Moving on up - #11 this week!

#26
#26
cncchris33 said:
When is "right now"? We sure looked like a top 25 team three days ago. You seem like a prisoner of the moment. Just looking at your post history, I don't see any "bragging or you giving absolute credit due" for beating Kansas, but I count 9 posts immediately following the OM loss. So, maybe your perception of your outward reaction to wins and losses is misguided.

And look, I'm not excusing this loss. It is indefensible. Barnes, as a coach, looked like amateur hour in figuring out how to attack the trap/double team. He never made an adequate adjustment on the fly and they better get that figured out. The team played their worst half of basketball, offensively, all season.

But again, name 25 teams that are better. Name 20 teams. Anyone saying this team isn't a top 25 team is being emotional and reactionary, and none of them, yourself included, were championing that opinion three days ago.
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It's easy to get frustrated with Barnes. The kindest thing you can say about him is that he'll leave this program much better than he found it. I hate his in game coaching style, which is pretty much you'll learn a great lesson if you can figure this out yourself. The less with more rap is also proving to be true. Learning to be satisfied with what you've got is hard for most of us in this country, but it is what it is. Crazy season but it makes it harder to swallow if you get taken up in the preseason BS that always seems to be our nem.
 
#28
#28
calban said:
It's easy to get frustrated with Barnes. The kindest thing you can say about him is that he'll leave this program much better than he found it. I hate his in game coaching style, which is pretty much you'll learn a great lesson if you can figure this out yourself. The less with more rap is also proving to be true. Learning to be satisfied with what you've got is hard for most of us in this country, but it is what it is. Crazy season but it makes it harder to swallow if you get taken up in the preseason BS that always seems to be our nem.
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We were ranked 12th preseason, we are currently 11th...we were projected 20-5 iirc, we are currently projected 19-6.
 
#30
#30
calban said:
It's easy to get frustrated with Barnes. The kindest thing you can say about him is that he'll leave this program much better than he found it. I hate his in game coaching style, which is pretty much you'll learn a great lesson if you can figure this out yourself. The less with more rap is also proving to be true. Learning to be satisfied with what you've got is hard for most of us in this country, but it is what it is. Crazy season but it makes it harder to swallow if you get taken up in the preseason BS that always seems to be our nem.
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I can't (and won't) argue most of that. A handful of posters cautioned people about getting caught up in the preseason hype, like always, but predictably, most just fall victim to it and are left wondering what happened and looking for someone to blame.

It's disappointing to see us not meet the media's expectations, but inconsistency comes from having two (quiet) seniors, and a bunch of sophomores and freshmen. We will just have to deal with these kinds of games. I'm sure it won't be the last of its kind.
 
#31
#31
cncchris33 said:
I can't (and won't) argue most of that. A handful of posters cautioned people about getting caught up in the preseason hype, like always, but predictably, most just fall victim to it and are left wondering what happened and looking for someone to blame.

It's disappointing to see us not meet the media's expectations, but inconsistency comes from having two (quiet) seniors, and a bunch of sophomores and freshmen. We will just have to deal with these kinds of games. I'm sure it won't be the last of its kind.
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We are pretty much right on preseason projections, people wanted to run around overhyping those projections and saying they don’t see any losses in conference on the schedule and then are shocked when the team pretty much is what they were projected to be and not the hyped up version they’ve created.
 
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#32
#32
bleedingTNorange said:
We are pretty much right on preseason projections, people wanted to run around overhyping those projections and saying they don’t see any losses in conference on the schedule and then are shocked when the team pretty much is what they were projected to be and not the hyped up version they’ve created.
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Weren't we projected to win the SEC? Lol
 
#34
#34
UTK said:
Weren't we projected to win the SEC? Lol
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200w.gif
 
#36
#36
UTK said:
Weren't we projected to win the SEC? Lol
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We were, but Kentucky was picked to finish 2nd, too. Do we trash those two teams for failing to uphold their end of the bargain, or do we trash the media for making lazy assumptions and not doing their homework on teams like Bama and Mizzou?

The team predicted to win failing to do so isn't completely foreign. It happens quite a bit. Bama was picked to finish 5th in the SEC, and currently holds a 33-GM lead. Michigan leads the Big10 and was picked to finish 9th. Duke was picked 2nd in the ACC, they are currently 6th. We aren't going to win the SEC, as predicted, but it isn't like we are in the bottom half of the conference standings with no shot at finishing near the top.
 
#37
#37
bleedingTNorange said:
We are pretty much right on preseason projections, people wanted to run around overhyping those projections and saying they don’t see any losses in conference on the schedule and then are shocked when the team pretty much is what they were projected to be and not the hyped up version they’ve created.
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The hyped up version was created by guys like Jimmy Dykes and others who were calling us a F4 lock. It was easy to get sucked into that BS with a failing FB program and people so eager for something positive. People just wanted to believe something good. And then there is the ultimate final Reality of TN sports.
 
