The "Survive and Advance mantra is testing my patience" Postgame Report

[Frozevol]

I don’t think the problem was benching Grant at the 19 min mark. The problem was not pulling him at the 2-3 minute mark at the end of the first half when we were up a million.

Grant was ready to sub out during some free throws and Barnes waves him off and audibly could be heard saying on the broadcast “don’t foul because I’m leaving you in”

Naturally, Grant proceeds to foul about a minute later.

Absolutely! I was yelling at the TV even though we were up 20. My wife thought I’d lost my mind. I saw the makings of that comeback just like the prior one (Colgate). Keep your foot on the accelerator! How many times do you see this happen? Even in football. Don’t take it off even if you are up 8 with 2 mins to go....ask Calipari how that worked for him. Thank god that Grant Williams woke up in OT.

 

[Admiral_Goatfield]

3. Admiral told Barnes to keep Kyle in (allegedly) and the shot he took with so much time on the shot clock with under a minute to go was truly horrifying. But you cannot, under any circumstance, willingly leave your best shooter on the bench when you need a final shot to win a game. That absolutely cannot happen and it was dreadful. And this is the second time (forgive me but I cannot remember which game) where the best shot Tennessee got in this situation is a dumb catch and shoot for your fourth best shooter in Jordan Bone. We have to execute better late.

Kyle Alexander is a better defender. Admiral was getting smoked on defense and, like you said, made a boneheaded decision to shoot so early in the shot clock on an important possession.

 

[utfan72408]

Kyle Alexander is a better defender. Admiral was getting smoked on defense and, like you said, made a boneheaded decision to shoot so early in the shot clock on an important possession.

Right, but he's talking about the very end of regulation, after Iowa hit the free throws to tie. 16 seconds left (or however many) and we're obviously holding for the last shot there. Admiral needed to be out there for that.

 

[Admiral_Goatfield]

10. If Tennessee somehow wins a national title, nobody cares you blew a 25 point lead and had to win in OT in the second round.

Get over yourself dude. We won the game. No one gives a **** about blowing a 21 point half time lead and still winning by 6 points

 

[utfan72408]

1. It's March Madness. Tennessee won the game and exorcized the demons from last year by winning in the Round of 32. In the end that's what really matters. I'm going to try very hard to no be overly negative because it's all about survive and advance...BUT.....

2. Tennessee has got to figure out what the hell is going on at halftime. That's now three straight games where they came out flat as hell and let their opponent make a big run to start the half. I think something going forward Barnes could change was taking Grant out at the 19:00 minute mark after he picked up his third. Normal situations dictate you take him out but I think if you keep him in it and get that lead to 25-30 then it doesn't matter later on about the foul situation. I’m good either way though.

3. Admiral told Barnes to keep Kyle in (allegedly) and the shot he took with so much time on the shot clock with under a minute to go was truly horrifying. But you cannot, under any circumstance, willingly leave your best shooter on the bench when you need a final shot to win a game. That absolutely cannot happen and it was dreadful. And this is the second time (forgive me but I cannot remember which game) where the best shot Tennessee got in this situation is a dumb catch and shoot for your fourth best shooter in Jordan Bone. We have to execute better late.

4. Ultimately it didn't matter but the call on Lamonte Turner on the block after the ref inadvertently blew his whistle is an absolute disgrace to the sport. If you messed up by blowing your whistle accidentally...that's okay. We are humans, we make mistakes. Don't compound your mistake by being embarrassed and claiming a foul when the referee closer to you said it was tipped. I don't know the name of the referee but he should not be in this tournament anymore.

5. Okay, what happened? Why did Iowa come back? I'm actually not going to blame Barnes much for this one, because it was turnovers. And that's not on the coaches. Jordan Bone and Grant Williams are upperclassmen and were particularly careless with the ball today. If Tennessee cuts half their turnovers they win by double digits. You cannot be lazy with the ball in March. Same thing happened with Auburn.

6. To further compound the point, Tennessee had 17 turnovers and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. You basically are giving Iowa a chance to score 30 more times with those numbers. Tennessee took 35 shots in the first half...14 in the second half! You cannot give away possessions.

