ATHENS — Three words tend to come up repeatedly when coaches and players are asked to describe the style of Tennessee basketball under new coach Cuonzo Martin — hard, physical and defensive.
As in, “they play extremely hard,” “they’re very physical” and “they’re very defensive-minded.”
“He has them playing extremely hard defensively,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox, whose Bulldogs (9-8, 0-3 SEC) play host to the Vols (8-9, 1-2) on Wednesday night. “They’re physical in the low post, they’re shooting the ball well and they’re playing with great confidence. I think he really has his team buying into a new way of playing.”
Last March, Martin succeeded former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, who was fired in the wake of an NCAA investigation that revealed multiple indiscretions. He arrived in Knoxville from Missouri State, where he led his teams to 61 wins in three seasons, including 26-9 last season.
Martin played for Purdue under Gene Keady alongside Glenn Robinson during one of their stronger periods, which included an Elite Eight run. That low-post oriented, focus-on-rebounding style appears to be the cornerstone of Martin’s philosophy.
“They’re taking on his personality,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose top-10 team eked out a 65-62 win in Knoxville on Saturday. “They’re playing hard and grinding, and they’re going to be a physical, half-court defensive team that gives you one tough shot and rebounds with toughness.”
The Vols’ losses have included defeats against Austin Peay and College of Charleston, and they rank in the bottom of the SEC in most defensive stats.
“The challenge more than anything is our personnel, our players getting to know me and understanding me,” Martin said. “And also me as a coach getting to our personnel while you’re going through games. A lot of times you get a feel for guys when you’re actually live in games as opposed to practice.”
But the Vols still have players. As Fox pointed out, “they didn’t have a coaching change because of a lack of talent.”
Two of Tennessee’s leading players are Georgians. Sophomore guard Trae Golden of Powder Springs leads the team with a 14.2 points per game scoring average and has 91 assists. Sophomore small forward Jordan McRae of Midway has averaged 9.9 points per game.
Last week the Vols added another impressive player to their roster. Jarnell Stokes is a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward from Memphis who graduated from high school early and played his first game Saturday after just six practices. He had nine points and four rebounds in 17 minutes against the Wildcats.
In the meantime, both Georgia and Tennessee likely will view Wednesday’s game as a potential victory. The Bulldogs are seeking their first SEC win after opening with a stretch that included three of the league’s better teams in Alabama, Florida and Vanderbilt, the latter two on the road.
Georgia showed marked improvement in Nashville, holding a brief second-half lead and getting within two in the final four minutes. But the Bulldogs could not close the deal and lost 77-66.
“We need to play well for 40 minutes,” Fox said. “Not 33, not 36. Forty. Hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”
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