Rick Barnes discussion (merged)

#5,201
#5,201
GAVol said:
Nobody is “just happy to be here”. I just think it’s way oversimplified to throw a fit and think a coaching change just because after a sweet 16 run makes any sense.
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Um some are happy to just be here. And it's not like this is some weird happenstance. It's every season. The question is is it enough to justify his contract?

He's done a great job taking over a bad program, but I think we've seen this is probably as good as it gets. Nothing wrong with questioning what to do next. He hasn't done anything worth firing, but I'd say White will be in his ear about retirement if next season is the same.

As always. I could be wrong.
 
#5,202
#5,202
VolsSportsFan said:
I do agree if he played for another team, we'd label him a punk/thug.
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For sure. I do think it’s a bit of a cycle now where he’s got the rep so innocuous things we wouldn’t notice with other players are put under a magnifying glass for him. But, to be fair, he certainly earned that rep. I won’t miss the flagrants.
 
#5,205
#5,205
tnvols72 said:
been a problem all year. Tn just did not find out that we had no shooters. Once ZZ went out all we had left was Santi and he cant shot nothing but wideopen 3s. He cant shoot a jump shot or drive the lane or create his own shot. Phillips is a bust ,JJJ is what he is and Mashack is streaky at best and Key was useless
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Yep.

We don’t have a “the guy” on offense. We have about 3 or 4 guys that could drop 20 on a random night and just as likely have no one score 20 on a given night.

The safest bet in the world would have been taking the under on ON scoring 12 pts tonight.

We likely hold FAU under 60 tonight if not for having to foul late because we were behind.

Problem was we couldn’t throw it in the ocean for the middle 20 minutes of the game.
 
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#5,206
#5,206
volbound1700 said:
True but that is pretty damn embarrassing consider schools like Florida Gulf Coast, VCU, George Mason, Butler (2x), etc. have Final Fours and they have a fraction of the resources that are available to Knoxville.
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It's frustrating being on a small list of teams that have never reached the Final Four.... I don't think anyone would argue any differently. I think it's about expectations.If this was a Duke, Carolina or UCLA message board, I think more people would be upset because of the rich traditions those schools have. Tennessee doesn't have that. Getting an opportunity year in and year old might get them over the hump. I see both sides and totally get it. I think if we were talking about football,it would be different. You have to have success to expect it. They'll get there hopefully sooner than later.
 
#5,207
#5,207
zjcvols said:
Maybe but I simply cannot stand him. He’s a dirty player that thinks he’s intimidating when in reality he’s being a moron that costs his team points
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And that’s fair. Weird thing is he can play a little, he could be a decent backup SEC big. Doesn’t have to do the whole tough guy routine to help Tennessee win games
 
#5,209
#5,209
EaglesVols91 said:
Again, no aspirations to reach the next level. I guess we might as well stop asking fans to support NIL
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It has nothing to do with not aspiring for more. It has everything to do with recognizing the program is on solid ground. The program is in better shape than it ever has been in the modern era.

It’s possible to be frustrated that we can’t get over the hump in March while also recognizing that we have a good thing going here and that firing the coach would be foolish.
 
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#5,210
#5,210
EaglesVols91 said:
No, not with the current AD we have. TN has one of the best NIL programs, world class facilities, top of the line fan support, Knoxville being a great place to live and we have proven paying money is not an issue. Will we hire a good replacement? Maybe not, but we sure as hell have the ability to
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I’ve heard this argument my entire life and it has never resulted in anything good happening for TN lol. But in theory, I agree completely with your point.
 
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#5,211
#5,211
OC VOL FAN said:
I'm all for trying to catch lighting in a bottle in hopes of bucking this trend honestly. I'd rather try that then go through the same routine year in and year out with Rick
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Tennessee is not firing Barnes and his buyout just to hire someone who may be “lightning in a bottle”…….

There are only 3-4 coaches out there that I think you have to have their commitment before you even consider kicking tires on Barnes….

But even that is a huge risk….
 
#5,212
#5,212
GAVol said:
I won’t go quite that far, but his plusses definitely stopped outweighing the minuses a while ago.
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He lost his temper and cost his team 3 points because he’s a baby that thinks being dirty is “intimidating”. If you’re Luka Garza, you can get a way with it. When you average 6/4, stop it.!
 
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#5,213
#5,213
Vol49er said:
I mean what he said is 100% true. You can make a compelling argument Bruce is the better coach (or the inverse argument), but there’s no debate that Bruce took over a program in better shape and had a more stocked cupboard than Barnes. If you’re denying that you’re blinded with anger at Barnes
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In the past 25 years, 4 different coaches have led TN to Sweet 16. 80% of coaches at UT more than 1 year have done that in this timeframe. I'm not sure most programa can say that nationally.

