Alabama, that was impressive

[chroix]

Right. If you recruit a guy back who already knows your system, that’s better than recruiting an equally talented player who does not.

That’s why you still see JR On the sidelines “coaching” Lamont Butler at times. JR is the only one internally who understands the depth and nuance of the system.

Now imagine having 5-6 guys on your roster like that. Or even just look at a team like Florida year over year.

I actually predicted we would have a Florida 2024 type season this year. I think most would agree that our actual performance has been fairly similar. I think you can look at the leap they made year over year and get a good analog for the potential of year 2 under Pope.

Will also note that were it not for injuries, I believe we would have clearly exceeded Florida 2024.

All of the criticism also ignores that he walked in and had to put all of the infrastructure in place as well. Support staff. Managers. Trainers. Every single piece. On the fly. And seems to have crushed it.

Coach Pope has my full faith and confidence.

 

[BluestBlood]

Bama and Auburn are just on a different level than we are.

Don’t be mad BBN, it’s Popes first year with 3.5 players out vs a seasoned coach and team.

Noah, Perry and Chandler wouldn’t even see the floor if they played for Bama.

We’ve had some great wins vs Duke, Zags, UL, UT twice. We’re above what we expected. Go easy.

When we were semi healthy earlier, Bama got the W on us, so considering we are the walking wounded currently. I wouldn’t say Alabama is heads and shoulders better than us .

 

[Aike]

All of the criticism also ignores that he walked in and had to put all of the infrastructure in place as well. Support staff. Managers. Trainers. Every single piece. On the fly. And seems to have crushed it.

Coach Pope has my full faith and confidence.

Yeah there’s no reason to doubt him, imo. Last night got away from us.

I understand everyone’s frustration with that stretch where we seemed to stop competing, around the 12 minute mark. Pope was obviously frustrated as well.

I’m still willing to extend some grace. There are reasons that we hit a wall. Not excuses, but reasons.

I’m willing to bet that if you spoke with Pope privately, he would tell you that a bit more scrutiny on mental toughness would be a priority this offseason.

Not that this team hasn’t shown toughness or resilience. They have. But I think they’ve had a few too many letdown games for a team wanting to compete at the highest level.

There might be a couple guys who he wouldn’t have brought in if he’d had more runway to work with. But hindsight is always 20/20. And none of us ever get it all right.

 

[The Snoke]

Kudos to Bama - they have the pieces and were prepared annd energized to win. Auburn, Florida and Bama all are legit threats to take home the trophy in April.

I agree completely. All three, and in my opinion the Vols have reasons to think they can win it all. Being realistic, we aren’t quite there yet. Give Coach Pope a year or two and think we will be the one’s that are on a different level. Dang injuries made this team have to play differently. This is not just a quick trip, it’s going to be a really fun journey with this coaching staff and the players we have and will get.

 

[JoeBeeHall]

Oats may have won a ball game but Pope out classed him. Hope he gets a team that shuts his pie hole soon.

 

[Kerry Kat]

Win or lose, I’m proud and love these guys. They enjoyed playing here and they gave us all they had. Injuries happen and they answered the call. 20+ win season with everything that has happened in a historical SEC loaded league, I’ll take it!

 

[Aike]

Win or lose, I’m proud and love these guys. They enjoyed playing here and they gave us all they had. Injuries happen and they answered the call. 20+ win season with everything that has happened in a historical SEC loaded league, I’ll take it!

Good post.

 

[Cats192]

Same. Having 2 Kentucky kids is like having blood in the game, but they’re just not on the same talent level as these top college guards.
Sears couldn’t literally do whatever he wanted to them each possession.

Sure they're not.

But Mark Sears is one of the best players in college basketball. All SEC, All-American. He's a 5th year senior. He's 23 years old.

His freshman year: He averaged 8.5 PPG in 19 minutes per game. At Ohio. He may have never seen the floor in the SEC that freshman year.

Perry, Noah, and Chandler are normal freshmen. They could probably average 8 points per game at Ohio. I'm not here to say they'll be All-Americans. But they'll be a whole lot better in their 4th years (and Sears is on his 5th).

 

[Louis_Skunt]

Sure they're not.

But Mark Sears is one of the best players in college basketball. All SEC, All-American. He's a 5th year senior. He's 23 years old.

His freshman year: He averaged 8.5 PPG in 19 minutes per game. At Ohio. He may have never seen the floor in the SEC that freshman year.

Perry, Noah, and Chandler are normal freshmen. They could probably average 8 points per game at Ohio. I'm not here to say they'll be All-Americans. But they'll be a whole lot better in their 4th years (and Sears is on his 5th).

I get it, but this fan base isn’t waiting for kids to be seniors so that we may have a shot at a final four. Those days are gone.
Perry and Noah could average more points down the road, but they don’t have the speed or lateral quickness to keep a guard in front of them at the kind of level we need.
There’s better talent out there, Pope just did the best at what little time he had. And he did better than I thought.

 

[Cats192]

I get it, but this fan base isn’t waiting for kids to be seniors so that we may have a shot at a final four. Those days are gone.
Perry and Noah could average more points down the road, but they don’t have the speed or lateral quickness to keep a guard in front of them at the kind of level we need.
There’s better talent out there, Pope just did the best at what little time he had. And he did better than I thought.

I don't mean to say we need to or have to wait 3 years. I'm just saying Perry, Noah, and Chandler will be good players for us. They won't be the reason we compete next year. But they'll be good enough to play minutes for us.

I absolutely hope Pope recruits over them. I want to win championships, and I want the best players possible.