Rick Barnes Approval Rating Thread (1-10)

#176
#176
knoxchief said:
Vols Basketball just isnt' fun to watch anymore. I think Barnes is a good coach...He's just not a "great" coach here. Give him another year to turn things around and maybe we might be "good". Unfortunately, I just don't see us being a top-quality team like Kentucky for years to come and that's sad. I give him a 5 at this point in time.
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Get over yourself bro. Tennessee has never been on kentuckys level. Idk what you people keep smoking, but we only been ranked number one once and it was only for a week. Not exactly the track record top-quality teams like Kentucky, year in and year out, have :crazy:
 
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#177
#177
OrangeAllDay said:
How many times is he going to blow by everyone, have an easy lane to the basket, and blow a bunny before it screws with him mentally? I mean it's a catch 22
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I think Barnes' quick trigger messed with Bone's head more than a couple of missed layups.

Bone vs Vandy in Nashville, the SECTG vs GA - his upside was on full display and I think he could be our best PG ever. Here's hoping going forward that CRB builds him up (instead of tearing him down) and JB in turn puts more energy into his defense.
 
#179
#179
For me, its a 6 1/2.

1. I think his recruiting is somewhat disappointing up to this point. I would give him a 4 to 4.5 in this department. Of course, we have some guys with potential, but it would be nice to simply have some "can't miss" guys that didn't miss...I just expected more star power...On second thought, I guess I might raise it to a 5 for the addition of Pons. Not terrible, but certainly room for improvement.

2. I'm going with promotion of the program next. I think he gets an incomplete, because it doesn't appear that it has gotten started yet. Is this his fault, or is the AD's fault? Whatever the case, it is very lacking.

3. For running a tight ship and keeping the NCAA away, I give him a 9.

4. For player development, I will give him an 8.5. I think he does spend a lot of time in the Gymn focused on this aspect, and I have been pleasantly surprised here. There are some players that have not developed yet, like Bone, and Alexander's development has been agonizingly slow, but over-all, not bad at all.

5. In-game coaching, I give a 7. This is the area that I really expected worse. From a distance, I always felt that he was sub-par at strategy. We have a lot of freshmen this year, but they had a nice run mid-season, and his on the floor coaching was a big part of that.

One concern: his in-your-face style with his players seems like it could blow up in his face. I hope that my fear is unfounded.

I think next season is going to tell the tale of Barne's tenure at Tennessee. This team will still be fairly young, but we should have enough pieces to make the NCAA Touney. We need breakout seasons at point guard (Bone?) and at Center (Alexander?), and everyone needs to up their game a bit. If Barnes can accomplish that, I think recruiting will pick up, and he will be fine. If they miss the tourney next season, I will probably be saying, "Next!"
 
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#181
#181
bleedingTNorange said:
Guessing SC fans are pretty happy right now that they didn't run off Frank Martin after Year 2 or 3.
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Exactly - and he is not near the coach Rick Barnes is.

One look at the roster before CRB arrived should have been enough for most people to understand. Apparently not. If you know basketball at all you know the youth on this team will be developed really well. He went out and recruited exactly what the roster deficiency was. Now it becomes all about development and playing unselfishly as a unit.

He is now in his prime as a coach. People need to go back through and check out what the ages of the majority of FF and NC winning coaches have been for awhile now. A lot of gray hair.

I like Phillips at PG with Bone better than Turner. I think Turner should be the third option.
 
#182
#182
Vols4us said:
Exactly - and he is not near the coach Rick Barnes is.

One look at the roster before CRB arrived should have been enough for most people to understand. Apparently not. If you know basketball at all you know the youth on this team will be developed really well. He went out and recruited exactly what the roster deficiency was. Now it becomes all about development and playing unselfishly as a unit.

He is now in his prime as a coach. People need to go back through and check out what the ages of the majority of FF and NC winning coaches have been for awhile now. A lot of gray hair.

I like Phillips at PG with Bone better than Turner. I think Turner should be the third option.
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You think RB is in his prime? I'd say that was about 10 years ago. At least Texas thought so
 
#183
#183
IMO, whether CRB is past his prime or not is really irrelevant. I'm not sure he will ever replicate the amount of success he had at Texas here. However, we need for him to be successful in building a solid roster and keeping us out of the NCAA's cross-hairs for the next couple of years.

