Great Read (although some of us look stooopid...)

#26
#26
How much of the response is to Cuonzo Martin and how much of it is down to the way the administration bungled the firing of Pearl?

With the 11:59 PM interview with Hyams, ADMH gave away the intent to fire Pearl without really giving any of the reasoning behind it. In the way it was presented, it became more about betrayal than about recognizing that NCAA sanctions would make keeping Pearl untenable.

Following that up with a hire that (I think it's fair to say) most of the fans had never heard of led to some predictable results. At least Hamilton didn't publicly denigrate the job this time, I guess.
 
#27
#27
LynxVol said:
The guy's been a HC for all of 3 years. He's won a regular season championship and one post-season championship. He took a team with 5 scholarship players from an 11-20 record to a 24-12 record.
Click to expand...

Post season championship? He won the CIT championship. That doesn't impress me.
 
#28
#28
oklavol said:
Post season championship? He won the CIT championship. That doesn't impress me.
Click to expand...

:eek:lol:

Honestly, if you were expecting a coach with 3 years experience as a HC to have an all-star, earth-shattering resume, then you are delusional.

Let me reiterate this point, he has been a HC for a whopping three years.
 
#29
#29
Ravenheart said:
You see?
Unlike some on this board, this guy did his homework. This is what happens when you judge based on knee-jerk reactions in the heat of the moment. It just makes us all look spoiled rotten. But I digress...

I like the hire. I don't love the hire, but I think that Coach Zo has so much upside that he has the potential to be a great coach for us. Players who come to come to play for him WILL play hard, I can assure you.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

Note to Ravenheart:

Please, for the love of all things holy, use a Normal font!

It makes you look like a child begging for attention every time da-da turns away for half a second.

I can't take you seriously when everything you type is done in the style of Times New Roman.
 
#30
#30
globadoc said:
Jerod at MidwestSportsFans has written an emotionally charged blog post on Coach Martin (See here) that actually has me somewhat fired up about the guy. As I've stated before, if we had hired the waterboy at Prairie View A&M, I'd be ready to cheer him on and hope for the best. Instead, we got a well-regarded young coach that others decent (if not better) basketball programs would love to have.

But also in the story, Jerod talks about how some of us are making the Vol nation look stupid with our comments. For instance, Clay Bleeping Travis is tweeting like a dumbazz again, not to mention Steven Pearl (hacked. right.).

Keep it civil, folks!
Click to expand...

Did you notice this little tidbit from the article:

Purdue is at least 2X as good a job as Tennessee is.
Click to expand...
 
#31
#31
LynxVol said:
:eek:lol:

Honestly, if you were expecting a coach with 3 years experience as a HC to have an all-star, earth-shattering resume, then you are delusional.

Let me reiterate this point, he has been a HC for a whopping three years.
Click to expand...

UT hired Pearl who made it to the sweet 16 at Miwaukee. UT made it to the elite 8 last year, but we couldnt find a coach with some experience in the NCAA tournament??
 
#32
#32
LynxVol said:
:eek:lol:

Honestly, if you were expecting a coach with 3 years experience as a HC to have an all-star, earth-shattering resume, then you are delusional.

Let me reiterate this point, he has been a HC for a whopping three years.
Click to expand...

Interesting stats from the article:

Number of appearances Bob Knight had in the NCAAT before being hired at Indiana? Zero.

Number of Appearances Coach K had at Army before being hired at Duke? Zero. Zero NIT wins, also.
 
#34
#34
oklavol said:
UT hired Pearl who made it to the sweet 16 at Miwaukee. UT made it to the elite 8 last year, but we couldnt find a coach with some experience in the NCAA tournament??
Click to expand...

Pearl was also at UW-Milwaukee for 6 years. He was at UT for 7 years.

If you're so hung up on NCAA tournament appearances, Missouri State had a VERY good case to go this year. They won the regular season and got upset in the conference tournament by a far less talented team. It happens.
 
#35
#35
lylsmorr said:
Interesting stats from the article:

Number of appearances Bob Knight had in the NCAAT before being hired at Indiana? Zero.

Number of Appearances Coach K had at Army before being hired at Duke? Zero. Zero NIT wins, also.
Click to expand...

