I know we have a number of weeks to go with multiple goals left (SEC Regular Season Champs, SEC Tournament Champs, 1 seed, etc.) to accomplish prior to the tournament even beginning, but from my perspective, none of that shit will matter if we can somehow win it all at the big dance. I've said before that this team is built for a tournament run. We shoot it well from the stripe, and our best player lives at the line. We are a veteran, high character team with multiple leaders and a variety of guys who can put up big scoring numbers on any given night. We can score inside or outside, match up physically with any team in the country, have phenomenal point guard play, and can lock it down defensively when the time comes. We check every single box that the "experts" include on their lists of what a title contender needs to have come tournament time. The one thing that worries me - Barnes. And it feels weird saying that after seeing what he has done with this team full of guys that were not top rated players coming out of high school. But history shows that Barnes has consistently under performed in the tournament despite coaching some great players during his career. Should we be worried about Barnes going into the tournament this year? Is there an underlying reason why he has struggled to find success when it matters most? Are there an examples from his past where he coached a similarly ranked team that lacked star power, and what were the results?
You had me curious about whether this is a stereotype or real, so I went ahead and run the numbers. Barnes has been to the tournament 23 times and has performed 6.6 wins below the expected win total for teams of his seed (so, on average, he's about .28 wins below expectation each year). Interestingly though, he's only been a top three seed five times, and only once did he underperform the average for that seed (last year). The other four times, his performance has been exactly in line with his seed line--took a one seed to the Final Four, two two seeds to the Elite Eight, and a three seed to the Sweet Sixteen.
Id like for someone to explain to me the tactics, calls, bad timeouts, poor preparation, etc that makes Barnes a March choker. Did he come in looking unprepared? Is it a choke when a kid hits a 35 footer. Is it a choke for Barnes if you miss free throws late and lose. People brought up March last year blaming Barnes, ignoring Alexander going down and replaced by Fulk. I really would like more info than assumptions.
That's definitely interesting. Outside of a Top 3 seed, it's really a gamble. More and more so each tourney IMO.
I’ve said it before, the difference between ours and Michigan's runs last year was a couple of very low-percentage shots
what about going to a final 4 without such? Which he's done. I don't think it does. Shit happens in that tournament
Durant was 2-9 from 3 that game, played with 4 fouls and had 1 offensive rebound. Shot 24 times. Games like that happen, especially when its just one game. But hey, Barnes shoulda benched Durant and not let him keep firing I suppose. Players probably woulda liked that too.
That team was very talented. TJ Ford was the 8th overall pick. Royal Ivey was in the league for a while. Same for James Thomas.
I'm not seeing the connection. Barnes finally gets to the final four with one of his many talented teams. That discredits blowing an easy shot with Durant?
i'm saying, shit happens in that tournament. it's one game. i really don't think it should outweigh 20 other tournament appearances
players play and you ride your horses. If they go cold, you lose. I still have yet to hear a coaching prep or ingame error. My guess is most don't recall or haven't seen one of his ncaa losses. How does one come to the conclusion for the reasons for losses, without watching.
Barnes hasn't been to the Sweet 16 since 2008. Upsets happen. Bill Self has had some teams go down in the early rounds, as have Coach K and Izzo. But, over a period of time, things tend to even out and a good coach should get to the second weekend more often than Barnes has. The criticism has been warranted, especially at Texas. Hopefully, he breaks the string here this year and he should.
His overall track record in March is subpar. It's ok to admit that. (Active HCs - Appearances, wins, losses and sorted by win %) Mike Krzyzewski Duke 33 91 28 Roy Williams North Carolina 27 76 24 John Calipari Kentucky 18 51 17 Tom Izzo Michigan State 20 47 19 Bill Self Kansas 19 43 18 Ben Howland Mississippi State 10 19 10 Sean Miller Arizona 10 19 10 Thad Matta Ohio State 13 24 13 Jim Boeheim Syracuse 32 57 31 Tubby Smith Texas Tech 18 30 17 John Beilein Michigan 11 19 11 Jay Wright Villanova 14 21 13 Mark Few Gonzaga 18 26 18 Bob Huggins West Virginia 23 31 23 Tom Crean Indiana 9 11 9 Lon Kruger Oklahoma 17 20 17 Steve Alford UCLA 10 11 10 Bruce Weber Kansas State 11 12 11 Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh 11 12 11 Dana Altman Oregon 13 13 13 Matt Painter Purdue 10 10 10 Rick Barnes Tennessee 22 21 22 0.488 win % Kelvin Sampson Houston 13 12 13 Mike Brey Notre Dame 14 13 14 Mark Gottfried NC State 11 10 11 He's averaging, what, 1 NCAA Tourney win per year of his career?
Since 08, Texas was a 2 seed in 08, a 4 seed one year since, and no higher than 6 once. So they’re not getting a easy path since then pretty much every year. I think some criticism is fair, but I think it’s overblown