This Tennessee Fan's Warming Up To Cuonzo Martin
by Joel Hollingsworth on Mar 28, 2011 7:36 AM EDT
in Tennessee Volunteer Basketball
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PrintThe official press conference announcing Cuonzo Martin as Tennessee's next head basketball coach is today at 2:30 Eastern. The RTT open thread will open at 2:00.
From all reports, the press conference will likely be the next step for Tennessee fans slowly transitioning from "Who?" to "Okay" to "All right then," much the same way we did with Derek Dooley barely more than a year ago. And boy, doesn't this sound familiar, too: A GVX article on Martin says that "what matters is whether Martin can win over the shell-shocked players he inherits." Yeah. This time next year, we may very well be saying that 2011-12 was Martin's Year Zero.
Is "staples" a style? Fomer Purdue coach Gene Keady says that Martin will focus on the bread, eggs, and milk:
Keady said he expects Martin will bring Tennessee some of the staples that he learned at Purdue, such as tough defense and rebounding.
"We did a lot of defensive drills, and we did a lot of block-out drills in our practices,’’ Keady said. "Rebounding drills, stance, helping each other on defense; I really would have liked to have pressed more, but we didn’t have enough quickness to stay with it.
"I think you will see good defense, they will rebound well, they will take good shots and they will work hard,’’ he said. "I remember when he was a sophomore he was 0-for-6 from the 3-point line, and then as a junior he made 88 (3-pointers).
"So he’ll expect his players to work hard in the offseason.’’
That sounds like a promising start, as does this: Martin's a finalist for not one, but two national coaching awards, the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award (honoring the top mid-major coach) and the Ben Jobe Award (honoring the top minority head coach in Division I). Both awards are presented during Final Four weekend.
I'm going to take Martin winning the Ben Jobe award as a sign because we Tennessee fans have been Job for the past several seasons. Ha. I kill me.
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my biggest concern
is we end up playing dull, plodding Big Tweleventeen basketball.
Pearl for Life.
The Dual Threat, Official Enforcer/Stat Geek of MCM.
Unfortunately, with a gutted roster...
… he may not have much of a choice at first. (See: O’Neill, Kevin).
Lou Brock loves Lamp.
If we win
I couldn’t care less
"Albert hits good pitches hard and bad pitches even harder. And when he gets in the batter's box, if you pray, then you start praying. And if you don't pray, you think about starting."--Brian Bannister
RIP Boog. FIRE TLR NOW
by VolsnCards5 on Mar 28, 2011 8:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
I'm hearing steven pearl had a negative reaction on twitter
Anyone know what he said?
"Albert hits good pitches hard and bad pitches even harder. And when he gets in the batter's box, if you pray, then you start praying. And if you don't pray, you think about starting."--Brian Bannister
RIP Boog. FIRE TLR NOW
by VolsnCards5 on Mar 28, 2011 8:37 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Later he said his twitter was hacked
Later I didn’t believe it
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions
That's the way I took it...
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
Add to the list of bad decisions made by Mike Hamilton
the decision not to have any kind of press conference about the Pearl firing BEFORE having this press conference. I fear a lot of the questions in this press conference will have to do with Bruce because of that.
This should be about Martin, but I can see it devolving easily.
What are you talking about, Willis?
by Huge Alien Head on Mar 28, 2011 9:54 AM EDT reply actions
This, absolutely
I hope release the feed to the presser early so we can see Bud Ford attempt to shut down any ideas about Pearl questions
by Will Shelton on Mar 28, 2011 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions
That would be awesome, tragic, and weak all at once
I don’t have the highest opinion of Bud Ford even if some of these writers deserve the way he talks to them.
In this case, Hamilton deserves to be interrogated like this was the Inquisition and it’s unfortunate for Martin but it’s Hamilton’s own fault.
"I condone fun things" ~~ Cortland Finnegan
Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.
Part of me is okay with that.
Holding a press conference to announce a new hiring when you haven’t faced the press after the old one is shifty and cheap. They absolutely deserved to be called out on that.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
by Chris Pendley on Mar 28, 2011 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions
That didn't look like "shifty" at first
What it looked like might even be more appropriate…..
"I condone fun things" ~~ Cortland Finnegan
Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.
Yes, but we have a language filter here.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
by Chris Pendley on Mar 28, 2011 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions
I know
’twas a joke
"I condone fun things" ~~ Cortland Finnegan
Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.
i told you not to use Lifeboy!
"the most important thing isn't the details. it's the magical atmosphere." Fat Charlie
by thetennesseethumper on Mar 28, 2011 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Also, you saw what I did there.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
by Chris Pendley on Mar 28, 2011 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions
Yes, and I don't know if there's a good answer for this problem.
