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Cuonzo Martin wants no part of conversations involving volcanoes, rainbows, whale-watching or Tennessee's showdown with No. 6 Duke at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii on Monday.
The Vols (1-0) play host to Louisiana Monroe (0-2) at 7 tonight in Thompson-Boling Arena, and UT's coach insists his focus does not go beyond that.
"Not at all, I'm just watching film of Louisiana (Monroe), that's the most important game,'' Martin said. "You can't take it for granted. We have to do everything in our power to win that game.
"You can't walk into a game situation thinking two or three games ahead.''
Martin explained his assistant coaches have split up the scouting duties, with Jon Harris scouting the Blue Devils, Tracy Webster preparing for a possible Tuesday game with Michigan and Kent Williams studying for Memphis should the Tigers beat the Wolverines in Monday's Maui Invitational action.
But for Martin, it's all about having UT ready for the Warhawks in what will be one of two non-televised men's basketball games this season.
Sophomore point guard Trae Golden, who's coming off a 29-point, nine-assist, six-rebound performance, said the Vols have bought into Martin's philosophy.
"As a team,'' Golden said, "we look at things one game at a time.''
Golden admitted he would be packing "Tennessee sweat suits and some swim trunks" this afternoon, as the Vols will fly to Maui early Thursday morning.
But, Golden also stressed, "We need to get the job done.''
While Louisiana Monroe might appear harmless — rated No. 324 out of 345 by the Sagarin (computer) Ratings after losses to Ole Miss (60-38) and Indiana State (71-59) — Martin said the Vols must complete certain objectives to control the game.
"We've spent a lot of time focusing on rebounding, offense and defensive rebounding,'' said Martin, whose Vols were out-rebounded by UNC Greensboro, 34-31, in Friday night's 92-63 victory.
Martin said the Warhawks run well in transition, and their motion offense can lead to layups if defenses don't stay disciplined.
Offensively, UT's point of emphasis remains the same.
"We want to get the ball more inside to our bigs, and really feed them so they can be aggressive and have a level of confidence,'' Martin said. "Just to make them feel good about getting the ball inside.''
Martin concedes 6-foot-9 Kenny Hall could use as much confidence as any of his interior players, but he doesn't want to pressure the foul-prone junior post.
"Kenny comes in to watch film, does a good job with that,'' Martin said. "I try not to put a lot of weight on him. It's early in the season. I don't want that to be a big concentration. He hasn't had a lot of touches.''
Hall played 16 minutes against UNCG as a result of foul trouble, making two of the three shots he attempted while grabbing four rebounds.
"But,'' Martin said, "you're talking about one game with 15 threes made. If you go 10 or 11 games and he's not productive, that's an issue.''
Volcanoes, rainbows and whales will have to wait another day.
Mike Griffith covers Tennessee men's basketball. Follow him at http://twitter.com/MikeGriffith32
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Comments » 20
CoverOrange writes:
You have to wonder why a reporter ever interviews a player. They never say anything interesting or revealing, as they have been taught to do. And if they do say something by accident it just become meaningless bulletin board material.
SummittsCourt writes:
LSU and SC lost tonight to cupcake teams. Vandy lost the other day to a cupcake team. Perhaps UT will do better this season than what some of you expect! I'm not saying the will overtake UK and FU, 3rd or 4th in the east is possible.
TDTN writes:
KNS, If you are posting an article a day early please acknowledge that somewhere! I surfed the TV several times looking for the ball game tonight. The article refers to the game TONIGHT when it is actually TOMORROW night.
VOLKING writes:
Yeah, because it's not like they do this every time. And it is so difficult for me to move my mouse up to the "Men's Basketball" section and click "2011 Schedule" and look at the date. People...they always post these articles the night before as a courtesy to the online viewing audience. Some people are just born to whine. Speaking of....where is Born2whine tonight?
Cobb_Webb_Attack writes:
Pearl was a fantastic recruiter, cheerleader, and organizer, but you rarely saw the kind of X's-and-O's adjustments made by Bobby Huggins or Bill Self. Should be interesting to see what category Martin falls in...
Orange_Pants_Buy_One_Get_One_Free writes:
FU
VOLinATL writes:
Cleveland State is not a cupcake team...
VOLinATL writes:
Maybe if you had actually read the article, you wouldn't have wasted your time, as it clearly states "non-televised game".
jemcrynlds#266342 writes:
Some here seem to be very poorly informed where basketball is concerned.
Not only is Cleveland St. not a stinker (may be an NCAAT team), but Coastal Carolina is about as good as LSU. A genuine stinker, though, is Elon over South Carolina.
SouthPaVol writes:
Stick with a strength, or as Clint Eastwood said, "A man has to know his limitations." Kenny shoots best while above the rim, shooting down--as in dunking the ball. I believe he was one of the team dunk leaders as a freshman?
Kenny will do well running the baseline and focus on backside offensive rebounding, then dunk the put back.
ProfessionalHandicapper writes:
Vandy is playing without 6'11 center and fisrt team ALL SEC Ezili for 4-6 weeks. He is ranked 5th best big man in America. He will be back full speed by the time the SEC starts. Dont read to much into an early season loss for a few good teams. Duke only beat Belmont by 1 point, its early.
johnlg00 writes:
Agree with all. I thought Darrin Horn was a good hire when he came to USCe from Western Kentucky, but he hasn't really gotten it done yet. If the Fightin' Chickens don't do better than they have so far, he might be gone soon.
johnlg00 writes:
I didn't see the whole game so I didn't hear Ezeli was going to be out that long. No question he is a difference-maker on that team and will be sorely missed as long as he IS out.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Hmmmm, I may as a Southern Conference fan have to as a rule disagree about Elon!? I don't really disagree but I may have to if they keep winning.haha
What was the article about? I forgot. No really I did!
mocsandvolsfan writes:
I liked Martin's comment about Hall "goes 10 or 11 games and he's not productive"??? Please not that many! I mean I understand Martin was using humor but for some reason I didn't laugh. I DO think that Maymon, Miller, and Woolridge will chip in and help. At least that seems to be the plan.Right now I wouldn't be surprised to see Woolridge and Miller get lot's of minutes...especially Woolridge. He and Maymon and Golden seem to be our coolest players thus far. I wish Woolridge would get a lot more aggressive underneath.
johnlg00 writes:
I haven't really seen as much out of Miller as I had hoped. Apparently the coaches agree, since he hasn't gotten many minutes on a team clearly in need of someone to complement Maymon on the inside. I AM pleasantly surprised by Woolridge. He is more assertive on the boards than at any time earlier in his career. He is also more selective, and hence more effective, shooting the ball.
Bubba_Knows writes:
So what channel is it on? I can't find it anywhere?
mocsandvolsfan writes:
utports.com under multimedia live audio and video feed
MartyDurham writes:
Just to set the record straight Cleveland state is not a cupcake. They Do however possess all the traits of the type of teams Vanderbilt always loses to in the first round every year.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
utsports's post game show has lost it's signal for a 2nd game!? I want to hear Coach Martin's comments.
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