Rick Barnes discussion (merged)

#4,660
#4,660
UTFanHades said:
Half the calls tonight have been calling for his firing. Just don’t say that to Poli Joe’s face when he’s had those drinks.
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Was that Poli Joe having an epic meltdown?

Edit: it was. Starts out demanding that Basilio answer his question about extending Barnes for a year, YES or NO!!! He ends by calling Barnes an a** hole. Barnes might not coach they way a lot of people would like, but an a-hole? Come on, Man.

That guy is unhinged. He has a carpet cleaning biz that he used to advertise on Basilio. I wouldn’t let him anywhere near my house even if he offered to do it for free. Something is not right with him.
 
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#4,663
#4,663
brockytop said:
I‘m guessing UVA wouldn’t trade their NC for a win today.
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Dude lost to a 16 rank team. You'll fire Rick Barnes for making the tournament every year and having us ranked number 2. Just go away. People like you are why our football team sucked for 20 year.
 
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#4,664
#4,664
Basketball is all about runs and droughts I know. How you deal with them falls heavily on the coach. Sure, a coach can't control when players go dry and can't hit buckets and can't control if players on the other team get hot. But....the coach can attempt to swing momentum by using time outs wisely and subbing more often.

The 18 point lead should have been the nail in the coffin. Barnes continued to let the lead dwindle while standing on the sidelines watching it happen. Watching his team look completely out of sink, turn the ball over, miss shot after shot and not manage the clock well. They were discombobulated.

Louisiana couldn't handle Uros most of the time he was in there or Nkamhoua. Vols had the most success having Mashack bring the ball up and why not leave Vescovi in his two spot?

At times it just seems Barnes has no idea what to do with his rotations and combinations of players on the court together. Which is head scratching for a hall of fame coach with as many wins as he's had under his belt. But, it does possibly explain why he can't get over the top into elite coaching status with winning a ring or two.
 
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#4,665
#4,665
madbamahater said:
Basketball is all about runs and droughts I know. How you deal with them falls heavily on the coach. Sure, a coach can't control when players go dry and can't hit buckets and can't control if players on the other team get hot. But....the coach can attempt to swing momentum by using time outs wisely and subbing more often.

The 18 point lead should have been the nail in the coffin. Barnes continued to let the lead dwindle while standing on the sidelines watching it happen. Watching his team look completely out of sink, turn the ball over, miss shot after shot and not manage the clock well. They were discombobulated.

Louisiana couldn't handle Uros most of the time he was in there or Nkamhoua. Vols had the most success having Mashack bring the ball up and why not leave Vescovi in his two spot?

At times it just seems Barnes has no idea what to do with his rotations and combinations of players on the court together. Which is head scratching for a hall of fame coach with as many wins as he's had under his belt. But, it does possibly explain why he can't get over the top into elite coaching status with winning a ring or two.
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Bottom Line: The Offense sucks and relies to much on one or two players having a great night. ZZ was the glue that help create that window that was able to get all of them on a roll.

Having the talent is one thing putting them in a scheme that gets the maximum potential is another. Last night we witnessed an engine that could but didn't because of scheme and missing a vital link.

I fault CRB for not adjusting the Offense to fit the personel.
 
#4,666
#4,666
I think the relevant question is if not Rick Barnes, who? I truly don't think we could find a better coach than Barnes and he has led the program to heights not seen previously, even under Pearl and I remain a Pearl fan.

The reality is UT is recruiting well and has had great regular season success under Barnes. That's truly excellent and has not been done all that frequently before in Knoxville.

But tournament success has been elusive and the scoring droughts are no longer a one off thing for just this team but instead a pattern under Barnes as multiple teams have had them and those scoring droughts are devastating. I also have no clue how Barnes bungled are roster so badly that we had one true PG heading into the season, ZZ, and no credible backup.

This season has been a good one but for injuries and roster management issues. Once Chandler left for the NBA (and I think that was the right decision for him), Barnes should have gotten a true PG out of the portal. Hunter picked Texas over UT, that happens, but the Yuri Collins thing remains puzzling to me. I also don't know why we did not get someone else at PG if Collins was not coming here.

I expect to lose to Duke tomorrow. I think with a healthy ZZ, we would have a good chance to advance even with Duke playing so well right now. Without him, it's going to take a near perfect game from the remaining players to have a chance. Heck, we beat Bama without ZZ and it is possible, but just not very likely.

