Rick Barnes responds to snide remark from FAU HC Dusty May
The Tennessee Vols will take on the Florida Atlantic Owls in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night. Tennessee advanced to the Swdet 16 after their 65-52 win against Duke on Saturday afternoon. FAU, meanwhile, advanced after beating Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday night. After FAU's win against Fairleigh Dickinson, head coach Dusty May suggested that playing […]
The Tennessee Vols will take on the Florida Atlantic Owls in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.
Tennessee advanced to the Swdet 16 after their 65-52 win against Duke on Saturday afternoon.
FAU, meanwhile, advanced after beating Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday night.
After FAU's win against Fairleigh Dickinson, head coach Dusty May suggested that playing Tennessee in the Sweet 16 would be like playing in a rugby match, an obvious reference to the Vols' physical playing style.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes responded to May's quip on Monday by talking about how much he enjoys Australian Rugby.
“Well, you know what, I took a Big East All-Star Team to Australia back in ’90," said Barnes on Monday. "We went to a match and I enjoyed it. I thought it was good. I liked the way the referee does all that stuff. I enjoyed watching it. You know what, I would probably pay to go see it. We were free that day, but I would pay to go see it.”
Barnes also addressed the growing criticism of Tennessee's physical playing style.
“You know, really, I don’t put any thought into it," said Barnes. "I haven’t heard [it], not really. I think playing good, hard basketball, it’s something nice to look at. I know our guys played hard. I know Duke played hard, too. Again, I’m on the Rules Committee and the referees did what they thought was right. And I thought they officiated the game the way they felt it went. But from my perspective, I didn’t see anything dirty from either team.”
Former Duke basketball player turned ESPN college hoops analyst Jay Bilas is among the media members who took issue with the Vols playing old-school physical basketball.
“That Tennessee-Duke game that your referencing, that was not a basketball game. It was a hockey game. It was officiated like a hockey game,” said Bilas during an appearance on Colin Cowherd's podcast. “There were fouls that were flagrant fouls that were not called flagrant. I can’t understand why. I’ve talked to several officials about it and all of them seem to agree that that should not have happened that way, but we’re seeing that more and more.”
Media members throwing shade at Tennessee is nothing new. But the fact that UT is having to defend playing hard is almost unbelievable. In a day and age when basketball continues to devolve into a sport that's nothing but launching threes and refusing to play defense, it's refreshing to see the Vols' old-school approach paying off in March.
