I've changed my mind about

[supersmo18]

Ok, I agree with that. However, I fail to see how that's lackluster coaching and not the players failing to do what they're supposed to.

If they are coached to get back and defend an up-tempo offense, and slow them down to take them out of their comfort zone, then why did we get eaten alive for the first 15 minutes of the game?

I just felt like we took too long to get them out of their own pace and disrupt them. I wanted to see us slow them down faster when we went down 8-0 early on. At that point, that's when I felt like we were in for a long night because Iowa was on, and we were not. I guess I'm not seeing how CCM encouraged the team to slow them down earlier than we actually did. So, using the term 'lackluster' is about as critical as I want to get, because we did win, and it was a great win, especially the way we dominated OT. So, like I said in my first post, I think it was a sufficient coaching job. A spectacular coaching job is a 35-point win against a now, #1 seeded Virgina, home game or not. We dominated that game, so I know we can play better than we did last night.

 

[Spartacavolus]

Lackluster? The players came out trying to play the Pearl way (the way so many "experts" on here think is best) and nearly got run out of the gym. With about 5 mins left in the 1st half, they started playing how Martin has been preaching his whole time here and lo and behold, a victory. A good victory in the NCAA tournament. Maybe, just maybe, it's the players not always doing what is asked and expected of them.

horse ****. We came out flat and passive while Iowa came out aggressive and with energy. We came out milking the shot clock down and forcing bad shots with no movement on offense. Most people that watch UT realize that has been an issue with CM teams, especially in crunch time or big games.

None of that has anything to do with Pearl, who you can't seem to go without mentioning more than a post or two, then post about other people posting about him.
You are incapable of analyzing what's on the court with objectivity, so let others do it.

 

[OrangeBalls]

CCM. I have been critical of CCM and the style of play exhibited by this team but I have changed my mind. Hearing the Iowa coach speak about the class that CCM and this team showed after the game convinced me CCM is the right man for the job. I say let's give him some time to grow as a coach and the best players in the country will want to play for him. He constantly talks about representing TN is a positive light. No discipline problems since he has been here. The man is a class act with incredible character. He will recruit players with character. It's only a matter of time before he will be extremely successful. You can't do things the right way and not get good results. He has my support and he now deserves an extension. JMO!:rock:

There has never been an issue in regards to his character. Everyone pretty much knows he's a guy that won't run afoul of the law. However, last night was one win against a team also seeded 11th. There's a reason both of us were in the play in game. Iowa had lost six of seven. They were a team in free fall. If not for their rallying around their coach, I think UT would've won in regulation. It's a step for the team and Martin though because we were previously 0-6 in games decided by 5 points or less this year. I just hope they got the jitters out of their system for Fri. The NCAA didn't do them any favors with the BS 2:45 EST start.

 

[Spartacavolus]

Yes. Our transition defense was awful in the first half.

I posted about this early in the year. Our transition d doesn't lack when we are aggressive on both ends. When we come out slow and work the clock, usually having 4 players standing still or forcing the pass to Stokes 30 feet away from the basket to start the offense, our defense lacks. Lack of aggression and movement on offense takes away the flow and intensity and teams beat us down the court. When jrich, mcrae and stokes are attacking early in the clock and often, our d always improves.

 

[whobethis16]

If they are coached to get back and defend an up-tempo offense, and slow them down to take them out of their comfort zone, then why did we get eaten alive for the first 15 minutes of the game?

I just felt like we took too long to get them out of their own pace and disrupt them. I wanted to see us slow them down faster when we went down 8-0 early on. At that point, that's when I felt like we were in for a long night because Iowa was on, and we were not. I guess I'm not seeing how CCM encouraged the team to slow them down earlier than we actually did. So, using the term 'lackluster' is about as critical as I want to get, because we did win, and it was a great win, especially the way we dominated OT. So, like I said in my first post, I think it was a sufficient coaching job. A spectacular coaching job is a 35-point win against a now, #1 seeded Virgina, home game or not. We dominated that game, so I know we can play better than we did last night.