A second round exit will be a bummer end to a season that had so much promise but got derailed by injuries and the lack of a second PG. But there were some great moments to be sure and I remain satisfied with Barnes even with a second round loss.
 
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#4,667
#4,667
Sudden Impact said:
Bottom Line: The Offense sucks and relies to much on one or two players having a great night. ZZ was the glue that help create that window that was able to get all of them on a roll.

Having the talent is one thing putting them in a scheme that gets the maximum potential is another. Last night we witnessed an engine that could but didn't because of scheme and missing a vital link.

I fault CRB for not adjusting the Offense to fit the personel.
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I pointed out several times that Zeigler was the best player on our team so losing him hurts. Vescovi had a bad game so I would be curious to see what he will be like if he turns it on in the next game.

We really need stronger center play/play in the paint. Plavsic is a disappointing at times but has potential. Aidoo got into foul trouble last night but has shown potential. We need both of them to have a big game against Duke and put up points in the paint.

Tyreke Key has stepped up lately and is making a lot of plays. Mashack shows he can shoot. JJJ is a great player but is very inconsistent.

Overall, most the players just don't stand out. I don't see a lot of them making a lot of mistakes (other than Plavsic) but I also don't see them taking over games other than Vescovi at times and making play after play. We just don't have that star player which you sometimes need for big runs. Maybe Vescovi can become that or Plavsic and/or Aidoo can dominate the paint like Brandon Williams did in our Elite 8 run.

Brandon Williams was an interesting story because he was very inconsistent in play at times but was a key peace of the Elite 8 run we had in the tournament. Plavsic has that build and potential but I haven't seen it yet. Vescovi could be like a Chris Lofton or Juan Jennings but I haven't seen it yet.

This is why I was really disappointed by the loss to Purdue in 2018/2019 because Grant Williams was that "it" player that was dependable in game after game. Admiral Schofield also anchored that but he just wasn't the same in that tournament. I don't know why. That team had a great shot at a Final Four and fell short.
 
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#4,668
#4,668
madbamahater said:
Basketball is all about runs and droughts I know. How you deal with them falls heavily on the coach. Sure, a coach can't control when players go dry and can't hit buckets and can't control if players on the other team get hot. But....the coach can attempt to swing momentum by using time outs wisely and subbing more often.

The 18 point lead should have been the nail in the coffin. Barnes continued to let the lead dwindle while standing on the sidelines watching it happen. Watching his team look completely out of sink, turn the ball over, miss shot after shot and not manage the clock well. They were discombobulated.

Louisiana couldn't handle Uros most of the time he was in there or Nkamhoua. Vols had the most success having Mashack bring the ball up and why not leave Vescovi in his two spot?

At times it just seems Barnes has no idea what to do with his rotations and combinations of players on the court together. Which is head scratching for a hall of fame coach with as many wins as he's had under his belt. But, it does possibly explain why he can't get over the top into elite coaching status with winning a ring or two.
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You might want to check out the +/- with Uros on the floor. According to VQ, UT was -15 with Uros on the floor and +15 with Aidoo on the floor. Uros is a nice change of pace player but he is not a bunch of minutes player and his +/- stats corroborate that.
 
#4,671
#4,671
WhatInVolnation said:
I think the relevant question is if not Rick Barnes, who? I truly don't think we could find a better coach than Barnes and he has led the program to heights not seen previously, even under Pearl and I remain a Pearl fan.

The reality is UT is recruiting well and has had great regular season success under Barnes. That's truly excellent and has not been done all that frequently before in Knoxville.

But tournament success has been elusive and the scoring droughts are no longer a one off thing for just this team but instead a pattern under Barnes as multiple teams have had them and those scoring droughts are devastating. I also have no clue how Barnes bungled are roster so badly that we had one true PG heading into the season, ZZ, and no credible backup.

This season has been a good one but for injuries and roster management issues. Once Chandler left for the NBA (and I think that was the right decision for him), Barnes should have gotten a true PG out of the portal. Hunter picked Texas over UT, that happens, but the Yuri Collins thing remains puzzling to me. I also don't know why we did not get someone else at PG if Collins was not coming here.

I expect to lose to Duke tomorrow. I think with a healthy ZZ, we would have a good chance to advance even with Duke playing so well right now. Without him, it's going to take a near perfect game from the remaining players to have a chance. Heck, we beat Bama without ZZ and it is possible, but just not very likely.

