In all truth

[volbound1700]

This was a very good season and a successful finish.

I think we are too caught up on the name of the team we lost to and not the fact that we made it to a Sweet 16 despite injuries and poor shooting that plague this team all year. This wasn't even one of the better teams that Barnes had but we made it to Sweet 16. Let's try to build for next year.

 

[VOLtaism]

They had a great year, all things considered, that being said, I didn't think they finished successfully and I am sure they feel the same. The last and most important game they were not competitive and no player can say he had a good game. Maybe this will motivate some of them to come back and try again.

 

[ZZ13]

I thought it was really good. A pretty crappy and unreliable offensive skill set got 25 wins, a Sweet 16 and wins over 2 #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and a Duke team that every expert said was playing like a #1 seed. Let’s face it, posters on this board have made it clear over the years that their good year/bad year bar is Sweet 16. So - it’s a good year.

 

[Big time vol]

I thought it was really good. A pretty crappy and unreliable offensive skill set got 25 wins, a Sweet 16 and wins over 2 #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and a Duke team that every expert said was playing like a #1 seed. Let’s face it, posters on this board have made it clear over the years that their good year/bad year bar is Sweet 16. So - it’s a good year.

I hope every one is happy with a sweet sixteen because that is Barnes ceiling and his 26/26 record in the NCAA tournament bears that out.

 

[ZZ13]

I hope every one is happy with a sweet sixteen because that is Barnes ceiling and his 26/26 record in the NCAA tournament bears that out.

Well I can’t speak for anyone else but it’s good enough for me. My life doesn’t swing on the performance of a bunch of youngsters on a basketball team. Wins and losses don’t drive my day to day attitude. For me it’s just a fun diversion from the rigors of day to day life. That’s the only good thing about aging. You finally “get it” one day late in life.

 

[volbound1700]

I hope every one is happy with a sweet sixteen because that is Barnes ceiling and his 26/26 record in the NCAA tournament bears that out.

The issue is judging this year's team for past wrongs. I am guilty of that as well by blaming the chance to not make a Final Four. Barnes was not at Tennessee for the 100 or so years of Basketball where we have failed to make a Final Four.

Only 5 teams from Rick Barnes have made NCAA Tournaments and I would rank this as the worse team yet it was the only team to live up to its seed. The second run with Grant Williams when we lost to Purdue in OT was probably the best team Barnes put on the court and our best shot.

We need to find a team good enough to make a Final Four and frankly that team would probably be able to secure our first #1 seed. We haven't gotten that team yet. If we want to criticize Barnes, criticize are misses in recruiting (i.e. Phillips).

I am not sure this team deserves the hate for our failures in the past. Alabama, Kansas, Purdue, Arizona, and others failed a lot harder than we did by the way.

 

[CAVPUT]

This was a very good season and a successful finish.

I think we are too caught up on the name of the team we lost to and not the fact that we made it to a Sweet 16 despite injuries and poor shooting that plague this team all year. This wasn't even one of the better teams that Barnes had but we made it to Sweet 16. Let's try to build for next year.

It's about all this roster was capable of. ZZ might have helped get us to the elite 8 but with ON and JJJ seemingly showing up once in about 3 games, I doubt it would have made that much of a difference. Had Phillips progressed instead of regressed, I think that might have been an X factor. Regardless, I appreciate what they were able to do and wish 'em well...just not in Knoxville next season. JJJ, ON and Plavsic need to find out their next step in life.

 

[volbound1700]

It's about all this roster was capable of. ZZ might have helped get us to the elite 8 but with ON and JJJ seemingly showing up once in about 3 games, I doubt it would have made that much of a difference. Had Phillips progressed instead of regressed, I think that might have been an X factor. Regardless, I appreciate what they were able to do and wish 'em well...just not in Knoxville next season. JJJ, ON and Plavsic need to find out their next step in life.

Yeah, I don't buy the ZZ excuse as we had these same issues with ZZ. The inconsistency in shooting is a major problem. Rebounding also cost us against Florida Atlantic.

 

[vols 30]

It was a good season. No way I'd call it a successful finish though. RB has got the program to the point where they should be getting further in the Tourney(past the sweet 16) at least once by now since he was hired.

 

[volbound1700]

It was a good season. No way I'd call it a successful finish though. RB has got the program to the point where they should be getting further in the Tourney(past the sweet 16) at least once by now since he was hired.

To be fair, if that was the case, we really goofed up in the regular season because a 4 seed is only projected to make the Sweet 16.

