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Topic: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Topic: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

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71 BOBCAT
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
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Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 8:54:54 AM

Last year with this same team we did not loose our 3rd game till January 7th. We were 12-1 till January. The only loss was by 5 points @ Louisville, certainly no embarrassment.
The schedules between this and last year are comparable.
We already have 3 losses, 2 that were embarrassments.
This team clearly has regressed this year.
We can all say it's the players, cause after all they play and the coaches don't.
However, there is 1 change from last year and it's the coaching staff.
I believe that this new staff has a style that is just not working with this group of players.
Groce leaves and his new team is 12-0 and # 10 in the national rankings.
Next year we loose 3 starters and our 6th man to graduation.
So, this more than likely our last hurrah for a tournament team for a while.
Christian did not have much success @ TCU.
He went there for the money.
He comes here for less money, could that be because he knew his days were numbered at TCU?
Did our AD make too quick a decision on this guy only based on his Kent State success?
Did Christian win any NCAA Tournament games at Kent? I don't think so.
If this year continues on it's present course we will not win the MAC Tournament and therefore not be in the NCAA.
The disappointment will be huge.
With a huge disappointment what follows is the pressure from the press.
Then there is next year which as I mentioned looks to be a rebuilding not a reloading year with a bunch of transfers, which is this coach's MO.
The cupboard is looking bare for our basketball program.

GO BOBCATS

Chicken George
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 9:51:06 AM

I actually kind of disagree. I think JC walked into a High Risk/High Reward start taking over this type of OHIO team. From the outside looking in, you got to give him an A for the transition. Everyone stayed, the few people I know associated with the team really like him and to this point I've heard no leaks of locker room problems. That was agenda #1 in a scenario where you win big, lose your coach and the entire team returns. The High Risk is that all these things could've turned out differently up to this point and many in the fan base may have established a Top 25 ranking and deep run in the tournament as the expectations.

I also probably think he will do his real coaching when he gets many of his own recruits and builds his own team starting next year. I'm sure part of him wants to get to this part so he can put his stamp on this program. Realistically, right now he's just managing JG's program for one year.

But I would agree that JG inherited a similar type of situation at the UIll and is doing better. Few different variables, but he's navigated through the OOC portion of the season better than JC has. While JC gets an A for the transition, it appears his 2nd Semester grade for the OOC portion of the schedule is currently about a C/C- with the Winthrop game dropping the grade significantly. It's simply too early to make anything but an emotional judgement on JC right now, but grading him the day after losing to Winthrop is probably an emotional decision.

71 BOBCAT
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 11:06:43 AM

Hey Chicken George----- I would like to respond to your point that all players stayed....1) I believe there were 2 recruits that opted out, 2) In a mid -major program seniors and those that have already transferred would more than likely not transfer out, as they would not be picked up by a major school due to talent deficiencies, plus the team just accomplished a a Sweet Sixteen Run so they are all feeling good about things, 3) Christian would have to be real stupid to come in here, after last years success, and immediately impose a attitude of "IT'S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY."
I was pleased to see you grading him where you did, probably a correct evaluation.
I would also believe that if we were to continue to lose to teams we should beat and we don't win the MAC Tournament than most people will feel more like me and the heat will be on.
I a closing thought I still believe that Christian came in here believing that since he had all this talent back that he just communicated to these players the approach to the season,"YOU ARE AN EXPERIENCED, SENIOR LAIDEN, SWEET SIXTEEN TEAM AND THEREFORE KNOW WHAT IS EXPECTED AND KNOW HOW TO PLAY AND WIN."
I take this approach as he is hands off and put the entire season on these players and that whatever the result it's the players and not the coaches that produced them, good or bad.

Finally I will be attending the game Wed. @ UMASS which will help see more of how Christian coaches.

GO BOBCATS

bigtillyoopsupsideurhead
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Location: Cincinnati
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 11:23:31 AM

71 BOBCAT wrote:

Then there is next year which as I mentioned looks to be a rebuilding not a reloading year with a bunch of transfers, which is this coach's MO.
The cupboard is looking bare for our basketball program.

You contradict yourself here. Wouldn't bringing in a bunch of Freshman be rebuilding? Whereas bringing in a bunch of transfers is reloading. The cupboard is hardly bare for our basketball program.

bobcat72
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Location: Athens, OH
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 11:47:07 AM

It's not bare, but I question if Christian will know what to do with the pieces he has assembled. He was given an absolutely stacked roster this season, but has produced extremely sub-par results thus far. If you cannot win with this team, I seriously begin to question your ability as a coach.

