Article about Barnes

[hog88]

I agree with you he isn't getting fired

Who do we go after when he retires?

 

[knoxvol52]

Who would you recommend DW go after if Barnes decided to hang up his whistle today?

I think Danny White would go fishing for the big fish first after that just like in the football search he would hire someone he is familiar with

 

[KTrain]

Did Barnes shoot 33% from the field, 26% from 3, or 57 % from the ft line? The players played scared and it cost us. Should Barnes have used a TO earlier during the run? Yes he should have, but to say this loss is only on him is ridiculous.

Most the time in runs if you get beat people go back to it and say should have called a TO. A lot of times veteran players have gone over this ad nauseam in practice and work their way out of it, then you're talking after game and someone says I got a little worried when we went on a drought. The person that usually brings up the no TO goes oh yeah, forgot about that.
With that said Barnes has the team to work their way out of it especially if they are at home BUT last night FAU was getting in a groove the crowd was getting pumped behind FAU the announcers were getting excited every time they launched a 3 and the Refs were going with the flow narrative. In this case a TO was warranted no matter how smart veteran team you have. We were basically playing a road game in a hostile environment were anybody not wearing Orange was against you.

 

[Boston Vol]

Aaah the first Dusty May suggestion the Buzz Petersen of the 2020's get mad Petersen was the hot commodity back in the day and a big flop he was

Peterson made one NCAA tournament in five years. He took over a Tulsa program from Bill Self that was coming off an elite eight appearance and preceded to miss the ncaa tournament. His claim to fame was that he played for Dean Smith and was Michael Jordan’s roommate. Petersen and May are nothing alike.

 

[volfeeva]

One thing I've noticed and others commented on seeing it as well, this team seem to get rattled easy and especially in the second half of the game when it counts. And it seems like players lose confidence and not wanting to take a shot. I don't know if that is from poor coaching , lack of team chemistry, or self awareness knowing they are average shooters at best. We need to have a guard/player who begs for the ball to show you how he can score and can actually do it.

 

[knoxvol52]

Who do we go after when he retires?

If Barnes retires I truly think Barnes will have an influence on the decision or offer a suggestion to DW I say most likely the guy that went to East Carolina or Kim English if he does a good job at PC

 

[VolunteerCeltic]

Article spoke truth and I have stated for weeks, Barnes had no plan B for PG if he lost ZZ. His stubbornness to call a timeout to end a quick run allows teams to run away with game that should have been Vol victories. The Vols were not equipped to make comebacks if they were down 8-10points. FAU came into the game dialed-in even with 9 TOs in the first half. They were missing way too many wide open 3s and I knew those would start to go down in the 2nd half. Barnes did nothing to stop it when the 8-0 run turned into 15-2 and then 20-4 runs. I like Barnes alot but his tournament resume speaks for itself and just isn't very good seizing opportunities in the Big Dance. This year's roster was very fragmented with no true alpha dog scorer and leader. Key did not live up to expectations, ON was so sporadic with his scoring that you could not depend on him a third of the time. I could go on and on! Lot of talent, minimal development....especially on offense. Barnes needs to recalibrate and adjust his system. Defense is great but you have to score points as well.

 

[lifeisdeep]

I hope Barnes quits not because he is horrible like some of you say.I hope he does to prove to you naysayers that actually believe we could get a top notch coach,it's not happening people not here Barnes is the best we have had but if he leaves and we get what some of you will call a savior and we suck ass for next five years I will laugh like hell watching the same people say what happened

This is brilliant. We also should have kept Butch Jones.

Blue font aside, please explain what mysterious law of the universe prohibits us from hiring a better coach than Barnes? Because there are several of them out there. And most of them make a fraction of what he makes.

 

[volfeeva]

W

WHo you going hire? who will come here that is proven? You think a Mid Major coach is the answer?

They better have a seasoned winning coach in the wings before they let Barnes go or we could wind up like the bungled mess after we fired Phil Fulmer.

 

[njvols]

Did Barnes shoot 33% from the field, 26% from 3, or 57 % from the ft line? The players played scared and it cost us. Should Barnes have used a TO earlier during the run? Yes he should have, but to say this loss is only on him is ridiculous.

I agree. Our best chance at advancing deeper this year disappeared when we lost ZZ. But, I'm not really down on Barnes. Anyone who's been following this team knew that Duke was lightning in the bottle. We have no one who can create without plays/screens run for them (Vescovi). If I fault him for anything, it's that we didn't try and elevate Edwards early in the year so he could have maybe been a help for us in post season...so, when ZZ went down there was no one to balance off teams shutting down Vescovi. Key is "off" more than he's "on" and clearly wasn't the answer Barnes maybe thought he was. And, by the time ZZ went down, it was too late to see if Edwards could help us this year.

