Assuming Vols gathered from afar understand old rivalries and found time to reflect, these past few days may have made an impact.
The unexpected loss at Vanderbilt was one kind of pain: Mediocre 30 minutes, good comeback, one point short, exuberant students all over the floor in whoopee celebration, my, my.
The loss at Auburn was different. It was a street fight all the way. There was a secondary loss that won’t show on the record. Here and there in Tennessee’s great multitude of fantastic fans are Bruce Pearl advocates who still believe he should be coaching the Volunteers.
Coach Pearl ignites Auburn fans (Photo Auburn University Athletics)
I am not one. I do say Bruce is very good at what he does.
Those who are certain they are in the know still debate whether Tennessee unfairly fed him to NCAA lions and tigers back when they had teeth. All he did was tell a few little white lies and direct some minor-league cheating. There are far more serious sinners in the great hall of fame.
Correct, what Bruce did was wrong – and may have been symptomatic of worse transgressions. I thought he lived in the gray zone.
Correct again, it was a time when UT needed to sweep and mop. You do recall the Lane Kiffin year? Athletics director Mike Hamilton needed to defend his own reputation. He wasn’t getting much guidance from the next chair up.
I remember Bruce’s exit. Tears were in his eyes. He always had a bit of Barnum & Bailey but I never doubted his sincerity in that situation. Nobody likes getting caught. He said he was sorry.
What a world, what a sport was/is college basketball. Bruce Pearl went all the way from Vol hero to villain to Auburn fame and fortune and didn’t have to change a thing.
On a totally different subject, Tennessee has been a yo-yo since the five misleading weeks of No. 1 in the country – without changing much. The schedule changed. The Southeastern Conference is a tough playpen. The Vols had a reputation for physicality but in some games, they didn’t really muscle up.
The Commodores, of all people, beat ‘em in the paint. Vols clamped the defense on Mississippi State and the Bulldogs never recovered from an awful start. Auburn has Johni Broome, who is stronger and quicker and the officiating was fuzzy but the Vols did not give an inch.
Talented Kentucky, coming to Food City Center on Tuesday evening, has been inconsistent but the Wildcats are a potential power. UK is 14-5 (3-3) and has lost consecutive games for the first time this season. It is not great on defense and is now 0-4 when it fails to score 70.
The big blue delivered more happiness to Vanderbilt on Saturday. Students again stormed the court. SEC invoked punishment of $500,000 and mumbled what sounded like “slow learners.”
Vandy new coach Mark Byington, transfer from James Madison, said “We’ve got to start a GoFundMe page or something to pay the fines.”
Coach, despair not, there is major money molding under Nashville mattresses.
Kentucky new coach Mark Pope, captain of the 1996 national champion Wildcats, has a different problem. He does not have a master’s in defense. He has noticed the SEC is big on guarding people.
“I mean everybody’s really good defensively, right? That’s the great thing about this league. It’s such a fun, beautiful league. Every night is going to be the biggest challenge of your season. It’s nice because you don’t actually have to convince your guys of that, it’s just every single game.”
Pope says Kentucky has issues.
“We have to find creative answers … we’re not far away … our job is to keep finding a way to get better … we’re not going to lose our confidence.”
The coach conceded that the Wildcats are undergoing new experiences as a team, discovering that some of his words actually mean something.
“It makes us a better team. I think we’re really blessed to be facing this competition every game.”
Better believe there will be “competition” Tuesday night. Net result will be a three-game losing streak for Kentucky or Tennessee stuck with three losses in four games. That would be very uncomfortable. Florida is coming soon. Negative trends are bad for blood pressure.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
