βheβs only playing to his seed.β yeah, and everyone is talking about how unusual this tourney has been because, wait for it- teams are actually playing to their seed. believe it or not that usually doesnβt happen. winning in the tourney is hard.
look, after the first game, youβre playing five consecutive games against really good/dangerous teams. and every other matchup youβre facing an unfamiliar team with just one day to prepare. you have one day where your opponent is hot, one player in foul trouble, one rolled ankle, one coin flip tough loss, and any team can be upset from the round of 32 forward. thereβs a reason this tourney is so hard to win- itβs the most unique and challenging tourney in world sports.
beyond that- and this is lost on 98% of cbb fans- coaches build their teams to win the league they play in. this houston/tennessee matchup is the perfect example. barnes and sampson are two of the best in the game and yet both have historically underperformed in the tourney because the formula that won them 25-30 games in the regular season when theyβre in-conference and using all of their depth doesnβt work the same in a one-and-done tourney vs strange opponents on a tight schedule, while playing in cavernous football arenas no less. these teams two guys in particular have teams that win a ton of games, but are simply not built to play from behind vs a top tier opponent. thatβs the five and take when you play elite defense with outstanding athletes.
now there are guys who are actual tourney chokers- shaka smart, tony bennett, matt painter, etc. and then there are guys like barnes and sampson who are outstanding coaches with more tourney wins than 95% of guys out there, who get shit-talked by internet trolls every single time they underachieve, completely ignoring the larger body of work that will see a guy like rick barnes enshrined in the hall of fame. itβs honestly pretty pathetic to be such a big hater, to ignore all success, to never admit when youβre wrong, and most of all, for the object of your ire to be a great man who was the best coach in your alma materβs history. so strange. hereβs to hoping Barnes can continue to silence some of his critics.