7. Player of the game: Grant Williams- Grant played such an all-around game. He was fantastic defensively, had 19 points and also had 4 steals and 3 blocks. He made almost every big play in OT.

8. The defense wasn't as good in the second half but still solid. Tennessee only gave up three 3 pointers and held them to 44% shooting but the biggest thing was fouling. They went 16-17 from the line. Iowa is really good at it getting to the line. Tennessee didn't move their feet as well and made some silly fouls (and it was a tighter whistle). They played better defense today than they did against Colgate and really clamped them down Iowa in OT. I thought Lamonte Turner was incredible with his ball pressure on Bohannon.

9. Look I am all in favor of of saving timeouts, but dear God it's the tournament. Call a timeout Rick. It won't freaking kill you. Obviously, it's not working when you don't. And it's not even a momentum thing. You call those timeouts so you can get a play in to score, change the defensive strategy, or maybe get in a different lineup. Iowa went on multiple runs and Barnes did nothing. That's bad coaching.

10. But, overall it doesn't matter. If Tennessee somehow wins a national title, nobody cares you blew a 25 point lead and had to win in OT in the second round. I got to give it to the players and Barnes/coaching staff for focusing in OT after getting knocked down and taking the win. If Tennessee plays as they did in the first half nobody can beat them. They have to learn to keep that going for two halves. Purdue is a really good basketball team. Basically a souped-up version of Iowa. Lamonte Turner vs. Carsen Edwards is going to be a bloodbath. Tennessee still has a chance to make their first ever Final Four and overall Tennessee did what they had to do to advance. Can't complain about that.

Go Vols!

I must say, this is a great overall summary. You are, unlike many, appropriately critical of Barnes and the team for how they actually performed. We can talk all day about surviving and advancing, and yes, we all know that is the name of the game and really all that matters. But it's okay to do that without giving everyone a heart attack.

Let the record show, I could not be more thrilled we're in the Sweet 16. Again, doesn't really matter how we got there. Having said that, though, Iowa is.... not good. They're just not. They lost at home to Rutgers and at Nebraska towards the end of the season, and finished the regular season by losing 5 of 7, so it's not even like they were a hot team. I don't really respect them, and blowing a 21-point halftime lead and a 25-point late 1st half lead is not acceptable against a team like that. You have to put them away. I realize when you back teams into a corner like that, some stuff can start happening. But we are a LOT better than they are, and there was no need to allow that comeback.

I try not to draw conclusions game to game, because I do believe games are pretty much completely independent of one another. But we're going to have to play a complete game to beat Purdue. These first 2 performances won't work. I'm minded of 2008, when we were a 2-seed, were pushed by American in the first round and then unnecessarily pushed to OT by a Butler team we were comfortably better than. That tourney run ended with a 20-point loss to Louisville. Let's hope this is different.

 

[utfan72408]

Get over yourself dude. We won the game. No one gives a **** about blowing a 21 point half time lead and still winning by 6 points

That's.... exactly what he said in the post you quoted....

 

[savannahfan]

this team has won 31 games. are they the most talented team? nope. do they always play perfectly? nope. have they blown some leads? yup.
would you rather root for any other group of guys? no freaking way!! #GBO! #Sweet16

I like what you say but,,,,, they are the best TEAM....

 

[LordVOLdemort]

My ONLY complaint with Coach Barnes is the lack of timeouts when a team goes on a run. Sometimes I'm screaming at the TV, "CALL A F****** TIMEOUT!!!" We have to stop the bleeding. I dont understand that mentality of letting a team score 20 points in a streak before finally signalling a timeout when it's already too late.

Clutch play by Grant late. Turner is in Tournament Mode now. He played great defensively in not letting their guard get going with the threes. We would have lost that game, IMO, if not for Turner's defense and clutch three. And he had that block. That Ref needs to be sitting with Iowa. That call was trash and everyone knew it.

 

[JohnD13]

that bump didn't impede his shot at all....hell, the ref's aren't getting paid anymore if Dook/UNC/UK/UT won or lost....they just aren't held accountable for $hitty calls no matter who is playing.

Impededing the shot has zero impact on if a foul should be called. If that were the case then there would never be an "and one" .

