A Texas board - Fans POV - Positive Read

#26
#26
Im old enough to remember when Rick Barnes was a stud coach at Clemson and then left there for more money to go to Texas.

He kinda established himself as elite at Texas and nothing but pure luck dropped him in our lap.

If he can just somehow get us a National Championship all of the coaching he did before he got here will all be forgotten and he will be thought of as a VFL through and through when you say his name.

We're lucky to have a HOF level head coach.

We better appreciate him while we have him.
 
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#28
#28
livefaith said:
They sound almost exactly like UT Football fans who went nuts until Philip Fulmer was fired. Ten (almost all) utterly horrific years later, they still think it was "time for him to go". The funny part is after the past decade of complete humiliation, that the confidence level of "where Phil was going long term" is iron-clad. In 1,000 scenarios, Fulmer would not have collapsed our program to the point where it has went for an entire decade. Then the defense is "well Fulmer needed to go", but it was Hamilton, Kiffin, Dooley, Hart, or Jones that was the real mistake. Well Sherlock, that's what can and often DOES happen when you become entitled and fire your best coach in a generation. Those failures ALL fall under the scope of the original mistake of ... impatiently firing a legend due to a short term downturn in success. Those are inherent risks of the original decision.

I'm really talking about UTjr Basketball here. In 2026 when they are on their 3rd or 4th coach and sitting at the cellar of the Big??, there will still be a large contingent of fans saying "Barnes got complacent and needed to go". And of course, "the only reason he's got 5 national titles at TN since 2016 is because of us firing him and he got revitalized". LOL. Human pride often dies very hard.
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I agree 100%. You couldn't have said it better!
 
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#29
#29
I don’t know, but as I read this I just had this sinking feeling like I had heard this story before... just can’t put my finger on it
 
#30
#30
zjcvols said:
Rick won’t admit it, but it took him being fired to change. And full kudos to him for doing it.
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Barnes didn't change anything.Same as he's always been. Texas athletic department was just a dumpster fire that was set by Mac Brown. Barnes was just caught up in that mess and we were the fortunate beneficiary.
 
#31
#31
Pepe said:
Barnes didn't change anything.Same as he's always been. Texas athletic department was just a dumpster fire that was set by Mac Brown. Barnes was just caught up in that mess and we were the fortunate beneficiary.
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Both Rick Barnes and his assistants have said he’s changed his ways to build a program come on now lol
 
#32
#32
You know i think it's pretty amazing we've had two great coaches get us to #1. Of course with showman Pearl, it couldn't last long, although again he is successful at Auburn. I think with Barnes, it maybe even more special. I was happy when Barnes was hired, I never expect a Tenn. basketball hire to be all that great. At best shot in the mid major dark. All I knew was we were getting a pretty good coach, who would eventually get us in the tourney. Of course the success has been beyond belief. I don't really expect this type of season again for a while, I just can't. We lose too many pieces after this year. But at least we can see a team of scrappy 2 and 3 star players that finds ways to win as a "team". And in some way, rather than a showman, we got a "good" man as our coach. And I know it sounds a bit cliche, but I think this team sorta reflects that.
 
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#33
#33
zjcvols said:
Both Rick Barnes and his assistants have said he’s changed his ways to build a program come on now lol
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That doesn't mean he changed himself he just did what a good coach does and is coaching his team the way it needs to be coached the way he always has. Come on Lolo
 
#35
#35
If you want me to go over the recruiting profile and show stats from kenpom showing the changes I can do that too
 
#36
#36
#37
#37
Pepe said:
I don't see where that story has anything to do with his interactions with the Texas hierarchy he's talking about the changes in his life just because he did a self-examination at the behest of his daughter. and there was no particular timeline put on that change except that it took place while he was in Texas.
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If you want to believe he was doing the same Texas that he’s now doing at Tennessee then you can think and I’ll let the results speak for themselves.
 
#38
#38
I like going to other sites the week of the games to see what they say , I have said it before many times but every time I visit another teams site it makes me appreciate how lucky we are that we have a Feak and volnation . All the others are sub par compared to what we have here . (That’s me being nice )
 
#39
#39
Voltopia said:
I will be interested to see how the fans react next year, especially if Tennessee loses any of Williams, Bone, or Turner to early NBA draft declaration. In my mind Barnes has rapidly earned enough cachet to for fans to accept it won't always be 19-1 and #1 in the country with Tennessee, but sports fans can be fickle things and I hope they can think clearly about what Barnes brings to the table. Especially when we're (hopefully) seven years in on a successful basketball era, but starting to see articles about how "this is what it was like at Texas" or whatever else people who get paid by the clickthrough will write.
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You mean the same fans that ran Phil Fulmer and Cuonzo out of town? Seriously????
 
#40
#40
livefaith said:
They sound almost exactly like UT Football fans who went nuts until Philip Fulmer was fired. Ten (almost all) utterly horrific years later, they still think it was "time for him to go". The funny part is after the past decade of complete humiliation, that the confidence level of "where Phil was going long term" is iron-clad. In 1,000 scenarios, Fulmer would not have collapsed our program to the point where it has went for an entire decade. Then the defense is "well Fulmer needed to go", but it was Hamilton, Kiffin, Dooley, Hart, or Jones that was the real mistake. Well Sherlock, that's what can and often DOES happen when you become entitled and fire your best coach in a generation. Those failures ALL fall under the scope of the original mistake of ... impatiently firing a legend due to a short term downturn in success. Those are inherent risks of the original decision.
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Not "almost exactly". Fulmer's winning pct. with David Cutcliff was 80% - w/o Cut he was barely over 60%. CPF was fired after another 5-7 season with a disgraceful loss to Wyoming. Barnes was fired after a relatively successful 20-win season and a berth in the NCAAT. So a more rational "time for him to go" clearly rested with TN fans.