I'll even grant him the RMU and Memphis losses - at least they were on the road. And Groce never managed to beat RMU either. But yesterday's loss - at HOME - was completely inexcusable. We don't lose these games at home...ever.

claremont72
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 11:54:05 AM

Same team as last year but different coaching staff. A team with this much hype ( and talent) should not be losing to robert morris or winthrop. I thought at the time of JC hiring that it was a quick decision. I know that hiring available coaches is like a playing a chess match in a few minutes. Take the best you can get before someone else hires them. Although I do not agree with that philosophy and that might be the case with the hiring of JC.

If there is not a "quick" turn around with this team, confidence will be lost, decent amoung players, and the team will spiral downward. A promising season will turn, at best, average. Maybe JC needs to re-assess the strenghts and weaknessess of his players and what "play style" is best for the team. Or is it a time for a coaching change?

LongDistancebobcat
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 1:11:18 PM

You do not evaluate a person's coaching by going to the game. You watch practice, you go in the meeting rooms, you attend the film sessions. You cannot tell what a coach is telling his players in a huddle. Granted, you can look at playing time, when time-outs are called, plays out of a time-out, etc., and that tells you something, but not the whole picture.

bobcat72
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 1:27:48 PM

LongDistancebobcat wrote:

You do not evaluate a person's coaching by going to the game.

Huh??? I understand your general premise, but when it comes to coaching, the game is the ONLY thing that matters. I don't care how well practice or film session goes - if you're not getting it done on gameday, you're not going to coach for too long.

W-L record is the bottom-line. Are you failing or succeeding? It's a pretty simple question.

JSF
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 1:53:08 PM

Anyone else read the first post like a poem?

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

My blog about depression and mental illness: https://bit.ly/3buGXH8

Deciduous Forest Cat
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Location: Ohio
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 3:08:08 PM

Yesterday was one hell of an embarrassing, frustrating loss, and I'm as peeved as anyone, but there is no at-large talk - it's over. we're playing for March. Get sh** squared away and get it done.

Keep in mind that Stan Heath came in to the same situation at Kent after they made the tourney, beat Indiana and had everyone back... that team (the MAC's benchmark team for recent history) was a mess in December, but eventually got things squared away, rolled through the MAC and landed in the Elite 8.

step back, deep breath.

That said, I'm thankful I didn't drive to see that steaming pile of crap of a game yesterday.

Donuts
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 5:32:25 PM

JSF wrote:

Anyone else read the first post like a poem?

I did until I got bored and stopped reading.

There are a lot of threads on this board basically discussing the same issue in slightly different words. Everyone does not need their own thread.

LongDistancebobcat
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Post Count: 124

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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/16/2012 5:43:27 PM

What I am stating is that there is responsibility to be shared; you see a portion of the coaching. The players need to be taking the coaching and executing. He's not coaching a lack of energy, missed shots or Ivo not going to the basket.

Casper71
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/17/2012 1:10:09 AM

Didn't see the whole game but I saw the last 10 minutes on the net. I would only say that if the last play of the game was DJ dribbling to the corner and putting up a three, I question the strategy.

I would think we are better when DJ takes it to the hoop and kicks it out to somebody else for the final shot.

We all love DJ, but I would rather see him get the big Assist in that position than taking that kind of game winning shot. That shot puts us at somewhere around a 30% chance of success. Going to the hoop and dishing has to be higher than that.

Bottom line is we probably should not be in that position at home in the first place.

Ozcat
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Location: Gahanna, OH
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RE: Is this Coach not Pushing the Right Buttons?

Posted: 12/17/2012 12:10:40 PM

71 - JC has 3 freshman signed for next year, so I have no idea what you're talking about. Sure, he has 2 transfers as well, but we're losing 4 seniors, so the experience won't exactly hurt. Your point is invalid.

Multiple thoughts on here on our perceived talent. We should never lose to Winthrop. I'll concede that point. But to say that our talent level alone should make it so that we never lose to Bobby Mo? Ridiculous. Keep in mind our record against them over the last 4 seasons . . .

We have, maybe, one player who would start for a top 10 team in Coop. He's great in the Green & White, but he's not starting over the likes of Siva, Cook, Craft or Burke. Every other player on our roster would struggle to find minutes on a top 25 team.

We're overvaluing OUr talent. The reason this team was great last year had little to do with the individual pieces, and everything to do with the chemistry, "don't flinch" attitude, and execution. This season, so far, the execution and attitude are MIA.

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