 

[VolGee4]

3. The Admiral 3-point attempt was a 2 for 1 situation. The play called was to go to Williams, but Barnes said it was an open look for Admiral and he was fine with it.

9. If Barnes had used TOs on a couple of those runs by Iowa then he would not have had them available to call them at 45 seconds and/or at 10 seconds. Maybe he knows what he's doing.

Yea, the 2 for 1 debate is interesting. I would do that almost every time. I have heard a couple of people on radio talk about how college coaches don’t tell their team to go for 2 for 1 and have now seen it several times in the last two weeks.

The only thing about yesterday was that we were up 2, and if you work for a good shot, you go up two possessions. That would give Iowa the ball down 4 with less than 30 seconds.

All that said, Admiral has been big late in games, so I really don’t have a problem with it.

 

[CornbreadVol]

2014- beat Iowa in first four
2015- beat Iowa in taxslayer bowl
2019- beat Iowa in round of 32
We OWN Iowa

 

[Pride85]

This fanbase has trouble handling success of any kind. If we don't have a perfect half/game/season, wailing and gnashing of teeth starts with every game, win or lose. No one can feel a sense of enjoyment with even a hard fought win. I was about to lose my mind like everyone else when they blew the 25 point lead, but they did what it took to win the game. Survive and advance may be annoying to some, but as long as they do it the only way is to the top.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It was a perfect storm blowing in the Hawkeyes' direction. Their shots started dropping. TN went cold (I think 4 points in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half). The refs once again call things totally differently in the second half which put several key players in foul trouble. TN only goes 5 or 6 deep for scoring threats (since Johnson doesn't play much and KA will never light it up)... put a couple in foul trouble and TN becomes easy to defend. The early success at effortless scoring led to getting away from an inside out attack.

Then one thing that's not been mentioned much. TN expended a huge amount of energy in the first half playing some amazing defense. Maybe the best defense all year. I think they might have spent too much of that energy early and after sitting down for 15-20 minutes the adrenaline was spent. Meanwhile Iowa's level was zooming after being humiliated.

If TN is fortunate enough to get past Purdue, I'm glad that they have a day to recover before seeing UVA. Playing Auburn a day after a huge win versus KY didn't go well.

 

[illinoisvolfan1]

Pull this second half meltdown crap against Purdue and we’ll be going home Thursday night.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

2014- beat Iowa in first four
2015- beat Iowa in taxslayer bowl
2019- beat Iowa in round of 32
We OWN Iowa

Don't forget the 1987 Kickoff Classic.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Pull this second half meltdown crap against Purdue and we’ll be going home Thursday night.

Um...not if the result is the same.

 

[Tommy Pine]

This fanbase has trouble handling success of any kind. If we don't have a perfect half/game/season, wailing and gnashing of teeth starts with every game, win or lose. No one can feel a sense of enjoyment with even a hard fought win. I was about to lose my mind like everyone else when they blew the 25 point lead, but they did what it took to win the game. Survive and advance may be annoying to some, but as long as they do it the only way is to the top.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with posters questioning what we could have done better. It’s human nature to want better. As long as posters are respectful I see them just seeking answers so that we can improve and avoid repeat mistakes turning into a loss next time.

 

[sport3500]

Alexander played a very solid game against Iowa and we will need him and Fulkerson to play even with Purdue's 7'3 center on Thursday.

 

[Pride85]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with posters questioning what we could have done better. It’s human nature to want better. As long as posters are respectful I see them just seeking answers so that we can improve and avoid repeat mistakes turning into a loss next time.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with posters questioning what we could have done better. It’s human nature to want better. As long as posters are respectful I see them just seeking answers so that we can improve and avoid repeat mistakes turning into a loss next time.

I do not disagree with you, but there on some on here that look for ANY "questionable" result to immediately doubt the team and coaching staff. To me, a 1 point victory in the tourney is as successful as a 100 point blowout. At this point in the season, style points are out the window. There is no difference between a pretty victory and an ugly one.

 

[nirwin]

My ONLY complaint with Coach Barnes is the lack of timeouts when a team goes on a run. Sometimes I'm screaming at the TV, "CALL A F****** TIMEOUT!!!" We have to stop the bleeding. I dont understand that mentality of letting a team score 20 points in a streak before finally signalling a timeout when it's already too late.

