Tennessee basketball: Rick Barnes looks weak if Vols end series with Memphis
If Tennessee basketball ends its series with the Memphis Tigers because of Penny Hardaway, Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes will look thin-skinned.
Does Rick Barnes need a safe space? Can he not handle Penny Hardaway saying things that upsets him? That’s what he will look like if he makes sure that Tennessee basketball does not continue its rivalry with Memphis after 2020.
Barnes said as much early Monday morning, according to a tweet from Jimmy Hyams. This all stems from Hardaway getting chippy with Barnes in front of the media last year, and yes, Hardaway was in the wrong.
During last year’s game, the Vols and Tigers started jawing at the end. Hardaway then completely distorted what happened. Jordan Bone responded by alluding to their flopping, which Hardaway took even greater offense to, at one point calling Barnes low-class. It was bad.
However, it only added fuel to what has always been a great rivalry. Does anybody remember the Bruce Pearl-John Calipari years? Those were amazing. Now, though, with Barnes and Hardaway going at it, the rivalry is even better.
Pearl and Calipari were northeastern transplants. Barnes is from Appalachia representing a team in Appalachia, and Hardaway is from Memphis representing a team in Memphis. Their back and forth makes the rivalry even better because their personalities are representative of where they coach. That’s their style.
As a result, Tennessee basketball can’t end the rivalry with Memphis. If Barnes were to end it because of this, he would be ending something that is great for both programs because he got caught in his feelings about Hardaway being mean.
Oh, and make no mistake, Hardaway cashed in on this. According to WREG, Hardaway came back and said the rivalry needs to continue because it’s good for the state. Remember when Vol fans complained about Pastner and Calipari running? Well, if the rivalry ends now, Barnes is clearly the one who is running.
Make no mistake, Tennessee basketball needs this series as much as the Memphis Tigers do. In fact, if you look at the history of the two programs playing each other, there’s a very good chance that they need the series more.
When the two schools did not face each other from 2002 to 2005, UT failed to make any NCAA Tournaments. Meanwhile, Josh Pastner ran and cancelled the series, and after just one year, the program fell off the map.
Now yes, that was due to the Cuonzo Martin departure and the Donnie Tyndall fiasco. But the Vols had three straight seasons in which they didn’t finish above .500. Then they restored the series last year, and it was a season Tennessee basketball made it to No. 1 for only the second time in school history.
The first time was 2008, the height of the Pearl-Calipari years when the two faced each other in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. You simply can’t end this rivalry if you care anything about the state of Tennessee basketball.
Right now, Barnes has the upper hand over Hardaway. He was telling the truth about everything last year, and Hardaway was playing the underdog role to stir up controversy. UT fans got a very good laugh out of it.
But if Barnes walks away from that rivalry, he’s the guy who ran from something that’s great for college basketball and great for his program…all because the opposition coach was mean to him. It’s a pathetic look for him and Tennessee basketball if he does it.