First of all -- Starkville really doesn't know how to bring it.
Since I know 1 State fan and he was similar to you in a Mayberry hometown and bad haircut kind of way I am going to assume that you didn't mean to offend.
Second -- didn't go to the game but watched a portion of it on T. V. and saw way too much of your coaches wife standing and cheering - not that there is anything wrong with that.
Third - have they fined you guys again for those stupid cow bells?
Fourth - can't tell if Coach Martin is > than Coach Pearl but so far he has had fewer illegal Bar-b- q's.
Fifth - those two coaches are almost polar opposites in their personalities but I like them both. I think the conference as a whole misses Pearl because he was a personality. He was a promoter, an entertainer, just a fun person to have as a part out the UT family. His teams were typically good and played hard particularly in TBA.
Sixth - In about half our games - we have appeared to have the better coached team including in the game against State. State - appeared to have better athletes at a couple of positions and of course was the beneficiary of the SEC officials home court calls which surprises no one.
Seventh - Coach Martin is your typical dry - no nonsense coach. I have found his in game coaching and adjustments to be a little lacking but on good days his players play extremely hard and do a lot of the things that good teams do so in-between games I would contend that they are extremely well coached.
Eighth - Pearl was probably the best recruiter that the basketball program has ever had at UT although there were certainly a few misses mixed in. We are in a wait and see to determine how well coach Martin does in recruiting. So far he has missed on a couple of recruits just like Pearl did.
It will be very telling if this team continues to improve and battle -- if you see us in the NIT tournament at the end of the year Coach Martin will have done a great job this season.
If he can recruit a good 2 or 3 to go along with who we have coming back next year -- you will likely see us back in the NCAA tournament.
If he and/or his assistants prove to be good recruiters Coach Martin will be very successful imo because he does a good job with fundamentals and his teams play with a lot of intensity and heart. In some respects it is too early to judge -- but so far it looks like he is doing a pretty good job.