To me, the Barne's teams that were a failure were last year's team and the senior team with Grant Williams, not this year. The Michigan and Purdue loss were the ones that saw us underachieve.

The Loyola loss came against a team that was making a tournament appearance for the first time in 3-4 years so usually those teams struggle. Oregon State loss was pretty embarrassing as well but we were already an iffy 5 seed.

Despite the recruiting class rankings, I don't think Barnes has had a solid team since the Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield team. Granted, part of coaching is bringing in the right players and developing them.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

It was a good season. No way I'd call it a successful finish though. RB has got the program to the point where they should be getting further in the Tourney(past the sweet 16) at least once by now since he was hired.

It’s happened 1 time in program history, hard to say that’s the bar that defines what is or is not a successful season.

 

[vols 30]

To be fair, if that was the case, we really goofed up in the regular season because a 4 seed is only projected to make the Sweet 16.

To me, the Barne's teams that were a failure were last year's team and the senior team with Grant Williams, not this year. The Michigan and Purdue loss were the ones that saw us underachieve.

The Loyola loss came against a team that was making a tournament appearance for the first time in 3-4 years so usually those teams struggle. Oregon State loss was pretty embarrassing as well but we were already an iffy 5 seed.

Despite the recruiting class rankings, I don't think Barnes has had a solid team since the Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield team. Granted, part of coaching is bringing in the right players and developing them.

The Loyola loss still is a head scratcher. So much talent on that UT team to come up short .

And I agree with you on the last solid team being Grant/Admiral.

 

[CAVPUT]

Yeah, I don't buy the ZZ excuse as we had these same issues with ZZ. The inconsistency in shooting is a major problem. Rebounding also cost us against Florida Atlantic.

The one thing that bothers me most of all were the games where a player said the opponent just wanted it more. Pretty sure it was JJJ both times. The other game was vs UK if I'm not mistaken. Loftons night to boot. That one game in those circumstances told me a lot about my expectations for this roster. After that one, I never could let myself believe in this team. Knew if they could turn in a no show like that on a night like that, they were certainly capable of doing it again. It's also a big part of why I want this group of seniors to move on. No taste for seeing another year of JJJ, ON and Plavi.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

What the fire Barnes crowd doesn’t seem to understand is that doing so would be detrimental to hiring his successor. You don’t fire a coach with his uncommon and lengthy history of consistent wins while running a clean respected program. Danny White knows his best chance of hiring the very best candidate possible is to let Barnes finish off his remarkable career. I’m as frustrated by the lack of a deep NCAA run as anybody. But RB is not going to be fired. You are wasting your time stumping for it.

 

[volbound1700]

What the fire Barnes crowd doesn’t seem to understand is that doing so would be detrimental to hiring his successor. You don’t fire a coach with his uncommon and lengthy history of consistent wins while running a clean respected program. Danny White knows his best chance of hiring the very best candidate possible is to let Barnes finish off his remarkable career. I’m as frustrated by the lack of a deep NCAA run as anybody. But RB is not going to be fired. You are wasting your time stumping for it.

There is no serious discussion by anyone that matters about firing Rick Barnes. It is emotional knee-jerks in social media by fans. Now, I do see a lot of criticism (and some is merited) by fans that is fair. I also don't think Kelly Harper's job is in danger either (I know this is the Men's forum but some of that has popped up on Lady Vols forum).

Basically, it is fair to criticize and I have criticism but it is unrealistic to think either coach is going anywhere after a successful season and frankly, it would be stupid to fire either.

 

[VolAmerican]

Consistency and injuries were this team's downfall. You never knew which team would show up each game. Yes, it was a successful season, but looking back on it, it could have been so much better had players showed consistent production.

 

[tennrich1]

What the fire Barnes crowd doesn’t seem to understand is that doing so would be detrimental to hiring his successor. You don’t fire a coach with his uncommon and lengthy history of consistent wins while running a clean respected program. Danny White knows his best chance of hiring the very best candidate possible is to let Barnes finish off his remarkable career. I’m as frustrated by the lack of a deep NCAA run as anybody. But RB is not going to be fired. You are wasting your time stumping for it.

In fact….it’s probably the absolute last thing that would come up during the “exit interview “for this season. Actually…they’d all likely have a roaring laugh that some think he should be fired. SMH.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

I thought it was really good. A pretty crappy and unreliable offensive skill set got 25 wins, a Sweet 16 and wins over 2 #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and a Duke team that every expert said was playing like a #1 seed. Let’s face it, posters on this board have made it clear over the years that their good year/bad year bar is Sweet 16. So - it’s a good year.