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#38
#38
calban said:
The hyped up version was created by guys like Jimmy Dykes and others who were calling us a F4 lock. It was easy to get sucked into that BS with a failing FB program and people so eager for something positive. People just wanted to believe something good. And then there is the ultimate final Reality of TN sports.
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That never happened, he was high on TN but never called us a “F4 lock”
 
#40
#40
bleedingTNorange said:
That never happened, he was high on TN but never called us a “F4 lock”
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He more or less did at the beginning of the season. He said he didn't know who the 4th team was at the time but that us, Baylor and Gonzaga were the top 3 teams in the country. He changed his tune on it pretty quick though, with good reason.
 
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#41
#41
BigOrangeFanatic said:
You are definitely the RonSwanson of the basketball forum.

Listen. I'll brag on this team and give this team absolute credit when it's due.

But I am not dishing compliments or defending them when they're bad. Other than the Kansas game (where we shot the ball out our minds) this team has been completely underwhelming on offense the past several games. We got blown off the floor by UF and we lost to one of the worst offensive teams I've ever watched in the SEC last night.

So yeah, we're not really playing Top 25 basketball right now. I don't care how young we are..."it's covid season" or whatever other excuse you want to make for them... you don't lose a garbage game like that last night. I get so mad when the announcers start throwing out this is a final four team. What a joke....And another thing...This team is no where even close to the team we were 2 years ago...

I hope they get it turned around, but they've got a long way to go right now.
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Agree with every bit of this
 
#42
#42
BigOrangeFanatic said:
He more or less did at the beginning of the season. He said he didn't know who the 4th team was at the time but that us, Baylor and Gonzaga were the top 3 teams in the country. He changed his tune on it pretty quick though, with good reason.
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There ya go...there’s a good chance your Top 4 right now aren’t all #1 seeds on selection Sunday.
 
#43
#43
bleedingTNorange said:
We were ranked 12th preseason, we are currently 11th...we were projected 20-5 iirc, we are currently projected 19-6.
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We will drop in the polls and were picked to finish first or second in the SEC by everyone. We may not be as far off projections as some think but we are definitely below them. The good news is that in college basketball the season is always in front of you. Nobody will remember that Feb game at Ole Miss if we click in the NCAATournament.
 
#44
#44
ColinS said:
We will drop in the polls and were picked to finish first or second in the SEC by everyone. We may not be as far off projections as some think but we are definitely below them. The good news is that in college basketball the season is always in front of you. Nobody will remember that Feb game at Ole Miss if we click in the NCAATournament.
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Yes we will, and win a couple games and we will climb right back up like we just did...2nd place in the SEC is still wide open so not sure anything can really be claimed. Like I said after the Kansas game, go 7-2 to close the year and that’s good, last night was a L, go 7-1 and last night doesn’t mean too much.
 
#45
#45
bleedingTNorange said:
There ya go...there’s a good chance your Top 4 right now aren’t all #1 seeds on selection Sunday.
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There's a pretty good chance Baylor and Gonzaga are. They have been the class of the field so far. Texas, a top 5 team, couldn't even stay on the floor with Baylor last night.
 
#46
#46
bleedingTNorange said:
Yes we will, and win a couple games and we will climb right back up like we just did...2nd place in the SEC is still wide open so not sure anything can really be claimed. Like I said after the Kansas game, go 7-2 to close the year and that’s good, last night was a L, go 7-1 and last night doesn’t mean too much.
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After watching the last 5-7 games we've played, I think .500 is about what we're gonna go down the stretch. We just aren't consistent enough. And We're gonna have to get a lot better and quick if we're going 7-2. Vandy and SC might be the only automatic games left and after watching last night I cant even chalk those up as Ws. UK has their worst team in 300 years and probably getting at least 1 against us.
 
#47
#47
BigOrangeFanatic said:
There's a pretty good chance Baylor and Gonzaga are. They have been the class of the field so far. Texas, a top 5 team, couldn't even stay on the floor with Baylor last night.
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Absolutely, my point being that at the time we looked that way, things can change quickly...but he wasn’t saying we were a lock, he was saying at that time we looked like a Top 4 team, and we did.
 
#48
#48
bleedingTNorange said:
Absolutely, my point being that at the time we looked that way, things can change quickly...but he wasn’t saying we were a lock, he was saying at that time we looked like a Top 4 team, and we did.
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Yep. He didn't miss on the other 2. But he did put us in the top 4. He said we were in a completely different class along with Baylor and Gonzaga.
 
#49
#49
BigOrangeFanatic said:
Yep. He didn't miss on the other 2. But he did put us in the top 4. He said we were in a completely different class along with Baylor and Gonzaga.
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And at that time that wasn’t a crazy thought, again, everyone outside the top 2 has been up and down, outside of Nova maybe who hasn’t played much
 
#50
#50
bleedingTNorange said:
And at that time that wasn’t a crazy thought, again, everyone outside the top 2 has been up and down, outside of Nova maybe who hasn’t played much
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Yeah, but you were trying to insinuate earlier that Dykes wasnt talking about this team as a Final Four team. And he absolutely was, and he wasn't the only one. He isn't anymore as he shouldn't be.

I'm not so sure I agree with you they ever did look like a Final Four Team. Talent wise, on paper? Possibly. Defensively? Absolutely. Offensively, no where close to it.

They have miles to go offensively for them to even make a sweet 16 run right now. If you don't have offense in March you don't make it far. It's when teams play out of their minds, especially from 3. Which is what we always seem to have difficulty defending.
 
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