The Official Rick Barnes discussion thread

[VolGee4]

It's the same every season. We don't have any clutch players. RB loves the baby deer he can mold into whatever. It's not sustainable

We’ve had two clutch players the last two years and made an EE in both. Our offense last year ended 17th in efficiency. Pesky facts.

 

[Pennheel]

There is no scenario in which his tenure here ends any other way than on his terms.

Fair... However, with the lifetime contract,he won't be coaching too much longer at his age anyway.

He is a classy guy and I get people worrying about the next coach up,but other schools have done well at finding coaches recently.Barnes has built the program up to where it's a respectable job. I think the future is bright.

 

[SGMVols]

Recency is all that matters. We aren't hiring a coach 25 years ago. If current coaches see us as a top 5 job in a top 2 conference, we are in a great position.

Kentucky had to settle for an alum because even they couldn’t land a big name. There is no chance we will.

 

[VOL931]

Geez I hope not. Oats has a losing record to Rick Barnes, and Tennessee fans want to fire that guy!

(But seriously Oats is a scumbag I would not enjoy him being our head coach)

Serious question. Why is he a scumbag?

I know the story on the players with the gun. But is it possible ... the decision was made above him?

What else makes him a scumbag?

How many final 4s has Rick Barnes made while oats has been at bama? And how many has oats?

 

[VOL931]

Geez I hope not. Oats has a losing record to Rick Barnes, and Tennessee fans want to fire that guy!

(But seriously Oats is a scumbag I would not enjoy him being our head coach)

Married to his first and only wife since 1997. 3 daughters. Coached high school for 11 years before being hired as an asst in D2. Called up to D1 asst at Buffalo. Hired as Head Coach there by Danny Dimes.

Professes to be a Christian. Only he and the Good Lord know for sure. Oh and his wife of almost 30 years is a cancer survivor and says he was amazing by her side throughout her journey. CRB speaks highly of him. Respects him. I don't know. Maybe you're right. Maybe he is a scumbag. Or maybe he isn't.

His players in my opinion are very poised on the court. They respect him. Play hard. Oh and they can defend AND SCORE.

 

[iVolSoHard]

Is there a nicer on-campus college basketball arena than TBA? That would be hard to imagine, and I would think that it has to be in the top 5. I would think that would be a huge feather in our cap when it comes to recruiting a new coach.

I've been to Rupp and it's a dump in comparison IMO.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

This is getting old. I’m sick to my stomach because I don’t want Barnes to leave while he still has the fire but this slowly sliding is maddening.

It’s been a mediocre year, but can you really say the program is slowly sliding after just coming off back to back years of the E8 and an SEC title?

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

We’ve had two clutch players the last two years and made an EE in both. Our offense last year ended 17th in efficiency. Pesky facts.

Assume you are referring to DK and Chaz...I would add ZZ at a minimum depending on how one defines clutch (usually getting a bucket vs. making a decisive play on either end of the court).

 

[VolFan_stuck_in_the_901]

It’s been a mediocre year, but can you really say the program is slowly sliding after just coming off back to back years of the E8 and an SEC title?

He's engaging in hyperbole.... that or he's part of this younger generation who can't remember what they had for breakfast yesterday, much less what happened the past two years

 

[MinisterofDef#92]

I understand human nature but all the posts about our program declining and CRB's retirement are stunningly silly. I really like our FR (esp Brown and Evans) and I believe BB will continue to grow esp in regard to t/o's. Assuming JP stays healthy and gets a full offseason to train and develop, I wouldn't be surprised if he is a serious contender for all SEC next year plus we return Cade to the mix who can still evolve as a player imo. We just, like most teams, need to get get a couple "Day 1" players out of the portal which CRB and staff have clearly shown they can do.

IF this team underachieves, I firmly believe it will be an aberration and that our program will be just fine as long as CRB is here.

 

[Namorto1]

We’ve had two clutch players the last two years and made an EE in both. Our offense last year ended 17th in efficiency. Pesky facts.

Yes we were 17 in offensive efficiency last year but still only managed 50 pts, shooting 29% FG and 17% FG from three while getting pounded by Houston. When it mattered we were not even competitive because we could not score. Houston didn’t exactly blister the nets.

Two years ago with a historic player in Knecht we were 28th in offensive efficiency in kenpom. Guy gives us 37 (out of 66 total pts) and the rest of the team shoots 32% from FG and we’re content to be observers most of the game and pray DK made a bucket. Another game by the way when we had a double digit lead in 1st half.

