The Official 2024 NCAAT Watch Party Thread

#754
#754
Vol49er said:
My angst is directed towards Cal, Pearl, Oats, and Musselman. It’s kinda wild how unlikable the other successful SEC coaches are especially when compared to Barnes. Like I don’t love Saban or Smart but I don’t have a burning dislike of them. I imagine part of that is that the basketball coaches are more prominently on the TV during games than football coaches
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Barnes is just different. He loves and respects everybody. He spends 10 minutes at every postgame presser singing the praises of the coach he just beat.
 
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#755
#755
turbovol said:
Barnes is just different. He loves and respects everybody. He spends 10 minutes at every postgame presser singing the praises of the coach he just beat.
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Plus I don’t know how many times I’ve seen him take a player from the opposing team and have a brief chat after a game. He never really talks about what he says, but when you catch a glimpse of it on TV or in person, you can tell Barnes practices what he preaches and is just a good human being.

A lot of coaches do that - but not like Barnes. It feels like it’s not made for TV or self-serving. I don’t know if that makes sense, it’s tough to explain.
 
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#757
#757
turbovol said:
Barnes is just different. He loves and respects everybody. He spends 10 minutes at every postgame presser singing the praises of the coach he just beat.
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He doesn't WHINE. Every call on the floor against Bruce Pearl is just wrong according to him. Plus he chose an SEC team after wrecking ours. I just can't stand whiners,. It's annoying like announcers who OTT suck up to one team, even if it's mine. The only complaint Barnes had this year was when Pat Adams blew that horrible call -- I can't even remember what coach ran out on the floor, but I remember it was Pat Adams who ignored it.
 
#758
#758
DooleyOrangePants said:
Don’t forget Charleston and Bama are tipping. Big Charleston fan right here for the next couple hours.
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That game could realistically be kept close because Alabama is not a great team in the league of Connecticut, Purdue, etc.

Purdue has a great center, and other great players so Grambling State has to play a terrific game with less mistakes.
 
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#759
#759
DooleyOrangePants said:
I get what you are saying, but Bruce still hasn’t figured out how to be humble. And the way he ended up exiting here was all on him, but he refused to just own it and instead took everything down with him.

Good coach, awful person. Appreciate his time here, but glad we moved on.
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99% of people in the head coaching profession for any major sport have no idea how to be humble. It requires a certain level of ego to reach that position. Not only are you making millions on top of millions, but you're seeking out jobs where you're in charge of programs that garner millions of eyes and puts you over numerous people.

Some are definitely better at hiding their ego than others, though.
 
#760
#760
firestorm said:
That game realistically be kept close because Alabama is not a great team in the league of Connecticut, Purdue, etc.

Purdue has a great center, and other great players so Grambling State has to play a terrific game with less mistakes.
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Bama doesn’t play defense, so I think it may be close.

Grambling has to do something about Edey and keep him away from the basket as much as possible. He camps down there and will eat them up If they don’t create some distance.
 
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#761
#761
DooleyOrangePants said:
Plus I don’t know how many times I’ve seen him take a player from the opposing team and have a brief chat after a game. He never really talks about what he says, but when you catch a glimpse of it on TV or in person, you can tell Barnes practices what he preaches and is just a good human being.

A lot of coaches do that - but not like Barnes. It feels like it’s not made for TV or self-serving. I don’t know if that makes sense, it’s tough to explain.
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And what he did with Dick Vitale-- when he was going through cancer. I'm PROUD to have Rick Barnes as our coach. I just really really want him to win it all-- for HIM more then me.
 
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#762
#762
JCP201 said:
And what he did with Dick Vitale-- when he was going through cancer. I'm PROUD to have Rick Barnes as our coach. I just really really want him to win it all-- for HIM more then me.
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That bright tears to my eyes when Citale said that Barnes sent him a prayer by text every day. Every day! No matter if TN had had a game, lost, etc - every day.
 
#763
#763
Time to start the 2nd half In Memphis.
Nebraska needs successful halftime adjustments used to make it a close game.
 
#764
#764
firestorm said:
That game could realistically be kept close because Alabama is not a great team in the league of Connecticut, Purdue, etc.

Purdue has a great center, and other great players so Grambling State has to play a terrific game with less mistakes.
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Edey may score 25 in first half. The only way to contain Edey is to keep him off the floor in foul trouble.

Gram long should attack the rim and hope Edey fouls. Or, box out and see if he will be called for over the back.
 
#766
#766
JCP201 said:
And what he did with Dick Vitale-- when he was going through cancer. I'm PROUD to have Rick Barnes as our coach. I just really really want him to win it all-- for HIM more then me.
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I’ve been frustrated with things during the Barnes years, but on balance, where we are now from where we started has been one of the best journeys on so many levels. Watching Barnes example has helped me on a personal level on things that aren’t even associated with basketball.

My wife makes fun of me because I’ll get frustrated during a game or after a loss and start complaining about something Barnes did or didn’t do (or my perception of it), and will tell me to shut up, you’ll be back to loving him tomorrow. And she’s always right.
 
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#769
#769
ColinS said:
Doesn't it kind of discount it some? You can be the champion of a good league or the champion of a bad league. It will be looked at differently. Not by us as much because we just want to finish ahead of our rivals but to fans in other areas.
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No, I don’t think it does. Or, it shouldn’t. I don’t put a lot of stock in this tournament deciding who the best or worst league is. It’s understandable to enjoy the SEC struggling this weekend, but I don’t think it says anything about whether Tennessee’s championship was a title in a bad league.

Metrics aren’t infallible, but in a 32-game season with 14 non-conference games, you get a pretty accurate sample of how strong teams are and metrics show the SEC was one of the better leagues in all of basketball. With how much variance is in this sport, losing 1 game shouldn’t change your mind about a team’s performance in the other 32.
 
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#770
#770
volplaya8 said:
The Vols were immensely better than the rest of these teams. I knew this all year. That is why I got upset when we lost more than we should have to some of these bums. We should have won the league by multiple games but in the end we got it done and we March on. As for the rest of these losers…bye! You got exposed just like I said months ago.
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This year was the first time in a while that I “knew” we were the best team in the conference.
 
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#772
#772
hUTch2002 said:
This year was the first time in a while that I “knew” we were the best team in the conference.
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Exactly…we are good and the others really aren’t. Simple as that. Maybe we can contend for a title. When a conference has no title contenders for close to a decade you can not say it’s a good conference. The Sec lays claim to titles everywhere else across all sports on an almost yearly basis. Not men’s basketball. That’s the outlier.
 
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