Certainly not an expert but the team at the end of last year did not pass the “eye” test to grow into a NIT team this year.  No strong defensive identify and no inside game at all.  Ricky  Lindo would probably would not be back - he just was not an integral part of the offense last year.

Karl Hobbs was hired 2 years removed from an NCAA Tourney team, JC was stepping into a tad different situation, Hobbs then took GW to incredible heights 2005-2007, his successor also inherting a tad different situatio than JC.

Hobbs:
his first year  12-16    5-11 in league play   
his 2nd year   12-17    5-11 in league play
Look at the roster of year 2, and then year 3  (I meant 2004 btw not 2005, mispoke there)

ML:
his first year  10-21     5-11 in league play  11th place
ML his 2nd year  13-17       7-9 in league play 11th place 

Look at the new players on the both of those year 2 teams  The talent on those teams then turned it around the next year, but not before losing together for a year, and losing a lot, you can point to KenPom, and agreed,  but still, a lot of losing, Year 2 Hobbs talent was incredible and yet the team lost even more than year 1. 

You're saying you are sure the team under JC would never do that, I disagree, and in fact during this season you were far more ptimistic, if you've changed your mind, fine, but after watching the team win 8 out of 17 games and seeing the level of talent specifically Brayon Freeman, JoeBam and Bishop I wasn't and would have given him the 4th year at minimum because of that.





 

I’m saying Hobbs and ML showed considerable improvement year over year over their first three seasons, regardless of the team they inherited; JC did not.  Record is largely irrelevant because it’s schedule dependent, but fortunately we have a metric that helps us see how efficiently a team played, adjusted for schedule. 

Can you find a single example of a coach who couldn’t crack the top 200 in his first 3 years at any school, barely improved in those first three years, and then took the team to the top 75 the next year?

Winning trend? You must have missed the last five games of the season.  How about that 1-4 record?  The only win was in triple overtime against an awful Duquesne team. The last two games?  We looked terrible losing to Fordham and U Mass.  

3-5 is the "11th place" being referred to"     8 games   - That whole global pandemic thing.  Context matters.   

Does the team win another game or 2 with Ira Lee? I'd say so, we had a decimated frontcourt.  We firing JC if he's 10-7 in the A10?  9-8?   How about giving one group of core guys 2 years to play together?

Now the program is going to step back, and I'm sure there will be the same chorus of "can't Coach! fire this guy?!"  Why even wait 3 years!  






 

The point I'm going to make today addresses what several have indicated here but really has little to do with my original point.  I seem to be in the minority, or perhaps even alone, but allow me to quickly reiterate that original point.

In sports, there is something called "unwritten rules".  You may believe in all, some or none of these.  Don't attempt to steal a base beyond the 7th inning with a 10 run lead.  Don't throw 50 yard passes when you're up 40 points in the 4th quarter.  And so on.

Now, you may not think of the following as an unwritten rule but I obviously do.  When a coach signs a five year contract, he should EXPECT to be on the job a minimum of 4 seasons, unless he's being fired with cause.

When GW paid Siena to get JC out of his contract, after paying Lonergan and Nero to leave (MoJo also left before his contract was up but I did not hear much talk about a buyout, but perhaps there was one?), and signed him to 5 years, providing him with 4 years was the right thing to do from JC's perspective, and the fiscally responsible thing to do from GW's perspective.  Make no mistake about the fact that GW demonstrating a quick hook over the past 7 years has not been lost on recruits, their parents, coaches, etc.  Ours has not been a stable program of late.

Onto today's point.  I don't want to get into a pissing match regarding JC's in-game coaching performance or whether his teams improved and if so, to the extent they did.  What I will say though is that the lousy stretch of games to close out the season likely happened for a reason.  There's little doubt in my mind that JC knew he wouldn't be back in 2022-23 and likely knew this for a while before he was formally relieved of his duties.  It was mentioned here that Mark Diaz's desire to make a coaching change dated back to the end of JC's second season.  Diaz had to be making a lot of noise during the 2021-22 season.  JC had to be aware of this noise.  At some point, my educated guess was that JC was likely told, prior to the lousy stretch to end the season, that he would not be back, or that he'd have to achive something ridiculously improbable in order to keep his job.  It's not so easy to get the most out of your team as you're walking the plank, is it?

Now, a few things about this.  1) Doesn't every game count and shouldn't JC be judged by every game including the end of the season?  The answer is yes in a perfect world.  However, if you consider for a second that JC is only human, that he likely knew this was coming well before it was announced, and that even some or all of his players (and certainly his assistants) may have known this was coming, it becomes easier to understand why the team faltered down the stretch.  2) Why was the fired McCall coaching his ass off against GW while JC stared into space during a timeout while his assistants led the huddle?  Well, the McCall news had been made public and his team used it as a rallying cry (if I remember correctly, I believe they also knocked off Mason to end the regular season).  Our guys seem shell-shocked.  Enormous difference in circumstances.

