Rick Barnes thread

[Wulaw Horn 19153]

17 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

i believe it was last year when i posted that Grant Williams may be Barnes's biggest success story in terms of player development, and at this point i don't think i need to say "probably" any more. absolutely nobody could have seen this coming for Grant when he signed with Tennessee. and he's always seemed like a great leader and a humble guy. he fell into the right hands with Boston, and he's a legitimately important piece for them. easy player to root for.

I had a laugh with you in the playoff thread about him, but yeah- if he doesn't play as good as he did, with this series being a super close sweep (weird words to type but true), they are headed back to Boston at 2-2 or or 3-1...

[SL Xpress 7518]

Here's a great article about Grant Williams, Rick Barnes, and PJ Tucker. Well worth reading.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-heats-p-j-tucker-paved-the-way-for-celtics-grant-williams-as-told-by-their-college-coach-rick-barnes/

[shadow_operative 15932]

Tucker won Big 12 Player of the Year in his junior season at Texas, and Williams won SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore and a junior at Tennessee. 

just like everyone predicted for these two coming out of HS! lol. at this point it's alarming that there are still people who think that Rick can't coach. ive always said that i'd love to see a round table discussion with KD, LA, PJ, Grant, Schofield, and then 4 or 5 Texas/Tennessee fans who do nothing but crush Barnes. would be hilarious to watch KD make some keyboard warrior shit his pants. 😂 

Edited May 28, 2022 by shadow_operative

[SL Xpress 7518]

15 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

Tucker won Big 12 Player of the Year in his junior season at Texas, and Williams won SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore and a junior at Tennessee. 

just like everyone predicted for these two coming out of HS! lol. at this point it's alarming that there are still people who think that Rick can't coach. ive always said that i'd love to see a round table discussion with KD, LA, PJ, Grant, Schofield, and then 4 or 5 Texas/Tennessee fans who do nothing but crush Barnes. would be hilarious to watch KD make some keyboard warrior shit his pants. 😂 

PJ had grade/test issues, too. Springmann worked with him a bunch to get him qualified out of high school. It wasn’t just a matter of being overlooked talent wise. 

Sure wish he’d come back for one more year. He would have made such a difference on that team. He obviously made the best decision for himself. No complaints. But a bit of wistfulness. 

[Revolution512 1495]

I would’ve loved to see Tucker with that group. While we are wishing, I would’ve loved to see CJ Miles with the 2005-06 team, they cut the nets down with him. Same with Chris Wright from Redwater on the Final Four squad. Barnes would have the court named after him.

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 hour ago, SL Xpress said:

PJ had grade/test issues, too. Springmann worked with him a bunch to get him qualified out of high school. It wasn’t just a matter of being overlooked talent wise. 

that's another thing about Barnes that blows my mind- and really, this would be no.1 on my list of things that drive me crazy about Barnes critique, even more than those who say he's the worst tourney coach ever: there are scores of Texas fans who have killed Barnes for "misusing" J'Covan Brown. 

in reality, Barnes went above and beyond just to get JB to campus, and if it weren't for Rick Barnes then J'Covan Brown probably never would have left (see: escaped) Port Arthur, save for maybe a bus trip to Huntsville (note: not a commentary on JB as a person, more a commentary on the social/sociological plight of people who come from that area, but i digress). Barnes worked tirelessly to get JB on campus, and if there were any justice in this world then JB would be remember as the guy who won the 5-on-8 battle vs Arizona, crushed Duke in the S16, and then led Texas to the Final Four in 2011.

bottom line(s)- A)JB benefited *tremendously* from Rick Barnes being in his life, B)J'Covan only made it to Texas in the first place because of Barnes and his commitment to getting JB here, and C)the idea that JB was misused is asinine. he and Doj were the perfect 1-2 pinch at PG for tbat 2011 team. did Barnes kill that team? yep. does he deserve all the hate he gets for "misusing" J'Covan Brown? hell no. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by shadow_operative

[SL Xpress 7518]

25 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

that's another thing about Barnes that blows my mind- and really, this would be no.1 on my list of things that drive me crazy about Barnes critique, even more than those who say he's the worst tourney coach ever: there are scores of Texas fans who have killed Barnes for "misusing" J'Covan Brown. 

