I wanted Kruger after Pearl....

[jasonvols2.2]

We would have a Final Four by now.

 

[JelloPuddinPup]

Cool.

 

[EZE]

We would have a Final Four by now.

And how in the he!! do you know that?

You don’t. Just more speculative BS...SMH

 

[VolFreakJosh]

 

[calban]

Rather have Freddy than Lon.

 

[vols 30]

 

[tnvols72]

We would have a Final Four by now.

LOL , he has 2 his entire career. Cool story though

 

[VolsSportsFan]

We would have a Final Four by now.

Bold statements that you will never have to back up are cool.

 

[golfballs]

Who knows. They had a good run w Buddy Hield. Without him they’ve been kind of mediocre.

 

[Vol49er]

Who knows. They had a good run w Buddy Hield. Without him they’ve been kind of mediocre.

I loved Buddy Hield. That 3OT 1 vs 2 game with Kansas was awesome

 

[05_never_again]

We would have a Final Four by now.

You think so? Kruger finished exactly 1 game above .500 (90-89) in Big 12 play at Oklahoma.

 

[CornbreadVol]

Rick Barnes has more wins and is younger

 

[allenfan1]

We would have a Final Four by now.[/QUOTEThose Crystal Ball's must be nice to gaze into

 

[give_him 6]

Kruger had a very good run but didn't seem to want to stay in one place for very long. I think his biggest mistake was leaving Florida for the NBA, but can't blame him for making sure his family was financially secured.

 

[Volfan1000]

I loved Buddy Hield. That 3OT 1 vs 2 game with Kansas was awesome

Trae Young also played at Oklahoma for Kruger who also coached the Atlanta Hawks at one time.

 

[golfballs]

Trae Young also played at Oklahoma for Kruger who also coached the Atlanta Hawks at one time.

Good point. Best player in the country that year and they lost in the opening round to Rhode Island

 

[cncchris33]

Good point. Best player in the country that year and they lost in the opening round to Rhode Island

He is a great individual talent, but just not very conducive to winning within a team framework. A lot like Allen Iverson in that sense. Pete Maravich was like that, too.

 

[golfballs]

He is a great individual talent, but just not very conducive to winning within a team framework. A lot like Allen Iverson in that sense. Pete Maravich was like that, too.

Yeah, but my point is that good coaches even with the best players aren’t guaranteed anything in the tournament. They lost to Rhode Island in the first round. How can the OP justify that? If he were an Oklahoma fans he’d be on their forum bitching about how much Kruger sucks and they should have hired Bruce Pearl

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah, but my point is that good coaches even with the best players aren’t guaranteed anything in the tournament. They lost to Rhode Island in the first round. How can the OP justify that? If he were an Oklahoma fans he’d be on their forum bitching about how much Kruger sucks and they should have hired Bruce Pearl

Right, I agree. My statement was more of a sidenote to your point.

 

[VegasBaby!]

We would have a Final Four by now.

I lived in Las Vegas during the 7 years he was there. Although he won 70% of his games, that was not remarkable for being in the Mountain West. Made NCAAs 4 years, getting to Sweet 16 once. Missed the show 3 of the years, whiffed one and made 2 NITs. Not much excitement around the program. Of course locals still remembered Jerry. The Tarkanian name was still special, magical for locals. There is a middle school named Tarkanian. Of course, the school's nickname is the Sharks. Lois Tarkanian was our City Council representative not because she was good at it, but her name was Tarkanian. Lon was a good coach, but not special. Doubt he would have won a Championship at UT.

 

[cncchris33]

I always like Lon Kruger. He's more accomplished than many give him credit for, as well.

I wonder how many coaches, past or present can say they took 5 different teams to the NCAAT, 3 of them to the Elite 8, and 2 of them to the Final 4? He also won conference COY in 3 different conferences, 4 times in total And he was at each of those stops at least 4 years.

 

[cardvolfan]

I always like Lon Kruger. He's more accomplished than many give him credit for, as well.

I wonder how many coaches, past or present can say they took 5 different teams to the NCAAT, 3 of them to the Elite 8, and 2 of them to the Final 4? He also won conference COY in 3 different conferences, 4 times in total And he was at each of those stops at least 4 years.

I like Kruger, but he had some high highs and low lows, too. This year he beat, what, 4 Top Ten teams in successive games and then finished the last 8 or 9 games in poor fashion. I’m sure the message boards were crucifying him, too.

 

[Border Vol]

I always like Lon Kruger. He's more accomplished than many give him credit for, as well.

I wonder how many coaches, past or present can say they took 5 different teams to the NCAAT, 3 of them to the Elite 8, and 2 of them to the Final 4? He also won conference COY in 3 different conferences, 4 times in total And he was at each of those stops at least 4 years.

Too bad he couldn't have coached the BasketVols instead of Cuonzo Martin and Donnie Tyndall

 

[cncchris33]

I like Kruger, but he had some high highs and low lows, too. This year he beat, what, 4 Top Ten teams in successive games and then finished the last 8 or 9 games in poor fashion. I’m sure the message boards were crucifying him, too.

He's a lot like Barnes in a lot of ways. A bit of a victim of his own success, a lot of wins due to a long career, and only marginal success in the postseason. Only 5 losing seasons in 31 years as a HC at the major college level, 61% winning percentage (674 wins), but only 2 conference titles (both ties), and only advanced beyond the first weekend of the NCAAT 5 times in 20 appearances.

I just appreciate the longevity and the ability to carry success over to the number of major programs he coached at. He was a winner everywhere he went. Maybe not an elite coach at every stop, but he won games and got teams to the NCAAT.

 

[cncchris33]

Too bad he couldn't have coached the BasketVols instead of Cuonzo Martin and Donnie Tyndall

Yeah, there is a better than decent chance that if he had been hired to replace Pearl, that he is retiring from Tennessee, today, and not Oklahoma.