Hey cuonzo

[BigBadVol]

Really. Since Tennessee' first appearance NCAA tournament in 1967, only 2 Tennessee Men's Basketball teams have won 3 games within the same NCAA tournament. Martin's 2014 team was 1 of the 2.

Were you one of the 10,000 racist idiots?

It’s always the racist that brings up race. Always. Go virtue signal somewhere else racist.

 

[jessiej86]

Seems like I remember CM saying he didn't need a true point guard to win in his system. Think he might have learned something from this game?

 

[Volsfaninva917]

I have no comment on all this. Except for what happened at his wife's business? That was uncalled for. Still sicken me.

Remind me again what happened here?

Were the police involved?

 

[kiddiedoc]

3800

Looked more like 800 on TV

 

[Butch s]

Really. Since Tennessee' first appearance NCAA tournament in 1967, only 2 Tennessee Men's Basketball teams have won 3 games within the same NCAA tournament. Martin's 2014 team was 1 of the 2.

Were you one of the 10,000 racist idiots?

HAHAHA Another one of you people, racist blah blah blah, racist blah blah blah. Grow up and ACT like you have some sense

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah bunch of racist, neo nazi, klan members who wanted a jewish guy as coach.........

Had Tennessee not hired Martin away from Missouri State he would have been fired from there and likely just an average joe in the corporate world.

Come on, now...

I'm the furthest thing from a Cuonzo zealot, but at least be honest about his situation in your criticism.

Your above, bolded statement, couldn't be further from the truth. He had improved Missouri State each of his three years, there, and had just won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title in his third year as head coach, and just narrowly missed winning the conference tourney, losing by 4 to Indiana State in the championship game.

He wasn't anywhere close to being fired. There are plenty of reasons to criticize him without the revisionist history.

 

[Savannahbayvol]

Thanks for leaving.....looks like there was about 3800 at the arena tonight

I thought when we hired Cuonzo it was a home run hire. Probably 75% of recruits have the same life he did, born to a single mother, made it out of the projects to Purdue and the NBA and survived cancer. For some reason it just didnt resonate evidently.

He was treated unfairly here, but not because he was black but because he wasnt Bruce Pearl. Was disappointed when he played the race card.

 

[wmcovol]

I don’t recall Cuonzo claiming he was fired.

He did throw the race card out because fans weren’t excited about his program that was basically a 2 1/2 year root canal. He also trashed the program such that almost everyone but a few seniors (JR, AM, etc) transferred out.

I know he doesn’t get any credit but Tyndall did a great job putting a competitive team on the floor after all of that.

 

[walkenvol]

I thought when we hired Cuonzo it was a home run hire. Probably 75% of recruits have the same life he did, born to a single mother, made it out of the projects to Purdue and the NBA and survived cancer. For some reason it just didnt resonate evidently.

He was treated unfairly here, but not because he was black but because he wasnt Bruce Pearl. Was disappointed when he played the race card.

I disagree that he was treated unfairly here. He was given an opportunity to step up from a mid major and paid $millions to run our program and put an exciting successful product on the floor. He knew he was following CBP and should have known how high the bar had been set. He wasn’t delivering at that level and was feeling the heat so he resigned to take another job. It’s not that complicated.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

I see three arguments in this thread.

1. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not a very good coach. His teams tended to choke away games late and as the past several years have taught us, he is not a very good head coach.

2. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not Bruce Pearl. That is true as well. He didn't have the flair, he wasn't in public as much, he didn't run the same type of offense.

3. Cuonzo was mistreated by a portion of the fan base because of his skin color. Let's not have revisionist history here. A portion of the fan and booster base mistreated him for that reason. Those closest and playing within the program have said the same thing. After 3 years, Coach A was 57-44 with 1 tourney win and 1 postseason appearance. Coach B was 63-41 with 3 NCAA wins and 3 postseason appearances (NIT and NCAA). Coach A was Rick Barnes, Coach B was Cuonzo Martin. Look at how they were treated by the fanbase after Year 3. This isn't a a UT issue but it's an issue in all leagues today. It's how guys like Jim Caldwell and Tony Dungy get fired after 1 bad season but guys like Jeff Fisher can sputter around for a decade after their peak.

