The Official Rick Barnes discussion thread

#676
#676
there are about 350 schools in D-1 men's hoops. we have been one of the best 8 of those schools back to back years. and we're a football school. if you can't appreciate this level of success, I don't know what to tell you, because there's about 335 D-1 teams that would kill for back to back elite 8s.
 
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#677
#677
landscapingvol said:
I would agree with that but that isn’t my point. I assume the goal here is to win a championship but maybe it isn’t? If we are fine with just making the tournament, and occasionally making it past the first weekend then Barnes is great but if that isn’t the goal then he isn’t irreplaceable if/when he retires.
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The goal can be a championship while also appreciating the program’s historic accomplishments under Barnes and enjoying the sustained success he has provided. The two don’t have to be, nor should they be, separate of one another.
 
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#682
#682
TrippieRedd said:
I hope he and shack have long pro careers, but selfishly I would love for them to take the Kirby route and join the staff next season
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Yeah I guess it really does depend on what other leagues see in them. If they still wanna ball they’ll find a place, but maybe they love Tennessee so much they’re good with coaching right away. They know they have a home here and will be taking care of. We shall see
 
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#683
#683
BernardKingGOAT said:
Probably never. How many of Barnes' former players are on his staff?
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I feel like ZZ is a legit possibility to be on a Tennessee staff one day even if it’s after Barnes steps down. He may play a few years over seas but if he doesn’t I could see him joining fairly quickly. That relationship is tight.
 
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#688
#688
Rick Barnes is the best coach Tennessee has ever had. it's shocking to me UT has never been to a final 4 but here we are.

My take on Barnes, besides being a great human being and great regular season coach is this. He suffers from being just great enough to get everyone's attention and then when he finally has everyone looking at him, he bungles it or makes one critical mistake when it matters the most. It sucks that the world works that way but that's NEVER the position you want to be in.
 
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#689
#689
UTFranklinVol said:
Rick Barnes is the best coach Tennessee has ever had. it's shocking to me UT has never been to a final 4 but here we are.

My take on Barnes, besides being a great human being and great regular season coach is this. He suffers from being just great enough to get everyone's attention and then when he finally has everyone looking at him, he bungles it or makes one critical mistake when it matters the most. It sucks that the world works that way but that's NEVER the position you want to be in.
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Or we just got beat by a better team.

The ole "great regular season coach" label. Love it. We just advanced in one tournament farther than our chalk and and another right on chalk.

Silly label
 
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#692
#692
NEO said:
So we are just gonna rewrite history and before Barnes no other coach was just as successful here?

6 times to the tourney never happened between 05 and 11? Didn’t make sweet 16 twice? Didn’t make an elite 8 in 2010? Wasnt number one in the entire country? Didn’t amass a record of 145-61? None of that happened? It was all a dream. Pearl did none of that?

Before Barnes UT was strictly an NIT team?

I’m not trying to be a jerk cause you’re a cool poster but for my own sanity am I imagining all of that happened under a different coach than Barnes here? It never happened?
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I have many fond memories of Pearl's time here (especially from the Lofton years). That I follow UT basketball to the extent I do is in large part due to him.

I do not, however, consider Pearl's tenure here to have equalled Barnes' -- two SEC championships, an elusive SEC tournament championship, three consecutive Sweet Sixteens (four in seven years), two consecutive Elite Eights, numerous victories over Kentucky, two long stints at #1, all while playing more challenging schedules both in and out of conference.

Furthermore, Barnes and the young men he has recruited and mentored have represented our alma mater with dignity and honor. I would have no hesitation sending a son, nephew, or student of mine to play for Coach Barnes. I cannot say the same of Coach Pearl.

Finally, there is every reason to believe that Barnes will leave to his successor a program that is well respected and highly desirable to prospective coaches. That's not what Pearl left behind.

Though I respect Pearl's accomplishments here, I stand by my assertion that I've not seen Barnes' equal during my time as a fan of UT basketball (which began during Wade Houton's tenure, though I have vague memories of a game or two coached by DeVoe).
 
