[GK3]

I'm not buying. Cal dealt with Covid. Oregon dealt with Covid. As did all the other P12 teams, Gonzaga, St. Mary's and everybody else. Oh, and Tara. For whatever reason, Haase is not cutting it here. He's just not. We're seeing a years-long pattern, not a Pandemic-driven anomaly. Cut bait and drop a line in another part of the river, fergawdsakes.

Stanford has never been kal.  Stanford has never been Oregon.  I would never dare to say that the academic rigor of Stanford is comparable to what kal or Oregon athletes deal with, especially not in an era of Zoom U.  Additionally, Stanford's sports teams were rendered homeless for several weeks of the season, living and practicing outside of Santa Clara county apart from any peers or their dorm room possessions save what they could take with them in luggage.  

I might be a little more in touch with the kids these days, but I do see lots of frustration and cries for help in the current student body looking for support or coping mechanisms in dealing with academics -- professors are not cutting everyone slack, the foreign students have to take classes nocturnally from their home timezones with no consideration given to the wreckage of their circadian rhythm, and some students have unfortunate home/family issues to deal with as well as internet issues.  There's just a lot expected of Stanford students during this pandemic, certainly more so than your average bear or duck athlete.

Haase recruited well, and he deserves a shot at coaching Silva/Ingram.  If he can't reasonably improve the trend with one of his best recruiting classes, then we need to talk about other measures.  But at the beginning of this season, things were really looking up, and the players seemed really happy with Haase.  That's not the case anymore, and I really think it started with their eviction from campus, and then the midseason disappearances of Davis, Wills, and Williams.  

I'm not saying Haase should stay for life.  I'm just saying that covid had an effect on the team.  If there was no pandemic and the team performed the same, then I'd be on board with a hiring search.

The pandemic had to have had some kind negative effect on the team and coaches.  That said, when DD, BW and ZW went missing for various reasons, and MOC was given the team, they played much better than they had been playing.  When the missing three returned trying to integrate them back into the team seem to cause the team to fall apart.  Then DD gets in the doghouse for unknown reasons, ZW has another death in the family to deal with and BW comes back and plays his heart out but remains an offensive disaster.  Haase has to take some kind of responsibility for Wills complete failure to improve his free throw shooting and the total lack of any kind of outside shot.  His offensive game remains rooted in taking the ball to the hoop, often getting into heavy traffic and turning the ball over as a result.  This was a team that could not stand the loss of ODS on top of all the other issues.  Even when MOC was playing he deferred to others when it came to shooting.  We had three players we could rely on for some kind of offense, ODS, Spencer and JD.  Whoever else was playing generally contributed little.  If the other team only has to focus on shutting down 3 players on the other team, life is much easier for them.  The personal issues that befell ZW basically destroyed any chance to integrate him into the offense.
Bryce is an enigma.  He remains one of the most gifted athletes I have ever seen in terms of physical skills, but for some reason he seems unable to learn to shoot free throws or develop a reliable mid range jumper or three point shot in three years.  Despite the pandemic, I am sure the players had sufficient access to facilities where they could practice free throws and work on the mid range and outside game.  I see no evidence that Bryce made any improvement from his Sophomore to Junior years.
The simple answer is to blame the staff or the pandemic or the players lack of practice.  The fact is the pandemic and resulting rules established by Santa Clara County played a major role in our debacle, add in injuries, family issues and it became a season of a Bridge too Far.

[GK3]

I'm not buying. Cal dealt with Covid. Oregon dealt with Covid. As did all the other P12 teams, Gonzaga, St. Mary's and everybody else. Oh, and Tara. For whatever reason, Haase is not cutting it here. He's just not. We're seeing a years-long pattern, not a Pandemic-driven anomaly. Cut bait and drop a line in another part of the river, fergawdsakes.

Stanford has never been kal.  Stanford has never been Oregon.  I would never dare to say that the academic rigor of Stanford is comparable to what kal or Oregon athletes deal with, especially not in an era of Zoom U.  Additionally, Stanford's sports teams were rendered homeless for several weeks of the season, living and practicing outside of Santa Clara county apart from any peers or their dorm room possessions save what they could take with them in luggage.  

I might be a little more in touch with the kids these days, but I do see lots of frustration and cries for help in the current student body looking for support or coping mechanisms in dealing with academics -- professors are not cutting everyone slack, the foreign students have to take classes nocturnally from their home timezones with no consideration given to the wreckage of their circadian rhythm, and some students have unfortunate home/family issues to deal with as well as internet issues.  There's just a lot expected of Stanford students during this pandemic, certainly more so than your average bear or duck athlete.

Haase recruited well, and he deserves a shot at coaching Silva/Ingram.  If he can't reasonably improve the trend with one of his best recruiting classes, then we need to talk about other measures.  But at the beginning of this season, things were really looking up, and the players seemed really happy with Haase.  That's not the case anymore, and I really think it started with their eviction from campus, and then the midseason disappearances of Davis, Wills, and Williams.  

I'm not saying Haase should stay for life.  I'm just saying that covid had an effect on the team.  If there was no pandemic and the team performed the same, then I'd be on board with a hiring search.

The pandemic had to have had some kind negative effect on the team and coaches.  That said, when DD, BW and ZW went missing for various reasons, and MOC was given the team, they played much better than they had been playing.  When the missing three returned trying to integrate them back into the team seem to cause the team to fall apart.  Then DD gets in the doghouse for unknown reasons, ZW has another death in the family to deal with and BW comes back and plays his heart out but remains an offensive disaster.  Haase has to take some kind of responsibility for Wills complete failure to improve his free throw shooting and the total lack of any kind of outside shot.  His offensive game remains rooted in taking the ball to the hoop, often getting into heavy traffic and turning the ball over as a result.  This was a team that could not stand the loss of ODS on top of all the other issues.  Even when MOC was playing he deferred to others when it came to shooting.  We had three players we could rely on for some kind of offense, ODS, Spencer and JD.  Whoever else was playing generally contributed little.  If the other team only has to focus on shutting down 3 players on the other team, life is much easier for them.  The personal issues that befell ZW basically destroyed any chance to integrate him into the offense.
Bryce is an enigma.  He remains one of the most gifted athletes I have ever seen in terms of physical skills, but for some reason he seems unable to learn to shoot free throws or develop a reliable mid range jumper or three point shot in three years.  Despite the pandemic, I am sure the players had sufficient access to facilities where they could practice free throws and work on the mid range and outside game.  I see no evidence that Bryce made any improvement from his Sophomore to Junior years.
The simple answer is to blame the staff or the pandemic or the players lack of practice.  The fact is the pandemic and resulting rules established by Santa Clara County played a major role in our debacle, add in injuries, family issues and it became a season of a Bridge too Far.