BurninOrange
All about dem Vols!
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- Aug 4, 2012
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Burnin, you have info on GA kids from time to time, any idea why we didn't even make Lance Thomas' top 6 or whatever?
Did I just dream pearl was our coach? Why leave him out there?
Watch 'chu talkin' 'bout? The chronic liar that inherited a really good group of players and filled up the dumpster with oily rags before getting fired? BTW, he wasn't just fired for serving up hot dogs and lying like a fool about it. It wasn't a question of was the program was going to blow up with Pearl in charge. It was a question of when.
Pearl's (and Jerry Green's) success has been the exception and not the rule over the last 30 years of Tennessee basketball. You don't understand that because you grew up in the midst of Pearl's success and you think he hung the moon and stars.
His point was that Tennessee basketball has been pretty neglected from the top on down historically. Pearl's run, while a ton of fun, was a blip on the radar of UT basketball history. Sadly, he ended that run all on his own.
Where was all this logic and 4 year building plans when Martin was here.
He was crucified out the gate for early losses at places like Memphis. And he wasn't a HOF-er. He was a 3 year wonder.
Some people just hated him even though he surpassed expectations each year. All the contributors left after Pearl's last year.
Also this is why you see more offers in the 18,19 and 2020 classes. It is about establishing relationships and that is what the coaching staff is trying to do.
Not Burnin but I'll share my take...I think Tennessee has made it clear they are looking for posts, Louisville I know for sure and probably the other 3 that made his list are selling him on allowing him to play some 3, and I don't think that's something Tennessee was willing to sell him on just to stay in the running.
ThisRevisionist history a bit.
Cuonzo inherited a progam that had went to 6 straight NCAA tourneys. Even then there was plenty that were patient with him. I know I was. I remember him getting railed for losing to Austin Peay.
I wouldn't call him a wonder though. Many wondered how he got the job with that resume.
So far though, Rick Barnes has a sense of urgency on the recruiting trail that rivals a Cuonzo Martin sub .500 team's sense of urgency in mid January.
Great post Chris. Wish more people could grasp this concept.
Ray Mears had a pretty good run at Tennessee. Also, Tennessee has more wins against Kentucky than any other SC school. We have not been the doormat of basketball as some of you think. I realize that some of the SEC schools have hired big named coaches in recent years and have had limited success, but I think Barns can change the culture her and develop a winning NCAA quality team.
I'm not insinuating that we've been a doormat in the SEC, but for argument's sake, let's say Tennessee is #2 all time, which is debatable. The distance between #1 (Kentucky) and theoretical #2 (Tennessee) is enormous. Tennessee's best run ever just happened to coincide with Kentucky's worst run, so it gave the appearance that the gap was closer for a time. Overall, over the past 30 years, the gap isn't close at all.
TN was by far the #2 historical SEC program before the 1980s. I blame Dickey more than anybody for ****ing that up.
While TN was sleeping Florida won back to back Nattys, Arkansas had their run, LSU did a lot of damage in the NCAATs, Alabama holds a head-to-head advantage versus TN, and Vanderbilt stayed solid. Now Missouri is in the SEC and they have a pretty good history. TN can still cite several things to argue for #2, like NCAAT wins/appearances/S16s, SEC titles, SECT titles/wins/championship game appearances, winning percentage, total wins, etc. But they need to become a lot more stable and consistent to claim #2.
Noooo, it's not. You can say it a hundred times, a thousand even, and it won't make it true. You just have a youthful, myopic (not to mention extremely biased) perspective.
I'm beginning to wonder how much college basketball he's actually watched. The Pearl years were great and yes the atmosphere was as good as it's been in the modern era (too young but I've heard stories of how Stokely could rock), but even then it wasn't the "best atmosphere" in college basketball.