 

[#1volsfan]

Did Barnes shoot 33% from the field, 26% from 3, or 57 % from the ft line? The players played scared and it cost us. Should Barnes have used a TO earlier during the run? Yes he should have, but to say this loss is only on him is ridiculous.

While this is true. At some point you have to look around and find you a dog to recruit.. someone that when it has to be done says give me the dang ball and watch me go. We haven't had that. The times he did have that bruce was the one that recruited them. When we got down noone wanted the ball. it was like a hot potato. It's almost like there is so much concern on D and the timidness of taking a shot for some reason that we can't score. I love defense but holding your opponent to 50 points doesn't matter if you only score 42.

 

[#1volsfan]

They better have a seasoned winning coach in the wings before they let Barnes go or we could wind up like the bungled mess after we fired Phil Fulmer.

in my opinion as much as the athletic department and the fans support the program i don't see a problem getting a great coach. Throw 5.5 mil a someone and they will be in knoxville. And i am not advocating firing barnes. I love the man. He is a great dude. A father figure no worries about cheating with him. I just wish he would put as much into the offense as he does the D. Heck hire an offensive coordinator for the basketball team and get some new ideas and systems. He is an old school coach. Hard tough nosed grind it out guy. He runs the systems that he runs and that isn't likely to change.

 

[CAVPUT]

If Barnes retires I truly think Barnes will have an influence on the decision or offer a suggestion to DW I say most likely the guy that went to East Carolina or Kim English if he does a good job at PC

To hell with that. The outgoing coach having a say in who replaces him? He's a coach...an employee not management. No, this is not Barnes lane and he should not roll in it.

 

[VolArmy74]

To hell with that. The outgoing coach having a say in who replaces him? He's a coach...an employee not management. No, this is not Barnes lane and he should not roll in it.

Fulmer showed that letting former coaches have a say in any hiring process is a complete disaster.

 

[CAVPUT]

One thing I've noticed and others commented on seeing it as well, this team seem to get rattled easy and especially in the second half of the game when it counts. And it seems like players lose confidence and not wanting to take a shot. I don't know if that is from poor coaching , lack of team chemistry, or self awareness knowing they are average shooters at best. We need to have a guard/player who begs for the ball to show you how he can score and can actually do it.

Maybe it's because they know they don't have the answers when things get difficult? As the great philosopher Mike Tyson said, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". I suspect we just didn't have a strong leader on the floor and everyone stood around looking at everyone else. No one to stand up and take control. And yes, that can and should be the coach especially when the opponent goes on a run, but for some reason, Barnes prefers to just let the team 'work through it'. He's probably just content to throw the team into the deep end and they will sink or swim on their own? Maybe he doesn't have an answer either? FAU punched us in the mouth and we had no answer. They knew they had us and finished us off. Kudos to that bunch. Better team won and advanced.

 

[CAVPUT]

Fulmer showed that letting former coaches have a say in any hiring process is a complete disaster.

UT basketball isn't the "house that Barnes built". He was temporarily given the keys. When his run ends, his run ends. As I said, he's a coach/employee. He does not make these decisions nor should he.

 

[volfeeva]

in my opinion as much as the athletic department and the fans support the program i don't see a problem getting a great coach. Throw 5.5 mil a someone and they will be in knoxville. And i am not advocating firing barnes. I love the man. He is a great dude. A father figure no worries about cheating with him. I just wish he would put as much into the offense as he does the D. Heck hire an offensive coordinator for the basketball team and get some new ideas and systems. He is an old school coach. Hard tough nosed grind it out guy. He runs the systems that he runs and that isn't likely to change.

I'm not sure money was the issue back when we bungled the Fulmer hire ( not having a good replacement ) but I'm not an expert there. I do remember the knock of Fulmer is he always had top recruits come but never could get past the hump ( except of course 98) Do you remember where this years Vols class recruiting was? Is Barnes getting talent and not getting much back or just not getting the talent level we need?

 

[travol]

Rick Barnes is to basketball what mark Richt was to football. It sucks to lose, but it wasn’t long ago when it was a Rarity for Tennessee to even make the tournament.

 

[#1volsfan]

I'm not sure money was the issue back when we bungled the Fulmer hire ( not having a good replacement ) but I'm not an expert there. I do remember the knock of Fulmer is he always had top recruits come but never could get past the hump ( except of course 98) Do you remember where this years Vols class recruiting was? Is Barnes getting talent and not getting much back or just not getting the talent level we need?

