A Tale of Two Basketball programs

#1
T

Tennessee Ted

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#1
It was the best of reactions to a loss, it was the worst of reactions to a win, it was the age destroying your conference, obtaining a #1 seed and crushing Michigan St., it was the age of foolish drives into the middle culminating in charges, bad shots, and turnovers, it was the epoch of a belief in a national championship still alive, it was the epoch of may be next year, it was the season of one more win to the final four, it was the season of Howell missing another jumper, it was the spring of stiffling defense and 60% shooting, it was the winter of two fouls in 1 minute and 45 seconds , we had everything before us, we had nothing before us but the remains of a great season, we were all going direct to the final four, we were all exiting after another disappointing sweet 16 exit - in short, Memphis ended up winning the game they lost because they learned from the defeat and moved forward while Tennessee could never reclaim the magic, that some of its noisiest Vol fans insisted on this win being our biggest of all time, now can only look back at what might have been as Memphis moves on in the Big Dance
 
#3
#3
Apples and oranges comparison. Just reverse the roles and UT gets the 1 seed and bracket that Memphis has breezed through, they are in the Elite 8 while Memphis playing the UT bracket would be home watching. No way to make a fair comparison using that method. In this case the 2 teams played head to head so not much is left to doubt about the better team like it or not.
 
#4
#4
VOLitant said:
Apples and oranges comparison. Just reverse the roles and UT gets the 1 seed and bracket that Memphis has breezed through, they are in the Elite 8 while Memphis playing the UT bracket would be home watching. No way to make a fair comparison using that method. In this case the 2 teams played head to head so not much is left to doubt about the better team like it or not.
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I am not so sure of that. Michigan St. beat a really hot Pittsburgh team and Memphis really destroyed them. I know Michigan St. is no Louisville, but Memphis just looks like a team firing on all cylinders where the Vols are not. Even in our wins lately we have not looked good.
 
#5
#5
We fell apart after Senior Night, Plain and simple. Since Memphis Lost to us in their own gym, while we obtained their #1 spot, and we broke their undefeated record? They have done nothing but embarass teams, and go 100% after everything. I tip my hat to them, they know how to play college basketball when it counts. "You want to play your best ball in the last 5 games of the regular season, that gets you ready for whatever post season you might have. If you peak in the middle of the season, you will have a troubled post season."
 
#6
#6
Nice observation. It's interesting to notice the absence from the board of all the Bruce slurpers who have been yammering for three years that Memphis is overrated. I guess they can't deal with the fact that, in each of those seasons, Cal has taken his troops deeper into the tournament than Pearl.
 
#7
#7
hatvol96 said:
Nice observation. It's interesting to notice the absence from the board of all the Bruce slurpers who have been yammering for three years that Memphis is overrated. I guess they can't deal with the fact that, in each of those seasons, Cal has taken his troops deeper into the tournament than Pearl.
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What you fail to mention is Cal never made it past the 2nd round of the tournament in his first 5 years at Memphis, and only actually made the tournament twice before Louisville, Marquette, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Charlotte left the conference.
 
#8
#8
hatvol96 said:
Nice observation. It's interesting to notice the absence from the board of all the Bruce slurpers who have been yammering for three years that Memphis is overrated. I guess they can't deal with the fact that, in each of those seasons, Cal has taken his troops deeper into the tournament than Pearl.
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As of right now, I think having the experience that Cal does is what is getting him where he is. I think we have just as much talent but not the seasoning.
 
#9
#9
dickens821 said:
What you fail to mention is Cal never made it past the 2nd round of the tournament in his first 5 years at Memphis, and only actually made the tournament twice before Louisville, Marquette, Cincinnati, DePaul, and Charlotte left the conference.
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It is utterly amazing how people mark out for Pearl around here. There are at least 50 coaches in D-I with resumes as good or better, yet people act like he's the reincarnation of Naismith.
 
#10
#10
hatvol96 said:
It is utterly amazing how people mark out for Pearl around here. There are at least 50 coaches in D-I with resumes as good or better, yet people act like he's the reincarnation of Naismith.
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Yeah because that's exactly what I was saying. I wasn't just pointing out that before the big dogs left C-USA Memphis was an NIT contender every single year, or that when they did make the NCAA they never made it to the sweet 16. Bruce Pearl has done more in his first three years at Tennessee than Calipari did in his first 5 at Memphis. If you want to compare him to someone like Ben Howland then I'll concede.
 
#12
#12
dickens821 said:
Yeah because that's exactly what I was saying. I wasn't just pointing out that before the big dogs left C-USA Memphis was an NIT contender every single year, or that when they did make the NCAA they never made it to the sweet 16. Bruce Pearl has done more in his first three years at Tennessee than Calipari did in his first 5 at Memphis. If you want to compare him to someone like Ben Howland then I'll concede.
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Keep pimping that "first three years." You can use that the same way Fulmeridiots use 1998. The fact is simple. Pearl=Not an elite coach. Not even close.
 