A second round exit will be a bummer end to a season that had so much promise but got derailed by injuries and the lack of a second PG. But there were some great moments to be sure and I remain satisfied with Barnes even with a second round loss.
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Yeah and to be fair this is only Rick Barnes 5th crack at the tournament. That isn't very much in the scheme of things

We had the first team lose in second round to Final Four darling Loyola on a last minute 3 (frankly we should have won it)
The following year was probably the best team in Rick Barnes tenure and it did get to Sweet 16 as a 2 seed but lost to Purdue
The third opportunity was cancelled due to COVID-19
The real third opportunity was ugly with a blowout loss to Oregon State, granted Oregon State went to Elite 8
Last year was a little rough too losing to Michigan but that Michigan team looked elite at times in the year and was very inconsistent. They were a tough draw.

It seems like we fall short by one game each year if you go off our seed.

We were a 3 seed in 2017-2018 and lost in second round. Per our seed, we should have made Sweet 16 (one game short)
We were a 2 seed in 2018-2019 and lost in third round. Per our seed, we should have made Elite 8 (one game short)
We were a 5 seed in 2020-2021 and lost in first round. Per our seed, we should have made second round (one game short)
We were a 3 seed in 2021-2022and lost in second round. Per our seed, we should have made Sweet 16 (one game short)

If anything, we are consistent. We also are one game short of meeting seed expectations.
 
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#4,672
#4,672
I'm not in the fire Barnes crowd, not even close, but I'm not in the Barnes is Jesus Christ crowd on here either. There's a narrative about Barnes and March and it's real and it's fair. Go out and beat Duke and it ends. At least for a while. Win some more and it's gone for good.
 
#4,673
#4,673
ColinS said:
I'm not in the fire Barnes crowd, not even close, but I'm not in the Barnes is Jesus Christ crowd on here either. There's a narrative about Barnes and March and it's real and it's fair. Go out and beat Duke and it ends. At least for a while. Win some more and it's gone for good.
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I can understand that. I am not sure narrative is just about the Tournament as the issues have come up even before the Tournament. I just don't think the offense for his teams are very good which is what limited him. He probably needs a Kevin Durant or Grant Williams type player to fuel his offense.

I think some of it is the playstyle. We have the #1 defense for a reason, we play slow and slow the game down so our offense (and opponent's offense) puts up far less points. It is basically the opposite of our Football Team. This playstyle is common with B1G teams who also tend to struggle sometimes in March (i.e. Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin, etc.).

One item that is missing that would power Barnes' system well is strong Power Forward/Center play. It is no surprise that we were the best when we had Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield because they fit Barnes system very well. Plavsic and Aidoo are not those players (although Aidoo is young and is showing some potential). If Barnes could get a Glenn Davis, Brandon Williams, or frankly for an extreme view, a Shaquille O'Neal type player that is consistent about scoring in paint or drawing fouls, we might have a Final Four team.

I think the coaching knows that we are missing those pieces based on comments in recruiting, etc. Not sure why we haven't found it. The game has changed to favor perimeter shooting and speed up games but I think Barnes system can work, it just doesn't have the right players at the moment.
 
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#4,674
#4,674
Ttucke11 said:
I'm not in the fire Barnes crowd, he can stay as long as he likes if he's making tourneys....but there's zero chance in hell we beat Duke by 20+.
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An exaggeration yes, but no way they lose to Duke either. Lol. We just beat a team that had the recipe to beat TN, executed it perfectly (take away SV) and TN still beat them, while playing one of the worst halves of their season.
TN has played well against the NAME teams this season and won their share of those games. They'll be up for DUKE.
 
#4,675
#4,675
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Was that Poli Joe having an epic meltdown?

Edit: it was. Starts out demanding that Basilio answer his question about extending Barnes for a year, YES or NO!!! He ends by calling Barnes an a** hole. Barnes might not coach they way a lot of people would like, but an a-hole? Come on, Man.

That guy is unhinged. He has a carpet cleaning biz that he used to advertise on Basilio. I wouldn’t let him anywhere near my house even if he offered to do it for free. Something is not right with him.
Click to expand...
I don’t know why postgame call in shows still exist, frankly. It’s not the 1980s anymore. “Fans” have message boards and Twitter now where they can spout their diarrhea 24/7 instead of just after a game.
 
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