Rick Barnes discussion (merged)

#6,626
#6,626
VolPack22 said:
So does this seem like another Sweet 16 team in your opinion or a team that will make a deep run? Knecht seems like the dude that can takeover a tournament a la Stephen Curry but he has a better team around him. This feels like a Final 4 team to me. I won’t be upset even if they don’t make it due to the randomness of the tournament. Will you be upset if we can’t make it past the Sweet 16???
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I think most fans would be a little.
I think they make the elite 8, maybe FF depending on how the rest of the bracket goes.
Barnes has been to the Elite 8 and FF. I can still say he's a sweet 16 coach. Also, and I know this will shock a lot of people, I love Barnes and want him to stay for a long time and I'm glad the program is a Sweet 16 program with occasionally going to the elite 8.
But people would already know that by reading my OP and stop hearing what I didn't say.
 
#6,627
#6,627
Other_Guy said:
I think most fans would be a little.
I think they make the elite 8, maybe FF depending on how the rest of the bracket goes.
Barnes has been to the Elite 8 and FF. I can still say he's a sweet 16 coach. Also, and I know this will shock a lot of people, I love Barnes and want him to stay for a long time and I'm glad the program is a Sweet 16 program with occasionally going to the elite 8.
But people would already know that by reading my OP and stop hearing what I didn't say.
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Yeah it takes luck sometimes as well. Billy Donovan went almost 10 years of failing to get past 2nd round before back to back title runs. March Madnesd is nit a very good system for determining champion because it is about which team is hot at shooting that day.
 
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#6,628
#6,628
volbound1700 said:
Yeah it takes luck sometimes as well. Billy Donovan went almost 10 years of failing to get past 2nd round before back to back title runs. March Madnesd is nit a very good system for determining champion because it is about which team is hot at shooting that day.
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Great point. Tenn also isn't Kansas or Kentucky, and one would expect greater success from some of those programs.
 
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#6,629
#6,629
VolPack22 said:
Anyone that expects anything in the NCAAT clearly doesn’t realize what that tournament is. It’s a best of 1 and no second chances tournament. What other high profile tournament has that type of format? You don’t have to look it up, it’s the only one. Even the NCAAT in baseball is a best of 3. Basketball should adopt a similar format because it is a random sport as well. Not nearly as much as baseball but it is very random.
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Kumite, and Frank Dux handled every opportunity presented.
 
#6,632
#6,632
gainesvol82 said:
Tournament is even harder to predict for a physical defense like UT lives by. One bad crew that doesn't allow physical play, is not consistent with how they call both teams or makes phantom calls (ahem, Purdue) and we can get bounced. Just so many uncontrollable variables.
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Probably a good thing then that Knecht plays a less physical version of defense than guys like Santi, Mashack, and ZZ lol. Means we won’t have to worry too much about him fouling out.
 
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#6,633
#6,633
VolPack22 said:
So does this seem like another Sweet 16 team in your opinion or a team that will make a deep run? Knecht seems like the dude that can takeover a tournament a la Stephen Curry but he has a better team around him. This feels like a Final 4 team to me. I won’t be upset even if they don’t make it due to the randomness of the tournament. Will you be upset if we can’t make it past the Sweet 16???
Click to expand...
This is Barnes best team from a build and talent level in my mind. DK is the finally the alpha that Barnes has never had and I don't mean this as a slight to Grant.

Barnes has consistently built his teams the last few years to be damn near best on defense. We finally added a two way player who is capable of getting buckets and not being scared to shoot.

This team feels different from years past. Anything short of an Elite 8 berth for this team to me will be the most disappointing post season for me under the Barnes era.
 
#6,634
#6,634
JMSqb11 said:
This team feels different from years past. Anything short of an Elite 8 berth for this team to me will be the most disappointing post season for me under the Barnes era.
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I don't disagree that it'll be a disappointment, but it's going to be hard to top what I felt when the team that finally won the SEC Tournament got punked by the ass clowns from Michigan. We had Kennedy Chandler and were firing on all cylinders, and we still managed to lose to a Michigan team that was talented but regularly underperformed. That was a bitter, bitter pill to swallow (also because there's no way in hell we deserved lower than a 2 seed that year).

