Cuonzo Feeling Unwanted

[vol66]

Good point and that was stated in the article. Martin didn't feel like he had the backing of the admin. In other words, he felt like Hart didn't have his back. I still have serious doubts that he would've stayed if Hart had given him more support. As Cuonzo said himself, it was time to go.

Hart wasn't about to sign him off to a long term horrible deal like Hamilton tied us to on countless coaches. We are still feeling the effects of Hamilton's horrible contracts he agreed to over the years. And guess who chimed in on twitter after that article was posted? None other than clueless Mike. One of the worst AD's in the entire history of NCAA sports.

Michael Hamilton ‏@mikehamilton63 23h23 hours ago
Good man. Proud to have hired @CuonzoMartin....Martin finds warmth at Cal after feeling unwanted at Tennessee Cal Golden Bears coach Cuonzo Martin has put Tennessee behind him and found a comfortable home

While I don't disagree with your sentiments regarding Hamilton, after all he hired Pearl (and without Pearl there would have never been a Martin or a Tyndall)...I see nothing wrong with Hamilton's tweet. Most people think Martin is a good man.

I'd also say Hart ain't doing much better, but he's been luckier.

As for the extension, yeah they mentioned it...No one was talking about a multi year extension or a ridiculous buy out, but meeting the industry standard based on performance within the SEC and the NCAA. Hart didn't do those things and again it's about the perception in the coaching fraternity and the writers in that world, it's about how those people, how they view it which is why we ended up with the likes of Tyndall, which even Hart admits was a "mistake".

 

[k-town_king]

And yet, any coach with a brain would pick the roster that Martin inherited over the roster that Tyndall inherited. Was Stokes not a 5 star? Maymon and McRae were both highly rated too. They both inherited inexperienced players, but anyone that watches basketball would pick the roster Martin inherited over what Tyndall inherited. Not even close. Tyndall had to patch together a class just to have enough bodies.

And since you are so into stats, Tyndall's career record is 216-122 or 63.9%. Cuonzo's career record is 142-97 or 59.4%.

They've both had to coach at similar programs working their way up. Tyndall took over a moribund Morehead St program and took it two NCAA's. Martin didn't make a NCAA tourney until his 6th year and that was at a big time program. Tyndall has won everywhere he has been. You acting like he's a below average coach when he's won everywhere he has been and has a better record than Cuonzo is laughable.

You do realize Stokes wasn't on the roster when Martin was hired right? So Stokes is off the table. Coming into their first seasons it would be close between getting no Stokes, Tatum, who averaged 8, and a bunch of players who averaged 3 or less versus getting Preseason All Sec J Rich, A 5 star sg who had a better year injured with one shoulder than McRae had healthy and a bunch of player who also averaged about 3.

This is about what they did before the coach came. Not 2 or 3 years later. Hubbs or Moatella could turn into All SEC players or NBA picks. That doesn't mean they were ALL SEC, NBA players last year.

 

[OrangeBalls]

Oh so they told you personally because you and all the cbb experts are best buds? Sure. :ermm:

If they got better did Tyndall have some decent players or not? Make up your mind. I never said no one got better last year. I bet we don't average 63 points with mostly the same players minus our NBA prospect and All SEC performer. I guarantee we score about 10 points more due to competent coaching.

We can compare the one year with the exact same situation roster and expectation wise. Martin was better with a tougher SOS.

No, we're not best of buds. I already had a good idea what they would say but wanted further confirmation from people whose job is to do this on a daily basis. The next time the SEC tourney comes around, go to it and ask them yourself. Then do the math.

Anyone that knows anything about basketball knows that the roster that Martin inherited had more upside than what Tyndall inherited. It's comical to watch you try and dismiss it. You are trying to dismiss that McRae or Stokes are NBA players. Tell me what players on the current roster will even get a sniff of the NBA? That's what I thought. And hell, Cuonzo had J-Rich too along with the others.

You being hung up on the 63 points per game is comical too. When you have a roster deficient of producing points that's what happens. You play a zone and slow the game down and try and limit possessions. It doesn't always work, but we had one guy that we could count on night-in and night-out. That's it. If he was off, our chances of winning were remote. Yet, we won 16 games. Anyone that knows anything about hoops has stated that Tyndall got more out of that roster than what people thought he would.