The worst of them all was in ‘23 when we allowed a 9 seed in Florida Atlantic to hold us to 55 pts in the tournament. In ‘22 we shoot 11% (2 of 18) from 3 and lose to Michigan (a 11th seed). In ‘21 an unimpressive Oregon State throttles us as we again can only muster 56 pts in the tournament. In 2018, against another 11th seed in Loyola / Chicago we blow a 9 pt lead (same as Florida Atlantic years later) against a
Mid major.

Rinse repeat. It is the same story and we will have the same result this year. Another Barnes team with a 5 star frosh that doesn’t move the needle. We never have enough scorers with Barnes teams with the exception of the 2019 squad. Every commentator and college basketball analyst has noted as much about UT annually. We are renowned for our great defense and toughness but also for going on long scoring droughts.

Often it is agonizing to watch our half court offense. Whatever our kenpom rating is irrelevant. We are a team where none of the leads we have are safe because we squander them. In the NCAA this year we will lose by doing the same thing and blowing a lead or getting blown out from start to finish. I think it is inevitable. Will support them regardless but facing this reality it will be difficult to be optimistic heading into postseason. Hope I’m proved wrong. I like surprises.

 

[Vol49er]

Serious question. Why is he a scumbag?

I know the story on the players with the gun. But is it possible ... the decision was made above him?

What else makes him a scumbag?

How many final 4s has Rick Barnes made while oats has been at bama? And how many has oats?

I think you’re minimizing things to say it was just “players with the gun”. His player shot and killed a young woman, and another one of his players brought the gun to him and not only stayed on the team but was not punished

Also how he conducted himself around the Bediako situation this season. But that’s obviously secondary

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Barnes is in his 11th year as the head ball coach.

6 of the 9 times TN has won 25 or more games, Barnes was the coach.

2 of the 5 highest winning percentages in a season since 1950 and Rick Barnes was the coach.

The 30 games won LAST year is the third most in UT’s 117 seasons. The 78.9% winning percentage was the 10th best ever.

You LoM posters wanting CRB to leave are idiots. Stop eating paint chips.

 

[VolGee4]

Yes we were 17 in offensive efficiency last year but still only managed 50 pts, shooting 29% FG and 17% FG from three while getting pounded by Houston. When it mattered we were not even competitive because we could not score. Houston didn’t exactly blister the nets.

Two years ago with a historic player in Knecht we were 28th in offensive efficiency in kenpom. Guy gives us 37 (out of 66 total pts) and the rest of the team shoots 32% from FG and we’re content to be observers most of the game and pray DK made a bucket. Another game by the way when we had a double digit lead in 1st half.

The worst of them all was in ‘23 when we allowed a 9 seed in Florida Atlantic to hold us to 55 pts in the tournament. In ‘22 we shoot 11% (2 of 18) from 3 and lose to Michigan (a 11th seed). In ‘21 an unimpressive Oregon State throttles us as we again can only muster 56 pts in the tournament. In 2018, against another 11th seed in Loyola / Chicago we blow a 9 pt lead (same as Florida Atlantic years later) against a
Mid major.

Rinse repeat. It is the same story and we will have the same result this year. Another Barnes team with a 5 star frosh that doesn’t move the needle. We never have enough scorers with Barnes teams with the exception of the 2019 squad. Every commentator and college basketball analyst has noted as much about UT annually. We are renowned for our great defense and toughness but also for going on long scoring droughts.

Often it is agonizing to watch our half court offense. Whatever our kenpom rating is irrelevant. We are a team where none of the leads we have are safe because we squander them. In the NCAA this year we will lose by doing the same thing and blowing a lead or getting blown out from start to finish. I think it is inevitable. Will support them regardless but facing this reality it will be difficult to be optimistic heading into postseason. Hope I’m proved wrong. I like surprises.

KenPom is not irrelevant. It’s literally an efficiency rating. I hate to think about all these years mentioned without Rick Barnes as coach. There’s been disappointment, but there will come a day where we won’t even make the tournament either.

 

[Chaz-Vol]

This is not a Calipari at Kentucky situation where he won championship in 2012 and program was in clear decline missing tourney and being bounced regularly in fist/second round. Barnes just won SEC regular season crown a couple of years ago, back to back elite 8s. Bad year? Yes by his top 25 standards, but program is not in anyway on a downward trajectory.

 

[SGMVols]

He did find Nate Oats. Any chance he'd turncoat?