in reality, Barnes went above and beyond just to get JB to campus, and if it weren't for Rick Barnes then J'Covan Brown probably never would have left (see: escaped) Port Arthur, save for maybe a bus trip to Huntsville (note: not a commentary on JB as a person, more a commentary on the social/sociological plight of people who come from that area, but i digress). Barnes worked tirelessly to get JB on campus, and if there were any justice in this world then JB would be remember as the guy who won the 5-on-8 battle vs Arizona, crushed Duke in the S16, and then led Texas to the Final Four in 2011.

bottom line(s)- A)JB benefited *tremendously* from Rick Barnes being in his life, B)J'Covan only made it to Texas in the first place because of Barnes and his commitment to getting JB here, and C)the idea that JB was misused is asinine. he and Doj were the perfect 1-2 pinch at PG for tbat 2011 team. did Barnes kill that team? yep. does he deserve all the hate he gets for "misusing" J'Covan Brown? hell no. 

Yeah, I was more involved with J'Covan's recruitment than any other at Texas. Not directly, mind you, but certainly indirectly. You nailed it.

J'Covan has carved out a nice international career in basketball for himself. Not too shabby at all. 

[LTtxfan 49378]

Sorry Rick... 😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[Wulaw Horn 19153]

Suck it Ricktator- we will take the ISU transfer and you will like it. 
what happened with his team Derka- they all coming back or did he lose anyone to early entry/graduation/transfer? 

Edited May 28, 2022 by Wulaw Horn

[shadow_operative 15932]

heartwarming content:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CgGEOJXu2Py/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

Dickie V just gave an impassioned speech at the ESPYs, and towards the end he started thanking individual basketball coaches who had reached out to him and sent him messages during his time in the hospital with cancer, and he waited u til the end to single out Rick Barnes who he said would text him a personal prayer every single morning for four straight months while he was in the hospital. "Blew my wife and I away, we couldn't believe it." 

Edited July 21, 2022 by shadow_operative

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

interesting:

 

[mantis toboggan 850]

10 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

interesting:

 

Not too surprising. It is after all before January. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

october comes after january, so. 

[mantis toboggan 850]

I am using the fiscal year. 
 

[Herpa Derpa 6132]

Gonzaga is due for a letdown year. The Timme! show certainly jumped the shark last season. An oldhead w/out NBA prospects should get run out of the gym by our athleticism.

Horns need to put a similar beatdown on 11/16, before the commentariat realizes it ain't your usual FF Zags, and introduce themselves to the national stage in a proper fashion.

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

they look very, very good in those gonzaga clips. a high functioning, well oiled machine. damn i'm pumped to play them and see how we fare, especially against one of the tougher big man matchups we'll have all year.

[LTtxfan 49378]

Crazy early season Men's College Basketball...

https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/Tennessee-basketballs-stunning-upset-loss-to-Colorado-draws-criticism-from-national-media-197577167/

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by LTtxfan
messed up

[Deej 76983]

Barnes must have set his clock back to March. 

 

 

 

[Cornpop 230]

Fuck Rick Barnes and fuck Tennessee 

[Brian Fantana 6692]

6 minutes ago, Cornpop said:

Fuck Rick Barnes and fuck Tennessee 

Excellent contribution as always from bitchmortal

[Wulaw Horn 19153]

Whose about to donkey punch KU and win the bad boys mowers Bahama’s invitational?  The Ricktator, that’s who. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

this is the biggest team i ever remember him having, and again, that's without JJJ who they'll have back before conference play. our games against Creighton and in particular Tennessee will go a long way towards showing us where we're solid and where we need to improve against teams with size.

[shadow_operative 15932]

holding KU to 46 points (less than 2 min remaining) is really impressive. they defend at every level and they rebound as well. another good looking team for Coach Barnes.

