[BostonCard]

Life was so much easier a few years ago.  Back then, there would have been no need for discussion.  Everyone would have agreed:  IT'S ALL DAWKINS' FAULT!!

Surprisingly, this time, there's been very little comment about the coaching over the last 15 seconds of regulation [let alone much of the second half].  Two opportunities to set up inbound plays that would have almost certainly iced the game, and neither seems to have been properly handled by the coaches.  It is, of course, possible that good plays were called and they just weren't executed, but that's never stopped most people from blaming the coach.

On the last regulation inbounds in particular, it seems to me that the final thing the coaches should have told them was, if you're going to throw it long to someone releasing to our basket, make sure you throw it LONG -- i.e., not simply to half court.  If the coaches didn't make that absolutely clear, it's on them. 

I think the team this year has shown a great attitude, and I'm [somewhat] optimistic they will be able to respond.  But this isn't the first game in which they've shown extended periods of incredibly poor basketball.  Indeed, there have been a couple of games where one half has been very good and the other atrocious.  And, it's not just the freshmen [in fact, yesterday, the freshmen -- silly fouls on 3-point shooters notwithstanding -- were probably the least responsible].

Yeah, as I said before. If this were a football game it would all be on Shaw.

Ok, I'll bite. I can't speak for others, but there is a reason why I cut Haase more slack than Shaw. Haase simply strikes me as a much more competitive coach than Shaw. Case in point: Haase will seemingly fly anywhere at anytime to get a recruit. His road travels are legend at this point. Shaw? He somehow mustered the will to fly to Texas to visit EJ Smith when it looked like Smith would sign with A&M. On a related note, I'm sure we've all read Shaw's quotes where he talks about the fact he doesn't ask his assistants to work late into the evenings contrary to what is customary in the profession. 

Then there's the matter of firing - or not firing - assistants. Haase is only in his fourth year so it doesn't surprise me that he hasn't had much staff "turnover," at least to my knowledge. But, Shaw is entering his tenth season and it appears he's never fired an assistant. This offseason was the most galling example: coming off a 4-8 season, after an obvious decline in the program the past few years, he still doesn't make a move in an effort to improve the team. I'm not exactly sure why he doesn't pull the trigger - my best guess is that he has grown attached to the assistants, people whom he probably considers family at this point.

Now, ask yourself this question: does this sound like the behavior of an ultra-competitive head coach?

Look, I'm not arguing that Haase in infallible. He admitted after the game that he could have done a better job of ensuring the team didn't screw up the two inbounds passes at the end. But, I generally find myself gravitating towards a coach who is more "firecracker" and less "wet noodle."

Our inside linebackers coach took a new position this year.  Maybe it was a move up, but Sam’s sleuthing did notice that he put out a bunch of feelers via twitter before landing the Nevada job.  Not a firing per se, but a shakeup of the position coach that coincidentally most needed to be shaken up.

As to recruiting visits, keep in mind that there are seven times as many scholarship players in football as basketball.  Landing one major recruit can make a very big difference in basketball; it makes less of a difference in football.  Yeah, energy is great, but results matter more, and Shaw’s recruiting classes have (generally speaking) been better relative to the rest of the PAC-12 than Haase’s (hopefully that changes this year).  You may like a firecracker better than a wet noodle, but I will take a wet noodle who wins, and Shaw has, until this year, mostly won, over a firecracker that doesn’t, and Haase has mostly not won (again, until this year).  Give me two or three years more of futility in football and winning in basketball, and I’ll jump on the bandwagon, but Shaw, with three Rose Bowls, four NY6 bowls, three conference championships, four PAC-12 championships, and eight bowl games in nine years has proven himself in a way that Haase hasn’t yet.

This was a tough loss, but overall this season remains a pleasant surprise and I hope we bounce back and stay on the road to an NCAA bid, which is squarely within sight at this point.

BC

[BostonCard]

Life was so much easier a few years ago.  Back then, there would have been no need for discussion.  Everyone would have agreed:  IT'S ALL DAWKINS' FAULT!!

Surprisingly, this time, there's been very little comment about the coaching over the last 15 seconds of regulation [let alone much of the second half].  Two opportunities to set up inbound plays that would have almost certainly iced the game, and neither seems to have been properly handled by the coaches.  It is, of course, possible that good plays were called and they just weren't executed, but that's never stopped most people from blaming the coach.

On the last regulation inbounds in particular, it seems to me that the final thing the coaches should have told them was, if you're going to throw it long to someone releasing to our basket, make sure you throw it LONG -- i.e., not simply to half court.  If the coaches didn't make that absolutely clear, it's on them. 

I think the team this year has shown a great attitude, and I'm [somewhat] optimistic they will be able to respond.  But this isn't the first game in which they've shown extended periods of incredibly poor basketball.  Indeed, there have been a couple of games where one half has been very good and the other atrocious.  And, it's not just the freshmen [in fact, yesterday, the freshmen -- silly fouls on 3-point shooters notwithstanding -- were probably the least responsible].

Yeah, as I said before. If this were a football game it would all be on Shaw.

Ok, I'll bite. I can't speak for others, but there is a reason why I cut Haase more slack than Shaw. Haase simply strikes me as a much more competitive coach than Shaw. Case in point: Haase will seemingly fly anywhere at anytime to get a recruit. His road travels are legend at this point. Shaw? He somehow mustered the will to fly to Texas to visit EJ Smith when it looked like Smith would sign with A&M. On a related note, I'm sure we've all read Shaw's quotes where he talks about the fact he doesn't ask his assistants to work late into the evenings contrary to what is customary in the profession. 

Then there's the matter of firing - or not firing - assistants. Haase is only in his fourth year so it doesn't surprise me that he hasn't had much staff "turnover," at least to my knowledge. But, Shaw is entering his tenth season and it appears he's never fired an assistant. This offseason was the most galling example: coming off a 4-8 season, after an obvious decline in the program the past few years, he still doesn't make a move in an effort to improve the team. I'm not exactly sure why he doesn't pull the trigger - my best guess is that he has grown attached to the assistants, people whom he probably considers family at this point.

Now, ask yourself this question: does this sound like the behavior of an ultra-competitive head coach?

Look, I'm not arguing that Haase in infallible. He admitted after the game that he could have done a better job of ensuring the team didn't screw up the two inbounds passes at the end. But, I generally find myself gravitating towards a coach who is more "firecracker" and less "wet noodle."

Our inside linebackers coach took a new position this year.  Maybe it was a move up, but Sam’s sleuthing did notice that he put out a bunch of feelers via twitter before landing the Nevada job.  Not a firing per se, but a shakeup of the position coach that coincidentally most needed to be shaken up.

As to recruiting visits, keep in mind that there are seven times as many scholarship players in football as basketball.  Landing one major recruit can make a very big difference in basketball; it makes less of a difference in football.  Yeah, energy is great, but results matter more, and Shaw’s recruiting classes have (generally speaking) been better relative to the rest of the PAC-12 than Haase’s (hopefully that changes this year).  You may like a firecracker better than a wet noodle, but I will take a wet noodle who wins, and Shaw has, until this year, mostly won, over a firecracker that doesn’t, and Haase has mostly not won (again, until this year).  Give me two or three years more of futility in football and winning in basketball, and I’ll jump on the bandwagon, but Shaw, with three Rose Bowls, four NY6 bowls, three conference championships, four PAC-12 championships, and eight bowl games in nine years has proven himself in a way that Haase hasn’t yet.

This was a tough loss, but overall this season remains a pleasant surprise and I hope we bounce back and stay on the road to an NCAA bid, which is squarely within sight at this point.

BC