The Tennessee men's basketball players "graduated," as new coach Cuonzo Martin put it, into some offensive drill work Saturday afternoon at Pratt Pavilion.
"It's going to be 75-25 (percent ratio) defense to offense early on for us,'' Martin said. "You graduate to the offensive side, where you learn to run your set plays and your techniques.''
The limited offensive work wasn't anything dynamic, but the insertion of motion-offense principles was a necessary step for Martin as he prepares the Vols for the upcoming season.
"If anything is going to look sloppy right now, I'd rather it be the offense,'' Martin said. "But one thing is the guys were all cutting hard off the screens, and that's a good thing.''
Martin said the biggest surprise through the opening practices is how well the incoming players have handled the level of intensity.
"The returning players, the veterans, like Cameron Tatum, they understand what's expected at this level,'' Martin said. "From an experience standpoint, all the players are on the same level with me, because they've never played for me.
"But the big thing is everyone is competing, so I've been pleased with that.''
Closed Practice: Today will mark the first closed regular-season practice. Almost all of the Vols' individual drill work practices were closed to fans and the media in August and September, but Martin said he would keep most of his regular-season practices open to the media.
"We're going to do some defensive one-on-one work and take some charges,'' Martin said. "There are going to be times when I want the guys to be able to fight it out without an audience.''
Threes Are Falling: While the Vols have been very limited in their scrimmage opportunities, it has been hard not to notice how many 3-point shots are falling in skeleton drills.
Trae Golden and Skylar McBee both appear to be shooting a high percentage.
"Me and Trae were kind of in the same boat last year, as far as not really being sure when or where to get our shots,'' McBee said. "When you're not sure it's your shot to take, that's tough.
"But I've seen Trae hit time and time again in open gym and practices. If Trae's open, I want him taking the shot 10 out of 10 times.''
Tobias' Take: Former UT Freshman All-American Tobias Harris still hangs out with his old teammates while taking four classes during the NBA lockout.
Harris said he's seeing Martin
make the kind of impact he expected.
"I can see how hard the guys are working, and you can tell they are committed to Coach Martin,'' Harris said. "All the hard work they've done will pay off. I see guys working harder on their own than last year.''
Summitt Healing: UT walk-on guard Tyler Summitt said he's still "three or four weeks" from participating in full-contact drills as he recovers from Aug. 24 surgery on his left wrist to remove scar tissue.
Mike Griffith covers Tennessee men's basketball. Follow him at http://twitter.com/MikeGriffith32
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Comments » 22
CoverOrange writes:
I remember stories reporting such and such was banging shots in practice last season also. Lack of confidence, lack of direction, lack of chemistry, who knows. Not working on offense much, it will take a while for all three to develop. Defense is important, but outscoring the opponent has worked in the past.
budd#207344 writes:
I am glad to hear that Tobias is in school while the lockout is continuing. He will make all Vol fans proud in the future.
Prostar writes:
We are not going toe-to-toe with anyone and expect to win. We are going to have to be tough defensively to stay in the game. I like his approach and TH's comments about them being tougher than last year. I look for good things to happen and we'll surprise some folks.
born2ride writes:
Martin stresses defense and is putting the players through extremely tough work outs. But we no longer have the talent to compete on a national level. Our best players are the Pearl leftovers. The guys Martin brought in are not the same quality as Pearl recruited. It is going to be a long year. We can't win in the SEC with MVC level talent.
rclarkvols#224537 writes:
Stephon and Seth Curry weren't highly recruited either. One is now in the NBA at the other is at Duke. Sometimes can't miss do miss and underrated turn into all stars. Just have to wait and see.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
It's Sunday afternoon and I'm too sleepy to commeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepi=[[[[
Ironcity writes:
A big Yawn for you.
sameolvolalum writes:
He/she's a born2loser.
Big_Orange_Rocketman writes:
I seem to remember a university up I-75 that had a flamboyant coach that left and was replaced by an assistant who put his team through "tough work outs" and demanded that his players play extremely strong defense. He left because that teams fans wouldn't accept 26+ wins a season. The last I checked he's not doing too bad in Minnesota. You need to give the coach more of a chance than Mr. Houston got. Instead, you criticize him before the team has played in practice to any amount of time. Give this coach at least three complete recruiting seasons before make any rash decisions. Unless, Rickrat or a coach of his (Cali)ber comes knocking at bargain basement $$$$ salary request . Who knows, if you checked around, there maybe even a former player that wants a head coaches job.
sly_stone99#434111 writes:
To sum this up his point guards are going to need at least a year under their belt in running his motion offense. Coach Martin knows the kind of player he is going to have to go get in order to compete against the Kentuckies and Florida's. He needs time.
GiveHim6TDTennessee writes:
You obviously don't know Jack S*** about the Valley. Remember when Pearl's all-stars played Wichita State as a "mighty" 2 seed with our "superior" SEC talent? If I remember correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong, they completely wiped our arses right off of the court. The Valley, in a lot of ways, is just as good as a basketball conference as the SEC. Lofton, JaJuan Smith, Dane Bradshaw, etc etc weren't considered "MVC quality" yet they got us to the NCAA tournament every year thanks to work ethic, heart, and determination. *s don't mean anything in basketball, what matters is the amount of time you put in the gym, your understanding of the game, and the overall quality of the team 1-12. If you don't know anything about basketball, don't say anything about basketball.