They tried to take too many quick shots (I specifically remember a good defensive set followed by McRae trying to immediately push it hard, missing the layup, and then Iowa getting a nice easy bucket) and just physically can't get back quick enough like Iowa can.

I don't think Martin was telling them to not get back. But because of trying to run so much offensively they played right into Iowa's game, not ours.

 

[OrangeBalls]

horse ****. We came out flat and passive while Iowa came out aggressive and with energy. We came out milking the shot clock down and forcing bad shots with no movement on offense. Most people that watch UT realize that has been an issue with CM teams, especially in crunch time or big games.

None of that has anything to do with Pearl, who you can't seem to go without mentioning more than a post or two, then post about other people posting about him.
You are incapable of analyzing what's on the court with objectivity, so let others do it.

You would be better served talking to a 5 year old instead of trying to explain to him what is going on.

 

[supersmo18]

Yes. Our transition defense was awful in the first half.

Agreed.

I thought from about the 5:00 mark in the first half through the end they controlled it well. Fkrced Iowa into the half court game. Iowa still made shots but you could tell they were uncomfortable doing so.

That's what I wanted to see from the get-go, and it hurt us early. We're just not a team that gets to bounce back from big deficits very often and actually pull out the W.

I'm super pumped about this win, but we gotta play better defense from here on out from the opening tip-off to the end of the game. If we get past UMass, you'd better believe Duke (assuming they don't get upset) will try to run it on us. We gotta get our arses back and defend and slow those teams down if we want to have a chance. :hi:

 

[Sudden Impact]

CCM. I have been critical of CCM and the style of play exhibited by this team but I have changed my mind. Hearing the Iowa coach speak about the class that CCM and this team showed after the game convinced me CCM is the right man for the job. I say let's give him some time to grow as a coach and the best players in the country will want to play for him. He constantly talks about representing TN is a positive light. No discipline problems since he has been here. The man is a class act with incredible character. He will recruit players with character. It's only a matter of time before he will be extremely successful. You can't do things the right way and not get good results. He has my support and he now deserves an extension. JMO!:rock:

2nd....All Martin needs is a good PR guy...

 

[supersmo18]

They tried to take too many quick shots (I specifically remember a good defensive set followed by McRae trying to immediately push it hard, missing the layup, and then Iowa getting a nice easy bucket) and just physically can't get back quick enough like Iowa can.

I don't think Martin was telling them to not get back. But because of trying to run so much offensively they played right into Iowa's game, not ours.

Good grief, I hope not. If he was telling them not to get back, he needs to be fired. lol

But yeah, we pushed an offensive tempo too much early on with ill-advised 3s, and it gave Iowa chance to run back and score quick because we didn't get back on defense. Just wasn't a good recipe for success for us.

I'm just really proud of these guys for gutting it out like they did. Watching the emotion and intensity on McRae's and Richardson's faces was great to see.

 

[whobethis16]

Good grief, I hope not. If he was telling them not to get back, he needs to be fired. lol

But yeah, we pushed an offensive tempo too much early on with ill-advised 3s, and it gave Iowa chance to run back and score quick because we didn't get back on defense. Just wasn't a good recipe for success for us.

I'm just really proud of these guys for gutting it out like they did. Watching the emotion and intensity on McRae's and Richardson's faces was great to see.

Absolutely. This team (along with future Martin teams) can be a lot of fun when they do it all correctly.

 

[cncchris33]

I posted about this early in the year. Our transition d doesn't lack when we are aggressive on both ends. When we come out slow and work the clock, usually having 4 players standing still or forcing the pass to Stokes 30 feet away from the basket to start the offense, our defense lacks. Lack of aggression and movement on offense takes away the flow and intensity and teams beat us down the court. When jrich, mcrae and stokes are attacking early in the clock and often, our d always improves.

