8893
Curiouser
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 29,851
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Many of us have alluded to the main problem with this team being that the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts, and we do not seem to be any closer to reversing that equation than we were in the Bahamas.
Why? It's pretty clear by that this is a result of the recruiting misses of the past two years, (e.g., Ali, Stone, Mack), which KO was then forced to make up for in the NCAA's equivalent of free agency, the fifth year transfer market. While no one believed this was preferable to landing our main recruiting targets, I don't think anyone can seriously dispute that, on paper, we did about as well to recover from those misses as anyone could have hoped by bringing in Gibbs and Miller to address two of our areas of greatest concern.
The task of putting these players together with our existing team, and adding Adams, to form an elite, competitive team falls squarely on the coaching staff. Simply put, it is the coach's job to figure out how best to use the talent that he has. And if there are problems either with the talent, or with getting it to gel, the coach also need look no further for responsibility, because he's the one who is responsible for recruiting.
So...there's nothing that can be done about the fact that we missed who we missed, and we are still fortunate to have gotten who we got in the after-market.
What to do about it? That is the question.
I think we are seeing proof that it was always a risky proposition from the start to put all of these major pieces together within one season. I now think it's even tougher than bringing in one-and-dones, because at least in that instance you have the chance to integrate the player into your system (and your players) straight from high school, rather than having him play college ball for four years in another system, another conference and with a different cast of characters. And although the fifth year player is obviously more experienced, the one-and-done is just as obviously more talented.
Sure, Miller was the only one who played well last night, but this isn't a one-player or one-game issue. It's about getting the team to play well together. Gibbs has clearly had problems adjusting (they mentioned Ollie's comments about this during the broadcast last night, saying that Ollie spoke about Gibbs having to go through a "feeling out process" with his new teammates), and the fact that neither he nor Adams appear comfortable running the point on this team is going to continue to be a very serious handicap. Hamilton at the point obviously isn't the answer, either.
I'm not so worried about "chemistry" issues as I used to be, and last night's apparent friction between Purvis and Hamilton didn't change that. Anyone with eyes saw the constant battling between Bazz and Boat, and I still think that one of Ollie's greatest coaching successes was managing that situation all the way to a championship. I think what we saw last night was far more symptom than cause, and it might even be an encouraging sign that the players cared enough to be frustrated and barking at each other. I mean, someone has to reach the boiling point to bring this to a head and see if we can move past it, no?
There is clearly a lot of frustration with confusion about roles, and Amidah's absence doesn't help that because some roles have needed to change again. Hamilton has been harped on to be more selfish and to defer less to his teammates, and I think this is something we all wanted to see. Well, look what happened last night after he finally got the message and tried to force it. For whatever reason, he's not comfortable in that role; he may actually be a much different player than many of us thought he was. Purvis is doing his damnedest to fill the leadership void, but the reality is that even he is a transfer and may not be best suited for that role. Is Gibbs supposed to take over as a newcomer? Is Adams, as freshman? It may not be a problem of chemistry (i.e., players getting along) as much as not having the right pieces to fit together, and the oft-cited, but true, lack of leadership.
We have enough talent to win enough games to make the tournament, and who knows what happens then? But we also have enough problems that now appear as though they may be intractable, and missing the tournament altogether again would not be a shock to me. Rather than being the poster boy for the claimed "unfair" advantage of bringing in fifth year transfers, we may end up being the cautionary tale about what happens when you have to rely too heavily on them. And it may well be that there is no good answer for our team's problems this season. For better or for worse, we're a makeshift team and we're seeing the results of that.
One thing I refuse to believe is that Ollie is not a good enough coach. Sure he's got a lot more learning to do, but I'm still 100% behind him as our coach and have full faith in his abilities going forward. I do think we could use some new blood among the assistants though.
Why? It's pretty clear by that this is a result of the recruiting misses of the past two years, (e.g., Ali, Stone, Mack), which KO was then forced to make up for in the NCAA's equivalent of free agency, the fifth year transfer market. While no one believed this was preferable to landing our main recruiting targets, I don't think anyone can seriously dispute that, on paper, we did about as well to recover from those misses as anyone could have hoped by bringing in Gibbs and Miller to address two of our areas of greatest concern.
The task of putting these players together with our existing team, and adding Adams, to form an elite, competitive team falls squarely on the coaching staff. Simply put, it is the coach's job to figure out how best to use the talent that he has. And if there are problems either with the talent, or with getting it to gel, the coach also need look no further for responsibility, because he's the one who is responsible for recruiting.
So...there's nothing that can be done about the fact that we missed who we missed, and we are still fortunate to have gotten who we got in the after-market.
What to do about it? That is the question.
I think we are seeing proof that it was always a risky proposition from the start to put all of these major pieces together within one season. I now think it's even tougher than bringing in one-and-dones, because at least in that instance you have the chance to integrate the player into your system (and your players) straight from high school, rather than having him play college ball for four years in another system, another conference and with a different cast of characters. And although the fifth year player is obviously more experienced, the one-and-done is just as obviously more talented.
Sure, Miller was the only one who played well last night, but this isn't a one-player or one-game issue. It's about getting the team to play well together. Gibbs has clearly had problems adjusting (they mentioned Ollie's comments about this during the broadcast last night, saying that Ollie spoke about Gibbs having to go through a "feeling out process" with his new teammates), and the fact that neither he nor Adams appear comfortable running the point on this team is going to continue to be a very serious handicap. Hamilton at the point obviously isn't the answer, either.
I'm not so worried about "chemistry" issues as I used to be, and last night's apparent friction between Purvis and Hamilton didn't change that. Anyone with eyes saw the constant battling between Bazz and Boat, and I still think that one of Ollie's greatest coaching successes was managing that situation all the way to a championship. I think what we saw last night was far more symptom than cause, and it might even be an encouraging sign that the players cared enough to be frustrated and barking at each other. I mean, someone has to reach the boiling point to bring this to a head and see if we can move past it, no?
There is clearly a lot of frustration with confusion about roles, and Amidah's absence doesn't help that because some roles have needed to change again. Hamilton has been harped on to be more selfish and to defer less to his teammates, and I think this is something we all wanted to see. Well, look what happened last night after he finally got the message and tried to force it. For whatever reason, he's not comfortable in that role; he may actually be a much different player than many of us thought he was. Purvis is doing his damnedest to fill the leadership void, but the reality is that even he is a transfer and may not be best suited for that role. Is Gibbs supposed to take over as a newcomer? Is Adams, as freshman? It may not be a problem of chemistry (i.e., players getting along) as much as not having the right pieces to fit together, and the oft-cited, but true, lack of leadership.
We have enough talent to win enough games to make the tournament, and who knows what happens then? But we also have enough problems that now appear as though they may be intractable, and missing the tournament altogether again would not be a shock to me. Rather than being the poster boy for the claimed "unfair" advantage of bringing in fifth year transfers, we may end up being the cautionary tale about what happens when you have to rely too heavily on them. And it may well be that there is no good answer for our team's problems this season. For better or for worse, we're a makeshift team and we're seeing the results of that.
One thing I refuse to believe is that Ollie is not a good enough coach. Sure he's got a lot more learning to do, but I'm still 100% behind him as our coach and have full faith in his abilities going forward. I do think we could use some new blood among the assistants though.