Do we really understand??

#1

BruinVol

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#1
When I saw this tweet I immediately started to wonder if we the fan really know what these kids have gone thru this year?

I went and had a normal life tonight having dinner and drinks while our players aren’t able to do that. From not going home for Christmas or even able to see their family they haven’t had it good this season.

How much has this kind of thing really effected the product we see on the court??
imo more than we realize


 
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#3
#3
I haven’t done the research, but on the surface this appears pretty accurate...

Generally speaking the better teams in CBB this year are grand with experience, strong upperclassman play, and they didn’t add too many new pieces. On the flip side your typical teams with less experience (UK, Duke, UNC) are all struggling this year.

It’s not an excuse, it is what it is, but I think the lack of being able to build chemistry among other things has really hurt the teams with less experience and/or that added quite a few new players.
 
#4
#4
I haven’t done the research, but on the surface this appears pretty accurate...

Generally speaking the better teams in CBB this year are grand with experience, strong upperclassman play, and they didn’t add too many new pieces. On the flip side your typical teams with less experience (UK, Duke, UNC) are all struggling this year.

It’s not an excuse, it is what it is, but I think the lack of being able to build chemistry among other things has really hurt the teams with less experience and/or that added quite a few new players.
But, in the beginning of the season when we were winning we were referred to as one of the older teams with returning starters and that was the reason for our success.
 
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#7
#7
No we weren’t, 3 of our Top 6 didn’t play last year

Then why are we playing worse? This wasn’t an issue when we were 10-1 and our only loss was the SEC champion without our best player. Nobody was dropping the “lack of experience” card in January.
 
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#8
#8
Then why are we playing worse? This wasn’t an issue when we were 10-1 and our only loss was the SEC champion without our best player. Nobody was dropping the “lack of experience” card in January.

That's my issue, if we had been sluggish and issues from the start then ok. But we've gotten worse.
 
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#9
#9
No we weren’t, 3 of our Top 6 didn’t play last year
That's what the media was saying in the early games. Right or wrong, another reason for all the early hype which has led to the present insurrection and disappointment. Distinctly remember the jinx master(Dykes) calling us old.
 
#10
#10
That's my issue, if we had been sluggish and issues from the start then ok. But we've gotten worse.

Right, like if we had struggles and started to play better (like Duke for example) I’d buy it but I would say there are 4-5 other reasons for the decline other than “we’re pretty sorta kinda young!”
 
#11
#11
Right, like if we had struggles and started to play better (like Duke for example) I’d buy it but I would say there are 4-5 other reasons for the decline other than “we’re pretty sorta kinda young!”

Also I get the lack of preseason prep but.....it's kind of a common saying that by the end of the season freshmen aren't "freshmen" anymore. You've had an entire season of play, so if you're getting worse I'm not sure how that's youth anymore or at least not exclusively youth.
 
#12
#12
Then why are we playing worse? This wasn’t an issue when we were 10-1 and our only loss was the SEC champion without our best player. Nobody was dropping the “lack of experience” card in January.

You hear talk of a "freshman year wall" in sports. It normally occurs at the 40-60% mark. Maybe this is some of it?
 
#13
#13
Clearly this has been interrupting at best to all sports. Has it affected the Vols worse than others? IDK. There's just so many factors that can equate to winning and losing and we, me included, try to run a formula through it and see what comes out on the other side. I've found rarely in sports will calculations of such reveal any hard evidence to wins and losses (of course I'm not talking about stats like rebounding, scoring, assist to turnover etc Those are easy to see). I just hope we can find something, anything to hang on to over the next few weeks like a touring pro in golf will do. Whether its tweaking the grip strengthwise, opening the stance a little, shoulder alignment, putter alignment etc etc and will ride that fiat sometimes to a tournament win.
 
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#14
#14
Then why are we playing worse? This wasn’t an issue when we were 10-1 and our only loss was the SEC champion without our best player. Nobody was dropping the “lack of experience” card in January.
Maybe you missed where I said it’s not an excuse? I think there’s a long list of reasons, a big reason is against Colorado and Cincinnati we got 13pts 7.5rbs from Fulkerson, if he was giving us that consistently during SEC play I think we’d be much better.

Again, I specifically stated it’s not an excuse and I wasn’t singling out Tennessee, I was pointing out that across the board there’s a bit of a trend...of course there are outliers too.
 
#16
#16
Also I get the lack of preseason prep but.....it's kind of a common saying that by the end of the season freshmen aren't "freshmen" anymore. You've had an entire season of play, so if you're getting worse I'm not sure how that's youth anymore or at least not exclusively youth.
People are running with my post as if I exclusively mentioned youth or young players, I didn’t.
 
#19
#19
I don’t really feel that bad honestly. I’m tired of the “woe is me” mindset. I’ve had to work and go to school full-time and have a child to raise all throughout this entire pandemic, while I saw all kinds of businesses shut down and people got to sit on their butts making more from unemployment than they do from their actual job. Is this fair that I still have to bust my tail to make my paycheck while everyone else sits at home? No, but I didn’t sulk about it. Nothing in life is fair and we can only control what we can control. I will feel a greater sense of satisfaction, knowing I had to grind to get to where I will ultimately end up. I was raised to be a hard worker and have fought through adversity my entire life. That’s just how I’m wired. These guys get treated like kings and get all of their education paid for. They do have the option to opt out. If they don’t eat, drink and sleep ball then maybe they should help their team by opting out. They know what they signed up for. If you can’t handle it then stop crying about it and become a normal student like everyone else. I am not trying to be insensitive with this, but I guess my main point is that we all have choices to make in life and they are exactly that, choices. You have the choice to play ball in isolation or the choice to be a regular student with more freedom to do what you want. /rant
 
#20
#20
It's funny how some people seem to think NCAA athletes have no responsibilities or pressure and that everything has been handed to them on a silver platter. Lots of presumptuous and uninsightful rhetoric in that mindset. No successful student athlete becomes what they are without an extreme amount of hard work and dedication.