[Dahobbs 17704]

I still love Barnes. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

Tennessee is winning games right now because of three things: offensive rebounding, free throw shooting, and super elite defense. from the kenpom thread:

Tennessee right now is at an absurd 81.3:

that number will certainly go up as the season goes on- the SEC once again has a bunch of really solid teams and a couple of really good ones- but so far this is the best defense Rick has ever had- by a lot. It's also his biggest team, physically. 

mall of which sets this up to be a pretty classic rick barnes team/season. they'll overachieve in the regular season with a roster bereft of nba talent, but they will have some ugly offensive stretches, some outright ugly games, and they'll be a really tough team to believe in come March with how many holes they have/how much they rely on things like offensive boards and trips to the line. they'll win 25 games, lose in the SEC semifinals or title game, get a 3 or 4 seed, and then lose in the round of 32, and everyone who follows the Vols will be pissed. sigh. i get the frustraron with that, but for tennessee, the alternative is a lot worse.

Edited December 12, 2022 by shadow_operative

[shadow_operative 15932]

also, i'll clarify for those who don't know, that Tennessee's ranking of #3 in the kenpom standings doesn't mean that kenpom has them as the 3rd best team in the country. his rankings are literally just a team's AdjO - it's AdjD. tennessee's (to this point) all-time great defense has their AdjEm (the kenpom rankings) very very high, despite all of the offensive holes, and the reality that Tennessee is more of a top 10-15 team than a top 5 team. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

i don't like this arizona matchup for tennessee. too much offense for tennessee to match up with. i think arizona covers the three points they're giving tennessee. if i'm wrong, and the vols are able to stymie the wildcats, then watch out- tennessee might be legit.

[shadow_operative 15932]

arizona wins and covers.

 

overall not a lot to complain about results wise, but the offense needs a lot of work. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

different week, same shit: Tennessee dominates, and i'm telling you, this is shaping up to be a disaster for Rick Barnes. The simple truth is that the NCAA tournament is a totally different animal from the regular season. Rick Barnes is equipped to overachieve in the regular season; and underachieve the postseason, and this team has all the makings of a classic Rick Barnes let down. 

in the regular season when you can throw 10 to 12 different guys onto the floor, and you can angrily bench your best player for a couple minutes to send a message, Rick Barnes can taking a lesser talented team, and have it become greater than the sum of its parts. However, when you get to the NCAA tournament, and your five best players all play 33 to 40 minutes, and you basically only use two guys off the bench, and you have to actually be able to score to win- well now you're just rolling the dice from the second round forward. 

bottom line- if this team continues at this pace, then tennessee will be a 1 or 2 seed that has every chance of losing in the second round. they depend on different players every night, they don't have any polished offensive weapons, and the minutes among the scorers fluctuate. even if this team gets to the second weekend, if they don't make the elite 8 it will be chalked up as another postseason failure, and you tell me: are you picking tennessee to go to the elite 8 in your bracket? 

 

[Blotto 23585]

16 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

you tell me: are you picking tennessee to go to the elite 8 in your bracket? 

 

Thats a joke, right? 

 

[Underdog 28808]

 

[Knoxtnhorn 6067]

On 1/7/2023 at 8:26 PM, shadow_operative said:

different week, same shit: Tennessee dominates, and i'm telling you, this is shaping up to be a disaster for Rick Barnes. The simple truth is that the NCAA tournament is a totally different animal from the regular season. Rick Barnes is equipped to overachieve in the regular season; and underachieve the postseason, and this team has all the makings of a classic Rick Barnes let down. 

in the regular season when you can throw 10 to 12 different guys onto the floor, and you can angrily bench your best player for a couple minutes to send a message, Rick Barnes can taking a lesser talented team, and have it become greater than the sum of its parts. However, when you get to the NCAA tournament, and your five best players all play 33 to 40 minutes, and you basically only use two guys off the bench, and you have to actually be able to score to win- well now you're just rolling the dice from the second round forward. 

bottom line- if this team continues at this pace, then tennessee will be a 1 or 2 seed that has every chance of losing in the second round. they depend on different players every night, they don't have any polished offensive weapons, and the minutes among the scorers fluctuate. even if this team gets to the second weekend, if they don't make the elite 8 it will be chalked up as another postseason failure, and you tell me: are you picking tennessee to go to the elite 8 in your bracket? 

 

What the fuck is going on here?  Satire?