I agree. Last night, we needed to be more aggressive, but within the framework of our halfcourt offense (attacking the paint earlier in the shot clock instead of milking and settling for jumpers). We struggled offensively when we tried to score in transition, without setting up the offense, and then struggled to get back defensively after a missed shot in transition.

Iowa was just a bad matchup to try and run with. Once we realized it, we stopped trying. We still were stagnant offensively for much of the game, but we eventually decided to get the ball into the paint rather than continually settle for low-percentage shots.

Sidenote: I thought we attacked their 2-3 much better in the 2nd half and got some easy baskets as a result.

 

[Spartacavolus]

Good grief, I hope not. If he was telling them not to get back, he needs to be fired. lol

But yeah, we pushed an offensive tempo too much early on with ill-advised 3s, and it gave Iowa chance to run back and score quick because we didn't get back on defense. Just wasn't a good recipe for success for us.

I'm just really proud of these guys for gutting it out like they did. Watching the emotion and intensity on McRae's and Richardson's faces was great to see.

I don't know what game you guys were watching. We had no points and few shots early on. We weren't running down and jacking up 3's. We weren't even getting into our offense until @ 15-18 seconds left on the shot clock.

Having to throw up 3's because your offense is stagnant and the clock is running down isn't pushing tempo and shooting ill advised 3's. It's entirely the opposite.

 

[Spartacavolus]

I agree. Last night, we needed to be more aggressive, but within the framework of our halfcourt offense (attacking the paint earlier in the shot clock instead of milking and settling for jumpers). We struggled offensively when we tried to score in transition, without setting up the offense, and then struggled to get back defensively after a missed shot in transition.

Iowa was just a bad matchup to try and run with. Once we realized it, we stopped trying. We still were stagnant offensively for much of the game, but we eventually decided to get the ball into the paint rather than continually settle for low-percentage shots.

Sidenote: I thought we attacked their 2-3 much better in the 2nd half and got some easy baskets as a result.

I still think people get running confused with aggressively attacking the defense. We always score easier when we attack before the D gets set or early in the clock. When we don't get into our offense for @ 20 seconds as the guys are standing around, our d is usually affected.
That's pace without considering fast break points.

 

[lilesrt]

CCM. I have been critical of CCM and the style of play exhibited by this team but I have changed my mind. Hearing the Iowa coach speak about the class that CCM and this team showed after the game convinced me CCM is the right man for the job. I say let's give him some time to grow as a coach and the best players in the country will want to play for him. He constantly talks about representing TN is a positive light. No discipline problems since he has been here. The man is a class act with incredible character. He will recruit players with character. It's only a matter of time before he will be extremely successful. You can't do things the right way and not get good results. He has my support and he now deserves an extension. JMO!:rock:

What if we would have lost last night? Would you still be calling for his extension and singing his praise character wise? One thing tis true, our fanbase = Fickle.

 

[whobethis16]

I agree. Last night, we needed to be more aggressive, but within the framework of our halfcourt offense (attacking the paint earlier in the shot clock instead of milking and settling for jumpers). We struggled offensively when we tried to score in transition, without setting up the offense, and then struggled to get back defensively after a missed shot in transition.

Iowa was just a bad matchup to try and run with. Once we realized it, we stopped trying. We still were stagnant offensively for much of the game, but we eventually decided to get the ball into the paint rather than continually settle for low-percentage shots.

Sidenote: I thought we attacked their 2-3 much better in the 2nd half and got some easy baskets as a result.

I agree with all that. Some people on here, who'll remain nameless, took offense when they thought my saying they weren't playing like Martin wants but rather another coach played that I meant I wanted them to be unagressive. They just were trying to run too much like we've seen in years past and were getting burned for it.

 

[Chad F]

This was a good performance. Would like to see another win or two in this year's tournament to feel better about Coach Martin, but I agree that this last part of the season (to include the win over Iowa) has been encouraging. Win or lose, I am a Tennessee Volunteer!!!

