Enjoy it. Really.

[volbound1700]

I don't know, man. I don't think Kiffin is necessarily looked at like "the one that got away".

More like that first year divorce in your very early twenties where you're supper glad you dodged that long term bullet/ learned your lesson on before you were late 30 something and lose the house, kids, and half of all your money and most of all your sanity.

We basically just had a brief fling with Kiffin.
Pearl was here long enough ( and was successful enough) for us to have a couple kids and build a pretty successful business with.

In the end ( in this analogy) he got caught doing some dirty dealing within the business we made together, but we'll forever have a connection with him beacsue of the kids and the business we built (and we're ultimately able to sustain despite the divorce).

The fact that Bruce really hasn't had any more success than Barnes post season NCAAT, makes most fans pretty secure we don't need to go back to him. He made have had that one final 4 at Auburn, but Barnes was a few fairly reffed minutes from achieving the same.

Barnes over Pearl any day of the week. However, I think fans on here are only bringing up Pearl if Barnes retires. I don't see Pearl coming back and that is probably good for both parties.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

Barnes over Pearl any day of the week. However, I think fans on here are only bringing up Pearl if Barnes retires. I don't see Pearl coming back and that is probably good for both parties.

I don't think anyone seriously thinks Pearl is coming back here. I also think anyone that actually says they would rather have Pearl over Barnes is just saying that to express they are really upset with Barnes after a loss/early tournament exit. Possibly trolling.

As far as if Barnes retires, there may actually be some that would want him back, but even those people surely know that is almost never going to happen.

I don't even feel the need to address the people mentioned above. It would be like if someone told me unicorns exist. I'm not going to waste 2 seconds of my life time trying to disprove them or convince them they are wrong.
I'm just going to let them have their fantasy.

 

[Orange.]

It will always be a "what if" or "the one that got away" thing with him. Same with Kiffin.

F Kiffin. He did serious damage, landing us on probation and recruiting our players to follow him. Same disaster.

 

[volbound1700]

I don't think anyone seriously thinks Pearl is coming back here. I also think anyone that actually says they would rather have Pearl over Barnes is just saying that to express they are really upset with Barnes after a loss/early tournament exit. Possibly trolling.

As far as if Barnes retires, there may actually be some that would want him back, but even those people surely know that is almost never going to happen.

I don't even feel the need to address the people mentioned above. It would be like if someone told me unicorns exist. I'm not going to waste 2 seconds of my life time trying to disprove them or convince them they are wrong.
I'm just going to let them have their fantasy.

Barnes is even better in the tournament than Pearl. The only issue is Pearl has that one year he magically made the FF at Auburn. Barnes has consistently gotten us out of the first round the last 4 years which isn't as easy as people think.

The narrative about Barnes being bad at the tournament is not 100% accurate. Barnes just hasn't had that FF breakthrough year. He has been consistent about getting to 2nd round or Sweet 16.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Well......not really buddy. Bruce actually did something significant for the basketball program while he was here. Kiffin banged some college chicks and wrecked his Lexus.

You’re not wrong. But the parallel is that some UT fans can’t get over either.

Neither will ever ever ever coach at Tennessee again. But look how much time we waste discussing the notion.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Barnes is even better in the tournament than Pearl. The only issue is Pearl has that one year he magically made the FF at Auburn. Barnes has consistently gotten us out of the first round the last 4 years which isn't as easy as people think.

The narrative about Barnes being bad at the tournament is not 100% accurate. Barnes just hasn't had that FF breakthrough year. He has been consistent about getting to 2nd round or Sweet 16.

He’s also had some terrible luck in the NCAAT.

 

[volbound1700]

He’s also had some terrible luck in the NCAAT.

Last year was Barne's best team and was built to make FF, it was just stuck in the same bracket as Purdue.

The only years we 100% failed when we had a shot was the year we lost to Florida Atlantic (that team wasn't a FF team necessarily but bracket busted open on us and we didn't take advantage. People forget we made a Sweet 16 which was the projection for our seed and was about on par with the talent of the team) and the final year of Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield. The Grant Williams final season was the one that I felt like was the most disappointing as we had a team that was good enough to make it and blew it.

