This is all fact.
1. Few if any fans directed any racism towards Cuonzo. I put any assertions otherwise in the category of Swamp Donkey's phantom death threats. Even if one or two people did something wrong, it was not attributable to the fan base. It's like the media blaming the entire fanbase for the kid that painted the Schiano stuff on the rock. One idiot does not tarnish an entire fanbase.
2. The petition for Bruce was dumb. You have to acknowledge that. When engaging in formal debate about Cuonzo-gate you must admit the stupidity of the petition or you lose all credibility and moral high ground.
3. The reasons people didn't like Cuonzo were very simple:
- the teams felt like they started out super slow.
- it felt like we weren't really a contender if/when we made the tourney (which was once btw)
- it felt like he was squandering our national standing and we were regressing to the pre-Bruce years.
- his basketball style is boring AF.
4. Worries that the program was regressing were exacerbated by the fact that his recruiting classes were unbelievably underwhelming. They offered no hope for the future.
5. The Sweet 16 year didn't feel like an accomplishment. It felt like we played terribly, finished relatively hot, had to play in a play in game as one of the last four teams let in, and then were the beneficiary of getting to play Mercer in the round of 32 due to an upset. Just didn't feel like a lean forward, we willed our way to the Sweet 16 as a contender type of year.
4. The "third best record in the SEC" narrative is garbage. The SEC was unbelievably down and we were clearly nowhere near as good as we were during the Bruce years. People wanted to see that directionally that he could get us to where Bruce had us.
5. Cuonzo has sucked everywhere he has gone since for the exact same reason he sucked at Tennessee. Piss poor starts. Boring basketball. Missing the tournament. The only difference is that suddenly he can recruit and, you know what? He can't do sh** with top recruits either.
He's a great man on a personal level. HIs story is inspiring. But he's not a good basketball coach if results are what you are looking for. Butch got taken to the woodshed for "five star hearts" and building better men. Those are all fine and good but college basketball is a business and he has shown known capability ever to contend for a title of any kind. I'll be happy for him if that changes at Mizzou but I doubt it.
The end.
1. Few if any fans directed any racism towards Cuonzo. I put any assertions otherwise in the category of Swamp Donkey's phantom death threats. Even if one or two people did something wrong, it was not attributable to the fan base. It's like the media blaming the entire fanbase for the kid that painted the Schiano stuff on the rock. One idiot does not tarnish an entire fanbase.
2. The petition for Bruce was dumb. You have to acknowledge that. When engaging in formal debate about Cuonzo-gate you must admit the stupidity of the petition or you lose all credibility and moral high ground.
3. The reasons people didn't like Cuonzo were very simple:
- the teams felt like they started out super slow.
- it felt like we weren't really a contender if/when we made the tourney (which was once btw)
- it felt like he was squandering our national standing and we were regressing to the pre-Bruce years.
- his basketball style is boring AF.
4. Worries that the program was regressing were exacerbated by the fact that his recruiting classes were unbelievably underwhelming. They offered no hope for the future.
5. The Sweet 16 year didn't feel like an accomplishment. It felt like we played terribly, finished relatively hot, had to play in a play in game as one of the last four teams let in, and then were the beneficiary of getting to play Mercer in the round of 32 due to an upset. Just didn't feel like a lean forward, we willed our way to the Sweet 16 as a contender type of year.
4. The "third best record in the SEC" narrative is garbage. The SEC was unbelievably down and we were clearly nowhere near as good as we were during the Bruce years. People wanted to see that directionally that he could get us to where Bruce had us.
5. Cuonzo has sucked everywhere he has gone since for the exact same reason he sucked at Tennessee. Piss poor starts. Boring basketball. Missing the tournament. The only difference is that suddenly he can recruit and, you know what? He can't do sh** with top recruits either.
He's a great man on a personal level. HIs story is inspiring. But he's not a good basketball coach if results are what you are looking for. Butch got taken to the woodshed for "five star hearts" and building better men. Those are all fine and good but college basketball is a business and he has shown known capability ever to contend for a title of any kind. I'll be happy for him if that changes at Mizzou but I doubt it.
The end.