Clutch play by Grant late. Turner is in Tournament Mode now. He played great defensively in not letting their guard get going with the threes. We would have lost that game, IMO, if not for Turner's defense and clutch three. And he had that block. That Ref needs to be sitting with Iowa. That call was trash and everyone knew it.

They get like a hundred million TV timeouts, and you now have two fewer called timeouts than you used to, so if you start blowing timeouts because the other team cut a 20-point lead to 15, you don't have them available later for if a player gets trapped or can't inbound the ball or whatever else.

A lot of this stuff is 20-20 hindsight. We should've left Grant Williams in the game with three fouls...and a 15-point lead? Um...no. You have a 15-point lead. Who really cares if they cut it to 10 during the five minutes Williams is out? The chance of that happening is not worth him picking up another one and then being without him for five more minutes.

You feel the need to call a timeout because Iowa actually managed to string a couple of baskets together but were still down by double digits? Why?

The issue was not that Iowa cut it to seven during the first 10 minutes of the second half. It's really not. Using your lead is not an issue. The issue was that we didn't re-gather ourselves and re-assert control of the game until overtime. We had plenty of time to do so and weren't really in a mess until late in the game...we just didn't stop with the poor shooting and crappy turnovers.

 

[utfan72408]

They get like a hundred million TV timeouts, and you now have two fewer called timeouts than you used to, so if you start blowing timeouts because the other team cut a 20-point lead to 15, you don't have them available later for if a player gets trapped or can't inbound the ball or whatever else.

Agree. I think a bigger deal is being made of Barnes not using his timeouts than is warranted. There are definitely situations where you'll want to call one to stop an extended run, but I'm mostly in favor of letting the guys play through it. Phil Jackson did that.

The issue was not that Iowa cut it to seven during the first 10 minutes of the second half. It's really not. Using your lead is not an issue. The issue was that we didn't re-gather ourselves and re-assert control of the game until overtime. We had plenty of time to do so and weren't really in a mess until late in the game...we just didn't stop with the poor shooting and crappy turnovers.

Great overall post. This was my other biggest takeaway. Iowa always had a run in them at some point. It really is fine if they cut the 21-point halftime lead to 10 or so. No worries. But as you said, there is no reason why we shouldn't retake control of the game and either push or maintain that 10-ish point lead from that point forward. There was a 2-3 minute stretch with about 10 minutes left in the game when we were sort of trading 2-point buckets with them and the lead stayed between like 10 and 13. That would be the point I'd expect us to see the game out routinely... You can't then allow another run!

 

[gunner]

1. It's March Madness. Tennessee won the game and exorcized the demons from last year by winning in the Round of 32. In the end that's what really matters. I'm going to try very hard to no be overly negative because it's all about survive and advance...BUT.....

2. Tennessee has got to figure out what the hell is going on at halftime. That's now three straight games where they came out flat as hell and let their opponent make a big run to start the half. I think something going forward Barnes could change was taking Grant out at the 19:00 minute mark after he picked up his third. Normal situations dictate you take him out but I think if you keep him in it and get that lead to 25-30 then it doesn't matter later on about the foul situation. I’m good either way though.

3. Admiral told Barnes to keep Kyle in (allegedly) and the shot he took with so much time on the shot clock with under a minute to go was truly horrifying. But you cannot, under any circumstance, willingly leave your best shooter on the bench when you need a final shot to win a game. That absolutely cannot happen and it was dreadful. And this is the second time (forgive me but I cannot remember which game) where the best shot Tennessee got in this situation is a dumb catch and shoot for your fourth best shooter in Jordan Bone. We have to execute better late.

4. Ultimately it didn't matter but the call on Lamonte Turner on the block after the ref inadvertently blew his whistle is an absolute disgrace to the sport. If you messed up by blowing your whistle accidentally...that's okay. We are humans, we make mistakes. Don't compound your mistake by being embarrassed and claiming a foul when the referee closer to you said it was tipped. I don't know the name of the referee but he should not be in this tournament anymore.