Good year but we all saw what this team was capable of when they “got 25 wins, a Sweet 16 and wins over 2 #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and a Duke team” but those being honest will also say they didn’t live up to their full potential.

If they were capable of getting 25 wins, a Sweet 16 and wins over 2 #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and a Duke team, I would say they left wins on the table and a relatively easy path to NC game.

 

[a vol n tears]

I thought it was really good. A pretty crappy and unreliable offensive skill set got 25 wins, a Sweet 16 and wins over 2 #1 seeds, one #2 seed, and a Duke team that every expert said was playing like a #1 seed. Let’s face it, posters on this board have made it clear over the years that their good year/bad year bar is Sweet 16. So - it’s a good year.

Not being snippy, but they also had loses to a #6, #7, #8, and #9 seeds. Also lost to Vandy & Colorado who didn’t make the dance. It was a totally inconsistent team, every player.

 

[DC_Vol]

This was a very good season and a successful finish.

I think we are too caught up on the name of the team we lost to and not the fact that we made it to a Sweet 16 despite injuries and poor shooting that plague this team all year. This wasn't even one of the better teams that Barnes had but we made it to Sweet 16. Let's try to build for next year.

This team has the potential to do better. We saw it in the Duke game as the most recent example. But S16 was an overachievement for this team. Look at where we finished in the SEC.

I see a lot if people who are upset that also said in frustration during the reg season that this team didn’t have it in them to run deep in the tournament. Their eyes did not fool them. Yet still their expectations at tourney time ere not aligned with what they said and saw most of the regular season.

I get it. It’s frustrating, but it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. And anyone chirping about firing Barnes is out of their mind. I haven’t seen much of that here thankfully.

 

[BisonVol]

This was a very good season and a successful finish.

I think we are too caught up on the name of the team we lost to and not the fact that we made it to a Sweet 16 despite injuries and poor shooting that plague this team all year. This wasn't even one of the better teams that Barnes had but we made it to Sweet 16. Let's try to build for next year.

Agreed. The FAU loss is still really disappointing because it feels like we could and perhaps should have won that game, but all things considered, a Sweet Sixteen is a successful end to the season.

 

[RockyTop140]

The loss really sucked. I wasn’t thinking clearly after the game and was spouting off about Barnes. When you step back and look at it, it was a very good season. The team wasn’t as consistent as a lot of us hoped, but they beat a lot of good teams and made it to the sweet 16. Hopefully next year we’ll get some of our offensive struggles figured out

 

[JMSqb11]

This was a very good season and a successful finish.

I think we are too caught up on the name of the team we lost to and not the fact that we made it to a Sweet 16 despite injuries and poor shooting that plague this team all year. This wasn't even one of the better teams that Barnes had but we made it to Sweet 16. Let's try to build for next year.

Considering the takes from halftime of Arkansas game, we should have opted out of the tourney and not even “risked” making a run.

 

[hUTch2002]

The one thing that bothers me most of all were the games where a player said the opponent just wanted it more. Pretty sure it was JJJ both times. The other game was vs UK if I'm not mistaken. Loftons night to boot. That one game in those circumstances told me a lot about my expectations for this roster. After that one, I never could let myself believe in this team. Knew if they could turn in a no show like that on a night like that, they were certainly capable of doing it again. It's also a big part of why I want this group of seniors to move on. No taste for seeing another year of JJJ, ON and Plavi.

He said it after Colorado too.

 

[LibertyVol]

The issue is judging this year's team for past wrongs. I am guilty of that as well by blaming the chance to not make a Final Four. Barnes was not at Tennessee for the 100 or so years of Basketball where we have failed to make a Final Four.

Only 5 teams from Rick Barnes have made NCAA Tournaments and I would rank this as the worse team yet it was the only team to live up to its seed. The second run with Grant Williams when we lost to Purdue in OT was probably the best team Barnes put on the court and our best shot.

We need to find a team good enough to make a Final Four and frankly that team would probably be able to secure our first #1 seed. We haven't gotten that team yet. If we want to criticize Barnes, criticize are misses in recruiting (i.e. Phillips).

I am not sure this team deserves the hate for our failures in the past. Alabama, Kansas, Purdue, Arizona, and others failed a lot harder than we did by the way.

Phillips is not a miss. You will see.