 

[butchna]

Like usual you make things up. You said all the experts said Tyndall is a better coach. Show me just one tweet, article, blurb or anything. I'm still waiting.

Tyndall will get a job coaching NAIA maybe. He is not a major college coach. He was in over his head. No reason we should have had the worst offense ever and not even make the NIT.

Im confused at the one player who played minutes comment.

Are you saying Tyndall only inherited one player who played in Richardson? Ok. The only person Martin inherited who had played was Cam Tatum. I know which one I would take. So they both inherited one player except Tyndall's was a NBA player and Martin's was a career role player.

You aren't doing anything but proving me right. By any metric you want to use Martin was better. Show me one stat Tyndall was better. They both were picked bottom of the conference. Martin's team improved through the year while Tyndall collapsed. That is on the coaching.

I'll clear this argument...they BOTH SUCKED...Zo just longer and louder.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Ok I'll finish this.

I never said Pearl left Martin nothing. He didn't leave any contributors unless you count Tatum. You are acting like he inherited a bunch of established players. I am make the very valid point that both rosters Tyndall and Martin inherited were very similar, hence the similar expectations pre season. Tyndall did inherit a way better vet and a 5 star player also. In the same situation Martin did better. Wins, scoring whatever you want to compare.

You said: Pearl left Martin very little and he did't let that stop him from over achieving.

Maymon? McRae? Hall? Tatum?

Hubbs? Yeah, I guess he was a 5 star...

I bet Martin encouraged Richardson to leave. Hubbs too. But he "left" them for Tyndall.

TN would be better off having never hired Martin. Even Tyndall left something in the tank despite blowing up. And he's not been a jerk after getting fired. Cuonzo has been a jerk and he quit.

 

[vol66]

That article was nothing but a self serving, race baiting, hack job from a guy with an agenda. I'm disappointed that Cuonzo used the opportunity to fan the flames. He could easily get on his podium and patch things up. It's not like there's a good reason for him to acknowledge that most TN fans are nothing like what's been depicted in that article. I used to really like Cuonzo... he seems more and more like a turd at every turn.

I didn't take the article that way. Not much of it seems new to me. He didn't feel like the administration backed him up. Just based on what's out there prior to this, easy to see why he thinks so.

Josh Richardson is a great young man, never did a wrong thing while at UT, seems well spoken and very bright and he seems to think that in some way race was a factor. I know for a fact in the comments section that was provided on the online petition some very racists comments appeared, who knows if they were real or trolls, but they were there, eventually they were taken down. Of course that's an outwardly racist thing but obviously there are more subtle forms and not I or anyone else can know what Coach Martin, his assistants and the families "felt" about that.

As I said, some folks are being simplistic. No one, not this article either, states that racism was the driving force behind Martin leaving, it was many things... as are most difficult decisions.

 

[OrangeBalls]

While I don't disagree with your sentiments regarding Hamilton, after all he hired Pearl (and without Pearl there would have never been a Martin or a Tyndall)...I see nothing wrong with Hamilton's tweet. Most people think Martin is a good man.

I'd also say Hart ain't doing much better, but he's been luckier.

As for the extension, yeah they mentioned it...No one was talking about a multi year extension or a ridiculous buy out, but meeting the industry standard based on performance within the SEC and the NCAA. Hart didn't do those things and again it's about the perception in the coaching fraternity and the writers in that world, it's about how those people, how they view it which is why we ended up with the likes of Tyndall, which even Hart admits was a "mistake".

Hamilton was told to hire Pearl. Hamilton didn't go and find Pearl. He relied on others to tell him what to do. He was, by far, the most incompetent AD that UT has ever had. Even Fulmer said he was in over his head. And I don't blame him totally. It was the president's fault and the board too. They hired a guy who was unqualified. The president's position was a revolving door there for years. There was no stability which led to a lot of turmoil. That's what we've been trying to dig out of for some time now.

Hammy was terrible at negotiating contract terms and long term buyouts too. Hell, we fired Pearl knowing the NCAA was going to give him a show cause and gave him a million dollars. That's unheard of, but Hammy was good at giving away money and draining our reserves. Hart has done some wrong things, but he has built the AD back up to where it's at least a little respectable. You have to make money and have money to stay ahead. We were struggling to do either under Hamilton.

