smokeyjoe wrote:
5. I think PM is a systems guy like Majarus was but we dont have the guys to play the system. Two options adapt the system to the players...get the players for the system. I think option 1 is easier at this point.
This is always something I've wondered about. Being a Loyola fan, the examples I saw most close up was
the development of the Butler system (under Barry Collier), and to a smaller extent
the unravelling of the Green Bay system (begun under Dick Bennett).
How do you know if a system is really viable if a coach hasn't won before? If the coach is weak on in-game adjustments, does it matter even matter if they have a system? Maybe I'm wrong, but it would seem to me that you could recruit from the juco level to find pieces for a system that would fit in right away. Sure, you only get them for two years, but at least via the juco route you're able to have a servicable placeholder in that spot as you develop younger recruits and discover/establish skill sets needed to work in those roles. And one would think that the earliest hint that your system is effective is by winning in conference, against teams you're more familiar with, that you get multiple shots at in a year.
At the beginning of the season, I was pretty convinced that our talent level was better than in past years. But I'm not even sure that's so anymore. Is Nick Osborne really developing? Matt O'Leary has kind of disappeared after the frostbite fiasco. Christian Thomas is a warrior, but is he able to play the spot he's filling in this league? I'm not convinced anymore. Is Jeff White developing, or getting worn down by playing 33 minutes a game at a strenuous position? Why is our bench so terribly weak nearly three full years into Moser's tenure?
We don't have any players over a generously-listed 6'5" that score more than 6 points per game-- no Jordan Hicks, no Ben Averkamp, no Walt Gibler, no Andy Polka. That seriously limits any kind of high-low game, and allows defenses to collapse on the two guys we have on the court who can score on a consistent basis. We're playing a walk-on who never shoots the ball almost twice as many minutes as a 6'10" redshirt freshman scholarship player, and our fourth highest player in minutes averages 4.8 ppg. Cody Johnson's playing time is a complete mystery-- I feel like consulting astrology charts to see if there's some sort of correllation. And I have no idea what the thought process is on Tony Nixon, either.