Yeah I mean I guess i'm not in the sky is falling camp. People that thought this was going to be a year or two rebuild and that we'd be magically OK and contending for the sweet 16 are nuts, frankly - and just don't understand how bad this program was and how close it was to oblivion under Ollie and how much work needed to be done with the kids that are here.
Guys - they had optional practices. Strength and conditioning wasn't a priority. Their entire offense was low-level iso's and give and go. Everything about even the structure of the program was a total dumpster fire. Community college programs were run better. It was *actually* that bad. Coaches were even having it out in the locker room during games.
So when I hear stuff like 'it concerns me that CV and Gilbert are upperclassmen and doing this' - I mean jeez guys. They've been in a bad high school program for two and three years, respectively - and one of those guys wasn't even playing in said bad high school program. Hurley's had to teach these guys everything - and I mean *everything*. Like down to the most basic stuff you can imagine.
I'm not making excuses for anyone, I'm trying to add a level of perspective here that I just think is generally lacking. Hurley getting really mad, stomping his feet, tossing chairs and yelling at guys and benching them - isn't going to solve the problem. Tighter leash? Sure. Does he have a few more options? Sure. But doing the hardo 'i'm gonna yell and bench you force my fist down your throat and teach you a lesson/beat you into submission until you listen to me' stuff isn't going to fix the fact that Vital has egregiously low basketball IQ and decision making ability and that Gilbert is basically a year or two behind where he should be developmentally.
Part of it is just making shots. They're just not falling the way they have and that should mostly self-correct. Part of it on Vital's part is not being a total idiot, trying to take too much on, forcing bad shots, etc. But how much time is it worth taking to address given the long term? Why not just hope Bouknight and Gaffney can eat more and more minutes (which seems to be the plan, but they've gotta step up, too)? Gilbert needs to be more of a facilitator - when he does that, we're good. When he doesn't - we're not. His issue is just being more selective about the shots he does take and not forcing/shooting off balance. The rest is just finding out who your actual options are. Adams, Gaffney and Bouknight have all shown flashes, but none of them have put three consecutive, consistent, solid games together.
To me - it's a little luck, it's a little bit of a talent/depth issue, etc. But it's hard for me to put that on Hurley - especially given the broader context of the actual discussion. Truth is - we've beaten everyone we probably should have and could have easily stolen another win from Indiana or Xavier (or both). Florida and St Joe's kind of cancel each other out. The defense took a monster step forward - we just need a little bit more depth, development and skill on offense. If we can go from being a gong show to 'just bad' on offense, we're going to be a tough team to deal with and we stand a good chance to get better as the year goes on. Now we've got a little luck with the Wiseman thing at Memphis.. like we SHOULD head into conference play sitting at 11-3 with a lot to like.
So I dunno. Color me by myself as not saying we're ahead or behind where we need to be - but rather right where we should be.
