Chris "mighty man" jones what might have been

#1
G

goodtobegoad

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Dec 6, 2011
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#1
Another guy who was committed that we just didn't pull in. 13 for Louisville in first ten minutes against Kentucky
 
#4
#4
When I say pull in I mean getting into school. Did Martin make a push for him out of juco or did he not show a renewed interest?
 
#6
#6
Yea I remember I think him and ware were the same class. I think he was a year or two old for is high school class as well. But he's having a good game. Just some food for thought considering our shooting struggles
 
#7
#7
goodtobegoad said:
Yea I remember I think him and ware were the same class. I think he was a year or two old for is high school class as well. But he's having a good game. Just some food for thought considering our shooting struggles
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Our shooting struggles have more to do with terrible schemes then personal. Barton is a career 40% 3 shooter. Did he just come here and forget how to shoot the ball? I honestly think we simply don't shoot enough in practice, and we don't have a coach who is a master mind on offense. BTO the other day made a comment about how Martin's staff is filled with guys who are pretty much trying to figure out how to win on the fly here. When you begin to look at that statement it couldn't be more true, and it's probably going to cost Martin his job. Martin really needs a vet coach who's a proven offensive mind, and he's had three years to get one and hasn't yet.
 
#9
#9
keckjm said:
Our shooting struggles have more to do with terrible schemes then personal. Barton is a career 40% 3 shooter. Did he just come here and forget how to shoot the ball? I honestly think we simply don't shoot enough in practice, and we don't have a coach who is a master mind on offense. BTO the other day made a comment about how Martin's staff is filled with guys who are pretty much trying to figure out how to win on the fly here. When you begin to look at that statement it couldn't be more true, and it's probably going to cost Martin his job. Martin really needs a vet coach who's a proven offensive mind, and he's had three years to get one and hasn't yet.
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Its a good sign when other schools are coming after your assistants, how many schools have we heard about even asking about any of our guys?

Martin's screwed up big with that part IMO. He's an inexperienced coach, and inexperienced in the SEC. He needed to fill his bench with guys who have been around a long time, not guys like himself.
 
#10
#10
bleedingTNorange said:
Its a good sign when other schools are coming after your assistants, how many schools have we heard about even asking about any of our guys?

Martin's screwed up big with that part IMO. He's an inexperienced coach, and inexperienced in the SEC. He needed to fill his bench with guys who have been around a long time, not guys like himself.
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The big problem I have with Martin is that our schedule has really declined the last few years in terms of toughness yet we still can't win big OOC games on the road. There's no more Kansas, TX, Memphis, etc to play right now so you have to make every top OOC game like a NCAA game IMO. We all know LSU, KY, and FL are big games for us, and in a few years I think Bama and A&M will have even better teams as well for us to play. Still, in general the SEC is probably the 4-5th hardest conference in basketball so the big OOC games are going to matter a lot come march.
 
#11
#11
keckjm said:
The big problem I have with Martin is that our schedule has really declined the last few years in terms of toughness yet we still can't win big OOC games on the road. There's no more Kansas, TX, Memphis, etc to play right now so you have to make every top OOC game like a NCAA game IMO. We all know LSU, KY, and FL are big games for us, and in a few years I think Bama and A&M will have even better teams as well for us to play. Still, in general the SEC is probably the 4-5th hardest conference in basketball so the big OOC games are going to matter a lot come march.
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He improved the OOC slate from last year to this, the home part isn't great, but our OOC schedule is much better than a lot of the SECs.

Our SOS is projected to be about twice as good as last years and that very well may be what saves him. He wins 19-20 last year it's not enough, this year with the SOS it should definitely be enough.
 
#12
#12
Dang he looks about as quick as dre mathieu. Haven't seen much passing from him though. Louisville having him smith's and rozier's speed is unfair
 
#14
#14
bleedingTNorange said:
We pulled him in, he just couldn't get into school.
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iirc Chris' grades were good enough to get into UT. His standardized test score did not qualify. He only took it once. He had 2 more opportunities, but chose to go JUCO route with Forbes. If he truly wanted to come to UT then he could have improved his test score or at least attempted to.
 
#15
#15
johnnybravo said:
iirc Chris' grades were good enough to get into UT. His standardized test score did not qualify. He only took it once. He had 2 more opportunities, but chose to go JUCO route with Forbes. If he truly wanted to come to UT then he could have improved his test score or at least attempted to.
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So he preferred JUCO over D1? If that's true Tennessee wasn't his only option, he could've gone to Louisville from the beginning.
 