I have no problem with Martin the person. By all accounts, he is a great person. I just find it odd that he is allowing a writer to try and write a hatchet job about race when he could've been the bigger person and said, "Let's just write about what has been going on since I've been at Cal." But no, race bait clicks sells more.

 

[OrangeBalls]

You do realize Stokes wasn't on the roster when Martin was hired right? So Stokes is off the table. Coming into their first seasons it would be close between getting no Stokes, Tatum, who averaged 8, and a bunch of players who averaged 3 or less versus getting Preseason All Sec J Rich, A 5 star sg who had a better year injured with one shoulder than McRae had healthy and a bunch of player who also averaged about 3.

This is about what they did before the coach came. Not 2 or 3 years later. Hubbs or Moatella could turn into All SEC players or NBA picks. That doesn't mean they were ALL SEC, NBA players last year.

Again, check the upsides of both rosters. It's nowhere close to being the same especially with the talent spread out. Martin had choices when he looked to the bench. Tyndall had very little. And you can't dismiss Stokes because we got him mid-season. He was a huge part of the late season run.

And I'll be shocked if Mostella or Hubbs ever get a sniff of the NBA. They better learn a foreign language.

 

[TOP]

He can be relaxed at Cal because like a lot of fans from that state, they're fair weather and only care if the team is winning. That's if they're not bandwagoning entirely and switch from Cal to USC to UCLA etc. I imagine they're a lot like the people Jimmy Kimmel has interviewed outside and blatantly make s*** up. Pretty sure Tennessee fans aren't going to jump on Vandy or Memphis bandwagon. Well, the Memphis bandwagon. Vandy isn't worth following in football and basketball ever.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I didn't take the article that way. Not much of it seems new to me. He didn't feel like the administration backed him up. Just based on what's out there prior to this, easy to see why he thinks so.

Josh Richardson is a great young man, never did a wrong thing while at UT, seems well spoken and very bright and he seems to think that in some way race was a factor. I know for a fact in the comments section that was provided on the online petition some very racists comments appeared, who knows if they were real or trolls, but they were there, eventually they were taken down. Of course that's an outwardly racist thing but obviously there are more subtle forms and not I or anyone else can know what Coach Martin, his assistants and the families "felt" about that.

As I said, some folks are being simplistic. No one, not this article either, states that racism was the driving force behind Martin leaving, it was many things... as are most difficult decisions.

The article insinuated rampant racism. It cited Houston being denied the Cherokee CC membership 29 years ago, but failed to mention the public outrage. Johnny Majors gave up his membership. Other clubs came forward with membership offers.

It made Bernard King look like a victim... but his troubles were self inflicted. It painted a picture of Smith as speaking in racial code. It trumped up questionable accusations that Cuonzo's family was in danger (inside their home in a gated Sequoyah Hills community)... it was so horrible that he had to install security. Who doesn't have security in a million dollar home?

Cuonzo enabled the ESPN writer to publish that trash and has remained quiet about it. To me, that means he's endorsing the propaganda.

Cuonzo's last team had no white guys... but 15,000 people were watching them play. I guess they were expecting them to perform Camptown Ladies and Swing Low Sweet Chariot after the final buzzer.

 

[vol66]

Hamilton was told to hire Pearl. Hamilton didn't go and find Pearl. He relied on others to tell him what to do. He was, by far, the most incompetent AD that UT has ever had. Even Fulmer said he was in over his head. And I don't blame him totally. It was the president's fault and the board too. They hired a guy who was unqualified. The president's position was a revolving door there for years. There was no stability which led to a lot of turmoil. That's what we've been trying to dig out of for some time now.

Hammy was terrible at negotiating contract terms and long term buyouts too. Hell, we fired Pearl knowing the NCAA was going to give him a show cause and gave him a million dollars. That's unheard of, but Hammy was good at giving away money and draining our reserves. Hart has done some wrong things, but he has built the AD back up to where it's at least a little respectable. You have to make money and have money to stay ahead. We were struggling to do either under Hamilton.