His tenure here is all about positioning ourselves for a solid hire once he decides to move on (or the UT AD decides he needs to move on). Making a knee-jerk move after year 3 would only reset any chance this program has of building any momentum.
 
#184
#184
I think RB has the program moving in a generally positive direction. He inherited an absolute train wreck, and despite the disappointing finish, this team took a nice step forward compared to last year.

RB may not be recruiting the high-level players we expected (at least according to the recruiting sites), but he and his staff are showing that they have a knack for evaluation. Williams, Fulkerson, Bowden, and Bone all look like guys who will end up being considerably better than their ranking coming out of high school.

I also think that with the returning players and incoming freshman, plus a summer trip to Europe and the extra practices that come along with it, we should expect another nice step forward next year.
 
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#185
#185
highspeed said:
I think RB has the program moving in a generally positive direction. He inherited an absolute train wreck, and despite the disappointing finish, this team took a nice step forward compared to last year.

RB may not be recruiting the high-level players we expected (at least according to the recruiting sites), but he and his staff are showing that they have a knack for evaluation. Williams, Fulkerson, Bowden, and Bone all look like guys who will end up being considerably better than their ranking coming out of high school.

I also think that with the returning players and incoming freshman, plus a summer trip to Europe and the extra practices that come along with it, we should expect another nice step forward next year.
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I completely agree with this.
 
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#186
#186
highspeed said:
I think RB has the program moving in a generally positive direction. He inherited an absolute train wreck, and despite the disappointing finish, this team took a nice step forward compared to last year.

RB may not be recruiting the high-level players we expected (at least according to the recruiting sites), but he and his staff are showing that they have a knack for evaluation. Williams, Fulkerson, Bowden, and Bone all look like guys who will end up being considerably better than their ranking coming out of high school.

I also think that with the returning players and incoming freshman, plus a summer trip to Europe and the extra practices that come along with it, we should expect another nice step forward next year.
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I agree with this assessment. Of course, I'm a bit of a homer, but I do expect us to replicate the few moments of GREAT bball we had this past season in much greater frequency in the upcoming season. We tighten up the freshman bolts, get some more depth at the post with Full and Walker, Bone, Bowden, and my dark horse Turner get more mature and smarter: a recipe for a successful season and maintaining upward trajectory.

Our weakness of youth and inexperience will morph into our strength as time goes on. The fact that we have so many underclassmen at once will pay dividends down the road.
 
#187
#187
7 He's come along way with the talent. look for TN to be a contender next year or the following yr. Great Coach, I just hope he has the Love for Tennessee like he did Texas.
 
#188
#188
VolFreakJosh said:
Ok so I do realize we have some very upset fans including myself over how this team has regressed at the end of this season. Now let's take a close look on what the issues could have been leading up to the end of the season:

1.) Very inexperienced team with no leadership from Hubbs. Hubbs is a senior and is too talented to not be able to impact a game more often. I know he's been injured but there's been plenty of times where he wouldn't show up in important games. I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he's never lived up to his full potential.

2.) Absence of Fulkerson, Bowden, and Mostella resulted in missing key pieces. All 3 were playmakers that was showing great potential. Unfortunately injuries, illness, and bone headed decisions took away that extra firepower and depth.

3.) Barne's age and coaching style has everyone scratching their heads. I know we've had some fans talk about how he's just here to collect a paycheck and how Barnes has lost that "fire" in his eyes. His coaching track record speaks for itself. I still think he overachieved the whole season until the very end. It almost seems like he lost control of this team and now they can't seem to find a way to get their confidence back. I'm not saying that's all on Barnes but I think he's also responsible for getting our kids ready for each game so I'm not going to go easy on him for that.

In conclusion, its year two for Barnes and has yet to make the NCAA Tournament. I'm not going to give him the benefit of doubt and say that he needs to be fired immediately but I will say that there's much work need to be done. If he does not make the NCAA Tournament next year with pretty much everyone returning then yes, his seat should get hot. We have a good roster full of young talent with so much potential. No reason we shouldn't be in the discussion of the NCAA Tournament next year.

