Single Digit loss seasons

#1
Thunder Good-Oil

Thunder Good-Oil

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
49,448
Likes
52,330
#1
Coach Barnes has had single digit loss seasons in 4 of the last 5 years. That hasn’t happened since Ernie, Bernie, and Mears were in their final year.

Mears lost less than 10 games 14 years in a row. His second through his final (15th) season.

Mears played fewer games, so it was easier to avoid double digit loss seasons. But he also won more than 75% in 8 of his 15 seasons. EVERY year Mears coached was a winning season. Only Bruce in 6 years and Green in 4 (since John Mauer through 1947) also never finished .500 or below. TN has won 75% or better in 27 out of 113 seasons - less than a quarter of the time.

Mears won at least 2 out of 3 in 11 of 15 seasons. Green never lost more than a third of his games. Bruce lost a third of his games in 2 out of 6 seasons including 2 of his last three. TN has finished 0.667 or better in 48 of 113 years.

Mears has 6 of TN’s winningest (%) 25 seasons. Bruce has 2 (including the 5th best). Green has one of the best 25 winning percentages in a season. Barnes has 2 (including the 6th best) although the current season could still drop out of the top 25.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAD, StarRaider, ENGRVOL and 16 others
#3
#3
I had pulled some stats this off season comparing Tennessee to other programs the last 4 years and at that time we stacked up Top 15…will be interesting to see where they are after this year. With next year looking good as well I’m not sure there’s any debate to be made that Barnes has the program in the best shape it’s ever been in. Say what you want about lack of tourney success, and hopefully that monkey is kicked this year, but there’s no debating the job he’s done with this program.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolinWayne, Timeslowdownplease, StarRaider and 26 others
#4
#4
bleedingTNorange said:
I had pulled some stats this off season comparing Tennessee to other programs the last 4 years and at that time we stacked up Top 15…will be interesting to see where they are after this year. With next year looking good as well I’m not sure there’s any debate to be made that Barnes has the program in the best shape it’s ever been in. Say what you want about lack of tourney success, and hopefully that monkey is kicked this year, but there’s no debating the job he’s done with this program.
Click to expand...
Too bad this is a tournament sport.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jeff1vol
#5
#5
bleedingTNorange said:
I had pulled some stats this off season comparing Tennessee to other programs the last 4 years and at that time we stacked up Top 15…will be interesting to see where they are after this year. With next year looking good as well I’m not sure there’s any debate to be made that Barnes has the program in the best shape it’s ever been in. Say what you want about lack of tourney success, and hopefully that monkey is kicked this year, but there’s no debating the job he’s done with this program.
Click to expand...

The program was possibly in better shape up until when Mears got sick. He was only 50 years old when he stepped down. He could have been in the same group as the greatest ever had pharmaceuticals been where they are today in the mid 1970s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StarRaider, pimo1, berryvol and 5 others
#11
#11
Barnes is the best coaching hire I can remember for the basketball program. He took over a program that was not on any top recruits radar. He had to seek and find raw talent then refine them in to All-Sec level talent, not any easy task. Now, after flowing players into the NBA over the last 4 years he should be able to legitimately target any recruit out there. The final 4 or national championship requires a lot of lucky breaks, winning 6 straight games against top competition is not easy. In last 34 championship games, 12 were won by #1 or #2 seeds. Get a good seeding, make the sweet 16, then roll the dice. I think his recruiting will continue to get better and when he leaves the program will be in a strong position, exactly opposite of when he arrived.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: StarRaider, StoneColdStunner, GenRRN and 13 others
#13
#13
Only one TN basketball coach has EVER had multiple Sweet 16s (Bruce has 3 - years 2, 3, and 5). Barnes has a shot at being the second coach at TN to EVER have multiple Sweet 16s. Devoe had one S16 in 6 NCAATs. Cuonzo, Green, and Mears each had one Sweet 16. TN only has 8 (“Regular Season Rick” has 7 (plus 3x Elite 8s)).
 
  • Like
Reactions: StarRaider, volfanhill, LSG410EC83 and 4 others
#14
#14
VOLtaism said:
Barnes is the best coaching hire I can remember for the basketball program. He took over a program that was not on any top recruits radar. He had to seek and finds raw talent then refine them in to All-Sec level talent, not any easy task. Now, after flowing players into the NBA over the last 4 years he should be able to legitimately target any recruit out there. The final 4 or national championship requires a lot of lucky breaks, winning 6 straight games against top competition is not easy. In last 34 championship games, 12 were won by #1 or #2 seeds. Get a good seeding, make the sweet 16, then roll the dice. I think his recruiting will continue to get better and when he leaves the program will be in a strong position, exactly opposite of when he arrived.
Click to expand...
That’s not a true statement. Tyndall just signed Chris Clarke. The previous class he signed Detrick Mostello, Tariq Owens, and Kevin Punter. He’s responsible for Scholfield here.