I have no problem with Martin the person. By all accounts, he is a great person. I just find it odd that he is allowing a writer to try and write a hatchet job about race when he could've been the bigger person and said, "Let's just write about what has been going on since I've been at Cal." But no, race bait clicks sells more.

As I said, I don't disagree with you about Hamilton as an AD, he made many mistakes, left us in a bad financial spot. That to me is irrefutable. So we agree.

I disagree with you about Hart and respectability. Anything positive he's done usually gets undone rather quickly, but we are certainly better off financially and that's important. I remain open to the chance that Hart might turn out okay, at least finacially we'll be better off.

I don't know Martin. He seems like a good person. He's a relatively inexperienced coach and I'm sure he'd like some "do overs" himself.

I understand some are offended by the article, I guess I don't understand why. If you are truly a racist the article is not offensive. If you are truly not a racist, the article isn't offensive, unless your stance is that racism doesn't exist.

 

[OrangeBalls]

As I said, I don't disagree with you about Hamilton as an AD, he made many mistakes, left us in a bad financial spot. That to me is irrefutable. So we agree.

I disagree with you about Hart and respectability. Anything positive he's done usually gets undone rather quickly, but we are certainly better off financially and that's important. I remain open to the chance that Hart might turn out okay, at least finacially we'll be better off.

I don't know Martin. He seems like a good person. He's a relatively inexperienced coach and I'm sure he'd like some "do overs" himself.

I understand some are offended by the article, I guess I don't understand why. If you are truly a racist the article is not offensive. If you are truly not a racist, the article isn't offensive, unless your stance is that racism doesn't exist.

Hart has started to get the reserves built back up. People don't realize how bad it was in the AD. He has had to do this while working through a number of bad buyouts under Hammy. He even stated that he didn't know it was this bad when he was hired. You can judge him for his hiring of Tyndall, but that has been his worst hire. Tyndall can coach, he just couldn't keep his nose clean. Butch has been good for the program and built a lot of good will. Time will tell if he can be a good enough game day coach.

The main thing I take offense to in the article is painting the entire fan base as racists. That's complete bullsh*t and nothing but sensationalism to try and get clicks on the story. The writer was lazy. If he had done his due diligence (and he didn't because he got NCAA tourney wins wrong and had to edit the story already), he would've noticed that a lot of the names on the petition were bogus. He also could've interviewed more than one booster. Are there racists within the UT fan base? I'm sure there is. I'm sure there is in just about any fan base. However, to try and act like it was rampant is reaching. Again, check the guy's agenda and past stories. It's not hard to put two and two together.

 

[dal9]

You know why Tyndall won the fan base over? Because he got out in the community from day 1. He wasn't shy he loved meeting people and was sincere with everyone he talked to, was he perfect? No NCAA sanctions prove that but that's what people didn't like about Martin he was standoffish and came across as arrogant. In order to be successful in basketball at the University of Tennessee you have to be a part of the community, you have to market and sell this program to your fan base. I think Rick Barnes is failing at that currently, he's going to have to get out and recruit this fan base. I don't hold that flaw against Martin because that's not his personality and Mike Hamilton knew this when he hired him. But to be fair to Hamilton Tennessee was in a tough spot with the NCAA and needed a coach like Martin. Tyndall was flashy and in the public eye, Cuonzo was boring and hidden behind closed doors.

WUT.jpg

 

[volprof]

He can be relaxed at Cal because like a lot of fans from that state, they're fair weather and only care if the team is winning. That's if they're not bandwagoning entirely and switch from Cal to USC to UCLA etc. I imagine they're a lot like the people Jimmy Kimmel has interviewed outside and blatantly make s*** up. Pretty sure Tennessee fans aren't going to jump on Vandy or Memphis bandwagon. Well, the Memphis bandwagon. Vandy isn't worth following in football and basketball ever.

I've still not quite adjusted to the absolute lack of interest in college sports in this part of the country. Even though it's something you've always heard and read about, nothing can quite prepare you for it.

I've lived here for about half a year now and, during that entire time, I can probably count on one hand how many times total I've seen either college logos on vehicles or college sports apparel. Even though I live roughly 60-70 miles north of Berkeley, I only see someone with Cal apparel or Cal vehicle logos maybe once every other month. That's not an exaggeration. Even the stores here have very little college apparel.