GiveHim6TDTennessee writes:
That goes for all of you, if you don't know or understand basketball, don't bother to comment. No one wants to hear your negative BS anyway. Just because you've watched basketball your whole lives doesn't mean you understand 5% of the dynamics of what's going on on the court.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Hmmm? How many drinks you have at 1:30 pm? You seem a bit irritated. We have have something to say and that's ok I guess. It's why we come on here right? Get your self a punching bag.lol
mocsandvolsfan writes:
btw barntworile is an idiot...no offense
mocsandvolsfan writes:
You mean give more of a chance than Tubby Smith got? If you meant Houston fine but it sounds like you confused them. Houston and Green and others weren't given enough time really. But hey that's modern overpaid coaching. It's hard for me to feel for anyone making the money they did and probably still do. As far as Tubby's concerned he's done very well in Minnesota.
I'd say 3 complete recruiting seasons is one too few in Martin's case...unless he turns it around sooner. I don't think UT needs to buy another coach's departure! But it's not my money. If it was they'd get paid a dollar a week with a chance for a decrease in a week or so.
PHAT_VOL writes:
Coach Martin will keep the Vols going. Picking up where Pearl left off. A different style but a more team orinted style. Go to youtube and take a look. Very disciplined team. Look at last years team that played us down to the wire. Can't waite!!
We're gonna like it. I know!
calvolfromkingsport writes:
All true Vol fans need you here(drinking or not!)Keep it up, the vast majority just want the Vols to compete.
Big_Orange_Rocketman writes:
I used Tubby only because the fans never gave him the credit he deserved for the '98 championship. By the next year, there was already rumbling and grumbling that continued thru the end. Which I seem to be hearing too much of on this blog beginning before Coach Martin's even had a chance to exhibit this team's potential. These people must have wanted Bill Self, Coach K, or Roy Williams to have been at least courted. As for Coach Houston, common sense shows that the only reason he was brought in was Allan. He was (at Whoville) a great recruiter but, after his son left, his time was cut way to short as was Greens. And no, I don't think you give him the ten years Tubby got but, 26+ wins a year speaks for itself. By the way, when you find ANYONE employed at the university that will sign a contract with the terms you laid out, let us know.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
Yep Big Orange Rocketman...btw I agree with every thing you said I think. The salary terms I laid out were based on what I could afford not what coaches deserve. So you coaches out there don't get riled at me. I don't expect to be hiring any coaches soon...well never!
I don't think any of our former coaches who left, or were fired, let go whatever were given time to turn any thing into something that might be called a finished product...if there is such a thing. Green especially.I wasn't necessarily happy with what he did or didn't do with the talent he coached while here but I just think coaches need a few years at least to be called a failure. It's really fishy to me to turn a program around in one year. But hey I still hope Martin does it.
hueypilot writes:
There wasn't a bigger bigot in sports than Adolph Rupp and that is not even worth an "arguably." Only one coach removed from the Man in the Brown Suit, (Joe B.) comes Tubby. Do you really think the bluegrass faithful shed their bias that quickly to embrace a black coach? Particularly the Wildcat old grads and big boosters? I don't. Tubby was always underappreciated so he left.
As for the two styles of bball (Pearl's vs. Martin's) and I'll be the first to admit I don't know squat about strategy or systems, how many times under Pearl did we need to get the ball in the hands of a shooter for a last gasp effort and we watched someone"create" their own shot. Many times resulting in a desperate low percentage heave. After Lofton left there were scant few guys able to create and make the big bucket. How many times did you guys see a screen set for McBee to give him a relatively clean look at a 3 pointer? Nope. I didn't either. Was Bruce a one scheme guy, that once opposing coaches adjusted to it, he was done? His history in Knoxville would indicate that, but like I said, I'm no bball coach or analyst so I'll look for others to enlighten me.
johnlg00 writes:
Though I hate to present myself as an analyst, per se, I agree with your observations. I commented often on the lack of a true half-court offensive strategy for most of Pearl's teams. Pearl talked often of a motion offense, the so-called "controlled chaos" system, but the fact was that nearly all of the passing and rather more limited player movement was intended to make the opposition play defense for the whole shot clock. Then hopefully one of the Vol offensive players would be able to beat his man one-on-one in the last seconds of a possession.
A true motion offense is a continuous system built on passing, cutting, and screening away, hoping to create an advantageous situation at ANY TIME in the possession. If the first evolution produces a high-percentage shot for a capable scorer, then the offense can score quickly; if not, the motion continues until a good opportunity appears later.
The difference is that while Pearl's offense wanted the mere fact that the Vols possessed the ball for 20+ seconds to force the opposition to play active defense for a whole possession, a true motion offense, such as I hope Martin plans to use, forces the defense to play hard because a scoring attempt may occur at ANY time in the possession. Pearl's offense seemed to allow the defense to simply rest for 20+ seconds each possession since they came to know that the Vols' offensive motion was as much for show as it was to create a true scoring opportunity.
Since this year's Vol team will have a number of players who are more or less interchangeable in terms of size and talent, ANY player has an opportunity to score. This team may well have any of a half-dozen or so players be the high scorer in a given game, though I do hope someone like McRae or Tatum can become the go-to guy when the team REALLY needs a big bucket.
mocsandvolsfan writes:
I keep seeing the words "true vol fans" at times on here. While I know what you mean maybe someone should define that for everyone.
True vol fan definition- Anyone pulling for the vols at anytime any sport and at any place. For example I consider myself a UT Chattanooga fan I'm a Georgia, Vandy, Memphis, Georgia tech. MTSU well you get the picture.
I'm also a govolsXtra fan so my personal preference is for all fans to be civil and respect each other. Which is why I suggested a punching bag earlier. That said I thought the poster's comments were fine and even funny. The "manly banter" on here can be fun if no one takes it too seriously.
Now the real reason I wanted to post again is John's comments above. That's the kind of posting I come on here to read. Information, opinions, and knowledge! All 3, if available.haha
However John please don't tell Tatum he may be a go to guy 'cause I think that makes him nervous...actually last year he was injured a bit as well so maybe he isn't nervous?
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