Pretty sad that full grown adults are on a message board with the "woe is me" victim attitude because you're jealous that your specific problems don't exist in 2021 for student athletes.

Also want to point out that OP created a sensationalist feel - perhaps inadvertently, I don't know. OP said they feel for the players and posted a clip of athletes sitting in a room, saying nothing, waiting their turn to get tested. It wasn't a video of athletes complaining and playing the victim card like some here are. By all means, the actual content of the post showed athletes sucking it up and fulfilling their responsibilities. Again, really sad that some wrongfully project their problems onto others and willfully ignore what may or may not truly affect someone else.

Some of you are very quick to realize that these students don't have the same problems as you did, and guess what, they have problems that you've never had to deal with and have no idea what it's like. The irony is not lost when some say that their plights in life need recognition and commendation, while in the same breath express that they are not willing to give recognition or commendation to others.

So good job of victim blaming via playing the victim card.
 
#21
#21
It's funny how some people seem to think NCAA athletes have no responsibilities or pressure and that everything has been handed to them on a silver platter. Lots of presumptuous and uninsightful rhetoric in that mindset. No successful student athlete becomes what they are without an extreme amount of hard work and dedication.

Pretty sad that full grown adults are on a message board with the "woe is me" victim attitude because you're jealous that your specific problems don't exist in 2021 for student athletes.

Also want to point out that OP created a sensationalist feel - perhaps inadvertently, I don't know. OP said they feel for the players and posted a clip of athletes sitting in a room, saying nothing, waiting their turn to get tested. It wasn't a video of athletes complaining and playing the victim card like some here are. By all means, the actual content of the post showed athletes sucking it up and fulfilling their responsibilities. Again, really sad that some wrongfully project their problems onto others and willfully ignore what may or may not truly affect someone else.

Some of you are very quick to realize that these students don't have the same problems as you did, and guess what, they have problems that you've never had to deal with and have no idea what it's like. The irony is not lost when some say that their plights in life need recognition and commendation, while in the same breath express that they are not willing to give recognition or commendation to others.

So good job of victim blaming via playing the victim card.
Dumbed down fan base
 
#22
#22
It's funny how some people seem to think NCAA athletes have no responsibilities or pressure and that everything has been handed to them on a silver platter. Lots of presumptuous and uninsightful rhetoric in that mindset. No successful student athlete becomes what they are without an extreme amount of hard work and dedication.

Pretty sad that full grown adults are on a message board with the "woe is me" victim attitude because you're jealous that your specific problems don't exist in 2021 for student athletes.

Also want to point out that OP created a sensationalist feel - perhaps inadvertently, I don't know. OP said they feel for the players and posted a clip of athletes sitting in a room, saying nothing, waiting their turn to get tested. It wasn't a video of athletes complaining and playing the victim card like some here are. By all means, the actual content of the post showed athletes sucking it up and fulfilling their responsibilities. Again, really sad that some wrongfully project their problems onto others and willfully ignore what may or may not truly affect someone else.

Some of you are very quick to realize that these students don't have the same problems as you did, and guess what, they have problems that you've never had to deal with and have no idea what it's like. The irony is not lost when some say that their plights in life need recognition and commendation, while in the same breath express that they are not willing to give recognition or commendation to others.

So good job of victim blaming via playing the victim card.

The irony/hypocrisy of people accusing others of being self-centered and “woe is me”.....by going all self-centered and “woe is me”.
 
#24
#24
People have lost their jobs, house, cars, I’m sure the divorce rates are up and probably so are suicides. I don’t feel one bit of pity for 20 year old athletes. No fan base makes more excuses for losing than Tennessee fan.
 
#25
#25
It's funny how some people seem to think NCAA athletes have no responsibilities or pressure and that everything has been handed to them on a silver platter. Lots of presumptuous and uninsightful rhetoric in that mindset. No successful student athlete becomes what they are without an extreme amount of hard work and dedication.

Pretty sad that full grown adults are on a message board with the "woe is me" victim attitude because you're jealous that your specific problems don't exist in 2021 for student athletes.

Also want to point out that OP created a sensationalist feel - perhaps inadvertently, I don't know. OP said they feel for the players and posted a clip of athletes sitting in a room, saying nothing, waiting their turn to get tested. It wasn't a video of athletes complaining and playing the victim card like some here are. By all means, the actual content of the post showed athletes sucking it up and fulfilling their responsibilities. Again, really sad that some wrongfully project their problems onto others and willfully ignore what may or may not truly affect someone else.

Some of you are very quick to realize that these students don't have the same problems as you did, and guess what, they have problems that you've never had to deal with and have no idea what it's like. The irony is not lost when some say that their plights in life need recognition and commendation, while in the same breath express that they are not willing to give recognition or commendation to others.

So good job of victim blaming via playing the victim card.
The beauty of it all is that I don’t have to care what you think and you don’t have to care what I think. We can agree to disagree.
 
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