Now, San Francisco Giants and San Francisco 49ers apparel? That is plentiful and abundant. But not so much with their college institutions.

One of the biggest contextual factors lose in this entire matter is the cultural differences between the South and some other parts of the country, not so much concerning race but their respective sports cultures. In the South, college sports is a big, big deal, as we all know. For multiple reasons, people identify much more strongly with their regional college sports teams (even if never attended school there) than many other parts of the country. It's a way of life in the South, and the success or failure of their college sports team(s) is something that many Southerners almost seem to live vicariously through, requiring their coaches to be as open, passionate, and invested in it as they are, or at least they think.

Southerners, including Knoxvillians and Tennesseans, need a proactive and engaged coach, not an aloof loner or elite. They need to know that you care at least as much as they do.

Cuonzo never demonstrated those abilities here, making him a bad fit from the start. While things could have worked out a bit differently, his personality and approach, coupled with being the guy after Pearl, set the odds against him from the start.

 

[vol-un-tear]

Cal Golden Bears coach Cuonzo Martin has put Tennessee behind him and found a comfortable home

Good for him. I've put him behind and wish him luck

 

[vol66]

Hart has started to get the reserves built back up. People don't realize how bad it was in the AD. He has had to do this while working through a number of bad buyouts under Hammy. He even stated that he didn't know it was this bad when he was hired. You can judge him for his hiring of Tyndall, but that has been his worst hire. Tyndall can coach, he just couldn't keep his nose clean. Butch has been good for the program and built a lot of good will. Time will tell if he can be a good enough game day coach.

The main thing I take offense to in the article is painting the entire fan base as racists. That's complete bullsh*t and nothing but sensationalism to try and get clicks on the story. The writer was lazy. If he had done his due diligence (and he didn't because he got NCAA tourney wins wrong and had to edit the story already), he would've noticed that a lot of the names on the petition were bogus. He also could've interviewed more than one booster. Are there racists within the UT fan base? I'm sure there is. I'm sure there is in just about any fan base. However, to try and act like it was rampant is reaching. Again, check the guy's agenda and past stories. It's not hard to put two and two together.

It seems this is where most of the offensive material in the article is from:

Wade Houston, the school's first black basketball coach, was denied admission to an all-white country club in Knoxville after he was hired in 1989. Former star Bernard King said he dealt with prejudice when he played for the Vols in the 1970s, too. Those around Martin said he never blamed anyone but he was upset by the idea that some members of the Tennessee fan base wanted the return of a white coach who'd damaged the university's reputation and image but did not want a black coach who'd avoided the bad headlines and also won more SEC games in his three seasons than any coach in the league not named John Calipari or Billy Donovan.

I'm being honest, the only thing factually that might be more accurate would have been...

"Tennessee hired Wade Houston, the first head basketball coach in the South Eastern Conference. He was denied...."

Other than that, I see nothing wrong with the paragraph.

Much more concerning to me is the statement made by the booster and not for the reasons already stated by others.

Smith said he thought Martin would help with recruiting and guide immature youths who "play streetball" and need to "clean up their acts."

Forget how it sounds and just deal with "clean up their acts."

Pearl could have have put a starting roster together with some reserves to boot who all had their mugshots taken while at Tennessee. Can't spell THUG without UT, remember that?

Soooooo....I'd ask Mr. Smith, we didn't play street ball or anything remotely like it, in fact most posters I've read called it boring and we certainly were not having off the court issues anywhere remotely close to the Pearl Era, right? Expectation met, No? Name another successful college head basketball coach who has to meet the other expectation mentioned which is be out in the community like Pearl? My guess is this list won't be long. How many would take their shirts off, sit in the student section, sing Rocky Top? Coach K? Calipari? Maybe Barnes will surprise us, hope not though.

 

[vol66]

The article insinuated rampant racism. It cited Houston being denied the Cherokee CC membership 29 years ago, but failed to mention the public outrage. Johnny Majors gave up his membership. Other clubs came forward with membership offers.