My approval rate of Barnes this season on a scale of 1-10, is 6. I would have gave him a higher rating if his team didn't collapse at the end of the season. No excuse for poor showing especially when you're fighting to get an NCAA bid.
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I will give Barnes an 8. Barnes may be one of the best X and O coaches we have ever had. I think Barnes analyzes recruits abilities and develops them better than any coach we have ever had!!! Hubbs isn't that great of an example. I think Hubbs was very overrated and didn't give Barnes a chance to develop him the last two years. Hubbs should have easily averaged more than 20ppg this season and was on track to do it until the last half of the season. Had he kept playing up to his potential. We may have made the NCAA this year. What did Barnes do with Punter last year and the FRESHMEN THIS YEAR?

Had we not lost Detrick Mostella and John Fulkerson and not had many FRESHMAN players that weren't use to the GRIND of so many games. I think this years team easily makes the NCAA and finishes in the top 5 in the league with several freshmen and sophomores getting a ton of playing time. We gave UNC and Oregon a run for their money. We were in the game at times and didn't get beat badly by Gonzaga and Wisconsin either. We did this with a ton of freshmen and sophomore play that aren't all four and five star players like most other top programs. How did these four teams do in the NCAA Tournament? How about UK that we beat???

We aren't UK and UF with a boat load of talent. We also didn't have the veteran leadership that USC has with 3 seniors who combined for half of their points. Instead, we had Hubbs and Evans who combined for 16 pts, not 32 pts like USC seniors. We had FIVE FRESHMAN that accounted for 40.6 ppg of our 74.5 ppg with Fulkerson leading the team in FG% before he got hurt!!!

Barnes is a future Hall of Fame coach that is still a GREAT COACH. Barnes just needs to do a better job of recruiting. Hopefully, that will come soon!!! Look at what Barnes inherited. How did Pearl do this year with a boat load of talent at Auburn? We aren't a perennial successful basketball program like we are in football. How many great coaches do you think would come here? I think we got a great coach in Barnes. He just needs another year or two to turn this program around in the right direction!

Barnes will prove a lot of people wrong next year. He isn't ever going to be a top ten coach in the country. But, he is going to do a solid job and have us in the NCAA Tournament every year starting in 2018 or 2019. Do people know he took his teams to the NCAA Tournament 17 years in a row. How many coaches have went 17 years in a row???

Several say his time has past. I don't think so. I still think he has several more productive years ahead of him, especially IF he recruits the TALENT. The freshmen we had this year weren't a bunch of 4-5 star players. But, Barnes developed them well and they are talented!!! He and his staff do a remarkable job of seeing potential in the 2-3 star players he has recruited. We just need a few ELITE PLAYERS sprinkled in with them to be GREAT!!!
 
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#190
#190
highspeed said:
I think RB has the program moving in a generally positive direction. He inherited an absolute train wreck, and despite the disappointing finish, this team took a nice step forward compared to last year.

RB may not be recruiting the high-level players we expected (at least according to the recruiting sites), but he and his staff are showing that they have a knack for evaluation. Williams, Fulkerson, Bowden, and Bone all look like guys who will end up being considerably better than their ranking coming out of high school.

I also think that with the returning players and incoming freshman, plus a summer trip to Europe and the extra practices that come along with it, we should expect another nice step forward next year.
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This is spot on!
 
#191
#191
vols 30 said:
You think RB is in his prime? I'd say that was about 10 years ago. At least Texas thought so
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Wasn't the story out of Texas the AD was going to keep him but wanted staff changes and he refused to let his assistants take the fall. Looking back sounds like he could still be at Texas if he gave in to his AD's demands. The AD was fired 5 months later. Also if you read some of the Texas boards about Shaka they are not pleased and many mention they wish they had coach Barnes still...Just an observation.
 
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#195
#195
330px-Spinal_Tap_-_Up_to_Eleven.jpg
 
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#199
#199
While the team finished .500 in 16-17, you could see the potential to be good. They fought so hard against Nova, Gonzaga, UNC, and others despite being insanely small and extremely young. I predicted they would make the tourney in 17-18 but they exceeded my expectations. I predicted good things for this year of course and it actually looks like they may exceed my expectations again. Phenomenal job by Barnes. It’s so refreshing to see a team play hard and play smart.
 
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