I really don't know what you're talking about.  I don't remember anything like the bickering that had been going on at Herve's site.      At least nothing like the trolling that happens at other sites.   Can you be more specific?

Disagree.  The team showed huge improvement during the season (much of which coincided with Amir and Paar becoming healthy enough to play).   As soon as Amir got hurt and Potter got hurt, we reverted - and then by the end of the season we were totally out of gas.

Do people realize that we only have two players on our entire roster who were healthy enough to play every game, and only 3 who played 90%.   Even the 1-27 team didn’t have that many players affected by injuries.  Can people think of ANY other team to have been so badly affected by injury this year or in recent years?

With A10 tournament canceled,and quite possibly the NCAAs (just my guess - no inside knowledge) most conversations now will be moot until Kenner if that even happens.  Stay healthy - especially us older guys. 

Dude, you're sounding more and more like ziik.

Worth an expanded post to try to avoid the inevitable conflating that goes on here.

Today's topic:  a short vs. long term view on coaching

If there has been a single post here which ever conveyed that JC is the wrong coach to help rebuild GW's future, I can't recall it.  I'm willing to say that everyone's long term view of JC ranges from "we have a great young coach with all of the potential in the world" down the line to "we had no right to expect very much in Year 1 but we'll see what he can do with more of his own recruits."  

I'll go one better...I don't think there is a single poster here who ever thought that this team's talent level was better than its record, or that coaching was the primary reason why this team did not win more games.

If I'm wrong about either of these suppositions, please chime in and correct me.

Additionally, let's talk about message boards and human nature for a minute.  How many of you would ever ask to speak to a restaurant manager if your waiter or waitress was downright rude to you?  Now, how many would ask to speak to the manager if the waiter or waitress was exceptionally nice, professional or helpful?  Chances are that more of you are speaking up over the bad things and less so over the good.  Right or wrong, fair or unfair, this is how most of us are wired.  We are quick with the negative and way, way too slow with the positive.  Throw in an anonymous message board to this equation and this point magnifies substantially.

Let's then segue into the short term view of coaching.  This is where fans, often out of frustration, point out what they would have done differently or at least in their own minds, better.  It became obvious early on that JC wanted his team to play a distinct way.  This is fine in and of itself, and this approach certainly worked well in certain games.  However, the frustration builds when opponents are very prepared for this style and combat it well.  That's when the criticisms come in, when the team isn't making any in-game adjustments to try to change its fate for the better.  Why not work for higher percentage shots and free throw opportunities when the three point attempts are being consistently contested?  Why not play a zone against an athletic team that struggles from 3?  

Articulating these types of questions or criticisms is not akin to wanting your brand new coach fired after one season.  I sincerely hope that everyone here understands this.

Personally, I have a lot of respect for JC and staff.  I recognize both sides of the coin; namely, that we perhaps could have won a bit more had we abandoned the "JC approach" in certain games and situations but that this may have been to the detriment of the long-term growth of this program.  JC wanted his team to take a ton of 3's even though there weren't enough reliable shooters to make this work.  More shooters will be here next year and perhaps even more the year after that.  I have not lost any faith in the coaching staff's long term vision.  And it's entirely possible to feel that way while simultaneously questioning certain specific game tactics and coaching decisions.

 

Last edited by Gwmayhem (3/12/2020 3:24 pm)

Well, it is normal to say the least to question a team that lost 3 times in a row to a team that claims us as our 
their only league wins. It's kind of a sad statement on the season which frankly was a disappointment, even with low expectations.
 Don't go on any other sports message boards, but imagine that we are relatively tame here. We all got along without personal attacks until a single poster started in with the tripe that destroyed the old message board. It is very, very disturbing. Tried even to offer a gracious out, but it wasn't taken.
 But it shouldn't deter debate here. This literally stopped a discussion on the last game of the season. Now, thankfully, it has been revived.
  We don't need to be cheerleaders. Part of the fun of being a fan is dissecting the game and the program. But we do need to be respectful of each other. Have only really seen anything disturbing in that one post. Never saw an apology, surprisingly. But it should not be repeated and one individual should not be allowed block discussion by being totally and disturbingly inappropriate. It's incredibly disrespectful to BGF to put him in a situation where he even needs to think about making a post like this.
  Would say that in terms of open debate, that I imagine some of us come here as a relief valve from real life. Now, as the coronavirus threatens particularly our demographic and life was in flux on a good day even before that, we need this outlet more than ever. Always saw GW basketball, up until 4 years ago and to a lesser extent even after that, as a way to escape the stresses of work and life.
   Certainly am able to put it in perspective, but do enjoy being very focused on it. We're all here after a bad season just ended. So,at least in my view, it's ok to see things through a critical lens or partly hopeful/partly critical or even through rose-colored glasses, as long as one is talking about basketball in making comments, not accusing other posters of something. That's the key.
 Feel bad for BGF that he needs to issue such a reminder after all the work he has put into this board.
Let's keep this forum for rabid GW fans, not criticizing each other personally.
  Everyone in society has increasing stress due to something that seems totally out of our control. Let's preserve this forum as a place to get away from that and revel in our mutual support, however non-personally expressed, for GW and Colonial basketball.