In any case, assuming Rick is here for another five years or so, I feel like a Final Four is bound to happen if he keeps the talent level where it's been. If you're really good for long enough, it'll come. Being optimistic about it is way more fun.
 
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#6,635
#6,635
TheMookieMonster said:
Probably a good thing then that Knecht plays a less physical version of defense than guys like Santi, Mashack, and ZZ lol. Means we won’t have to worry too much about him fouling out.
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Funny enough Knecht is probably the one person we could live through fouling out the most. Aidoo or Awaka fouls out we are toast. ZZ bad news. JJJ and Santi are more replaceable. But Knecht because of how he plays if he fouled out it would be sometime in triple overtime. I think the guy averages like 0.5 fouls per game.
 
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#6,638
#6,638
ThatVolGuy said:
I don't disagree that it'll be a disappointment, but it's going to be hard to top what I felt when the team that finally won the SEC Tournament got punked by the ass clowns from Michigan. We had Kennedy Chandler and were firing on all cylinders, and we still managed to lose to a Michigan team that was talented but regularly underperformed. That was a bitter, bitter pill to swallow (also because there's no way in hell we deserved lower than a 2 seed that year).

In any case, assuming Rick is here for another five years or so, I feel like a Final Four is bound to happen if he keeps the talent level where it's been. If you're really good for long enough, it'll come. Being optimistic about it is way more fun.
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That Kennedy team was special and he could score, but the size of DK allows him to score from anywhere. Also helps having a very old team with experience on defense as well.

I truly feel this is Rick's best team and roster he's had here.
 
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#6,642
#6,642
gainesvol82 said:
Tournament is even harder to predict for a physical defense like UT lives by. One bad crew that doesn't allow physical play, is not consistent with how they call both teams or makes phantom calls (ahem, Purdue) and we can get bounced. Just so many uncontrollable variables.
Click to expand...

I for sure thought refs would be very tight for us vs FAU after the Duke beatdown.
 
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#6,643
#6,643
volbound1700 said:
Yeah it takes luck sometimes as well. Billy Donovan went almost 10 years of failing to get past 2nd round before back to back title runs. March Madnesd is nit a very good system for determining champion because it is about which team is hot at shooting that day.
Click to expand...
It is actually, a lot more complicated.
The venue ... (some are shooters nightmares ... or just do not fit your eye, you hate the backdrop; Boston Garden has dead spots on the floor.)
The refs ... (Are they favorable to your style of play or do they punish you or perhaps there is a grudge factor, LSU game a few years back)
The crowd ... (You are basically playing at a venue where the other team is a home team)
The health of the players ... (Remember when Fulky got hurt or the team is fighting the flu)
The game plan was a stinker or a stroke of genius ... (Run a great 3 point shooting team off the line, thus reducing their score one point every trip!)
Coaching decisions ... (Do you take out a player who is exhausted or leave him in because he has shut down their best player?)
How you match up with a team ... (An extremely athletic team at every position vs a great 3 pts shooting team is a bad matchup)
It is one of those nights ... (A single player can get hot and there is nothing you can do ... Jodie Meeks)
etc, etc, etc.

Abundance of talent provides an excellent advantage and typically leads to winning more games.
Fortune favors the prepared.
And as somebody has said, it is more like the weather, you know what you are supposed to get but it is still a "scientific crapshoot."
 
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#6,645
#6,645
SN-A-C Orange said:
It is actually, a lot more complicated.
The venue ... (some are shooters nightmares ... or just do not fit your eye, you hate the backdrop; Boston Garden has dead spots on the floor.)
The refs ... (Are they favorable to your style of play or do they punish you or perhaps there is a grudge factor, LSU game a few years back)
The crowd ... (You are basically playing at a venue where the other team is a home team)
The health of the players ... (Remember when Fulky got hurt or the team is fighting the flu)
The game plan was a stinker or a stroke of genius ... (Run a great 3 point shooting team off the line, thus reducing their score one point every trip!)
Coaching decisions ... (Do you take out a player who is exhausted or leave him in because he has shut down their best player?)
How you match up with a team ... (An extremely athletic team at every position vs a great 3 pts shooting team is a bad matchup)
It is one of those nights ... (A single player can get hot and there is nothing you can do ... Jodie Meeks)
etc, etc, etc.

