Sam Scott: Martin’s First Year Marked By Improvement

What do you look for in a rebuilding team? Improvement.  It’s a sign that a coach can develop players, sell his game plan, and put a better basketball team on the floor. Cuonzo Martin’s 2011-12 squad has been marked by improvement, especially on defense.

Coming into the season, Tennessee was picked 11^th in the SEC, and to be honest, I didn’t expect them to win 5 in the conference, let alone be even close to .500.  Harris was gone, Hopson was gone (thank goodness). And all that remained was inexperience, and Cam Tatum.

Where are the Vols now? They are 15-13 have notched 7 conference wins, and upset UCONN and #12 Florida, twice.

The Vols are also taking care of business against teams they should beat like Arkansas, by 19 points, Ole Miss by 13 points, and Auburn by 15.

Jarnell Stokes has made an impact on this team, no doubt, but at the same time, Stokes wasn’t the catalyst for Tennessee’s surge, it was Martin.

This is a far cry from the team that lost to Austin Peay, Oakland, College of Charleston and Georgia.

The key to the improvement: Defense Say it with me, defense wins ballgames.

In December, Tennessee lost four straight games. @ Oakland, vs. Pitt, vs. Austin Peay, and @ College of Charleston. They gave up an average of 75 points per game across that stretch and only scored 68 points per game.  Here’s the FG percentages:

OAK 43.5 % – TENN 41.3 % -DIFF -2.2 %

PITT 42.2 % – TENN 45.1 % – DIFF +2.9 %

AP 59.1 % – TENN 46.7 % -DIFF -12.4 %

CofC 49 % – TENN 45.6 % – DIFF -3.4%

Tennessee Average Difference: -3.775%

Compare that to Tennessee’s last 4 game stretch. @ Florida, vs. Arkansas, @ Alabama, vs. Ole Miss.  The Vols have held opponents to an average of 62.5 points and scored 68.5. Opponents shot And here’s the FG percentages:

FLA 43.5 % – TENN 48 %  -DIFF +4.5 %

ARK  42.9 % – TENN 56 % -DIFF +13.1 %

**BAMA  37.0 % – TENN 34 % -DIFF -3 %

MISS 44.6 % – TENN 44.6 % – DIFF 0

Tennessee Average Difference: +3.65 %

**=Loss

When Tennessee plays defense, they win.  And that’s going to be the future of Tennessee Basketball. Defense. Defense. Defense.

Rebounding is huge, and Tennessee has to be able to make shots (see Kentucky game). But when the rubber hits the road, Tennessee plays defensive style basketball, and that’s where they will find their success.

Another thing I’ve noticed has been the maturity with this team. Early in the season, if Tennessee got behind, there wasn’t much of a chance of coming back. If the shots weren’t falling, the Vols would get frustrated and collapse. Wednesday night, Tennessee got behind 15-2 to Ole Miss. Cuonzo was able to switch things up on the floor and the bench led a surge back into the game and the rest of the team rallied.

This team has been evolving game in and game out. They just seem to improve and improve. They’ve bought into Martin’s game plan on the defensive end, they play tough physical basketball inside the paint, and have won impressive games this year.

If there is one thing Tennessee fans can take from this year, its that Cuonzo Martin is their guy and will be for a long time. And that’s exactly what this program needed in coach.