5. Okay, what happened? Why did Iowa come back? I'm actually not going to blame Barnes much for this one, because it was turnovers. And that's not on the coaches. Jordan Bone and Grant Williams are upperclassmen and were particularly careless with the ball today. If Tennessee cuts half their turnovers they win by double digits. You cannot be lazy with the ball in March. Same thing happened with Auburn.

6. To further compound the point, Tennessee had 17 turnovers and gave up 13 offensive rebounds. You basically are giving Iowa a chance to score 30 more times with those numbers. Tennessee took 35 shots in the first half...14 in the second half! You cannot give away possessions.

7. Player of the game: Grant Williams- Grant played such an all-around game. He was fantastic defensively, had 19 points and also had 4 steals and 3 blocks. He made almost every big play in OT.

8. The defense wasn't as good in the second half but still solid. Tennessee only gave up three 3 pointers and held them to 44% shooting but the biggest thing was fouling. They went 16-17 from the line. Iowa is really good at it getting to the line. Tennessee didn't move their feet as well and made some silly fouls (and it was a tighter whistle). They played better defense today than they did against Colgate and really clamped them down Iowa in OT. I thought Lamonte Turner was incredible with his ball pressure on Bohannon.

9. Look I am all in favor of of saving timeouts, but dear God it's the tournament. Call a timeout Rick. It won't freaking kill you. Obviously, it's not working when you don't. And it's not even a momentum thing. You call those timeouts so you can get a play in to score, change the defensive strategy, or maybe get in a different lineup. Iowa went on multiple runs and Barnes did nothing. That's bad coaching.

10. But, overall it doesn't matter. If Tennessee somehow wins a national title, nobody cares you blew a 25 point lead and had to win in OT in the second round. I got to give it to the players and Barnes/coaching staff for focusing in OT after getting knocked down and taking the win. If Tennessee plays as they did in the first half nobody can beat them. They have to learn to keep that going for two halves. Purdue is a really good basketball team. Basically a souped-up version of Iowa. Lamonte Turner vs. Carsen Edwards is going to be a bloodbath. Tennessee still has a chance to make their first ever Final Four and overall Tennessee did what they had to do to advance. Can't complain about that.

Go Vols!

I suppose you would rather they lose and go home?

If they survive and advance for 6 NCAAT games then the mantra won’t matter, and the Vols will be national champions.

Only 4 more games to survive! GBO!!

 

[Vols All Day]

The VOLS looked like National Championship contenders int he first half, they put their foot on the gas and were very aggressive. The 2nd half looked like they thought they could just milk the clock and sashay into the sunset. The turnovers were inexplicable and Iowa wanted it more in the 2nd half. In my most humble and honest opinion, when you have a team on the ropes, you come out after halftime and bury them, not slow down the game and milk clock, you do that in the last 5 minutes of the half with a lead, not at the beginning. Tennessee came out and allowed Iowa to get back into that game with that gameplan. However, good teams close out games and TN managed to get this one signed and sealed in OT. Purdue will be harder to close out, but if UT plays like they did in the 1st half against Iowa, it would be a double digit win for the VOLS. Good to see them back in the Sweet 16, now lets see what they do with it!!!!

Yep, but Barnes’ plan seems to be to try to get a lead and run the clock in the second half. He didn’t seem to think trying to slow it down was the issue, he thought our lack of execution was the problem.

 

[nirwin]

Yep, but Barnes’ plan seems to be to try to get a lead and run the clock in the second half. He didn’t seem to think trying to slow it down was the issue, he thought our lack of execution was the problem.

Well, it was. Sitting on a 21-point lead against a team with Iowa's lack of firepower is certainly a reasonable strategy (though it was deployed a bit earlier than I would have), and it would've worked with no problem without the turnovers.

 

[aWhiteLoftonChism]

IMO, the off setting technical fouls changed the momentum of the game for Iowa.

It certainly didn’t help. How in the world could they call anything on Fulky?!? How he could set any picks after that call is beyond me. Refs blew at least 10 big calls of which 7 went against us 3 on Iowa. I LOATHE saying anything about refs but I swear it seems like we’ve been getting the short end all year. Starting with the Kansas goaltending call