When I see team after team failing at a school, I think change needs to start with administration. How do you know the problem is Mox? Maybe she has only been able to get undisciplined recruits bc the money and reputation for sports just aren't there? Or school policies/traditions prevent her from running things the way they need to be?.Sometimes money does fix things. If Duke makes it to the final four in the next 4 yrs, it will very much be money that puts them over the hump. Money allows you to get the pieces you need vs just finding good parts to work with.
Teams that lack resources can still show signs of competence. I remember watching a UVA vs. Louisville game 5-6 years ago and came away thinking that there's no way that Tina Thompson should be a head coach anywhere, let alone the head coach for a Power 4/5 flagship university. The final score wasn't terrible, but you could tell by watching the actions of the players that they weren't well coached. They made mistakes that high school players typically don't make.
I was surprised by VA's gameplan with Lattimore. The commentators kept raving about her 6'4 frame and 6'9 wingspan. But she sat at the top of zone all night. Meanwhile they gave up so many 3's and got destroyed on the boards.
As someone who's had connections within a prominent athletic department before, I've been privy to how things operate behind the scenes. UVA's athletic department doesn't appear to be running smoothly, as the AD has botched hires in the more prominent sports (football, for example). Tony Bennett's resignation was not really on her, so I won't give her grief about it. However, she badly botched one women's basketball hire and looks to have hired another dud on the level of Joanne Boyle.
Yes, I'm well aware of the pretentious nature of many (but not all) UVA alums. 2019 was a painful time for me (as someone who does not root for their men's basketball team). I'm not here to denigrate UVA's academic reputation because, outside of Duke, Stanford, ND, and Cal, it either holds its own against or exceeds that of the other ACC institutions. But I am well aware that the UVA diehards see their school as Diet Harvard. And even though it's not, the academic reputation is still lofty enough to be a draw for recruits.
Because Alexis insinuated that the money would be "transformative" and he announced it in front of all the young women. Hard for that to be the case if one player gets $500K while the others get $10K. Also, he's Serena's husband--so I'd like to continue to think highly of him.
Coaching (or lack thereof).
I'm not talking about academic policies. UVA will take almost anyone academically. I can tell by the current roster and it was like that when I went there.
I agree with that 100%, as I'm not someone who believes that Coach Kara is the sun, the moon, and the stars (she's got her faults, which can rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune times). That said, she's shown herself to be a pretty good coach without those immense financial gifts (something that Mox hasn't done). She's not Marissa Young good, but she's good. She wasn't my first (or second, or third) choice, but she's done reasonably well so far--all things considered (navigating COVID, having to consider Duke's academic reputation during recruiting battles, washing away the stench of the previous coach, etc.). If the NIL money that Duke is set to receive over the next year takes the program back to true national prominence, then it doesn't matter to me that Kara isn't Dawn, Kim, or Geno.
I agree with the bolded part, but it's not unreasonable to expect the team to look competent now. They hardly ever do, which is a major concern for a coach in her third season of ACC basketball. Neither she nor her assistants knew the ACC landscape two seasons ago, so them getting blasted during conference play didn't surprise anyone. But for them to be 0-2 at this point with a double-digit home loss to an average BC team and a 41-point loss to ND (not even their worst loss of the season) is concerning. It suggests that there's no progression. They should be in the, "we're not going to beat the teams at the top, but we'll make things difficult for them" phase. Instead, they aren't even beating the teams they should beat while getting annihilated by those teams at the top.
Lattimore hasn't been a back to the basket/in the paint player going back to her highschool days. It's not her thing.
Lattimore was a player who I thought looks like she could develop into a star. But the ball movement was so poor that she didn't get enough inside looks where she could score.
Just to be clear, I am not knocking Lawson at all. She is what has gotten them to where they are now, but it is nearly impossible to get a championship without a play maker and playmakers require robust NIL.
Oh I know you weren't--and neither was I. And yes, it's going to be hard for Duke to win conference titles and compete for national titles without a true All-ACC caliber talent at PG. Fortunately, I think that Kara will have a few options to seek out/work with next year.
Well so far there are six teams that have given up more than 100 to FSU so the number is growing. Of course having women's basketballs leading scorer facilitates high scores. I wonder what would happen if it was your team?
They can't, which is why teams (especially those that are undermanned--for whatever reason) should not be playing to their strengths (hence my original post on the matter). Slow them down and make them work the ball around. Shorten the game. You don't have to have All-ACC talent at all positions to accomplish this (FSU certainly doesn't have that)--it's Coaching 101. Trying to play fast/run with them plays right into their hands.
The Pack looked great today. Saniya Rivers was dominant, she came out the gate and set the tone with scoring, pushing tempo, making some elite passes, defense and rebounding. She was everywhere.
Fantastic fourth quarter got them over the hump. 24-13 fourth quarter holding Miami to one point in the final 3:31 was most impressive to me.
How hard is it to look top 25 against BC? Let me know when State beats a real contender.