Indeed. There are many more examples, too. But, using Coach K and Knight as examples definitely gets the point across better.
 
#36
#36
lylsmorr said:
Interesting stats from the article:

Number of appearances Bob Knight had in the NCAAT before being hired at Indiana? Zero.

Number of Appearances Coach K had at Army before being hired at Duke? Zero. Zero NIT wins, also.
Click to expand...

I thought that was a bad comparison. Service academies aren't the same. Neither is the NCAAT now as it was then, as has been hashed and rehashed in Mears vs. Pearl arguments.
 
#37
#37
dknash said:
I thought that was a bad comparison. Service academies aren't the same. Neither is the NCAAT now as it was then, as has been hashed and rehashed in Mears vs. Pearl arguments.
Click to expand...

Mears vs Pearl had a lot more years and changes in between them than Coach K vs Martin, I believe. And you must not know the train wreck that Martin took over. Having them win the MVC in year 3 is astounding.
 
#38
#38
Not arguing that Martin didn't do impressive things at MO St. Just that Knight and Krzyzewski's records at Army don't apply. Somewhat like bashing George Halas for not winning enough Super Bowls (to a lesser extent).
 
#40
#40
lylsmorr said:
Do tell.
Click to expand...

Because none of Missouri State's recruits have to serve tours of duty?

For Knight's tenure, only 22-25 teams made the tournament. Army was an independent, so I'm not sure how the process for selection would have gone for them, but at that time, only one school per conference could make it. Anyways, he was 102-50 and made the NIT 4 times, reaching the semifinals 3 times.

Krzyzewski coached from 76-80 (5 years) at Army. The first three, the tournament was at 32, moving to 40 and 48 in his final two years. Army was still an independent. Smaller field and no conference tourney auto-bid.

Now the NCAAT has 68 teams, and Missouri State could have gotten in if they had beaten Indiana State. The tournament is large enough that it is now realistic for MVC teams to receive at-large consideration also.

I would argue that Knight, especially, distinguished himself at Army to a level consistent with a modern-day mid-major coach that consistently makes the field.
 
#41
#41
This article is the definitive statement on the Martin hire to date. One may quibble with a point or two, but any argument against the Martin hire that doesn't address the substance of this article is pretty much disqualified in my humble estimation.
 
#42
#42
Interesting article from the prospective of a Midwest sports writer, who grew up as an IU fan, watching Martin at Purdue.

Here is a small excerpt from the long article:

But here’s the rub Tennessee: you treat your basketball job like it’s a destination – like Brad Stevens would leave Butler to run to Knoxville, or like Cuonzo Martin is somehow lucky you offered him a job.

Wake up.

Tennessee isn’t even on Brad Stevens’ radar, and you’re only getting a respected young coach like Cuonzo Martin because you acted quickly and didn’t wait around like the Clay Travises of the world wanted you too.

My prediction is that in 5-6 years, ‘Zo will have used his success in Knoxville as a stepping stone to a better job, probably in the Big Ten.

Sure, that might not happen. It’s no guarantee. Tennessee certainly has the money to keep top coaches if they want to, and the SEC is a premier conference that offers plenty of benefits to an ambitious coach like Martin.

But the point remains: Cuonzo Martin is not the lucky one tonight; Tennessee basketball is. Clearly – from the tweets and comments and message boards posts – it’s going to take a little while for that to sink in, but eventually it will. And then you’ll know why so many people from the Midwest applauded this hire from the moment it was announced.

Cuonzo Martin has already proven himself to be a very good young coach, but more importantly he’s proven himself to be an ever better man and an impeccable example for every player who will play for him at Tennessee. For an athletic department that has often lost its way over the last decade in choosing to cut corners and compromise ethics in the name of winning, you should be proud to hire a man who has never had nor taken the easy way out on his difficult, bumpy, cancerous road to success.

Tennessee fans, this may come as a shock to your elitist sensibilities, but you have proven tonight that you don’t deserve Cuonzo Martin. The least you could do is not wait until he’s winning to appreciate him.

Cuonzo Martin Hired as Tennessee Head Basketball Coach - Slam Dunk Hire Despite Fan Reaction
 
Last edited:
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top