Kentucky goes down.

[livefaith]

Harper was huge. How many times did he just blow by a UK player? And the free throw shooting...Wish Washington practiced them like Harper obviously does.

I know you're down. But that guy blows by everybody. Join the club. Since you guys beat them on the road, that team has lived up to the pre-season hype.

 

[alaVOL]

Good luck Aubie and Pearl. Awesome game.

 

[gregmaynard2]

Don’t think so. Harper was top 60. Spencer and Purifoy were top 75. Okeke was top 50. Wiley was a 5 star. He also had Heron last year who was top 20. Bryce Brown was just a 3 star.

That is probably better talent than our Elite 8 squad. Prince and Hopson were 4 year 5 stars and then had juco guards in Maze and Goins, Chism a 4 star, and Cam Tatum, who was barely top 100.

Not looking at ratings. Anyone that has any basketball IQ knows how loaded our team was. This auburn team is a step below imo, but that is how the tourney goes. Get hot at the right time and you can go far.

 

[VolfromBirth65]

People have questioned me over and over about why I would rather have Bruce than Barnes.....I am certain after today all now knows why.

Not me, explain yourself. Sure Bruce has made it to the Final Four, so has Coach Rick Barnes, but years down road CRB will not have the * in front of his name for violations on NCAA Rules. Go Vols

 

[Crazy Ivan]

So was Kentuckys season a failure also ? No championships or FF and all those 5 star players

 

[Tennesseefan2019]

Tonight will be rough for the sisters and cousins of the disappointed Kentucky fans

 

[Roustabout]

With a worse team than his best team he had here. Glad for Bruce though I guess.

I disagree. Bruce has recruited well at AU and his roster is loaded with 4 star recruits.
Brown was the anomaly. Ranked low, but Bruce made hay recruiting Georgia, saw a talent and nabbed him. Bruce is a lot better coach than most of us want to admit.

Not to take away from Barnes, but Bruce was the best thing to happen UT. It’s just that many fans are trying to forget those years. The fact is UT set him up when they should have told the NCAA to pound sand.

This was supposedly a team of destiny and the fact is our old coach is cutting down nets and in the final four. It doesn’t mean we can’t love these guys and Barnes, but it always seems there’s some cloud hanging over.

I’ll you one thing, there is no question which coach leaves it all on the floor.

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

So we officially finished with the best overall record in the sec?

 

[wmcovol]

Let’s face facts. Tennessee blew 2 great opportunities to go to the Final Four the last two seasons.

 

[leejoek]

Bruce Pearl leads Auburn to its first Final Four EVER with an OT win over Kentucky 77-71

Auburn knocks out Kentucky and North Carolina. hell of a run by the Tigers.

And rolled over Kansas!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I disagree. Bruce has recruited well at AU and his roster is loaded with 4 star recruits.
Brown was the anomaly. Ranked low, but Bruce made hay recruiting Georgia, saw a talent and nabbed him. Bruce is a lot better coach than most of us want to admit.

Not to take away from Barnes, but Bruce was the best thing to happen UT. It’s just that many fans are trying to forget those years. The fact is UT set him up when they should have told the NCAA to pound sand.

This was supposedly a team of destiny and the fact is our old coach is cutting down nets and in the final four. It doesn’t mean we can’t love these guys and Barnes, but it always seems there’s some cloud hanging over.

I’ll you one thing, there is no question which coach leaves it all on the floor.

UT set Bruce up? LOL. Bruce is a chronic liar. He not only lied to his UT bosses about his BBQ, he lied to his UT bosses about players failing drug tests. He is a flawed character. Good for him getting all of those players to attend Auburn. Even when his associate head coach goes to jail.

 

[VolGee4]

Agre, however, Bruce owns Barnes the past 2 seasons which includes beating what most fans are calling " the best team in school history". He also beat Barnes Texas team that had Kevin Durant. I think we all know who the "nicer" guy is and who the better coach is.

For the 50th time, the Durant comment is so lazy because no one cares to do the research about that team. Just so happens that the following year (without Durant), Barnes’ Texas team beat us by 19. Yes, that was our team that is tied for the most wins in school history.

 

[VolGee4]

I don't consider Grant, Admiral, Bone, Turner, and Alexander 3 stars. May have been when they signed but if that's the case give me all 3 stars this signing period.

Then Bryce Brown wouldn’t be a 3 star either. The point is Bruce got players. He isn’t some miracle coach. He has a squad of top 75 players, who are experienced. A team made up of a majority of one and dones don’t win titles.

 

[VolGee4]

Not looking at ratings. Anyone that has any basketball IQ knows how loaded our team was. This auburn team is a step below imo, but that is how the tourney goes. Get hot at the right time and you can go far.

Our team was talented because of the dedication and hard work the staff and the players put in. One foul away from an EE. Pretty damn good talent, but Auburn has more highly recruited players. You can have that opinion all you want, but rankings mean something.

