KnightBridgeAZ
Grand Canyon Knight
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 5,474
- Reaction Score
- 9,565
Well - as usual I have different ideas from @azfan. Not about the new hire - it was a good one. Not a home run on paper, but given her attitude and drive I can only see a steady improvement during her tenure. This season, not so much, of course, but going forward. . . What her ceiling is, if any, would be the only question.
And I'm just being blunt. As an example, Jim Foster was a wonderful coach for decades, may even be in the WBB hall of fame, close friend of Geno's, coached National Teams for things like the Pan Am Games, etc. - but his ceiling was pretty much the Sweet 16. There was a streak when he was at Vanderbilt where he got there almost every hear. Not sure he ever sniffed a Final Four. Not sure Adia will ever reach another one. Not sure Burke will ever reach one. Remains to be seen.
But as to some of Adia's comments, I'm sorry, but I don't disagree with all of them. She always would have been served well not to have said things she said, but the audience at her radio shows (not said on air), chalk talks and other events didn't share widely. Even I edited them. She was brutally honest as she saw things, and oblivious to the fact that remarks could be hurtful to others, especially if you didn't know what she was talking about.
I'm not sure she was talking about her successor specifically, but hires this year have been weird. Still, many coaches in the power schools come from mid-majors and how you decide they are qualified beats me. That said, in todays NIL world, there is a wide difference between coaching at a mid major with mid-major talent and a P4 school, regardless of talent.
Adia has always praised the play in the PAC versus the Big 12, whose style she didn't care for and certainly said so. We were not built to contend against a number of the Big12 teams and, guess what, we didn't. I have said many times, I just didn't think Barnes built a team and used them well.
Where I strongly disagree with your comment is the development of players - she was fairly good at the technical aspects of that; I don't know what your unprepared is about but it wasn't game planning. Every chalk talk we attended was spot on. If weak at anything that way, it was keeping players "on point" and making half time adjustments. And Arizona doesn't have much NIL available, never mind athletic funds, at least at the present time.
My last comments, because Adia is not my coach. Just as she wished Arizona well, I wish SMU well. I suspect she will have some success, whether as much as SMU wants or not remains to be seen.
I will continue to root for Arizona and for the new coach to succeed. After the abandonment of the program by players over the years (and perfectly understandable abandonment) I'm no longer going to care who the players are, only that they produce.
And I'm just being blunt. As an example, Jim Foster was a wonderful coach for decades, may even be in the WBB hall of fame, close friend of Geno's, coached National Teams for things like the Pan Am Games, etc. - but his ceiling was pretty much the Sweet 16. There was a streak when he was at Vanderbilt where he got there almost every hear. Not sure he ever sniffed a Final Four. Not sure Adia will ever reach another one. Not sure Burke will ever reach one. Remains to be seen.
But as to some of Adia's comments, I'm sorry, but I don't disagree with all of them. She always would have been served well not to have said things she said, but the audience at her radio shows (not said on air), chalk talks and other events didn't share widely. Even I edited them. She was brutally honest as she saw things, and oblivious to the fact that remarks could be hurtful to others, especially if you didn't know what she was talking about.
I'm not sure she was talking about her successor specifically, but hires this year have been weird. Still, many coaches in the power schools come from mid-majors and how you decide they are qualified beats me. That said, in todays NIL world, there is a wide difference between coaching at a mid major with mid-major talent and a P4 school, regardless of talent.
Adia has always praised the play in the PAC versus the Big 12, whose style she didn't care for and certainly said so. We were not built to contend against a number of the Big12 teams and, guess what, we didn't. I have said many times, I just didn't think Barnes built a team and used them well.
Where I strongly disagree with your comment is the development of players - she was fairly good at the technical aspects of that; I don't know what your unprepared is about but it wasn't game planning. Every chalk talk we attended was spot on. If weak at anything that way, it was keeping players "on point" and making half time adjustments. And Arizona doesn't have much NIL available, never mind athletic funds, at least at the present time.
My last comments, because Adia is not my coach. Just as she wished Arizona well, I wish SMU well. I suspect she will have some success, whether as much as SMU wants or not remains to be seen.
I will continue to root for Arizona and for the new coach to succeed. After the abandonment of the program by players over the years (and perfectly understandable abandonment) I'm no longer going to care who the players are, only that they produce.
