| 12 January 2012
This post is not aimed at 100% of Volunteer fans. There are plenty of the Big Orange faithful who have jumped on-board and gone "all in" with Coach Cuonzo Martin, his staff, this group of players and Coach Martin's vision for the program. This post rather is written for the two segments of Vols fans that have not taken the plunge with our hard-nosed coach from East St. Louis.
Here is what I have read (from the anti-Martin crowd) on message boards, Facebook, Twitter, etc. in regards to Coach Martin and his Vols.
Disgruntled Vols fan #1: "Coach Martin better enjoy his short stint in Knoxville. When Coach Pearl's show cause runs out, Bruce will be back coaching the Vols. I'll watch 'em then. He's (Bruce) still living in Knoxville. It will happen."
Disgruntled Vols fan #2: "I'm just simply not watching this team because Coach Martin was a bad hire, and it's boring defensive oriented basketball."
For disgruntled fan #1, quit living in the past. The Pearl era at UT is over. Period. As evidenced from my prior posts on CBC, I love Bruce Pearl. His energy, passion, coaching ability, etc., they're all great attributes. With that being the case, Pearl will have some challenges ahead of him when he decides to throw his hat back in the ring. Pearl had a tremendous coaching staff behind him that helped him tremendously during his six years in Knoxville. Steve Forbes and Jason Shay are now leading the top-ranked Junior College in all of the land, and it's pretty obvious they would not want to battle from the trenches with Pearl ever again.
Also, don't y'all (with the #1 disgruntled fan mindset) believe that there's been just too much damage, pain, angst and drama between Pearl, the University, the NCAA, etc. to ever go back? It's why a man can love a woman and vice versa, but they aren't together because of their past. This couple realizes there has just been too much water under the bridge to have a firm foundational relationship. That's where the Vols are with Pearl in my opinion. Pearl loves the University and vice versa, but there has simply been too much crap that has happened for it ever to be a successful union again.
And now for disgruntled Vols fan #2, did you happen to see highlights from the Florida game? These guys play like their hair is on fire for Coach Martin. Swiperboy (Renaldo Woolridge) seemed to never improve under Pearl. Now he's a totally different player - getting tough rebounds, dunking in traffic, shooting 3's with confidence. Another player who is playing better for Martin than he did for Pearl is Kenny Hall. Is that due to experience, getting older or coaching? I think it's all three, but Coach Martin is clearly getting more out of the young man than Coach Pearl ever did.
Also, have you seen Trae Golden and his slimmed down frame? Coach Martin's off-season workout regiment is tough, intense and has these guys in peak physical condition. That screams "great hire" to me. The team plays hard every possession because they have the physical endurance to do so. Also, if you think defensive oriented basketball is boring, we'll just agree to disagree. Have you seen Freshman Josh Richardson get after it on the defensive end of the floor? He may be limited offensively and young, but he plays hard-nosed defense which earned him a start against the Gators. I can watch guys get after it like Derek Harper and John Starks defensively all day long, and if you are a fan of the game of basketball, you should be able to watch it too.
Cuonzo Martin is not a temporary seat filler at the helm of the program at the University of Tennessee. He's the long term answer; it's time to go all in.
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