[shadow_operative 15932]

just how i see it this year. outstanding defensive team, but how can you count on them in the tourney when you have to be able to score to win? their offense has actually looked better recently, so if that trend continues then who knows. but think about it- this'll be a very highly seeded team with zero nba prospects and no alpha player to go to when they need a bucket. with as highly ranked as they are/portend to be, this is setting up for disappointment all over again. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

if you look at their schedule, they should be favored in every single game from here on out. according to kenpom's rankings, four of their five toughest remaining games are at home, including #5 alabama, #8 Texas, #15 arkansas, and #18 auburn. the only road game of those five is the season finale at auburn. even if tennessee loses 3-4 games the rest of the way they look like a 2 seed, especially if they win the regular season and/or sec tourney. yet again, you look at the roster, and who scares you? 

i feel bad for Rick, be abuse this is his story far too often. tennessee fans could look at this team and "holy shit, how many coaches would have this team #2 in kenpom with what is currently the most dominant defense of the kenpom era (by a lot)? wow, what a great coaching job!" instead, they'll say, "we were 28-5 and a 2 seed and we lost in the round of 32/sweet 16!" and i get that. i totally get that feeling and that POV. but this is his curse: he's an outstanding college basketball coach whose entire MO leads to overachieving regular seasons and underachieving tourney appearances, save when he has TJ Ford, DJ Augustin, PJ + LA, etc. he doesn't have anyone like that on this team. not even close.

[shadow_operative 15932]

Vols not only down at half to kentucky, but playing poorly as well. zakkai ziegler missed three consecutive bunnies in the final minute of the half, including straight up air balling a break away layup with nobody on him, followed by an immediate tennessee foul to send UK to the line for two. Barnes is going to kill someone at half time. 

Edited January 14, 2023 by shadow_operative

[shadow_operative 15932]

tennessee's players have been largely awful today. terrible TO's, stupid decisions, and literally five misses on point blank layups. they have no business even being in this game. i still can't see them pulling this one out,  it if they do it will be an absolute dagger for kentucky and coach cal. were they to lose this game after how poorly tennessee has played and after leading all day, that might be the nail in the coffin. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

santi vescovi and zakkai ziegler let their team down today. jay bilas just described their "at least five or six missed layups" as "stunning." "these were wide open layups".  really poor performance from the Vols guards today. Uros Plavsic was the only bright spot today. next practice is going to suck. 

[Underdog 28808]

Surprised they didn't go to the big man more often, Big O really couldn't stop him. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

6 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Surprised they didn't go to the big man more often, Big O really couldn't stop him. 

and that's the thing- it goes back to my post up there page about the difference in regular season vs ncaa tourney games. you look up at the kenpom numbers on tennessee's players and Uros Plavsic is ag the very bottom of the page, last under the "role players" category. for tennessee it's a different guy every time out, which is great for the regular season. but you've got it have *somebody* that's a go-to player to win in the tournament, and this team just does not have that. 

[Knoxtnhorn 6067]

Good call @shadow_operative.  I honestly thought you were setting us up with yesterday's post. I was all, he typed that so when TN makes the Final Four he's going to pull the "I gotcha on Jan 13th" card.

[shadow_operative 15932]

Tennessee now no.1 in kenpom:

 

[MuellerHorn 4381]

1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

Tennessee now no.1 in kenpom:

 

They're really good. Given the lack of top-tier teams this season, sans Purdue, Tennessee should be a lock for a Sweet 16, let alone an Elite 8. I obviously don't see them losing to a 16, or an 8/9 for that matter. They shouldn't lose to a 4 seed either. We'll see if Barnes under performs again, I guess. Granted, technically anything less than a Final 4 is under performing for a 1 seed.

Edited January 29, 2023 by MuellerHorn

[shadow_operative 15932]

tennessee trying to lose to florida coming off their big win over Texas. because duh.

[Js1 85635]

47 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

tennessee trying to lose to florida coming off their big win over Texas. because duh.

Looks likely. Down 10 with 2 min 

[LTtxfan 49378]

VOLS lost...

"The No. 2 Vols froze offensively at Florida and crumbled under multiple UF scoring blitzes, tumbling 67-54 to the Gators on Wednesday in Gainesville, Florida."

[MotownHorn 1798]

A highly ranked Rick Barnes coached team lost to an inferior opponent?

It must be February!