Feels like a baby & bathwater situation, but this is also the only time they’re going to be in front of a mic talking about anything even kind of related to Pearl.
Formerly 'snail. You get used to it after a while.
by Chris Pendley on Mar 28, 2011 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Also, I wanted to vote, "Eh."
but it wasn’t an option.
What are you talking about, Willis?
by Huge Alien Head on Mar 28, 2011 9:55 AM EDT reply actions
agree
I’ve just been like “meh” or “we’ll see.” Coaching changes have made me numb…can’t judge until I see the action
by volsportsguy on Mar 28, 2011 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions
This one looks a lot better than Dooley on paper
The initial reactions from people who have coached with him are equally good. So our start is still better. I can’t imagine his press conference will match Doolander’s, but hopefully it gives even more positive momentum.
Also, I hear things about how his teams play hard 100% of the time and can’t help thinking about Scotty and Cam.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions
I think Cam plays hard all the time
His shot just left him early in the season and he couldn’t find it again.
Hopson on the other hand not so much and Williams was horrible at maintaining intensity.
"I condone fun things" ~~ Cortland Finnegan
Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.
maybe it's not intensity
but I do think it’s in the realm of attitude problem. He gets too down on himself, like Scotty does, and he plays like it.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions
Georgia Tech hired Brian Gregory from Dayton
I know they were strapped for cash, but that was the one opening I thought could be better than ours, and they hired the guy that put me in a cold sweat for an hour before we announced Martin. Hmmmm…
seconded
If we’re grading our hire compared to that of comparable jobs, we have to feel pretty good about ourselves right now.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Counzo
Is a good hire, I think. A surprising one for me at least ( I actually shook hands with the man not an hour after he won our first ever MVC Championship)
Speaking as a MSU student who was in Springfield for our first ever Championship, Counzo is an amazing figure, albeit locally.
He’s a cancer survivor, and he turned the program here around almost 180 degrees. Martin led the Bears to a 61-41 record, including 50 combined wins over the past two seasons – the third-most victories in a two-year span in school history. This years squad finished 26-9 overall on the way to the program’s first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title (as I mentioned) and 15-3 league record over all.
Granted the MVC is NOT the SEC, but considering the talent level we have access to versus UT, i think he may surprise everyone.
BloodSpite
"Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football." John Heisman
by Joseph Stanley on Mar 28, 2011 10:32 AM EDT reply actions
Good stuff
I suppose from your perspective, if he had to go, he picked the right place to go.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Irony for me
A Huge UT fans goes to MSU only to have our coach Squirreled away by UT.
More Irony?
This morning on Campus it seemed there was a sudden plethora of Tennessee shirts on the quad.
Missouri sports being what it is, i think I’ll find a lot of converts of folks rooting for UT. That said there is some serious ..shall we say….disgruntled folks up here that we lost our golden goose
BloodSpite
"Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football." John Heisman
by Joseph Stanley on Mar 28, 2011 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions
How long before The Brass
has Jim Chaney reflecting on his meetings with Martin while at Purdue. Surely, the two got together in passing at least once or twice.
Cuonzo Martin is a great hire.
He’s the guy I was hoping would remain at a mid-major until Coach Hamilton retired from FSU. No luck.
Follow me on Twitter for FSU Basketball news
Come to think of it
We have a good history with Martin’s with strange first names.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 12:07 PM EDT reply actions
addendum
who follow fan favorites
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions
fwiw
Another hotshot player from Purdue did reasonably well as a coach. At UCLA.
by springtime-of-my-senility on Mar 28, 2011 12:11 PM EDT reply actions
as "up and comers" go,
i’m liking “The Cuonz” a lot. i think this guy will be a machine on the recruiting trail. he has a powerful life message to deliver to a recruit’s family.
Pearl for Life.
The Dual Threat, Official Enforcer/Stat Geek of MCM.
Personality wise
I’m sold
Thanks to hal for talking me off the ledge
Official MCM Hater!
"Brian f'n Orakpo. That guy is like James Harrison minus the stupid."
Another thing that should make us feel better:
It’s being reported that Allan Houston and Ernie Grunfeld recommended Martin. For those who aren’t aware of Ernie’s track record, here are his recommendations for the last three coaching searches:
Bill Self (Oral Roberts)
Jay Wright (Hofstra)
Bruce Pearl (Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 28, 2011 1:04 PM EDT reply actions
Much like the Dooley hire
the mor I hear, the more I like it. And whatever Mike Hamilton’s faults may be, you can’t say that he has made a coaching hire that was bad at the the time, or that didn’t turn out to be good. As far as coaching hires go, he’s had a run of bad luck with them eventually, but all have had varying degrees of success.
Makes NCAA happy.....
I hope this HIRE will make the NCAA go away……
after a couple of years we can start the real search…..
This without Hamilton…..
or not.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti
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