According to rivals going back to 2018. Our classes have been 49th, 24th, 6th, 12th, and 22nd. To be honest i am not sure as far as ability vs production. I honestly am not a good judge to turn to on that. I know we have had several either one and dones or people who left. To me just watching i feel like we need a scorer. lofton was that guy. Seemed like with admiral and grant we had the guys who weren't afraid to be the man. I am just puzzled, sad and puzzled lol. And you are correct with fulmer we went to football purgatory for a long while before we got it right. But i feel like the baskeball team is on the up and up year in and year out contending. Plus i dont think even with as elevated as expectations are in bball they are still as insane as the football expectations. There is pressure but not kind of pressure. I am so torn as to the barnes feeling because i know the history and lack thereof and it really is nice to know in march we have a shot at the tourney every year. Something i don't take for granted.

 

[865er]

Rick Barnes is to basketball what mark Richt was to football. It sucks to lose, but it wasn’t long ago when it was a Rarity for Tennessee to even make the tournament.

That's how I feel. We've got a very likable coach that won't get us in trouble and was a hurt ZZ away from the Elite 8 in my opinion. Ya'll are a lot riskier than I am because we've been through hell in football with bad coaching hires that set us back.

 

[TartanTurff]

Barnes is not getting a full compliment of talent on the floor at the same time, he has had several one and dones at Tennessee, but with all that talent in the back court, his ability to recruit and develope the top shelf talent for the front line has been lacking. Annually we have 2 or 3 signers that are gone the next season for whatever reason, but they are not headed to the NBA, they are headed for another school where they will see more of the floor and less of the bench.

Barnes should have called timeout when FAU tied the game, but Barnes doesn't call timeouts and if he does it's not until the daggers are already in and the team's confidence, poise and offensive capability are shattered.

Tennessee's team this year is full of good players and good kids that represent the school well, however, Barnes needs to end the foreign player development projects and focus on signing and developing the talented and skilled players from the AAU summer leagues that have played the US game nonstop for the better part of six or seven years straight preserving the good kid, teachable kid demographic if possible, but kids that want to win and play hard for Tennessee.

While the loss to FAU didn't sting having seen these winnable game breakdowns all season long, to see a coach making 1/10 of what Barnes carrys home, kids flying commercial rather than private charter, a team with an annual budget which Tennessee burns through in six weeks actually want to win a game more that our team which is surrounded by booster and conference riches is damnable and certainly not lost on the boosters and the casual observers.

 

[ThatVolGuy]

I think if we don't believe Tennessee basketball should aspire to more than what Barnes achieves (relevancy, hanging around the top 15 most seasons, an occasional Sweet 16 appearance), then leave him be.

But honestly, I want (and think the program is capable of) more. I don't think there's a way we can break through with him at the helm—his track record proves it. We shouldn't jump off a cliff just to get rid of him, and I highly doubt we part ways until his contract is done anyhow, but this is about as good as it gets in Barnesville. Being relevant is nice, but I don't know why so many seem convinced that we can't have more.

 

[865er]

Barnes is not getting a full compliment of talent on the floor at the same time, he has had several one and dones at Tennessee, but with all that talent in the back court, his ability to recruit and develope the top shelf talent for the front line has been lacking. Annually we have 2 or 3 signers that are gone the next season for whatever reason, but they are not headed to the NBA, they are headed for another school where they will the more of the floor and less of the bench.

Barnes should have called timeout when FAU tied the game, but Barnes doesn't call timeouts and if he does it's not until the daggers are already in and the team's confidence, poise and offensive capability are shattered.

Tennessee's team this year is full of good players and good kids that represent the school well, however, Barnes needs to end the foreign player development projects and focus on signing and developing the talented and skilled players from the AAU summer leagues that have played the US game nonstop for the better part of six or seven years straight preserving the good kid, teachable kid demographic if possible, but kids that want to win and play hard for Tennessee.

While the loss to FAU didn't sting having seen these winnable game breakdowns all season long, to see a coach making 1/10 of what Barnes carrys home, kids flying commercial rather than private charter, a team with an annual budget which Tennessee burns through in six weeks actually want to win a game more that our team which is surrounded by booster and conference riches is damnable and certainly not lost on the boosters and the casual observers.

Call me crazy but I thoroughly enjoyed having players like Santi and Yves Pons represent our school.

 

[Volfan1000]

Barnes's contract runs through 2028 and I would not be surprised if he and White agree on a contract extension.

 

[Volfan1000]

There's no question that Barnes is a good coach. There's also no question he's grossly overpaid given his results. The ceiling for him here is the S16 yet we pay him like he's getting us to the FF. He's lost to a worse seed every year that he's been here. I don't really have problem with getting to the 2nd Round/Sweet 16, but it's embarrassing when we lose to a lower seed every year and our coach has a top four salary nationally. We were pretty much gift wrapped a trip to the Elite 8 this year.

Nowell would have had a field day racking up assists against us and he will probably do that against Florida Atlantic tomorrow.