I’m in no way comparing Tyndall to Barnes but saying that top recruits were not looking at Tennessee is not a true statement. Of course we were not getting 5 stars, but we were getting good recruits.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Birdvol13 and wmcovol
#15
#15
johnnybravo said:
That’s not a true statement. Tyndall just signed Chris Clarke. The previous class he signed Detrick Mostello, Tariq Owens, and Kevin Punter. He’s responsible for Scholfield here.
Click to expand...

The Chris Clark that started 8 games in his last two seasons and averaged 8 points per game? The Detrick Mostella that struggled to start or score at Jacksonville State after failing to follow rules at TN? The 3-star Admiral that didn’t enroll at TN until after Barnes was the head ball coach?
 
  • Like
Reactions: pimo1, NC_Orange, berryvol and 3 others
#17
#17
Thunder Good-Oil said:
The Chris Clark that started 8 games in his last two seasons and averaged 8 points per game? The Detrick Mostella that struggled to start or score at Jacksonville State after failing to follow rules at TN? The 3-star Admiral that didn’t enroll at TN until after Barnes was the head ball coach?[/QUOTE

Yes. The were highly ranked recruits contradicting the statement that there were no highly ranked recruits on Tennessee’s radar.
Click to expand...
 
#18
#18
Thunder Good-Oil said:
The Chris Clark that started 8 games in his last two seasons and averaged 8 points per game? The Detrick Mostella that struggled to start or score at Jacksonville State after failing to follow rules at TN? The 3-star Admiral that didn’t enroll at TN until after Barnes was the head ball coach?
Click to expand...
Yes they were highly ranked contradicting the statement that there were no highly ranked recruits on Tennessee’s radar.
 
#19
#19
mr.checkerboards said:
Too bad this is a tournament sport.
Click to expand...

I understand that it is; however as just a “fan” I watch all the games. Wins make me happy. Beating good teams gets me excited. Having a good season is a culmination of excitement and happiness………if something more comes…..we’ll that’s just awesome…….if it doesn’t…….we’ll it really doesn’t “mean” anything in the grand scheme of things…….I’m mere a fan.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Timeslowdownplease, StarRaider, GenRRN and 5 others
#20
#20
bleedingTNorange said:
I had pulled some stats this off season comparing Tennessee to other programs the last 4 years and at that time we stacked up Top 15…will be interesting to see where they are after this year. With next year looking good as well I’m not sure there’s any debate to be made that Barnes has the program in the best shape it’s ever been in. Say what you want about lack of tourney success, and hopefully that monkey is kicked this year, but there’s no debating the job he’s done with this program.
Click to expand...
And paying top 5 money for top 10-15 results isn’t as crazy as some on here make it sound. Of course they don’t think we’ve had top 15 results and looking season by season more often than not that’s correct but the aggregation of time shows we do have that level of success.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chuckiepoo
#24
#24
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Coach Barnes has had single digit loss seasons in 4 of the last 5 years. That hasn’t happened since Ernie, Bernie, and Mears were in their final year.

Mears lost less than 10 games 14 years in a row. His second through his final (15th) season.

Mears played fewer games, so it was easier to avoid double digit loss seasons. But he also won more than 75% in 8 of his 15 seasons. EVERY year Mears coached was a winning season. Only Bruce in 6 years and Green in 4 (since John Mauer through 1947) also never finished .500 or below. TN has won 75% or better in 27 out of 113 seasons - less than a quarter of the time.

Mears won at least 2 out of 3 in 11 of 15 seasons. Green never lost more than a third of his games. Bruce lost a third of his games in 2 out of 6 seasons including 2 of his last three. TN has finished 0.667 or better in 48 of 113 years.

Mears has 6 of TN’s winningest (%) 25 seasons. Bruce has 2 (including the 5th best). Green has one of the best 25 winning percentages in a season. Barnes has 2 (including the 6th best) although the current season could still drop out of the top 25.
Click to expand...
But, but, but he’s making $5 million a year…..😢😢😢😢 (whining and moaning heard in the background)
 
  • Like
Reactions: GenRRN, DowntownVol, chuckiepoo and 4 others
#25
#25
johnnybravo said:
That’s not a true statement. Tyndall just signed Chris Clarke. The previous class he signed Detrick Mostello, Tariq Owens, and Kevin Punter. He’s responsible for Scholfield here.

I’m in no way comparing Tyndall to Barnes but saying that top recruits were not looking at Tennessee is not a true statement. Of course we were not getting 5 stars, but we were getting good recruits.
Click to expand...

The point was after Tyndell was fired, and all the events preceding his firing, the program was a pariah for recruiting. We used to get the occasional 5 star player but yesterday we had 3 on the floor and 2 from last year starting their NBA careers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EasternVol, chuckiepoo and DuckInAPen
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top