EDIT:

People forget that Pearl had his dreadful chokes including the Ohio State comeback at half time, the ugly Sweet 16 blow out to Louisville with his best team, and the 2nd round loss in Pearl's first season.

 

[TheFlash1971]

Definetly the best coach Vols have ever had. Consistently making the tourney is all you can ask for here. We are not Kentucky, Duke, UNC, UCONN , UCLA, Kansas, MSU, and a couple others, those are the types of programs that can come into the tourney and you can never ever count them out. Throw the seeding out the flipping window.

 

[JohnnyD1024]

Add Eric Olen to the list of potential Barnes replacements when that time comes. Watching his team play tonight and looking into his history, he seems like a guy who can get the job done.

He has a interesting resume, he's from Mobile, Alabama. He played college basketball at Spring Hill in Mobile, Alabama but he has only coached at UC San Diego. He joined the staff as an assistant in 2004 before taking over as head coach in 2013. The first seven years he was the head coach UC San Diego was division 2.

 

[volbound1700]

Definetly the best coach Vols have ever had. Consistently making the tourney is all you can ask for here. We are not Kentucky, Duke, UNC, UCONN , UCLA, Kansas, MSU, and a couple others, those are the types of programs that can come into the tourney and you can never ever count them out. Throw the seeding out the flipping window.

It is literally just the Final Four boogaloo with us. I think all the pressure will come off once we make one. In a lot of ways, it did come off last year with the EE run because he matched Pearl for deepest run and, frankly, that was a better team than anything Pearl put together. Barnes also won an SEC Tournament which is something that Tennessee hadn't done in a long time. Barnes is also dealing with the toughest SEC that we have seen in a long time.

 

[05_never_again]

Last year was Barne's best team and was built to make FF, it was just stuck in the same bracket as Purdue.

The only years we 100% failed when we had a shot was the year we lost to Florida Atlantic (that team wasn't a FF team necessarily but bracket busted open on us and we didn't take advantage. People forget we made a Sweet 16 which was the projection for our seed and was about on par with the talent of the team) and the final year of Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield. The Grant Williams final season was the one that I felt like was the most disappointing as we had a team that was good enough to make it and blew it.

EDIT:

People forget that Pearl had his dreadful chokes including the Ohio State comeback at half time, the ugly Sweet 16 blow out to Louisville with his best team, and the 2nd round loss in Pearl's first season.

Barnes has gotten unlucky in the NCAAT while at Tennessee, IMO. He ran into a low seed who made the FF in 2018, the EE in 2021, and the FF in 2023. In 2019, he ran into a hot shooting Purdue team who had just smoked a pretty good Villanova team in the previous game. With the exception of Michigan in 2022, it isn't like he's lost to so-so teams who beat us in the tournament but nobody else of note.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

No one said anything like that at all. We are talking about if and When Barnes retires. To not even consider him as a coach is dumb. We know the guy can win.

You asked why people hate him and you seem to miss my point. Most don't, they hate the people who can't shut up about him. It's like having a friend who broke up with a girl and won't move on.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Last year was Barne's best team and was built to make FF, it was just stuck in the same bracket as Purdue.

The only years we 100% failed when we had a shot was the year we lost to Florida Atlantic (that team wasn't a FF team necessarily but bracket busted open on us and we didn't take advantage. People forget we made a Sweet 16 which was the projection for our seed and was about on par with the talent of the team) and the final year of Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield. The Grant Williams final season was the one that I felt like was the most disappointing as we had a team that was good enough to make it and blew it.

EDIT:

People forget that Pearl had his dreadful chokes including the Ohio State comeback at half time, the ugly Sweet 16 blow out to Louisville with his best team, and the 2nd round loss in Pearl's first season.

Two things:

1) The 2023 team lost Zeigler. That team shouldn't have beaten Duke without him, but did. Yes, we were a 4 seed, but that was based on a body of work that included ZZ. So losing to an FAU team that went to the Final 4 when we really shouldn't have made the Sweet 16 is not a fail. That FAU team went on and beat a really good KState team in the E8...a KState team that had just beaten Michigan State in one of the best basketball games I've ever seen.

