Did we really miss expectations?

[tbonezone]

again with the "unforeseen consequences". 9 months to plan . no adjustments. i'd be fired.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm responding to people trying to lump Grant and DC with Ennis and McC. The situations are Apple's/Oranges.

I would say not planning for Grants departure and Coleman's injury woes was poor roster management. Not sure what else to call it.

*this where I get shut down with the tried and true "900 wins" argument,or some variation thereof.

I think planning for Grant to leave would have been crazy. Who else, with modest numbers and success to date, who would likely have been the focal point of the SU team, has left with 2 years left. Anyone?

 

[Scooch]

yes i'm totally obtuse. but JB wasn't dealt those players you mention . he choose them. this is his team. and if he fails to grasp today's fluid dynamics of team construction then perhaps he should move on.

So your expectation is that SU should be a top 10 team every single season and not achieving that one year means our coach should leave?

 

[rstone7727]

again with the "unforeseen consequences". 9 months to plan . no adjustments. i'd be fired.

Well, maybe you should be fired, you don't seem to be able to articulate your "backup plan".. Like in politics, people take shots at Bush and Obama without having a "better" plan of their own.

 

[tbonezone]

So your expectation is that SU should be a top 10 team every single season and not achieving that means our coach should leave?

not exactly sure how you'd grasp that idea from those comments but yes i want a top ten team and yes we are unranked.
look. i see these kids once maybe twice a week on tv for a couple hours. i don't the run practices or even scout recruits. yet you honestly want to hear my monday morning "back-up" plan?
whatever . but believe me if was my real job , you'd get some real answers for what exactly went wrong. and it wouldn't be my players fault.

 

[cuseguy]

Our recruiting, aside from Ennis, has been suspect the last few years.

Hopefully this next class changes that, but people need to dial back expectations next season.

 

[Dave85]

Flynn was "2 and done"
Dion was "2 and done"
MCW was "2 and done"

Nobody's crystal ball had Ennis leaving after last season.

It's all JB's fault. If only we had started 20-5 last year instead of 25-0...

If we lost that first Duke game last year, and TE wasn't a "top 5 lottery pick", how different this season would have been!

 

[dasher]

really not looking forward to playing okafor next year with rak gone.

Okafor is playing in the NBA next year.

 

[dasher]

we knew early 2014 that cooney, patterson, joseph (some G) would likely be our backcourt.
and we rolled with it. these are the guys who JB himself hand picked to run the offense.

we knew early that ennis would leave early? Only you.

 

[dasher]

early entries aside. any good prescient team manager would at least plan for one key injury (let's not even throw dc2 in here as he had no date to even return) and given SU 's past one suspension.

How does he plan that? Get a really good kid to come in with the promise that if someone got hurt, they would play. You are expecting things that no one could live up to.

 

[tbonezone]

we knew early that ennis would leave early? Only you.

well when did ennis first show up on the draft boards ? that's when you start planning.

 

[dasher]

well when did ennis first show up on the draft boards ? that's when you start planning.

How do you do that??? We already had a pt guard we liked commit. Most top end pts were also already taken. This is silly, second guess nonsense. Not to mention the uproar when ennis stays and we have two pt guards come in. Really building solid recruiting relationships that way

 

[jec1521]

We lost a lot. It happens. Grant leaving had to be considered by the staff early 2014, especially considering his family tree. Ennis leaving early I can give the staff a pass on. I'm quite sure before last season we were talking about Ennis being a 4 year program guy...

 

[Ghost]

Starters
Ennis - The big surprise was seeing him get gone.
Cooney
Grant - He was already projected as a draft pick before the season started, no? He should have stayed, but I think that's true...maybe not.
McCullough - Eh, we saw what we were with him, and it wasn't much. Over half the board had already bailed on him before he was hurt and were clamoring for Roberson (I thought he was going to be fine though - so I'll consider it a decent hit)
Christmas

Bench
Gbinije
Coleman - Did we really have any expectation that he may play? Tons of off-season threads seemed to say he wouldn't be ready.
Roberson

As to the question asked, I think the record was fine considering the circumstances. I do think this team was mismanaged though, and we create a lot of our own problems by recruiting guards seemingly for their potential to play in the zone instead of whether they have a complete skill set. Our offense last year was a CJ Fair ISO special, and this year, well, it's whatever it is. We still out talent most teams we play - the zone still befuddles lower level teams, and we have Xmas.

Last night was crap though. We made about zero in-game adjustments...and our attempts at running an offense were embarassing.

Do we practice exclusively against the zone? Just wondering...

 

[dasher]

We lost a lot. It happens. Grant leaving had to be considered by the staff early 2014, especially considering his family tree. Ennis leaving early I can give the staff a pass on. I'm quite sure before last season we were talking about Ennis being a 4 year program guy...

why did grant leaving early have had to be considered? His brother came back to N.D..

 

[Scooch]

not exactly sure how you'd grasp that idea from those comments but yes i want a top ten team and yes we are unranked. look. i see these kids once maybe twice a week on tv for a couple hours. i don't the run practices or even scout recruits. yet you honestly want to hear my monday morning "back-up" plan? whatever . but believe me if was my real job , you'd get some real answers for what exactly went wrong. and it wouldn't be my players fault.

No, I don't want to hear your plans, other people were asking that. I do think that someone who only watches the team once or twice a week might have a shred of self awareness and realize that it's entirely probable that the staff who is, in fact, paid to contemplate such scenarios did the best they could, but that still got screwy anyway.

But no, it's better to assume that with some vague amount of "better preparation" we could easily be a Final Four team this year.

I'm sorry this staff so callously disregarded your right to that.

 

[tbonezone]

How do you do that??? We already had a pt guard we liked commit. Most top end pts were also already taken. This is silly, second guess nonsense. Not to mention the uproar when ennis stays and we have two pt guards come in. Really building solid recruiting relationships that way

so dash you're happy with the roster and results. well pat yourself on the back for doing nothing.

 

[dasher]

so dash you're happy with the roster and results. well pat yourself on the back for doing nothing.

No. But I understand that some people just sit on the sidelines and don't understand the first thing about building a team. It's like the dow going down and you expected your broker to know in advance.

 

[tbonezone]

No. But I understand that some people just sit on the sidelines and don't understand the first thing about building a team. It's like the dow going down and you expected your broker to know in advance.

that's what i pay him for.

 

[dasher]

that's what i pay him for.

Make sure his crystal ball is clean

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Clearly JB needed to recruit 11 kids last year.

You know, just in case Grant or Ennis or Rak or Cooney or G or TRob or Buss or BJ or DC or Chino left for the NBA last April.

Pesky things, those unforseen consequences.

 

[tbonezone]

Make sure his crystal ball is clean

simple formula really . lose my money i fire you.

 

[Shenexon]

Our recruiting, aside from Ennis, has been suspect the last few years.

Hopefully this next class changes that, but people need to dial back expectations next season.

I guess I don't really agree. We've had a good run of recruiting with a number of players that went to the NBA early and significant injuries to key players that create the illusion of weakness. Since 2010, JB has brought in 14 players ranked in the top 100 recruits of their particular years, with four more coming in next year. Two of those 14 would be playing but are injured and 5 left early over the past few years. Our problems are not due to the lack of good recruits, rather quite the opposite. Sequencing is important as is good fortune. We've had issues with both. With the superb players that are choosing to play for SU, karma has to even out some, and we're headed toward another shot at a title.

 

[Scooch]

simple formula really . lose my money i fire you.

You must've been a joy in 2008/09.

 

[tbonezone]

i came out rather intact. and not becuz i stood still .