It made Bernard King look like a victim... but his troubles were self inflicted. It painted a picture of Smith as speaking in racial code. It trumped up questionable accusations that Cuonzo's family was in danger (inside their home in a gated Sequoyah Hills community)... it was so horrible that he had to install security. Who doesn't have security in a million dollar home?

Cuonzo enabled the ESPN writer to publish that trash and has remained quiet about it. To me, that means he's endorsing the propaganda.

Cuonzo's last team had no white guys... but 15,000 people were watching them play. I guess they were expecting them to perform Camptown Ladies and Swing Low Sweet Chariot after the final buzzer.

I guess people can have your take away, I just didn't get rampant racism out of it. The Cherokee CC thing happened. If people are upset that kudos weren't given to UT for hiring the first black SEC Coach as opposed to first in school history, I get that. However, what does that have to do with Cherokee CC, at the time the most prominent Country Club in Knoxville, not allowing him membership due to his race in 1989?

I saw the ESPN thing on Mr. King, my first inclination was not "he's throwing Knoxville and UT under the bus", it was "I wish that wasn't his experience, I wish he didn't feel that way."

Are you suggesting that Bernard King brought acts of racism on himself? Honest question.

I don't know what the point of your last paragraph regarding the team and the 15,000 in the stands is about or the point you're trying to make, respectfully. :hi:

 

[GreyWolf1129]

In the end, we learned all we needed to know about the true character of Cuonzo Martin. It is what it is. Good riddance, and best of luck.

Go Vols.

 

[UneducatedGuess]

What a hack job of an article. VN should Twitter bomb this guy for slanderinf Tennesses reputation by writing fictitious rumors (all untrue) and implying Tennessee is some bigot place.

It's about the fact that Martin couldn't fill Pearls shoes - and - we would've been better off letting Pearl serve his show cause as our coach because Martin was so bad we barely made a tournament anyhow.

First, even though he corrected his 1997 gaff, what he fails to mention is this.

Bruce Pearl never missed the NCAA tournament. He took Tennessee to multiple sweet sixteens and an elite 8. He was and still is a prominent figure in the community.

Counzo went to 0 NCAA tournaments until his final year and he barely made it in. He was not a member of the community. he was a basketball coach.

Race has nothing to do with it. Complete hack job and borderline slander. All stats skewed to raise attention and gain clicks.

 

[OrangeBalls]

It seems this is where most of the offensive material in the article is from:



I'm being honest, the only thing factually that might be more accurate would have been...

"Tennessee hired Wade Houston, the first head basketball coach in the South Eastern Conference. He was denied...."

Other than that, I see nothing wrong with the paragraph.

Much more concerning to me is the statement made by the booster and not for the reasons already stated by others.



Forget how it sounds and just deal with "clean up their acts."

Pearl could have have put a starting roster together with some reserves to boot who all had their mugshots taken while at Tennessee. Can't spell THUG without UT, remember that?

Soooooo....I'd ask Mr. Smith, we didn't play street ball or anything remotely like it, in fact most posters I've read called it boring and we certainly were not having off the court issues anywhere remotely close to the Pearl Era, right? Expectation met, No? Name another successful college head basketball coach who has to meet the other expectation mentioned which is be out in the community like Pearl? My guess is this list won't be long. How many would take their shirts off, sit in the student section, sing Rocky Top? Coach K? Calipari? Maybe Barnes will surprise us, hope not though.

I think he could've written the article without referencing any of that. What did that have to do with Cuonzo? Did he take calls, emails, tweets from fans and they make racist remarks to him? That wasn't reported. He talked about the stupid petition of which there were countless bogus names.

And people need to get over their damn selves with the PC crap. If street ball offends someone then cry me a river. Hell, Pearl was the king of street ball and he's jewish not black. He also recruited some thugs.

The fact is Martin did very little to promote the team. That's ok if you're winning and have an exciting brand of basketball. UT was barely doing the first and not doing much of the latter. Again, anyone that came after Pearl was going to endure tough sledding. I said that all along. Cuonzo was given his big chance and signed a contract more than he probably ever dreamed he would make. He then parlayed that into another job for at least 3-4 years. If anything, he should be grateful that UT gave him the opportunity.

