Big C said:
BeachedBear said:
Big C said:
Nathan, thanks for a great and knowledgeable post. Personally, I had no problems with Cuonzo Martin's departure. While he did not prove to be the greatest on-court coach here, and was also not a very strategic recruiter, he always had my respect. Good for him for landing a higher paying job, near his home area. I have always wished him well.
I think Nathan was reacting to isolated, but 'loud' opinions of Martin.
I actually think Big C's portrayal is a more accurate reflection of the majority opinion on Cuonzo - both here on BI and in personal interaction with the fanbase. I would add two items:
1. His coaching/prep is unbalanced in that some more time spent on offense at the expense of defense would probably have meant better overall results.
2. His end of tenure behavior - primarily at the NIT game - was unprofessional and inexcusable. That really hurt his credibility. Many fans were lost during that 40 minutes.
I was AT the NIT game (and I know not too many people can say that). What was his behavior at the game that was "unprofessional and inexcusable"? Was he disengaged? Since EVERYBODY AT HAAS THAT EVENING was disengaged, I really didn't notice. He fit right in.
I really don't recall anything he did or didn't do during the game. What I do recall is that I hightailed it out to my car, in time for the post-game show, which he did (yes, he was somewhat disengaged) and the last thing he said was, "Go Bears".
The very next day, gone. Obviously, he had had one foot out the door.
I was also at the game a few rows behind the bench. There was a lot to be seen, that may have not shown up on TV:
1. The first notice, was basic body language and energy during warmups. Although this is pretty subjective - it was a far cry from any previous game.
2. Second was the introductions. As players were introduced, they looked as they had been sentenced to be hanged. Clear hang dog looks by Ivan and others signaled that something was very wrong.
3. Third was players efforts during the game. Their seemed to be no structure from the bench on either end of the court as if to say - 'lets just get through this'. No adjustments by coaches, no reaction, heck, not even that much fiji water.
4. Fourth and this was the biggest issue for me. There were numerous times that Cuonzo was not focusing on the game, but turning to his assistants and saying things that did not appear to have anything to do with the game. This happened a number of times and the reaction by assistants and players was obvious.
The team was not prepared. The coach was not engaged. The players were not supported. The fans were insulted. It was clearly a different experience than any other game coached by Cuonzo
I know a lot of that sounds like loose interpretation of feels and looks - but it was so overwhelmingly obvious, that it can't be discounted much. Everyone would have been better off if Cuonzo stayed home that day and left it to an assistant.
