Did you see the press conference from the UCLA men's basketball coach, Micki Cronnin? Coaching today's players is not like it used to be. The problem with this current men's team is not the coach, but the lack of talent. John Wooden couldn't get these guys to play better. Red is playing mostly man to man with players who lack the athleticism and skill to play that defense in my opinion. We have no shot blockers or rim protecters in the post. Our 3 point shooting is terrible.
The best Syracuse teams were always exciting transition scoring teams with great defense from the vaunted 2-3 zone. Name me one player on this team as talented as: Sherman Douglas, Pearl Washington, Dion Waiters, Michael carter Williams, Scoop jardin, John Wallace, Rony Seikley, Billy Owens, Derrick Coleman, Tyler Lydon, Malachi richardson,Tyus Battle, Melo, Eric Devendorf, Jerry McNamara, Stevie Thompson... many of these teams had several of these players on the same team. Building a team is like putting together a puzzle, you need the right pieces and in this NIL, transfer portal era, keeping the pieces together is a challenge and selecting and signing new pieces is even more difficult. This is why talented, seasoned coaches are getting out of college sports.
University athletic departments, alumni, Boosters, and Fans, and not just coaches, are going to all have to collectively figure out how to negotiate this new playing field. This isn't your father's College Sports Landscape anymore.