#17
#17
Wasn't Bruce fired and he went juco? Seemed like grades were a convenient way out of a commitment once the coach you committed to was fired.
 
#18
#18
CAVol said:
Wasn't Bruce fired and he went juco? Seemed like grades were a convenient way out of a commitment once the coach you committed to was fired.
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Jones signed LOI under Pearl
Asked CCM out of it once he was hired.
CCM said no and asked for a chance to recruit him
Jones said that he would stay committed to UT
Grades were not an issue. His standardized test score was too low to get into UT.
Jones had 2 more opportunities to take the test and decided to follow Forbes instead of trying to improve test score and play for UT
 
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#19
#19
johnnybravo said:
Not much of an option once you sign a LOI
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Tennessee wouldn't release him from his LOI after the coach he committed to was fired? Are you sure about that?

I thought Martin said he would release him after meeting with him if that's what Jones wanted, but it wasn't.
 
#20
#20
johnnybravo said:
Jones signed LOI under Pearl
Asked CCM out of it once he was hired.
CCM said no and asked for a chance to recruit him
Jones said that he would stay committed to UT
Grades were not an issue. His standardized test score was too low to get into UT.
Jones had 2 more opportunities to take the test and decided to follow Forbes instead of trying to improve test score and play for UT
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Also, I believe it was Rob Lewis who had said he was told, that he was not a Cuonzo type of player. I believe personality wise. Steve Forbes was asked if Tennessee recruited him at all while in Juco. He. Said no, not at all. He said he welcomed Cuonzo and didn't hold anything against Counzo or Tennessee. Cuonzo never called after he went Juco.
 
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#21
#21
Let's add it up BTO. Cuonzo, for different reasons have been in on and then missed on Chris Jones, Anthony Hickey, Fabyon Harris and this year Dre Mathieu. I believe anyone of those guys besides Dre would have helped Cuonzo get Tennessee in the NCAA tourney. We would not be having all of these threads on him right now. That's on Cuonzo.
 
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#22
#22
Zo is such a great judge of talent at the G position. We have been overflowing with his quality PG's and SG's since his arrival. Along with true centers, they are probably his specialties. lol.
 
#23
#23
johnnybravo said:
Jones signed LOI under Pearl
Asked CCM out of it once he was hired.
CCM said no and asked for a chance to recruit him
Jones said that he would stay committed to UT
Grades were not an issue. His standardized test score was too low to get into UT.
Jones had 2 more opportunities to take the test and decided to follow Forbes instead of trying to improve test score and play for UT
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Academics were a big issue with Chris. He was too old to play in Tennessee by the time his senior year rolled around. That is why he tried to go the prep school route in order to get qualified but he could not. When people say he just had to take the test a few more times and he could have made it they just don't know what they are talking about. The only real option for him was going the JC route where the test was irrelevant if he made the grades to be eligible. It was not a case of effort on his part. Chris had recommitted to UT after a sit down with Coach Martin but it was never going to be possible for him to make it in as a freshman. After he went the JC route we just didn't pursue him. Whether it was because we didn't think he fit our system or just never thought he would make it academically I don't really know. I do know he was a great player and could have fit in anywhere he went.
 
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#24
#24
bleedingTNorange said:
Tennessee wouldn't release him from his LOI after the coach he committed to was fired? Are you sure about that?

I thought Martin said he would release him after meeting with him if that's what Jones wanted, but it wasn't.
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You're right BTO, that's what was reported. Maybe Jones lied to Cuonzo and purposely didn't take the other test to not make it in. Maybe that's why Cuonzo said he wasn't his type of player because he had lied to him. All of that is a guess on my part. Just trying to understand why Cuonzo just stopped recruiting him period.
 
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#25
#25
Vols4us said:
Zo is such a great judge of talent at the G position. We have been overflowing with his quality PG's and SG's since his arrival. Along with true centers, they are probably his specialties. lol.
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Pearl wasn't a good PG recruiter either. The best PG he coached in Knoxville was signed by Buzz. Also his best center was really a 4 playing the 5.

(I'm not giving him credit for Jones because he probably would've ended up at Louisville out of HS anyway had he been a qualifier.)
 
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