This isn't and hasn't been a poverty program like a Vandy or Ole Miss this millenium....
 
#5,215
#5,215
allvol123 said:
Yep.

We don’t have a “the guy” on offense. We have about 3 or 4 guys that could drop 20 on a random night and just as likely have no one score 20 on a given night.

The safest bet in the world would have been taking the under on ON scoring 12 pts tonight.

We likely hold FAU under 60 tonight if not for having to foul late because we were behind.

Problem was we couldn’t throw it in the ocean for the middle 20 minutes of the game.
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at one point in the late in the 1st half we was 8/21. You are not winning too many games shooting like that
 
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#5,216
#5,216
allvol123 said:
Yep.

We don’t have a “the guy” on offense. We have about 3 or 4 guys that could drop 20 on a random night and just as likely have no one score 20 on a given night.

The safest bet in the world would have been taking the under on ON scoring 12 pts tonight.

We likely hold FAU under 60 tonight if not for having to foul late because we were behind.

Problem was we couldn’t throw it in the ocean for the middle 20 minutes of the game.
Click to expand...

Plus add in all the talk about glow dirty they play got in the refs heads in my opinion.
 
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#5,218
#5,218
BigOrangeMojo said:
In the past 25 years, 4 different coaches have led TN to Sweet 16. 80% of coaches at UT more than 1 year have done that in this timeframe. I'm not sure most programa can say that nationally.

This isn't and hasn't been a poverty program like a Vandy or Ole Miss this millenium....
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I mean… yeah. What’s that got to do with what I said?
 
#5,219
#5,219
JMSqb11 said:
I personally can acknowledge we are nearing the end of Barnes’ tenure just because of his age. I think if you told us we would get him for 8 years on the day he was hired, everyone would take it…

I don’t really get the money argument people have…. The money he is making is more than worth it considering where the program was before him… Barnes at his minimum is a Top 25 ranked team and autopilot to the NCAAT but has his obvious shortcomings in the postseason. In short, he’s low risk, low reward…. Considering Tennessee’s historical trend, I’m fine with that. Unless there is a clear upgrade, I’m fine to roll with Rick because the truth is, Rick is prolly done at Tennessee within 2-3 more seasons… i can “stomach” 2-3 more of these type seasons of 25+ wins and coasting to a NCAAT berth….
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I dont blame him in the least for grabbing whats likely a last big money contract.

The only problem I had at the time was his saying he would be at UCLA if they would have covered the buy out. Being candid is fine to a point but that's one data point that didn't need to be made public.

Barnes stabilized this program when it needed it badly but this program gave him some stability as well coming off his tenure at Texas. Also got him closer to his family in NC.

Its overall been a win-win situation but it does get frustrating hitting the ceiling every year and what makes it worse is consistently losing to the lower seeds.

Just is what it is at this point.
 
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#5,221
#5,221
Vol49er said:
For sure. I do think it’s a bit of a cycle now where he’s got the rep so innocuous things we wouldn’t notice with other players are put under a magnifying glass for him. But, to be fair, he certainly earned that rep. I won’t miss the flagrants.
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My problem with him is he seemed to take the "goon" thing to heart way too much; like right into the game he was trying to be the intimidating dude and it's like....just play man. I don't think anyone is actually afraid of him.
 
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#5,223
#5,223
Volstylexx said:
He will retire soon enough, and we will be relegated back to the historical average of our program - making the tournament once every 5 to 6 years and firing a coach.
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We've been to 16 of the last 24 NCAAs and three of our last 4 coaches that were here more than a season went to the Sweet 16.

We aren't Wade Houston/Kevin O'Neil Tennessee. That's 30 years ago.

There's zero reason to think we'd be making one tournament every 5 or 6 years when he retires. With our facilities, fan support, NIL and investment in basketball, including top coaching salary, we should make 4 out of every 5 tournaments in the 68 team era.
 
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#5,224
#5,224
BisonVol said:
It has nothing to do with not aspiring for more. It has everything to do with recognizing the program is on solid ground. The program is in better shape than it ever has been in the modern era.

It’s possible to be frustrated that we can’t get over the hump in March while also recognizing that we have a good thing going here and that firing the coach would be foolish.
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So will we need to wait until Barnes misses the tournament? Better to move on a year or two early than a year or two late. He has coached forever and has made 1 final 4. It’s not like he’s Tom Izzo or Coach K. I appreciate what Barnes has done overall, but he’s been here for awhile now. It’s time to move on
 
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