 

[allen phillips]

Card carrying atheist Democrat here. 100%. But what the hell dude? Cuonzo is straight butt cheeks as a coach. And……he is also black….omg.

Well, you did get one out of three right. Congrats

 

[cncchris33]

I disagree that he was treated unfairly here. He was given an opportunity to step up from a mid major and paid $millions to run our program and put an exciting successful product on the floor. He knew he was following CBP and should have known how high the bar had been set. He wasn’t delivering at that level and was feeling the heat so he resigned to take another job. It’s not that complicated.

I do think it's fair to say that he wasn't given much of a chance from the beginning by a decent portion of our fanbase simply because he wasn't Bruce Pearl, though.

People were upset that their beloved coach was fired, despite the reasons for it. Something they enjoyed was stripped away from them, and nothing was going to adequately replace it. Especially not the anti-Bruce Pearl, which is what Tennessee targeted in the search to replace him. They wanted someone safe and who wasn't going to run afoul of the NCAA. They knew what kind of personality he had, what kind of offense he ran, and what kind of contrast he would be. They got what they wanted, but it wasn't what the fans wanted because the fans only wanted one thing (person). None of that is Cuonzo Martin's fault.

The end of his tenure was low-rent and disappointing despite the oncourt success. He pitted his players against the fanbase as some half-hearted motivational tactic, and then slipped out thru the night on Tennessee's dime to interview for the Cal job. Any respect I had for him flew out the door with those decisions.

 

[Ttucke11]

I see three arguments in this thread.

1. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not a very good coach. His teams tended to choke away games late and as the past several years have taught us, he is not a very good head coach.

2. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not Bruce Pearl. That is true as well. He didn't have the flair, he wasn't in public as much, he didn't run the same type of offense.

3. Cuonzo was mistreated by a portion of the fan base because of his skin color. Let's not have revisionist history here. A portion of the fan and booster base mistreated him for that reason. Those closest and playing within the program have said the same thing. After 3 years, Coach A was 57-44 with 1 tourney win and 1 postseason appearance. Coach B was 63-41 with 3 NCAA wins and 3 postseason appearances (NIT and NCAA). Coach A was Rick Barnes, Coach B was Cuonzo Martin. Look at how they were treated by the fanbase after Year 3. This isn't a a UT issue but it's an issue in all leagues today. It's how guys like Jim Caldwell and Tony Dungy get fired after 1 bad season but guys like Jeff Fisher can sputter around for a decade after their peak.

The petition came out when it looked like we were going to miss the tourney for the third straight year, before the team went on a big run. He inherited Golden, Maymon, McCrae, Tatum, got Stokes(good job), got Jrich, and still lost to Oakland, Peay, and Charleston year 1. Started out the next SEC season by going 1-4 and not able to dig out of the hole with another talented roster. We were dead in the water until our run at the end of year 3, after the petition was already out. Then he started yelling racism. Plenty of people on here criticized Barnes after year 2 (and to this day). Cuonzo quit because he got super butt hurt. That run is about the only redeeming quality in his coaching career.

 

[Volfansince1980]

I see three arguments in this thread.

1. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not a very good coach. His teams tended to choke away games late and as the past several years have taught us, he is not a very good head coach.

2. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not Bruce Pearl. That is true as well. He didn't have the flair, he wasn't in public as much, he didn't run the same type of offense.

3. Cuonzo was mistreated by a portion of the fan base because of his skin color. Let's not have revisionist history here. A portion of the fan and booster base mistreated him for that reason. Those closest and playing within the program have said the same thing. After 3 years, Coach A was 57-44 with 1 tourney win and 1 postseason appearance. Coach B was 63-41 with 3 NCAA wins and 3 postseason appearances (NIT and NCAA). Coach A was Rick Barnes, Coach B was Cuonzo Martin. Look at how they were treated by the fanbase after Year 3. This isn't a a UT issue but it's an issue in all leagues today. It's how guys like Jim Caldwell and Tony Dungy get fired after 1 bad season but guys like Jeff Fisher can sputter around for a decade after their peak.