It also doesn't help when he has coaches on his staff putting out subtweets about it. That's high school bullsh*t. Now they've been pulled. Probably because either Cuonzo or Cal told them to delete them. Funny how that works when you act like a d*ck.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I guess people can have your take away, I just didn't get rampant racism out of it. The Cherokee CC thing happened. If people are upset that kudos weren't given to UT for hiring the first black SEC Coach as opposed to first in school history, I get that. However, what does that have to do with Cherokee CC, at the time the most prominent Country Club in Knoxville, not allowing him membership due to his race in 1989?

I saw the ESPN thing on Mr. King, my first inclination was not "he's throwing Knoxville and UT under the bus", it was "I wish that wasn't his experience, I wish he didn't feel that way."

Are you suggesting that Bernard King brought acts of racism on himself? Honest question.

I don't know what the point of your last paragraph regarding the team and the 15,000 in the stands is about or the point you're trying to make, respectfully. :hi:

Article is bringing up stuff from 29 years ago and from 40 years ago. WTF does that have to do with Cuonzo? Nothing but race baiting BS and Cuonzo enables it.

Bernard made poor decisions that resulted in several run ins with the law. It's not like a cop randomly pulled him aside and roughed him up. Bernard teared up for the camera talking about the cop being mean to him... but BK first decided to be intoxicated. BTW, BK was one of the producers credited in that ESPN 30 for 30. Don't suppose he had any influence to make him look like the victim do you? And before I get slammed for hating on Bernard, he's my favorite Vol of all time in ANY sport.

Last comment was because somebody on here said that racist whites like to be entertained by black people... so don't give the TBA crowd any credit for filling up the arena. 15,000 average was top ten in the country. The mostly white crowd wants TN to win... they didn't give two ****s that the team had no white players on the roster. But again, ESPN and that clown are depicting TN fans as racist rednecks.

 

[iKrager]

View attachment 102437

Stoked, I believe you have me confused. I nor Cuonzo said we had a racist fan base. Cuonzo said he felt racial tension here and that he was treated differently by our administration and fanbase. It wasn't the entire fanbase, but a select minority that treated him indifferently.

You know when you were with your friends in high school and they did something incredibly stupid you just happened to be apart of? Well you are guilty by association. What do I mean? Here's the analogy, if a select part of the fanbase treated him differently because he was black, then most likely he would associate the Tennessee fan base as a fan base who tends to be racist.

Do I believe we have a racist fanbase? No. But there are fans who are probably racist and put the good Tennessee fans in a bad spotlight. (And all fanbases have crappy fans, but we just so happen to be in national spotlight).

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I'd like to hear the questions that Mr Smith was asked... not just the answers. His answers are fine if he was asked about a coach teaching on court discipline and if asked if he thought that Cuonzo would be well equipped to mentor troubled, borderline young recruits with a troubled background.

Article was a complete hatchet job. Basilio invited the author to come on his show at any time. Guy dodged it big time on Twitter.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Stoked, I believe you have me confused. I nor Cuonzo said we had a racist fan base. Cuonzo said he felt racial tension here and that he was treated differently by our administration and fanbase. It wasn't the entire fanbase, but a select minority that treated him indifferently.

You know when you were with your friends in high school and they did something incredibly stupid you just happened to be apart of? Well you are guilty by association. What do I mean? Here's the analogy, if a select part of the fanbase treated him differently because he was black, then most likely he would associate the Tennessee fan base as a fan base who tends to be racist.

Do I believe we have a racist fanbase? No. But there are fans who are probably racist and put the good Tennessee fans in a bad spotlight. (And all fanbases have crappy fans, but we just so happen to be in national spotlight).

I hope that the Bay Area gangs celebrate diversity.

I wonder how much racial tension Condredge is feeling here.

 

[iKrager]

Why does any of this matter? We are happy he is gone.....he is happy he is gone.....if he fails to make the tourney this yr with the great recruiting class he brought in at cal it will get negative fast there as well.

Because he is winning the argument with facts, that's why it matters. The anti-Cuonzo group will continually sing praise to Bruce Pearl but slam Cuonzo Martin. Maybe, just MAYBE, Cuonzo was a half-decent coach at spotting, evaluating and developing talent. Hmm..