This team

Fair

 

Man, my thoughts on this team. Where to begin.

The last two years have been a joy. In a world of professionalized amateurism these guys were a bunch of good, everyday, dorky guys that were just lovable and easy to want to win. Even my friends of other schools said it was hard to hate these guys. From 13th preseason to SEC to can't sleep because they lost in the Sweet 16 (and it was laughable they were preseason 13th last year). It's always fun to root for teams that come out of nowhere and even better when they are so damn likable. They even turned my 9 year old, who hated basketball, back into a fan again. I'd already just written basketball off as a bonding part between us. He was as pissed as any of us the last two weeks at the bad play.

Barnes, despite his faults, is a fantastic basketball coach who is also a good dude and who does it as "right" as you can in college basketball anymore. He probably milked every last ounce he could out of these guys and got them to levels I doubt anyone, even the players themselves, thought they had in them.

Which leads us to the rest.

If there was ever going to be a team to get through that damn wall and over that hump that has tortured UT basketball for 50 years, it was this team. For crying out loud, Schofield and Alexander are leaving here with a winning record against Kentucky. Has a senior class EVER done that? And last year is easy to dismiss. We went against a nun that sold her soul to Satan for a March run. But it's the tournament and it happens. We were just a victim in the way. It's part of the glory of March unless you are a team in fate's way. This year though, damn it, this was different.

For 11 months we've heard how this team learned, how they were ready, how focused they were. It was all the right things, and for the first 25 games they backed it up. But suddenly, when they went from hunter to hunted, everything changed. And THAT is the moment it became frustrating. Because the guys who had led this team to this point froze. And it's different, and they had to learn, and I get that, but they didn't. Moreso they seemed uninterested (scared?) in doing so and waiting for someone else to step up to take charge. And I'm not sure how you coach of fix that. It got too big for the fun-loving group of goofballs.

They all wanted it, they just didn't know how to get it. And maybe you have to learn how to get it. I don't know. But they didn't know how to get it. And 31-6 is nothing to laugh at. That's a helluva season. But, once again, you are left sitting there wondering, "what if....."

 

I believe this is accurate, Card. Team lacked that alpha mentality. Peanut butter and jelly describe Williams and Schofield a little too well.

 

It seems like every great team has that one player that's the straw that stirs the drink. The player who by talent and sheer will can take over the game when needed. We just didn't have that guy on this team.

 

I don’t know about that. Their guy that took over doesn’t have the talent to just take over when needed.

He just went nuts last night.

 

This is true now, and for the past two seasons.

Admiral wanted to be this guy, I think, but just didn’t have the ability to consistently take over a game.

This is why recruiting better talent is so important - wanting to and being able to are two different things, entirely.

 

Too bad they wasted half the [uck fay]ing game not playing like it meant the world to them.

 

They did that against Iowa. I didn't see it against Purdue. Granted, my kids were being extra needy last night, so I was off and on for the first half. But from what I saw, they moved the ball well, got good looks, got to the line, and just couldn't make a damn thing. I didn't see lazy turnovers or lazy, bad shots.

 

There wasn't any really, they just didn't fall

 

Water always finds its level.

I think that's the frustrating part with this team. We got so use to them being more than the sum of their parts. That when they become what their actual ranking and ability was, it just sucked to see as a fan

They played way above their heads, but those ugly stretches of were they leveled off will always stand out. I don't think they should be judged by that though. I don't think it was from being lazy or just slacking off.

As a group, they're the most fun I've had watching UT basketball in my life.

 

Yep. The ride was a fun one for 3 months and 39 minutes 58.3 seconds. I personally needed this team this season. Hate to see it end.

 

I mentioned it last night, and it's honestly kind of crazy to me when both teams shoot better on one side of the floor. It was obvious in the Iowa game as we were so hot in the first half and couldn't hit anything in the 2nd, meanwhile, Iowa was the exact opposite.

It was less noticeable last night because the Cline kid couldn't miss on either end, but it definitely felt like both teams shot significantly better on the goal they had 1st half and we had second half.

I wonder if there's any science behind that sort of thing.

 

There’s a guy in a dark room somewhere adjusting the tightness of the rims

 

It was frustrating to see them lay an egg in the first half of the last game of the season. It was exciting to see them will themselves to a comeback. It was infuriating to see the referees take that away from them. [uck fay] college basketball officiating, and [uck fay] the NCAA for allowing it to be so awful.

 

My wife asked if the rim was bent on the left side of the court.

 

That said, this was a special group of guys, and I'm proud to cheer them on.

 

There was one year, I think it was 2012, where everybody playing in Nashville just had an absolutely horrific day shooting, but especially when shooting at the basket on the right side of the TV screen. Not sure if it was weird sightlines or whether something was wrong with the rim, but it was just atrocious. Obviously, we've had plenty of games at Bridgestone since then that haven't been awful.

Looking it up, there were six NCAAT games in Nashville that year, and these were the results:

(6) Cincinnati defeats (11) Texas 65-59
(3) Florida State def (14) St Bonaventure 66-63
(6) Cincinnati def (3) Florida State 62-56

(12) USF def (5) Temple 58-44
(13) Ohio def (4) Michigan 65-60
(13) Ohio def (12) USF 62-56

Not sure whether there's an easy way to find stats split out by half (or figure out which way each team was going), but I remember it being bad. In none of the six of those games did the same team win both halves (even USF's pasting of Temple, where they were down 19-15 at halftime before winning the second half 43-25), and no team scored more than 66 for the game. Now part of it is probably that a bunch of those teams have reputations for defense and have trouble scoring, but it felt watching like something was weird on one end.

 

I was wondering that too after Bowden had about his fourth straight FT rattle around the inside of the rim and go out.

 

That's really interesting. I didn't watch any of the UVA/Oregon game, but I wonder how each of those teams shot on each end of the floor.

 

Not sure about shooting stats, but Oregon was attacking the left side in the first half and scored 22 points. Virginia was attacking the left in the second half and scored 23 points.