2) The Grant Williams team was screwed in the Purdue game. 4 or 5 bad calls in Purdue's final possession, all going Purdue's way, cost that team the game and an E8 appearance. I fully believe that if Tennessee wins that game, we go to the Final 4. Purdue shot lights out that game, hitting bombs they had no business hitting. Survive that and we make the F4.

Both of those years were examples of the terrible luck I'm talking about, not failures.

 

[volbound1700]

Two things:

1) The 2023 team lost Zeigler. That team shouldn't have beaten Duke without him, but did. Yes, we were a 4 seed, but that was based on a body of work that included ZZ. So losing to an FAU team that went to the Final 4 when we really shouldn't have made the Sweet 16 is not a fail. That FAU team went on and beat a really good KState team in the E8...a KState team that had just beaten Michigan State in one of the best basketball games I've ever seen.

2) The Grant Williams team was screwed in the Purdue game. 4 or 5 bad calls in Purdue's final possession, all going Purdue's way, cost that team the game and an E8 appearance. I fully believe that if Tennessee wins that game, we go to the Final 4. Purdue shot lights out that game, hitting bombs they had no business hitting. Survive that and we make the F4.

Both of those years were examples of the terrible luck I'm talking about, not failures.

True but good teams make their luck. My point was that Rick Barnes hasn't done poor at the Tournament like people make it out to be.

2023 was a good season but people made a big deal about losing to Florida Atlantic because it was Florida Atlantic.

The Grant Williams team should have beaten Purdue. Purdue has been our kryptonite in March Madness and guess what? They are in our bracket again and won yesterday. Granted, we wouldn't see them until the Elite 8 and that is a long ways off.

 

[JBD_Vol]

If tl, then dr as it would be incomprehensible to you anyway.

Preface: I have never called for Barnes' retirement, nor for bringing Pearl back, nor choosing one over the other. Also, wins are great, but I like my teams to try to win it all and then actually do so knowing that it will not happen every time. Also, I have said in this forum that we can win it all this year. While record and tournament, bowl, and playoff wins are great, winning it all is the reason to play. Otherwise, take your participation trophy and have fun.

Additionally...

With regard to Barnes, the only issue I have noted is lack of offensive consistency, which has caused unnecessary loses this year, to go with excellent defensive consistency knowing well that a bball team can be more consistent on defense (higher percentage of good play each time down the court) than offense (even great offensive teams will not always score well).

In summary of that, the Vols live and die by the 3. Might work once in a blue moon in the tourney with 6 straight wins which we have not done this year against the type competition that is in this tournament. In other words, we have to play 6 good teams in a row and beat them to win it all and lack of offensive consistency which was noted in our first game against a team that is not the highest quality, but good enough to be in the tourney, was noted by the announcers either before or early in that game.

The ability to score inside and be effective with the ~8-12 or so foot jumper with one player only or dish to another who has penetrated (including step back for both) when penetration is not a (good) choice is something that college bball among others is not doing so much anymore. That being said (and not expecting Jordan or Bryant here), it would help offensive consistency. Note: Defenses now are not better than what Jordan and Bryant faced and anyone who thinks that defenses are in this day and age in college bball is simply not smart.

Based on what a number of posters here believe...

It seems that Barnes can get us into the tournament (sweet 16ish) which is good enough, loses happen basically because of bad luck except when he made the final 4 (which is noted) with one of the best players in the nation that year who still is a great nba player, and Barnes is a better person overall (he quit cussing and visited posters beloved organization, etc) and so, fits the mold of good person for their standards and thus, is better than the others.

Pearl on the other hand does not do well in the tournament and the final 4 was just luck (Note: Pearl never had a KD) because Auburn does not have the players, is the reason why we had 6 bad years (no need to remember that the AD hired the coaches who were not so great, but regardless, it's basically Pearl's fault), and Pearl made some mistakes (forget that he has expressed regret for at least some of that) but nevertheless, does not meet the standard of said posters.