 

[Big time vol]

I disagree. Bruce has recruited well at AU and his roster is loaded with 4 star recruits.
Brown was the anomaly. Ranked low, but Bruce made hay recruiting Georgia, saw a talent and nabbed him. Bruce is a lot better coach than most of us want to admit.

Not to take away from Barnes, but Bruce was the best thing to happen UT. It’s just that many fans are trying to forget those years. The fact is UT set him up when they should have told the NCAA to pound sand.

This was supposedly a team of destiny and the fact is our old coach is cutting down nets and in the final four. It doesn’t mean we can’t love these guys and Barnes, but it always seems there’s some cloud hanging over.

I’ll you one thing, there is no question which coach leaves it all on the floor.

The university knew about the picture weeks before they showed it to Pearl. A stab in the back as far as I'm concerned. We reap what we sow. Anyway Barnes is our coach now and we all should support him.

 

[LittleCat]

I know you're down. But that guy blows by everybody. Join the club. Since you guys beat them on the road, that team has lived up to the pre-season hype.

Brown and Harper beating us really reminds me of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright. Experienced guards who get buckets with a supporting cast who just do enough to survive. I just wish our team could have made just a couple threes in the 2nd half. Then in the last 5 minutes the free throw shooting was awful.

 

[livefaith]

Brown and Harper beating us really reminds me of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright. Experienced guards who get buckets with a supporting cast who just do enough to survive. I just wish our team could have made just a couple threes in the 2nd half. Then in the last 5 minutes the free throw shooting was awful.

Its weird how OT often features a swing in mo. Happened to use 2 times in a row. Got on the wrong side of it the last time.

 

[IPleadInsanity]

Then Bryce Brown wouldn’t be a 3 star either. The point is Bruce got players. He isn’t some miracle coach. He has a squad of top 75 players, who are experienced. A team made up of a majority of one and dones don’t win titles.

Bruce is a hot commodity now, unless he did something else wrong, as he has taken 2 different SEC programs from last place to first place. Rebuilding capabilities are in very high demand. Beating 3 of the winningest programs in college basketball Kansas, UNC, UK is one hell of a feat also.

 

[tnvols72]

The one that got me was when he jumped higher than the MSU player to get a rebound...he had a run and go at it and the MSU player went straight up...basic physics tell you that Williamson was going to out jump the other guy but you would have thought Williamson made the most athletic play of the season according to the announcers

That was disgusting , you would of thought he jumped from the bench and the guy he out jumped was Taco Falls. By the way Zion did not challenge Taco too many time and when he did Taco got the best of him.

 

[VolGee4]

Bruce is a hot commodity now, unless he did something else wrong, as he has taken 2 different SEC programs from last place to first place. Rebuilding capabilities are in very high demand. Beating 3 of the winningest programs in college basketball Kansas, UNC, UK is one hell of a feat also.

I don’t disagree, but Pearl’s offense is not something that is complicated. He gets players, motivates, and usually plays great defense. Half of Auburn’s possessions, the guards break down their defender and score, kick, or they just chuck it up. Most of the time, they have 5 guys who can shoot threes.

If you remember the roster he inherited at UT, it was very similar. While Bradshaw wasn’t a great outside shooter, he played the 4. Lofton and Jajuan just put up shots. Then, Childress and Chism come in as shooting big men.

It has worked great, but it’s not some magical offense. The key at Auburn was getting a rotation of top 75 players.

 

[VolfromBirth65]

Bruce is a hot commodity now, unless he did something else wrong, as he has taken 2 different SEC programs from last place to first place. Rebuilding capabilities are in very high demand. Beating 3 of the winningest programs in college basketball Kansas, UNC, UK is one hell of a feat also.

(*) True, but the (*) will always be there.

 

[vfl1978]

Finally Kentucky is gone! Good luck to Coach Pearl and the War Eagles!

 

[gregmaynard2]

Our team was talented because of the dedication and hard work the staff and the players put in. One foul away from an EE. Pretty damn good talent, but Auburn has more highly recruited players. You can have that opinion all you want, but rankings mean something.

I was talking about pearls team. Sorry if you can’t see that his best team here was a step above this years auburns teams.

 

[ReelfootVol]

No..........Bruce Pearl is not a saint, preacher, evangelist, etc. , however, strictly in my opinion.........as far as a motivator of young men, recruiting talent, basketball coaching, promoting ......HE IS THE BEST COLLEGE MENS BASKETBALL COACH IN AMERICA !!!! I WOULD TAKE HIM OVER ANY !!!

 

[rockydoc]

Auburn peaked at right time. They are better than us by far (beat us twice). Pearl works the refs and Barnes does not.
Hate Auburn because they historically cheat in everything but they will be in NCAA finals. They will not beat MSU.