Abundance of talent provides an excellent advantage and typically leads to winning more games.
Fortune favors the prepared.
And as somebody has said, it is more like the weather, you know what you are supposed to get but it is still a "scientific crapshoot."
Click to expand...
Great post. Exactly why the NCAA should be best 2 of 3 from Sweet 16 through the final four. Also, top 8 seeds should receive first round byes
 
#6,646
#6,646
SN-A-C Orange said:
It is actually, a lot more complicated.
The venue ... (some are shooters nightmares ... or just do not fit your eye, you hate the backdrop; Boston Garden has dead spots on the floor.)
The refs ... (Are they favorable to your style of play or do they punish you or perhaps there is a grudge factor, LSU game a few years back)
The crowd ... (You are basically playing at a venue where the other team is a home team)
The health of the players ... (Remember when Fulky got hurt or the team is fighting the flu)
The game plan was a stinker or a stroke of genius ... (Run a great 3 point shooting team off the line, thus reducing their score one point every trip!)
Coaching decisions ... (Do you take out a player who is exhausted or leave him in because he has shut down their best player?)
How you match up with a team ... (An extremely athletic team at every position vs a great 3 pts shooting team is a bad matchup)
It is one of those nights ... (A single player can get hot and there is nothing you can do ... Jodie Meeks)
etc, etc, etc.

Abundance of talent provides an excellent advantage and typically leads to winning more games.
Fortune favors the prepared.
And as somebody has said, it is more like the weather, you know what you are supposed to get but it is still a "scientific crapshoot."
Click to expand...

I think that the crowd has been a huge factor in UT’s NCAAT history. #1 and #2 seeds are often placed close to their campuses. Then those crowds become big fans for the lower seeds playing the 3-6 seeds. How often has UT been the crowd favorite in NCAAT games? I’d like to see their record when playing NCAAT games in front of neutral, home-like, and hostile crowds.
 
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#6,647
#6,647
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I think that the crowd has been a huge factor in UT’s NCAAT history. #1 and #2 seeds are often placed close to their campuses. Then those crowds become big fans for the lower seeds playing the 3-6 seeds. How often has UT been the crowd favorite in NCAAT games? I’d like to see their record when playing NCAAT games in front of neutral, home-like, and hostile crowds.
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Yeah, haven't been crowd favorites much in the NCAA. One exception was the 1979 Sweet 16 matchup with Notre Dame at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro. Notre Dame was loaded. UT had finished the SEC slate with convincing wins claiming 2nd in regular season after a lineup change in January. UT won the SEC tournament that year too, the first time the SEC had conducted a tournament in decades. There was one little section of ND fans and the rest of the place was clad in The Big Orange
 
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#6,650
#6,650
SN-A-C Orange said:
It is actually, a lot more complicated.
The venue ... (some are shooters nightmares ... or just do not fit your eye, you hate the backdrop; Boston Garden has dead spots on the floor.)
The refs ... (Are they favorable to your style of play or do they punish you or perhaps there is a grudge factor, LSU game a few years back)
The crowd ... (You are basically playing at a venue where the other team is a home team)
The health of the players ... (Remember when Fulky got hurt or the team is fighting the flu)
The game plan was a stinker or a stroke of genius ... (Run a great 3 point shooting team off the line, thus reducing their score one point every trip!)
Coaching decisions ... (Do you take out a player who is exhausted or leave him in because he has shut down their best player?)
How you match up with a team ... (An extremely athletic team at every position vs a great 3 pts shooting team is a bad matchup)
It is one of those nights ... (A single player can get hot and there is nothing you can do ... Jodie Meeks)
etc, etc, etc.

Abundance of talent provides an excellent advantage and typically leads to winning more games.
Fortune favors the prepared.
And as somebody has said, it is more like the weather, you know what you are supposed to get but it is still a "scientific crapshoot."
Click to expand...
This may be the most intelligent and well thought out post in forum history. Vols health has been an issue almost every year in Barnes era. I can easily recall Fulky, ZZ, Kyle, JJJ, Olivier, Punter, Lamonte, (I feel like I’ve left a couple out) who were hurt late in the season and missed the rest of the season, or played injured and were a shadow of themselves.
AND STILL competed at a high level and won big games!
Having said that I wish for our team to stay as healthy as possible thru the entire season. If we can do that I love our chances
 
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