Barring any transfers. We will have all our major pieces back. Next year we can just build on this year. Lavin wont have to experiment w the lineups early on.
Some will say good news: all the major pieces will be back next year... bad news: that includes the coaches.
Lets not bury the coaches until the season is over, plenty of games left
I think no matter what happens, those posters who want to bury the coaches will still, and always will want to, bury the coaches. I'd love to see us win the BE tourny, make the NCAAs and go deep there. I'll bet you the "bury the coaches" gang will still be flaming away.
Yep, I guess there is always something to complain about- even after wins. What Lavin is wearing, Greene shot too much, why was Felix activated, Dom is a punk, Chiles is out of shape-- these were posted after Stj won! Can't even enjoy a W
So all is well then?
All isn't well, but the things some of the fans complain about seem trivial. My guess is we will beat Creighton and the take away will be the lack of fans at the game- so again another negative after a W.
So let me just get this straight.
If we beat Creighton nobody can make a comment about the lack of fans at the game?
If anything I expect that to come from the rah rah side of the fan base not someone down on Lavin or direction of program.
Oh and I agree coaches wardrobe is a joke of a discussion. As is the physique of our coaches. But in terms of redshirts, and what happens on the court and the actions of a player for going on 3 years now I think that is more than in the wheelhouse as topics for discussion. Regardless of if we win by 40
No one is questioning the appropriateness of commenting on aspects of the team, game, etc. And I haven't seen anyone post that everything is fine.
There is always room for improvement. I'm sure the 'Cuse fans even believe that. But the negativity on this board, even after a good stretch as we've had, is mind boggling. I guess it depends on how one lives his or her life; glass half-full or glass half-empty.
Are you being serious right now? Room for improvement? Michigan State fans say there's still room for improvement. Villanova fans might be saying there's still room for improvement. We stunk for 3 months straight, and have been playing good basketball for about 2 1/2 weeks. We have a football field sized space for improvement.
We have huge holes in our players' lack of development, our coach's ability to manage a game, and an enormous cloud of uncertainty looming in the future because we're on track to once again be the youngest team in the world and start this cycle all over.
Everyone's glad the team is winning and playing better. That brightens everyone's day. But there are fundamental problems with the program.
That doesn't mean I don't root hard for coach and the guys, I do. And I'd love to see them make a run down the stretch here. But there are serious causes for concern and reasons to think the team is not headed in the right direction.
So, now that you stated your case, is it that the players aren't talented enough? Or is it that the team is talented but didn't win, either by the player's fault or the coaches fault? I have a very good feeling that you would have to think about the answer before you blurt it out.
What is the fundamental problem with the program? What is it to you at the most basic element, the core of the program, that is fundamentally wrong?
So, in this football field size of player development gap, who could be tremendously better if they were developed? Sampson? GG? Hooper? Harrison? Sanchez? Jordan? You must mean an upperclassman, because you can't pin this on a freshman or sophomore.
How is four wins out of five in conference not the right direction? I thought wins were the most important thing.
If you want to state that the team isn't talented enough or that we have recruited the wrong kids, you'd better be prepared to go on record stating who was out there that Lavin passed on that could have been helping this team. Because there isn't a single player receiving serious minutes that I wouldn't want on my roster. However, we'd all like 5 top 50 players, but I don't see that Lavin decided to focus on 50-100 because he liked those kids better.
If you think the fundamental problem is Lavin and his staff, call Chris Monasch, and tell him to roll the program back 4 years and start over. I'm sure he'll agree with you.
I didn't even need to blink Beast, 110% it's the staff. Are the players perfect? No, but no group is. This group however is extremely talented, but has not developed. I don't have a big problem with
who Lavin brought in. If I were doing it myself I may have swapped out an athlete for a slower player who could shoot or rebound better. But that's nitpicking, and I'm not here to do that. It would also be Monday morning quarterbacking because I was fine with the recruits when we signed them. And by and large I still am.
And no four of 5 wins is not the right direction. You're looking at a two week time-frame, zoom out to the larger picture and we are most certainly not headed up up and away. We are poised to be about two wins better than last year. And taking into account that Harrison didn't play the last 4 games, we're maybe a game better than we were a year ago. One more win in a significantly weaker conference is not improvement when you return 96% of your scoring, rebounding, and minutes played.
Coach's mistakes against Depaul, Providence, and Xavier cost us at least two wins. Just on him alone, for doing stupid sh*t like putting Max in the back-court when the opponent didn't need to foul yet.
And the fact that he took until February to figure out the starting lineup and rotation that 99% of the fan base was calling for in November is borderline coaching malpractice. Everyone, and I mean everyone, knew that the rotation needed to be shorter, that we were shooting ourselves in the foot by playing Felix, Ndaye, Max, and Marco. It was also blatantly obvious that Phil should not be alone in the backcourt with Dangelo. We have two point guards and one should always be on the floor. Again, it took him till February to notice this. I knew it, you knew it, Tarik Turner was calling for it. It was as damn obvious as any coaching decision could be.
Yet he tweaked and played around like he had nothing to lose. Well guess what... his experimenting in all likelihood is costing this team a tournament birth.
And then you have the recruiting fiasco. And yes it's a fiasco. Before you go all ballistic, understand that I know Lavin is a good recruiter, a very good recruiter actually. I will be the first to compliment him on his ability to close on a player. He signs an unholy amount of the players he targets. Incredibly impressive.
But we have no one signed for next year. And there are no significant recruits left. Every other major program in D1 has largely finished their recruiting for the year.
Georgetown, Villanova, Xavier, Marquette, Seton Hall, Providence, Creighton have all signed their top 100 prospects. This is nothing like years past because there is no player equivalent to Sampson, Jordan, or Obekpa who is left unsigned that we are even remotely involved with.
So, that leads to two results: 1) we don't sign anyone and in two years we have the youngest team ever assembled (again), or 2) we sign the type of 2 and 3 star recruits who don't have the talent needed to succeed at this level.
Is the sky falling? No. But this is not good. Playing sh*t basketball for 75% of the season and blowing your chance at the post-season is not being on the right path, even if you get hot towards the end of the year.
I understand optimists, I do not understand those that are delusional. Look at the glass that is our program and say it's half-empty or half-full, that's fine... but don't tell me it's a full glass.
