22-23 season

Number 1 ranking, record against rivals, and wins against ranked teams should be worth something

 

Did he win outright or just the east? Thought auburn went 14-2. looking back at that year, I don’t think it’s better. I believe we beat 1 top 20 team, Kentucky, the whole season.

 

Just won the East. That was when the division winners each got a 1 seed. Tennessee was 12-4 and Auburn was 14-2, as you said.

Wins over teams ranked at the time of play: #20 Pittsburgh, #6 Kentucky, #23 Florida, #13 Kentucky.

Lost to Auburn head to head.

 

Green isn't more accomplished, but it's still a March sport and hardware is what counts. Number one rankings are nice, but don't mean much in the long run. Still, Green's contributions largely lay in taking a group of mostly O'Neill recruits and running the balls out on to the court. Barnes is a better coach, hands down. However, you have to do more than he's done in March to be considered a great one. At UT, he's never beaten a higher seed in the tournament and lost to a lower seed every single time we've been there under him. He needs to have a team get over the hump at least once.

 

But he's also averaged a higher seed than any other coach so you are punishing him for that by putting the criteria as "beat a higher seed." I.e., he must make an Elite 8 or Final 4 to equal others' Sweet 16's and Round of 32's?

 

I said it once, I’ll say it again, I’m not living in a world in which Rick Barnes’ program isn’t rated light years better than Jerry Green’s.

 

He's lost to a double digit seed three of four times. He's good enough to put his teams in position, but, yes, to be a great coach he needs to get to this level at some point. I don't hold it against him for getting upset a few times, but he's never pushed beyond or to the team's level in the postseason tournament. It's rough, but this is the sport. It's why Izzo is more highly regarded despite me thinking those two aren't much different in coaching acumen and ability.

 

You're repeating yourself with new words but it is the same problem: if you are seeded as an 8 or 9, you never play a double digit seed. If you don't make the tournament, you do not play a double digit seed. If you are a 3 or 4, you may play one twice or more. Again, your logic is punishing making higher seeds. E.g. having better seasons is worse than having worse seasons even with the same number of tournament wins.

 

Noting he's lost to double digits seeds is new info. Tough shit. What, exactly, should a great coach in college basketball accomplish, then?

Like I said, I like him as coach. Got to be real about what is important in this sport, though.

 

The AP poll doesn’t mean a whole lot to me in itself but it’s definitely a reflection of perception.

 

It is not new info, because of how seeding works. It is a restatement. If you lose in the second round to a double digit seed, it is to a team that already outperformed its seed. If you lose to them in the Sweet 16, it is to a Cinderella. Meanwhile, if you are an 8 or 9 seed, you may never play a double digit seed so you CAN NOT lose to one.

 

I will drive you slower mother[uck fay]ers into the sunshine. This is the new golden age. Accept it.

 

yes it’s anout March, but some fans have turned it into a forget about December thru early March and sec tourney doesn’t really mean much.
I hate that we’ve lost those games in the tourney. Big arenas, tight rims, guys playing tight, or too loose, crazy bounces, nuns, leg kick fouls, white dudes hitting 7 25 foot fadeaways, 7 foot centers hitting more 3s than our whole team.
I’d like to see real analysis as to mistakes Barnes has made in those games or in prep for them. Bad subs, pulling the reigns too tight, not managing the game enough for the players, what is it does differently than the regular season. It used to be talk about players having no legs due to strenuous practices but we have players sitting out weekly and as needed.
We need to win. He needs to win. But I enjoy the game too much, and my 2 hours watching, then another hour watching again off ball to see what I can catch, to forget or dismiss 3 months of entertainment and at times, elite basketball on both ends. Twitter is full of supposed fans who take a #4 ranking and brush it away. “Doesn’t matter. Barnes sucks in March.” He needs to win so those people stfu.

 

I'm riding with Ssmiff in the basketball forum. Let's go.

I remember going to TBA my freshman year of college with my parents to watch Ron Slay and the Vols upset #4 Florida The court was stormed. Now we are #4, 20 years later.

 

Been watching since ‘87. Greens teams weren’t fun for me. He really annoyed me with his Will Wade esque arm flinging. Kevin. Wade. Buzz. Cuonzo. Donnie. Goodness those are a lot of years of no fun. Pearls run was fun. Last few years has been fun watching us in top 10 and beating top 10 teams. Seeing guys drafted. Player development, especially shot tinkering, is great. We have an entire month left of hoops before March. Muck Farch right now.

 

Coaches like Gary Williams and Calhoun never broke through in March until later in their careers. A coach like Barnes finally finishing the deal at least once these next 5-10 years happens all the time within this sport. Having a coach that assures us being at worst a 4 seed in the Big Dance every year is kinda awesome.

 

I was baptized into UT Basketball by Green's epic Sweet 16 collapse followed up by Buzz ball. What we have going now greatly makes me appreciate all things Rick Barnes when you reflect on the state of how things used to be with Tennessee men's basketball. Being a perennial NCAA Tourney basketball program is fun.

 

We were up 2 in two ncaa games with under 5 seconds left, iirc. Played good D on both. Getting those bounces and Ws wouldn’t make Barnes a better coach.

 

Purdue leg-whip foul & the impossible catholic nun voodoo rim bounce away from certain Rick Barnes narratives no longer existing. Nothing is more cruel in sports than the Big Dance.

 

Grant blocks the shot, which misses purdue players shoulder by an inch. Woulda been ballgame. Purdue then has the ball for 5 seconds out of bounds, purdue player pushes off, purdue player catches ball with half his right foot out of bounds, then kicks his leg out as Lemonte is going by, not at him. Literally have a leg kick rule now, of course. 7 things happened in those 2 seconds, and each little thing was a win for them. If we go 1-6 in those 7 little events, we win by 2 and advance.