Why on earth would Oats leave Bama for us lol

It’s a lateral move

He is beloved in Tuscaloosa

He would be JAG here if he didn’t make a Final Four

Not to mention he already said no to Kentucky

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Why on earth would Oats leave Bama for us lol

It’s a lateral move

He is beloved in Tuscaloosa

He would be JAG here if he didn’t make a Final Four

Not to mention he already said no to Kentucky

Plus he apparently likes the Tuscaloosa haberdasher that he shares with Wimp Sanderson.

 

[Namorto1]

KenPom is not irrelevant. It’s literally an efficiency rating. I hate to think about all these years mentioned without Rick Barnes as coach. There’s been disappointment, but there will come a day where we won’t even make the tournament either.

I’ll grant you kenpom is interesting but it is irrelevant once the ball is tossed up in the middle of the court. It may have some predictive value (especially for guys who want to bet on games) because it is impossible to watch everyone play.

But I’ve watched virtually every UT BB game during Barnes tenure and I trust my eyes and experience vs some formula developed by a meteorologist. We lack consistent scoring regardless of the year. According to kenpom our luck rating this year is 305 out of 365. Perhaps that calculation is more meaningful than our offensive efficiency rating.

 

[Namorto1]

Barnes is in his 11th year as the head ball coach.

6 of the 9 times TN has won 25 or more games, Barnes was the coach.

2 of the 5 highest winning percentages in a season since 1950 and Rick Barnes was the coach.

The 30 games won LAST year is the third most in UT’s 117 seasons. The 78.9% winning percentage was the 10th best ever.

You LoM posters wanting CRB to leave are idiots. Stop eating paint chips.

Fans who are calling for Barnes to retire are few and far between, even if vocal. He deserves to go out on his own terms due to everything you noted above. But I don’t think he will ever break the Final Four barrier with our program either.

Eventually it will be refreshing to move on even with the risks associated with “moving on” due to his success. Just difficult to be optimistic for “something more” with the program under his leadership. So very close but….

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

We’ve had two clutch players the last two years and made an EE in both. Our offense last year ended 17th in efficiency. Pesky facts.

1 clutch player per team isn't gonna get over the hump either.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Fans who are calling for Barnes to retire are few and far between, even if vocal. He deserves to go out on his own terms due to everything you noted above. But I don’t think he will ever break the Final Four barrier with our program either.

Eventually it will be refreshing to move on even with the risks associated with “moving on” due to his success. Just difficult to be optimistic for “something more” with the program under his leadership. So very close but….

Multiple Elite 8s. SECT championships. Top 25 rankings. Those are all “something more” than we had before Barnes. In 10 years.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Multiple Elite 8s. SECT championships. Top 25 rankings. Those are all “something more” than we had before Barnes. In 10 years.

Our fans aren’t smart enough to grasp this concept.

 

[VolGee4]

1 clutch player per team isn't gonna get over the hump either.

Well, I was being conservative. ZZ was clutch at times, too. Jamai Mashak had moments.

I don’t really know what “getting over the hump is.” Two straight EE’s is historic at our school. I would love a FF, but there isn’t a magic solution. Some teams have made the FF where their efficiency numbers were well above their regular season averages.

 

[Namorto1]

Multiple Elite 8s. SECT championships. Top 25 rankings. Those are all “something more” than we had before Barnes. In 10 years.

Yes it is true. If that is the ceiling I guess nothing more to be said. You are a good poster Thunder but why not us? That is the question. When we bow out in the 2nd round again this year, the question will remain.

Todd Golden who has far less experience than Barnes wins the championship in his 3rd year in the program and is seemingly taking over the league at Florida. Some perhaps are appreciative of Barnes but at least once would like more. I guess we are content with being in the conversation but that’s it.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Yes it is true. If that is the ceiling I guess nothing more to be said. You are a good poster Thunder but why not us? That is the question. When we bow out in the 2nd round again this year, the question will remain.

Todd Golden who has far less experience than Barnes wins the championship in his 3rd year in the program and is seemingly taking over the league at Florida. Some perhaps are appreciative of Barnes but at least once would like more. I guess we are content with being in the conversation but that’s it.

Of all of the things necessary to get a Final Four, having somebody other than Barnes as the coach isn’t one of them.

A favorable bracket. Upsets affecting future games. Luck. Ref’s performance. Injuries. Illnesses. Shooting. Matchups. Nuns. Favorable bounces. Experienced or inexperienced players. Venues and crowd favorites. Travel.

We have a coach that is very capable. We have the players that can get it done if they play smart and focused.