Your coach A and coach B comparison is asinine. Coach A had 600 wins and a Final Four appearance at a Power 5 school coming in. That tends to give Coach A a little more latitude. Coach A also inherited a mess of a program as where Coach B still had highly touted players from the previous coach. People tend to want to use the race card when something doesn't go a certain way for a person of color in a given profession. The way I see it anyone that leans on this crutch generally does so because they can't be successful on their own merits. If Cuonzo was winning at a high clip and didn't have to have winning streaks just to get into play in games, he could have wrote his own ticket. Coach B played the race card because he couldn't get it done here and people wanted Pearl back. Not because of race, but because of success.

 

[rottcreek]

He belongs in high school coaching.

 

[calban]

Good grief. Talk about old news and worthless threads.

 

[walkenvol]

I do think it's fair to say that he wasn't given much of a chance from the beginning by a decent portion of our fanbase simply because he wasn't Bruce Pearl, though.

People were upset that their beloved coach was fired, despite the reasons for it. Something they enjoyed was stripped away from them, and nothing was going to adequately replace it. Especially not the anti-Bruce Pearl, which is what Tennessee targeted in the search to replace him. They wanted someone safe and who wasn't going to run afoul of the NCAA. They knew what kind of personality he had, what kind of offense he ran, and what kind of contrast he would be. They got what they wanted, but it wasn't what the fans wanted because the fans only wanted one thing (person). None of that is Cuonzo Martin's fault.

The end of his tenure was low-rent and disappointing despite the oncourt success. He pitted his players against the fanbase as some half-hearted motivational tactic, and then slipped out thru the night on Tennessee's dime to interview for the Cal job. Any respect I had for him flew out the door with those decisions.

I respect your opinion, but it’s impossible for me to see someone given an opportunity and $millions as a victim. He inherited several strong pieces. Recruit hard and put a product on the court that’s competing for league championships and he would still be here. I sure wish I’d been given such an opportunity to fail in my lifetime. Dude has now failed at 3 different P5 jobs and gotten rich in the process but some folks think (not saying you) it’s because of some bias due to his skin color.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

I see three arguments in this thread.

1. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not a very good coach. His teams tended to choke away games late and as the past several years have taught us, he is not a very good head coach.

2. Cuonzo was mistreated because he was not Bruce Pearl. That is true as well. He didn't have the flair, he wasn't in public as much, he didn't run the same type of offense.

3. Cuonzo was mistreated by a portion of the fan base because of his skin color. Let's not have revisionist history here. A portion of the fan and booster base mistreated him for that reason. Those closest and playing within the program have said the same thing. After 3 years, Coach A was 57-44 with 1 tourney win and 1 postseason appearance. Coach B was 63-41 with 3 NCAA wins and 3 postseason appearances (NIT and NCAA). Coach A was Rick Barnes, Coach B was Cuonzo Martin. Look at how they were treated by the fanbase after Year 3. This isn't a a UT issue but it's an issue in all leagues today. It's how guys like Jim Caldwell and Tony Dungy get fired after 1 bad season but guys like Jeff Fisher can sputter around for a decade after their peak.

I think #2 was the biggest reason. He and Pearl were 180 degree's different in personality and style of BB. He didn't like talking to the media and he didn't like talking to the students. Pearl was great at both. He basically was just not a good fit following Pearl and its on the AD that hired him.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

The petition came out when it looked like we were going to miss the tourney for the third straight year, before the team went on a big run. He inherited Golden, Maymon, McCrae, Tatum, got Stokes(good job), got Jrich, and still lost to Oakland, Peay, and Charleston year 1. Started out the next SEC season by going 1-4 and not able to dig out of the hole with another talented roster. We were dead in the water until our run at the end of year 3, after the petition was already out. Then he started yelling racism. Plenty of people on here criticized Barnes after year 2 (and to this day). Cuonzo quit because he got super butt hurt. That run is about the only redeeming quality in his coaching career.