 

[JohnnyD1024]

If tl, then dr as it would be incomprehensible to you anyway.

Preface: I have never called for Barnes' retirement, nor for bringing Pearl back, nor choosing one over the other. Also, wins are great, but I like my teams to try to win it all and then actually do so knowing that it will not happen every time. Also, I have said in this forum that we can win it all this year. While record and tournament, bowl, and playoff wins are great, winning it all is the reason to play. Otherwise, take your participation trophy and have fun.

Additionally...

With regard to Barnes, the only issue I have noted is lack of offensive consistency, which has caused unnecessary loses this year, to go with excellent defensive consistency knowing well that a bball team can be more consistent on defense (higher percentage of good play each time down the court) than offense (even great offensive teams will not always score well).

In summary of that, the Vols live and die by the 3. Might work once in a blue moon in the tourney with 6 straight wins which we have not done this year against the type competition that is in this tournament. In other words, we have to play 6 good teams in a row and beat them to win it all and lack of offensive consistency which was noted in our first game against a team that is not the highest quality, but good enough to be in the tourney, was noted by the announcers either before or early in that game.

The ability to score inside and be effective with the ~8-12 or so foot jumper with one player only or dish to another who has penetrated (including step back for both) when penetration is not a (good) choice is something that college bball among others is not doing so much anymore. That being said (and not expecting Jordan or Bryant here), it would help offensive consistency. Note: Defenses now are not better than what Jordan and Bryant faced and anyone who thinks that defenses are in this day and age in college bball is simply not smart.

Based on what a number of posters here believe...

It seems that Barnes can get us into the tournament (sweet 16ish) which is good enough, loses happen basically because of bad luck except when he made the final 4 (which is noted) with one of the best players in the nation that year who still is a great nba player, and Barnes is a better person overall (he quit cussing and visited posters beloved organization, etc) and so, fits the mold of good person for their standards and thus, is better than the others.

Pearl on the other hand does not do well in the tournament and the final 4 was just luck (Note: Pearl never had a KD) because Auburn does not have the players, is the reason why we had 6 bad years (no need to remember that the AD hired the coaches who were not so great, but regardless, it's basically Pearl's fault), and Pearl made some mistakes (forget that he has expressed regret for at least some of that) but nevertheless, does not meet the standard of said posters.

KD wasn't on Texas's final four team nor is anyone on that team still in the NBA.

 

[JBD_Vol]

KD wasn't on Texas's final four team nor is anyone on that team still in the NBA.

Apologies for writing off the top of my head , seriously.

Nevertheless, please have all pile on and reject the content of the post if siding with Barnes and against Pearl, neither of which I am doing.

 

[JBD_Vol]

Apologies for writing off the top of my head , seriously.

Nevertheless, please have all pile on and reject the content of the post if siding with Barnes and against Pearl or vice versa, neither of which I am doing.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

Thanks to Rick Barnes for making it to another Sweet Sixteen! 3rd straight for the first time in program history!
We truly do need to be enjoying these times!

 

[JBD_Vol]

True, but please let us get more consistent offensively and learn to finish games much better.

 

[VolGee4]

True, but please let us get more consistent offensively and learn to finish games much better.

Just freaking enjoy what you are watching. Good grief.

 

[volbound1700]

I selfishly hope Barnes sticks around, but would understand if he decides to hang it up soon

 

[VolsAgainstTheWorld15]

Just freaking enjoy what you are watching. Good grief.

But why sit back and enjoy the golden era of Tennessee basketball when you can b**** and moan through it?

 

[JBD_Vol]

Just freaking enjoy what you are watching. Good grief.

I am, but I do not think our last 5 minutes or so are what is needed to win it all which is the goal. No problem at all with the win as my posts in here show. Need to be better.

Don't like it, jump off a cliff.

 

[VolGee4]

I am, but I do not think our last 5 minutes or so are what is needed to win it all which is the goal. No problem at all with the win as my posts in here show. Need to be better.

Don't like it, jump off a cliff.

Just win each game. The last 5 minutes is irrelevant to the next game. You are a mess of a poster and very sensitive. “Jump off a cliff?” Just ignorance.