Monday, March 20, 2000
Martin: 'I just felt helpless'
Injured UC star had hard time watching loss
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kenyon Martin sat through the whole 40 minutes, sat and squirmed as much as the cast on his broken leg would allow. His teammates needed him, and he was forced to watch.
This was the fourth consecutive season in which Martin was a part of a Cincinnati Bearcats team eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I just felt helpless, like someone had me in a cage, and I couldn't get out to do anything about it,” Martin said. “It was hard. And I'm pretty sure they all felt the same way.”
No one among the Bearcats took this defeat harder than Martin. He knew that with him, UC would have been far from this place, with a No.1 seed and a legitimate opportunity to challenge for the national championship.
He sat solemnly and answered questions about the defeat in which he played no part. Then, when he figured he was through, Martin was stopped again by reporters as he tried to escape the locker room. Because he was moving on crutches, he didn't get to the door quickly enough.
Martin will be a first-round draft choice in the NBA in a little more than three months, but he was in less of a hurry to remove himself from this defeat than some of the Bearcats who played.
“I'm not thinking ahead right now,” Martin said. “We just lost in the tournament. The season is done. So I'm not thinking about that right now.”
The Bearcats wanted to win this for Martin, or at least advance as far as possible, but they were not the sort of group to compose a big, emotional surge.
“I'm upset for Kenyon,” said freshman guard Kenny Satterfield. “He had a great season, and then for him not to be able to play in the postseason, and that's real hard on him.”
Martin was impressed that his teammates recovered from a 16-point deficit to grab a five-point lead, but he recognized there was too much time to relax.
“I knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk for the rest of the game,” he said.
Martin sat precisely where a coach does during a game, and he learned it's not a life he wants — certainly not now. It's too difficult not being able to impact affect the outcome of the game.
He had few thoughts on how difficult an opponent Tulsa was to play, even though he was as close to the floor as anyone in the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
“I didn't play. I watched,” he said, “and you can't tell too much from over there.”
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