#13
#13
Memphis is on the verge of making history of having the most wins in a 3 successive years, including NCAA tourney. I personally like Cal and hope Memphis runs the table. Saw him on an interview after the game and he was like "Everyone was picking our game with MSU to be the upset game". He was like duh. Good for him. I like Bruce Pearl a lot but he still has a lot to learn, which in due time I'm sure coaches will be following his lead.
 
#14
#14
hatvol96 said:
Keep pimping that "first three years." You can use that the same way Fulmeridiots use 1998. The fact is simple. Pearl=Not an elite coach. Not even close.
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The fact is: Calipari isn't an elite coach either. What's your point?

At least I use facts and logic for my arguments.
 
#15
#15
hatvol96 said:
It is utterly amazing how people mark out for Pearl around here. There are at least 50 coaches in D-I with resumes as good or better, yet people act like he's the reincarnation of Naismith.
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Well, maybe we are pumping up Pearl. But I'd rather have a coach most people are behind than have one most people want to get rid of (e.g., Fulmer). All the coach bashing is worse than the coach glossing.
 
#16
#16
dickens821 said:
The fact is: Calipari isn't an elite coach either. What's your point?

At least I use facts and logic for my arguments.
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Cal=Took a program that had the nation's worst record in the 10 years preceding his arrival to the Final Four.
Bruce Pearl=His crowning achievement is, depending how you look at it, being an NCAA stoolie or winning a National Title at Jerkwater State.
Cal=5 Elite Eights.
Pearl=0.

Pearl will prove to be nothing more than a flashy version of his mentor, Tom Davis.
 
#17
#17
Elite can only be measured by consistent performance over time. Pearl hasn't been here or at this level long enough to be considered elite. He has, however, done an extremely good job rebuilding a moribund program in a relatively short time a la Cal at UMass.
 
#18
#18
hatvol96 said:
Cal=Took a program that had the nation's worst record in the 10 years preceding his arrival to the Final Four.
Bruce Pearl=His crowning achievement is, depending how you look at it, being an NCAA stoolie or winning a National Title at Jerkwater State.
Cal=5 Elite Eights.
Pearl=0.

Pearl will prove to be nothing more than a flashy version of his mentor, Tom Davis.
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What's your point? He's not an elite coach. Pitino and Ben Howland are elite coaches.
 
#19
#19
I have a question hat.

Do you believe that Pearl is going to have to adapt more of a half court game to his style of play before he goes further in the tournament?? Also do you believe that we will be a better team with or without Lofton and JuJuan??
 
#20
#20
g8terh8ter_eric said:
I have a question hat.

Do you believe that Pearl is going to have to adapt more of a half court game to his style of play before he goes further in the tournament?? Also do you believe that we will be a better team with or without Lofton and JuJuan??
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1. Yes.
2. It depends on Tyler Smith decision about the NBA draft and Scotty Hopson's choice of schools.
 
#21
#21
g8terh8ter_eric said:
I have a question hat.

Do you believe that Pearl is going to have to adapt more of a half court game to his style of play before he goes further in the tournament?? Also do you believe that we will be a better team with or without Lofton and JuJuan??
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Having a true PG, and a PG who can challenge Ramar to step up will help the half court game immensely. Not to mention raising the talent level will.
 
#24
#24
hatvol96 said:
Good point on Howland. Nobody has ever won at UCLA before.
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Tell me the last coach at UCLA to go to three successive Elite 8's (and 2 final fours, possibly 3 in a row) without mob money being involved?

Oh that's right. You can't.
 
#25
#25
hatvol96 said:
It is utterly amazing how people mark out for Pearl around here. There are at least 50 coaches in D-I with resumes as good or better
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Regarding resumes, if the Cavs or Lakers had drafted based on resumes, then they wouldn't have chosen LeBron or Kobe.

Second, I'd be astonished if there were 50 coaches with a resume better than this:

#14th amongst active coaches in NCAA tournament winning percentage.

3rd highest amongst all coaches in overall winning percentage.

Second-fastest coach to reach 300 victories.

3 Sweet 16 appearances.

In his first head coaching job he took a team from 10 wins the year before he arrived to 22 wins.

In his second job he won more games in a season (26) than the school had ever won.

In his third job he took a team from 14 wins to 22 wins, most wins in a season in school history (31), and its first #1 ranking of all time.

He didn't invent the game, but he's a self-promoter, a clown, a marketer, and a winner. Period.
 
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