 

[tennrich1]

18-21 year olds are always going to do stupid stuff. It's really just a question of how the coach handles the situation. Short of a felony or poor play, what did it take to get dismissed by the last coach?

On to recruiting...Maybe you should give the players a chance to play before you write them off as bad recruits. Stokes and Richardson are both Martin guys and they both looked great last night. Thompson looked great and should have had 3-4 assists if not for players being fouled at the rim. Most importantly he had 0 turnovers. Moore had 4 pts and 3 assists in 12 minutes..not bad at all. Then you have to factor in that his most heralded recruit is in street clothes. Martin came to U.T. with a reputation as a good recruiter and a good talent evaluator. He is finding guys that can / will play in his system. I think he would rather have guys that fit than guys who have more stars. Purdue plays the same system and they went with a strategy of signing the "best" player available in terms of stars, and they have ridden that strategy to the bottom of the Big 10. Martin knows what he's doing.

While I agree with most of your assessment we MUST be honest about D. Thompson . I think he can someday be an effective point guard at this level , he looked anything but great last night. An it's ok because he's a freshman. Many parts of his game needed major improvement and in time he will.

 

[kiddiedoc]

I don't know what game you guys were watching. We had no points and few shots early on. We weren't running down and jacking up 3's. We weren't even getting into our offense until @ 15-18 seconds left on the shot clock.

Having to throw up 3's because your offense is stagnant and the clock is running down isn't pushing tempo and shooting ill advised 3's. It's entirely the opposite.

That's what I saw, too. I got chastised last night for suggesting that we needed to push the tempo, but our offense in the first half was stagnant, riddled with ill-advised threes, and failed to capitalize on our advantageous match-ups.

 

[drewtigeralum]

While I agree with most of your assessment we MUST be honest about D. Thompson . I think he can someday be an effective point guard at this level , he looked anything but great last night. An it's ok because he's a freshman. Many parts of his game needed major improvement and in time he will.

I can remember at least 3 passes of Thompson's that lead directly to fouls at the basket. He came in, gave Barron a chance to chill out, and didn't turn the ball over. He also came up with a nice steal. I agree, that he has plenty to work on and maybe I should rephrase...he played great in relation to his skill and experience level.

 

[hatingbamaisawayoflife]

lol...
bunch of people on the bandwagon after Pearl not available...:ermm::ermm::ermm:

 

[jimallvol]

CCM. I have been critical of CCM and the style of play exhibited by this team but I have changed my mind. Hearing the Iowa coach speak about the class that CCM and this team showed after the game convinced me CCM is the right man for the job. I say let's give him some time to grow as a coach and the best players in the country will want to play for him. He constantly talks about representing TN is a positive light. No discipline problems since he has been here. The man is a class act with incredible character. He will recruit players with character. It's only a matter of time before he will be extremely successful. You can't do things the right way and not get good results. He has my support and he now deserves an extension. JMO!:rock:

I agree with you 100%

 

[JettVol]

wait to see where this board goes, if we beat Umass, and then Duke. He might be able to win the governor of Tennessee if that were to happen.

 

[BigBadVol]

What if we would have lost last night? Would you still be calling for his extension and singing his praise character wise? One thing tis true, our fanbase = Fickle.

Yes, I would. I saw a team fighting for their coaches future. And I saw a team that made me proud that they represent UT. I was wrong about CCM earlier this year. It was frustration. And after watching the locker room celebration it made me like CCM even more. He will succeed at UT, in my opinion, if he is given a little more time.

 

[zjcvols]

That's what I saw, too. I got chastised last night for suggesting that we needed to push the tempo, but our offense in the first half was stagnant, riddled with ill-advised threes, and failed to capitalize on our advantageous match-ups.

I just wanted to them be quicker breaking the press. I disagree with Sparty a good bit, but he's right on this. when teams try to press us we need to beat it quickly as possible, then set it up to run the offense.

 

[Nuctech777]

Oh, we can't get Pearl? Well, I guess I like Martin now