I remember being in Nashville at the SEC Tourney in 2013 when they played bad and lost to Bama in Y2. The stuff I heard that day from a small minority of our fanbase was disgusting. If I heard it that day, you know he heard it and his spouse heard it at her business.

Barnes got criticized for sure after Y2 but nothing to the extent that I heard that day in Nashville.

 

[whobethis16]

I respect your opinion, but it’s impossible for me to see someone given an opportunity and $millions as a victim. He inherited several strong pieces. Recruit hard and put a product on the court that’s competing for league championships and he would still be here. I sure wish I’d been given such an opportunity to fail in my lifetime. Dude has now failed at 3 different P5 jobs and gotten rich in the process but some folks think (not saying you) it’s because of some bias due to his skin color.

Of those 4 one guy listed (Golden, Maymon, McRae, and Tatum), the most productive guy in 2010-11 (Pearl's last year) was Tatum at 8.8 points. Combined, the four averaged 16.2/ppg. That's not exactly stellar. Yes, they developed, but it's not like he walked into a stable full of high productive returning players.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

I think #2 was the biggest reason. He and Pearl were 180 degree's different in personality and style of BB. He didn't like talking to the media and he didn't like talking to the students. Pearl was great at both. He basically was just not a good fit following Pearl and its on the AD that hired him.

I still think #1 is the biggest reason. Winning cures a lot. If we got to the Final 4 winning 50-45 each game, people wouldn't complain. Since Cuonzo wasn't a great coach, people gravitated towards other reasons to dislike him.

The entire last year of Cuonzo's tenure was an example of our administrative incompetence. Pearl was available and our AD could have shot down the thought of bringing him back and not let the petition gain steam. He didn't and they created a huge distraction.

 

[SouthKnoxVol70]

Why even bash another coach ? Seems this thread is stooping to something a Kentucky fan would post .

 

[walkenvol]

Of those 4 one guy listed (Golden, Maymon, McRae, and Tatum), the most productive guy in 2010-11 (Pearl's last year) was Tatum at 8.8 points. Combined, the four averaged 16.2/ppg. That's not exactly stellar. Yes, they developed, but it's not like he walked into a stable full of high productive returning players.

So you’re saying those 4 aren’t “several strong pieces”?

 

[cncchris33]

I respect your opinion, but it’s impossible for me to see someone given an opportunity and $millions as a victim. He inherited several strong pieces. Recruit hard and put a product on the court that’s competing for league championships and he would still be here. I sure wish I’d been given such an opportunity to fail in my lifetime. Dude has now failed at 3 different P5 jobs and gotten rich in the process but some folks think (not saying you) it’s because of some bias due to his skin color.

Well, there is quite a bit of room between what I said and calling CCM a victim. I didn't even insinuate that. Like you said, it's difficult to paint someone making millions of dollars as a victim.

The "several strong pieces" he inherited were not strong pieces when he inherited them.
•Tatum: 8.8 pts, 3.1 rebs, 2.3 assts (and bad knees)
•Golden: 3.0 pts, 1.1 rebs, 2.2 assts
•Maymon: 2.6 pts, 2.8 rebs, 0.2 assts
•McRae: 1.8 pts, 0.8 rebs, 0.0 assts
That is what he inherited. Potential? Sure, but next to nothing in terms of production. In fact, you could argue that CCM and his staff are the reasons for their development.

Lastly, we agree that he isn't even average on his best day, as a coach.

 

[Falcons02]

Really. Since Tennessee' first appearance NCAA tournament in 1967, only 2 Tennessee Men's Basketball teams have won 3 games within the same NCAA tournament. Martin's 2014 team was 1 of the 2.

Were you one of the 10,000 racist idiots?

I'm probably as left politically as anyone on this board, and this is a ridiculous and stupid take.

Coach Martin was judged by his coaching merit while at UT, not the color of his skin, and deserved every bit of heat he received.

Good riddance to a really, really bad basketball coach.