They're whispering around Knoxville, writes John Pennington of the News-Sentinel.
"Bruce Pearl can't coach."
"He won with Buzz's players."
"This system stinks."
Tennessee is a disappointing 11-5 and losers of three of its last five games entering Tuesday night's contest at Vanderbilt.
So what is wrong with the Volunteers? Former Tennessee coach Don DeVoe says the team is just going through a rough stretch and fans need to chill out.
"Only a handful of teams have won at Kansas in the last 10 years. Then you get a talented Gonzaga team. You open in the SEC on the road and come from behind for a win. Then the other night they just weren't ready to handle what Kentucky threw at them.
"That stretch would have been difficult for North Carolina or Duke back-to-back-to-back."
If it's not the coach or the players, what about the system?
"On offense, you've got the flex system which is designed to give players freedom and one-on-one opportunities. But you don't have guys on the perimeter who look very confident right now," former Vol player Dane Bradshaw said.
"So defenses sag inside and it takes away coach Pearl's play-calling options. The spacing isn't there because teams don’t respect Tennessee's outside threat.
"Plus, they’re having to put three and four new guys on the floor at once. Weaknesses are easier to expose, because you're not just trying to hide one new guy."
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