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#693
#693
NEO said:
So we are just gonna rewrite history and before Barnes no other coach was just as successful here?

6 times to the tourney never happened between 05 and 11? Didn’t make sweet 16 twice? Didn’t make an elite 8 in 2010? Wasnt number one in the entire country? Didn’t amass a record of 145-61? None of that happened? It was all a dream. Pearl did none of that?

Before Barnes UT was strictly an NIT team?

I’m not trying to be a jerk cause you’re a cool poster but for my own sanity am I imagining all of that happened under a different coach than Barnes here? It never happened?
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He wasn't, by the very numbers. I'm not playing any "what if" games of if he stayed coach because he didn't. Fantasy scenarios don't count. I count staying at UT's coach as part of the success and Pearl didn't do that.

Pearl didn't win 2 SEC Championships, he won 1. He didn't win the SECT, he made 1 SECT Championship and lost; Barnes has made 4 SECT Championships and won 1. Pearl didn't make 3 straight S16s, Barnes did. Pearl didn't make 2 straight EEs, Barnes did.

You are making it seem like saying Barnes is the generational coach here is some knock on Pearl, and that's on you. Nobody said Pearl didn't accomplish great things here. We're just saying he wasn't as good as Barnes here. And this is comparing what both did here, nothing else.
 
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#694
#694
CAVPUT said:
We had a great defensive team this year and our roster held up against a lot of the opposition, but when you reach the elite 8 and beyond, it becomes clear that we just weren't on that level and would struggle to compete. We've got a group of scrappy, over achievers. They maxed out their potential to reach the elite 8, but unless our evals and recruiting improves/changes, that's our ceiling. Hey, that's not a bad thing. This year exceeded all my expectations. Didn't think we'd make the sweet 16 to be honest. I've been waiting for a final 4 for 7 decades. Ain't happenin'. I've accepted who and what we are in hoops and in football to be honest.
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I don’t agree. What about beating Auburn, Florida and Bama made you think we couldn’t compete in the Elite 8? We were consistently a top 10 team this year. Close out against Vandy and the road game at Auburn and we’re likely a 1 seed. This team didn’t exceed my expectations, they hit what I thought tourney wise. They did win more early games than I thought as I thought it would take longer for our roster to gel.
 
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#695
#695
jeff1vol said:
I guess we couldve asked that same question before Tony V was hired. Great coaches with the chops to hang banners are out there... the AD needs to find him. UT basketball is a very attractive position whether old timers like me want to believe it or not. Resources are there. When I was in school and someone wouldve told me we would win an NC IN BASEBALL... I wouldve died from laughter. Dont let the fear of taking a risk to improve stick us in the mud. Barnes is a fantastic person. No doubt. But the game has outgrown him. He is a DEFENSE first coach. And always has been. Unfortunately for us, offense sells tickets AND hangs banners.
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So is Kelvin Sampson.
 
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#698
#698
There was literally no reason anyone would predict Tennessee beating Houston other than our blind fanbase
 
#699
#699
mackievol said:
There was literally no reason anyone would predict Tennessee beating Houston other than our blind fanbase
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I strongly disagree. I think most people agreed before the game that it’d be a rock fight either team could’ve won-and had we had a better start to the game than the one we unfortunately had, it very well could’ve been.

Saying there’s “literally no reason” is frankly absurd
 
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#700
#700
vols 30 said:
Believe it or not, it really is okay to like and admire both Pearl and Barnes.
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I agree. I think the argument of who was better at UT is the wrong argument.

Are BOTH great coaches? Yes.

Who is better? I think it’s obvious that Pearl is the better coach . . . But I suppose it’s debatable.

Who is the better person? Barnes.

Only time will tell . . . But I don’t think Barnes ever makes a Final 4 again. I think it’s possible that not only will Pearl make another Final 4 at Auburn . . . He could win a NC there. JMO.
 
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