And to further the comparison, Barnes was snapped up by another P-5 school and has had enormous success. Whereas Fulmer didn't get a sniff from a P-5 program and went into financial planning/money mgmnt.
 
#41
#41
tennrich1 said:
Good write up. If any Longhorn fan thinks it was the right decision to fire CRB then they are absolutely delusional. Reminds me of a conversation I had with a gentleman few days ago trying to convince me the crime in East Tennessee is just like it is in the Mid South, mostly Memphis. Utterly laughable and Texas can make excuses and deceive themselves all they want but that AD destroyed their football and basketball programs. Looks like maybe the football is recovering. As a Vol fan I'm excited because I'm not sure anyone else could have done what Rick has here in Knoxville. And I do know that Rick enjoys being close to home... Thanks a lot Texas because we benefitted from your, well, stupidity!!!
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According to the FBI stats, Newport is the most dangerous city in Tennessee followed by Memphis. Of the top 10, 5 were West Tennessee, (Memphis, Covington, Dyersburg, Jackson & savannah) 4 East Tennessee (Newport, sweetwater, Chattanooga & Athens) and 1 in middle (Dickson).
 
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#42
#42
wmcovol said:
According to the FBI stats, Newport is the most dangerous city in Tennessee followed by Memphis. Of the top 10, 5 were West Tennessee, (Memphis, Covington, Dyersburg, Jackson & savannah) 4 East Tennessee (Newport, sweetwater, Chattanooga & Athens) and 1 in middle (Dickson).
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Spend a few years working in the downtown/south Memphis area for a few years in a field were you see/deal with the crime every single day and you’ll not need any FBI stats to tell you how bad it is. I appreciate the stat though because it doesn’t lie does it? Savannah of course is there because of the drug epidemic. It’s a most sad deal for sure.
 
#43
#43
therealitytheory said:
Not "almost exactly". Fulmer's winning pct. with David Cutcliff was 80% - w/o Cut he was barely over 60%. CPF was fired after another 5-7 season with a disgraceful loss to Wyoming. Barnes was fired after a relatively successful 20-win season and a berth in the NCAAT. So a more rational "time for him to go" clearly rested with TN fans.

And to further the comparison, Barnes was snapped up by another P-5 school and has had enormous success. Whereas Fulmer didn't get a sniff from a P-5 program and went into financial planning/money mgmnt.
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That Wyoming loss never would've happened if Fulmer wasn't fired the Monday before it. 2008 is a 6-6 season and a bowl game if the athletic department didn't screw up.
 
#44
#44
tennrich1 said:
Spend a few years working in the downtown/south Memphis area for a few years in a field were you see/deal with the crime every single day and you’ll not need any FBI stats to tell you how bad it is. I appreciate the stat though because it doesn’t lie does it? Savannah of course is there because of the drug epidemic. It’s a most sad deal for sure.
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I agree. Stats can be distorted. Memphis and Chattanooga are rough gang towns. Numbers in population protect them somewhat. Towns like Dickson, Athens, etc can make it over one or two bad episodes that involve multiple crimes in one yr. Next yr they may not be listed. I expect Memphis and Chattanooga will be there every yr with Nashville trying like hell to catch up.
 
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#45
#45
whobethis16 said:
That Wyoming loss never would've happened if Fulmer wasn't fired the Monday before it. 2008 is a 6-6 season and a bowl game if the athletic department didn't screw up.
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Even after that Wyoming loss he still pulled it together for the customary wins over UK and Vandy as a lame duck coach. He figured out he had to give up on Crompton and ran the ball almost every down those two games.
 
#46
#46
zjcvols said:
If you asked Vol fans who they would rather in March 2015, Rick Barnes or Shake Smart, 80% minimum would have said Smart

Hindsight is 20/20. I don’t blame Texas for firing Barnes and hiring Smart. Luckily Tennessee got the better end of it.
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Will Wade (LSU HC) and Smart’s assistant had a lot to do with Smart’s success at VCU. Will’s a local Middle TN boy and is a great coach. Was manager of my son’s HS BB team. Knew more then - than the coaches.
 
#47
#47
Voltopia said:
I will be interested to see how the fans react next year, especially if Tennessee loses any of Williams, Bone, or Turner to early NBA draft declaration. In my mind Barnes has rapidly earned enough cachet to for fans to accept it won't always be 19-1 and #1 in the country with Tennessee, but sports fans can be fickle things and I hope they can think clearly about what Barnes brings to the table. Especially when we're (hopefully) seven years in on a successful basketball era, but starting to see articles about how "this is what it was like at Texas" or whatever else people who get paid by the clickthrough will write.
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I've said it before, but think Barnes and Jay Wright run similar type programs. Nova has had more "star" ranking recruits, but both get guys into the program, and have them develop and grow to their philosophies of "team ball". Nova took step back this year, but team is gelling. UT will take a step back next year, but culture is there and the delta won't be too low...Barnes is building talent pool. Guys like Pons and Fulkerson will need to step up their game, even as support players.
 
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