Final point.  It's really easy, in fact glaring, to see what the absence of a figure like Dr. Chernak has meant to this program.  Dr. Chernak helped engineer the successes of Mike Jarvis and Karl Hobbs.  Excluding MoJo who everyone was in agreement needed to move on, since the Chernak era, we've seen Lonergan leave largely due to the actions of Nero and Maltzman.  One left the school in disgrace and the other has relinquished the title of Provost.  As for JC, he is gone largely due to Diaz, who has also left the university.  It's very interesting that the two more controversial coaching departures were engineered by individuals who either left the school shortly thereafter or who shifted responsibilities so that they no longer have anything to do with athletics.  That's pretty telling.

A few things to add to Gwmayhem's post:

1. Diaz was apparently NEVER in favor of JC but was overruled by LeBlanc and TV. Diaz always wanted CC. Upon information and belief, Diaz not only didn't help JC but may have actively undermined him almost from the beginning. I am not suggesting Diaz wasn't entitled to his opinion on JC vs CC. I am suggesting once he lost he had a duty to fully support JC. I would also tell you that I firmly believe JC would still be the coach at least in 2022-23 had Diaz not put his thumb on the scale.

2. As is well documented here, once JC was removed, I went to several people associated with GW at a  high level to express my displeasure at how JC was treated and to encourage them to examine Diaz's potential role in all of this. No one seemed surprised or objected to my opinion of what occurred here. I was told that the JC matter was not nearly at the top of the list - it was alluded to that there were issues with the hospital and other things. Lo and behold several weeks later, Diaz abruptly "retires." Again, I am not claiming I had anything to do with this departure or that even the JC matter played any role. I merely point this out to suggest that apparently Diaz had alienated others across campus and that what I suggested occurred likely did occur at least to some extent. 

3. Maltzman has been relegated to the faculty. He and Diaz combined to act as a tag team off the top rope to the gut of GW basketball. The two of them should hang their heads in shame over the damage they have jointly inflicted on this program.

4. All of this (ML and JC) will be discussed and rehashed as long as GW's program is in the basement. Hopefully, CC turns it around quickly so we can stop all of this stuff as the main topic of discussion.

5. Again, two things can be true at once given the departure of Diaz and the relegation of Maltzman ... you can simultaneously be disgusted at the treatment both ML and JC received from GW but rooting for CC to turn it around.
 

Have no idea about Diaz, except that he was right the first time. JC interviewed well, but didn't do the job.
In today's cut-throat world, being a basketball coach, if you can navigate the performance question is a pretty good deal, compared to real life. And they're are not particularly big expectations at our level.
       Help wanted: Huge salary for those working at the institution. Excellent Benefits. 5 year contract. Low to middling expectations first 2 years. Enterprise revenue, donor satisfaction and growth not a factor. ( We lay off janitors and low-paid staff if there are economic downturns). Pick your entire staff. Performance metrics only apply five months a year. We will pay millions to buy out your old contract and buy out your full contract if things don't work out. 
    Are these really horrible working conditions? Are some expectations after 60 percent of the contract reasonable at this level? What about the layoffs at GW for those who have no buyouts and are struggling working or middle class?
    JC was a nice guy to most, though some former players might see differently. He is a smart, still young man. A good coach at the Marymount, maybe Siena level. Wasn't at ours for numerous reasons.
   Working, middle class and even higher-level people lost their livelihood every day, for reasons beyond their control. The start and end of the season was within JC's control. Team didn't play together and saying they appeared unmotivated is an understatement.
    JC got paid well for not doing well. So, he got a really good deal and a very nice golden parachute compared to performance. I wish him well. He has potential to learn from the experience as a coach or use his energy, intellect and analytical skills in a related profession. JC should be fine.
   ML lost his ability to practice his profession. ML got screwed out of a lifelong career after real success. Absent any real information to the contrary, I feel bad for him, even with an approximately $3 million buyout. 
    And much worse for all those GW laid off without contracts or big buyouts.
We need to look at this in comparison to real life for people.
    
   
 

Last edited by jf (7/11/2022 1:02 pm)

I'm in LSF's camp that had the end of the season gone differently, TV would've probably given JC another year.  I think if we had lost on a buzzer beater to UMass he might've been given another year.  But getting womped by a team with a lame duck coach was the final straw I suppose.

As much as the Mason, Fordham, UMass stretch to end the season stunk and really did JC in, I want to go back to the Richmond loss at home.  With a win we actually would've been mathematically in control of our own destiny for a double-bye in the A-10 tournament.  At one point in the first half Richmond had an 11 point lead that we cut to 4 by halftime. But like most games in the JC era we just faded away in the second half to lose by double digits.

Even if we didn't get the double bye, had we won that game I think it would've showed that JC could coach us to a victory against a top-tier opponent (and eventual A-10 tournament winner). In the end, JC only had two wins against teams with a KenPom under 100: that 4OT Davidson win (70) and a win against Duquesne in his first season (95).  

 

Last edited by GW0509 (7/11/2022 6:32 pm)

Figured it was worth putting into the thread that GW actually brought in EJ Clark as a 2022 transfer.