that, only one wins it all. The fact that we are a top team every year shows that Barnes is a good coach. I'm content till he retires.

It would seem like THIS fan base, in particular, would understand what it's like to struggle, and be happy to have a winning coach.
 
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#4,535
#4,535
berryvol said:
We donā€™t have a history of hiring that kind of coach. We also do not have the longevity of success of the places that coaches like that typically go to. Can we hire a top notch coach away from a good program? Maybe. Can I win the lottery? Maybe. Both seem very unlikely, which is the reason moving on from Barnes would be beyond asinine.
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I didn't say anything about moving on Barnes though something does need to change offensively with this program. Just because we made some bad hires back in the day that the administration only cared about football doesn't carry any weight moving forward.
 
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#4,536
#4,536
BallerVolFan said:
Hereā€™s my thoughts on this team and Barnes.

- THIS team is only as good as the system allows them to be. With zero shot creators and zero go-to post players, what you see is what youā€™re going to get. Muck on offense, grit on defense.

- From a coaching perspective, itā€™s very tough to coach a team with players who still lack basketball IQ in many areas (yes, thereā€™s a lot on this team that lack this especially the post players). For example, most of our post players are playing high-side in the post when they should be low-side, or vice versa. Another example is when defending a dribble handoff and hedging the screen, they play so high that they get blew by or open up a lane for a back-door. Sometimes one step on defense can be the difference in a stop or 2 points.

- Barnes established an identity and a strong foundation for the program. However, I believe his old-fashioned view of the game may hamper his teams. As good of a defensive minded coach as he is, the strategy to recruit pure shooters and a solid post player and then teach them his ways of defense would be the most effective IMO. Itā€™s tough when you have players that canā€™t create their own shot or drive to the hole at any given time and get you a basket.

- In order for this team to salvage the season and cap it off the right way, thereā€™s gonna have to be some sense of urgency from everyone involved. No more clenching your a**cheeks and holding your breath just hoping you escape with a win. The mentality canā€™t be just ā€œsurvive and advanceā€, it has to be ā€œweā€™re here to destroy every team we play and weā€™re gonna make sure you can barely walk out of the arena afterwardsā€ type of mentality. There are moments where some players look disassociated from the game and they get in their corner of the floor and let everyone else play and just watch. If nothing else comes to fruition, at the very least they need to come out and leave the nice-guy versions of themselves in the locker room. At the end of the day, you donā€™t play to be liked, you play to be the best. And sometimes to be at your best, you gotta be the bad guy. Iā€™d like to see all of them play that way for a full 40 minutes at least once.

On another note, someone needs to tell Tyreke Key that itā€™s okay to smile every once in a while.
Click to expand...

Barnes is not great coaching in the one and done era of 5 star guys. When he took this job, he had to rebuild the program by recruiting guys he knew were no risk of being 1-2 year players and bolting to the NBA. This means he can have a consistent roster core he can develop. Itā€™s why he took a major leap with Grant/Admiral years with a cast of Bowden, Turner, Alexander, Fulkerson, etcā€¦.. now that run resulted in Tennessee being back nationally relevant where we could pull in those 4-5 star guys like Springer, Keon, Kennedy, Phillips, Edwardsā€¦.. the downside is those guys are most likely 1-2 year players more times than not. Good news is Edwards and Phillips look to be NOT going pro. But as good as this team was pre ZZ injury, losing Kennedy to the draft killed us. What kept us in a lot of games was the defense being so deep. I still like this team in the tourney. But as you said Barnes has old school way of thinking, itā€™s magnified in this era of recruiting top guys who arenā€™t 3-4 year players.
 
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#4,538
#4,538
VolFreakJosh said:
My point still stands.

Maybe you should go back making excuses for Pearl
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No. Your point doesn't. Those viewed as elite NCAA basketball coaches get it done in March. Jim Boeheim went to 5 final fours, is 48-28 in the NCAA tournament and is a national champion. The narrative that March doesn't matter is silly and you using Boeheim is even more silly. Especially so when you often call others "low i.q." because they disagree with you.

I also avoid the silly narrative that the super sensitive Barnes boys have, that in order to support him you have to hate Pearl so much you trash his time here. It's really too far that some trash Mears too. Mears would have went to 14 consecutive NCAAs here under the rules Barnes/Pearl enjoyed.
 
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#4,540
#4,540
Personally, I didn't expect a bunch of elite 8 and final fours. I'm just happy we're making the NCAAT regularly instead of looking at an NIT bracket or sitting home at tournament time.
 
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#4,541
#4,541
bleedingTNorange said:
Very real chance Barnes leaves Knoxville as the winningest menā€™s coach in program history, that would ruffle some feathers for sure.
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I seen where Nowell and Harris were predicted to committ to UT well was assumed they would anyway do you think Barnes recruits guards and wings way more than centers
 
#4,544
#4,544
Will anyone be doing the bracket challenge on this site I will personally send a 75 dollar gift card to winner of challenge. The gift card will be to Buffalo Wild Wings if it's okay with everyone
 
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#4,545
#4,545
We just flat out havenā€™t executed late in the season overall. Donā€™t know what the answer is. Injuries havenā€™t helped, but every team has to deal with them. The lack of a couple of bigs that can consistently drive the lanes and bring down the backboard is frustrating. Missed free throws, layups and put backs right underneath the basket when the chips are down have been consistently maddening. Weā€™ll see what the NCAA Tourney holds. I would consider a SS appearance a success after what weā€™ve witnessed the last part of this season.
 
#4,546
#4,546
I feel sorry for Coach Barnes...as I believe in my heart that he has the wherewithal of a Final Four coach. With ZZ out though, we will have to wait another year, IMO. Shame, real shame.
 
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#4,547
#4,547
Volador said:
...as I believe in my heart that he has the wherewithal of a Final Four coach. With ZZ out, we will have to wait another year, IMO. Shame, real shame.
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šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚ Itā€™s been 14 years since he advanced past the Sweet Sixteen. With or without ZZ he knows his team wasnā€™t getting to a Final Four with such erratic offense.
 
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#4,550
#4,550
And if he gets upset in first round again many of us will be thinking what couldā€™ve been if he had taken the UCLA job!
 
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