A Learning Experience, Minus the Pearls of Wisdom

Knoxville, TN:  January 11th, 2011

Tennessee entered SEC play, and the beginning of Coach Bruce Pearl's suspension with a hard-fought overtime loss to the Florida Gators.  There are certainly lessons to be learned from any tough loss, however I'm not sure the Vols learned the right ones.

Time after time in the extra period Tennessee took contested shots, over-penetrated into charges, and generally played horrendous offense; the eventual result was the 81-75 loss.  Down the stretch in both regulation and OT Tennessee had a chance to do something every good team needs to do before March; learn how to win on your own.  

It's something Coach K has done artfully for decades down in Durham.  Early in every season, at a time his team hits a rough patch and momentum begins to turn, when the crowd becomes hostile and panic starts to set in as the game begins to slip away, Coach K folds his hands... and does nothing.  Dick Vitale goes hoarse screaming to "get a TO" but Coach never bites.  Sometimes, your teams needs to learn how to win on their own.

When Tennessee was faced with the first of many coach-less challenges this season, the response was less than encouraging for Vol fans; they shrunk, groused at officials, and unraveled.

Would Pearl on the bench have made the difference?  Honestly, in a game that went to overtime and a single quality possession could have made the difference, absolutely they win that game with Coach Pearl.  And it's not going to get easier for the Vols with a really good Vandy team coming to Knoxville Saturday looking to bury the Vols early behind an 0-2 start in the hyper-competitve SEC East.

Now for my favorite play, "Did you know I'm rich?"

Should Pearl even be sitting out at all?  It's an interesting question - one for an entirely different column one of these days.  But, for argument's sake consider this precedent:  Last year the NCAA suspended Dez Bryant for the entire season for lying to the NCAA.  The kicker?  What he lied about wasn't even a major infraction.  The draconian penalty was strictly for the lie.

The other kicker?  He is a kid.  Bruce Pearl, like Bryant's former coach, is "40" and a "grown man."  Quite simply - he should, and probably did, know better.  That knowledge is essentially incumbent upon his position as a leader and prominent figure earning seven-figures at Tennessee's largest state run university..

So while the Vols players' search for an identity not yet found in their incongruous 3-0 record versus ranked opponents overlaid against their 7-6 mark against those not, Pearl must search for a way to coach without "coaching."  Meanwhile Vol fans are learning important lessons in emotional balance as they ride the roller coaster, and UT officials are trying to decipher perhaps the most nebulous lesson; "how do we rationalize not firing this coach, because damn we really don't want to."  You see some lessons are learned on the court, and some are learned off - in both arenas I'm not sure Tennessee's players are learning the right ones...