After one season----was Barnes the right hire?

#1
volswillrise12

volswillrise12

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#1
I know Bruins feeling on Barnes---also seen/read all the criticism but other then all the noise did anyone see anything from Barnes that's a clear sign this wasn't a quality hire by Hart? I really thought the season went as I thought it would---never thought this was a team that would be participating in March (NIT was in the air too) but beating Kentucky was to me a sign that the "game hasn't passed him by" I'm not totally drinking the Barnes Kool Aid but I also think he was working with a deficient roster.
 
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#5
#5
The thing that bothers me the most is that next year there are way too many freshmen in the class. Not really his fault that he had such a thin roster, but I sure wish there were a couple of JUCOs, senior transfers, and maybe a one & done or two. If that class pans out and are the foundation of getting TN back to a Sweet 16, then 2021 could be a train wreck after they all leave (except for any that redshirted). He's been coaching college basketball for most of my life though... I suppose he has a plan and knows what he's doing. Sprinkle in a better recruit or two than those every year and things will be moving along nicely.
 
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#6
#6
Phillip fulmer was a great coach and did a hell of a lot for us. I respect the heck out of him. Sadly it was time for him to go as the same had passed him by.
 
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#7
#7
Give CRB time to recruit his players, it's to early to pass judgement. The loss of Punter was the worse that could happen to a thin under manned team.
 
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#8
#8
I won't have a favored opinion, I'm certain of, but this year has been "bleh" since we barely lost at Georgia Tech. I'll give my reasons:

1. RB and co. couldn't find a consistent lineup till SEC play was almost finished.

2. Couldn't figure out "what to do with Jabari McGhee" (quoted from Jimmy Hymes). Jabari was a player, he would have helped this year's team so much had he stayed and quit fouling.

3. Our team has consistently come out unmotivated. Either at the beginning of a game, or to come out at half time sluggish. I know a lot of the times we WERE motivated was because Armani Moore scared the motivation into the team.

4. Even with no PG and no Post, we still had trouble attacking zones. Kind of surprising for a veteran coach.

5. Doesn't "joy stick" coach the Vols. Meaning, he creates a game plan before the game, and on game day he sticks to the plan, regardless if it isn't working. Then will proceed to blame the players for not showing effort, even though it was a crappy gameplan all along.

6. Ray Kasongo. Barnes could have used a scholarship for a post player that was more college ready. Kasongo played worse than Reese this year.

I'm kind of nitpicking. Some of these points aren't totally valid, but I do not have a good feeling going forward.

Luckily, we are completely revamping our roster.
 
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#9
#9
BruinVol said:
Phillip fulmer was a great coach and did a hell of a lot for us. I respect the heck out of him. Sadly it was time for him to go as the same had passed him by.
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I'm not saying I agree with you but there was a few moments during last few seasons with Fulmer where I was like "yeah Phil's done" I'm not sure I saw evidence of that with CRB in his first year here---granted I didn't follow him that much at Texas. If we were non-competitive throughout the year and finished with a single digit win total I think that would be the red flag. I saw moments during the year where I could see a vision of a Rick Barnes team. This particular group of guys may not be the best measuring stick for Barnes. I'm not sure whom could have taken this group and squeezed out better results. I don't want to be a Barnes apologist but it's true.
 
#11
#11
A big yes. You could see the mentality of the team change when he arrived and they won some games they had no business winning. Talent will come and so will the wins but give it more than one year
 
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#12
#12
vol4220 said:
A big yes. You could see the mentality of the team change when he arrived and they won some games they had no business winning. Talent will come and so will the wins but give it more than one year
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How did the mentality change? Seems to me the players played harder and more consistent under Tyndall. Of course, we can't look back and compare effort to effort, but I disagree. The "mentality" never changed, it was fine last year. (And we had a better record last year).

Even when Barnes got here he said something like "credit the two previous coaching staffs, as these players are hard workers".
 
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#13
#13
For a short team that can't shoot all that well, it was a pretty good job to beat 3 of the top 5 in the conference and almost beat both of the co-champions. There weren't that many one-sided loses until after Punter's season was over. The 14 point loss to Vandy was the biggest deficit until losing by 26 at USCe on 2/24. The three most lopsided defeats happened after Punter was out.
 
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#14
#14
vol4220 said:
A big yes. You could see the mentality of the team change when he arrived and they won some games they had no business winning. Talent will come and so will the wins but give it more than one year
Click to expand...

The only mentality that changed was constant effort was no longer evident and neither was defense and rebounding.


We did score more points if that means anything thing. It means very little to me
 
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#15
#15
I haven't seen anything impressive out of Barnes since he donned Volunteer Orange, so it's hard to be optimistic about his future at UT, however long or short it might be. I'm hoping he can do better than 12th place in the conference once he gets a full roster under him, but he's going to have to recruit like a bandit and coach like hell to keep pace with the rising programs in the SEC. I won't be content seeing the Vols lurking in the bottom tier of the SEC for the foreseeable future.
 
#16
#16
BruinVol said:
The only mentality that changed was constant effort was no longer evident and neither was defense and rebounding.


We did score more points if that means anything thing. It means very little to me
Click to expand...

This was there prior to his arrival?
 
#19
#19
TN has had it's last two coaches start their jobs after the last two recruiting cycles were pretty much concluded. I wasn't expecting a miracle in 2015-16. I was hoping for a .500 finish and that was within reach before the leading scorer and contender for the SEC POY broke his foot.
 
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#20
#20
We were bleeding...he stopped it. Would have loved to hire the SFA coach, but he would've lost games without the cred that Coach Barnes has built during the years. I don't know for how long this hire will be the correct...but it is right now.
 
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#21
#21
No! Not his fault that the game passed him by. The Cheap ass AD should have spent the money for a younger, successful coach. Instead, we will get two more years of winning around 14/15 games.

You'll have the same cast of characters defending his recruiting, but it sucks compared to the rest of SEC.
 
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#24
#24
vols 30 said:
No! Not his fault that the game passed him by. The Cheap ass AD should have spent the money for a younger, successful coach. Instead, we will get two more years of winning around 14/15 games.

You'll have the same cast of characters defending his recruiting, but it sucks compared to the rest of SEC.
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If his recruits stick around for four years while the McDonald's AA type classes leave after a year or two maybe it won't comparatively suck.
 
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#25
#25
volswillrise12 said:
I know Bruins feeling on Barnes---also seen/read all the criticism but other then all the noise did anyone see anything from Barnes that's a clear sign this wasn't a quality hire by Hart? I really thought the season went as I thought it would---never thought this was a team that would be participating in March (NIT was in the air too) but beating Kentucky was to me a sign that the "game hasn't passed him by" I'm not totally drinking the Barnes Kool Aid but I also think he was working with a deficient roster.
Click to expand...

Got to give Barnes a couple years to get some players in here. I thought he did a good job with the players he was left. I mean we beat Kentucky, LSU, S.Carolina, Florida at home this year.
 
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