Tired of All the Red Bashing...

[chuck]

I

I think everybody would agree that he did somewhere between a solid to a very good job last season.

This season's roster is screwed up because we blew the portal. Was that Red's fault ? Can anybody point to some other players in the portal that we could have gotten with our available NIL $$$$ that are doing better ?

Carlos and Lampkin are disappointments compared to our expectations. Taylor is a total bust. Only Davis has shown value in terms of our portal grabs.

We didnt pay up for Leffew who we clearly wanted. We let Brown leave. Team would have been entirely different if we had spent competitively. Same happened the year before when we didnt pay up for Jesse. Is that cheapness on Red ? You think Red didnt see that Brown > Lampkin or Leffew > Carlos ???

This season's mess got compounded with the JJ injury.

So what can we lay on Red ?

In terms of player development - maybe a lack of improvement by Bell is on the Coach. On the plus side - very nice progressions from Freeman and JJ (before he was hurt). Moore is coming along nicely - my biggest gripe with Red is I think Moore should be seen more.

On the recruiting front - Red has been a huge upgrade from what we saw of the last ten or so Jimmy years. Five stars in consecutive classes plus 4 stars Kiyan and Moore. I have a good feeling about the Aussie kid, though it is obviously pre-mature to say he will be the PG answer. We are in the mix for others. I think we have clearly had A level recruiting the last two classes. Only issue will be can we keep these kids for more than one season ??

This team cant shoot. A game with zero threes made in this day and age ???? Poor to erratic FT %. Well, that is at least something that just continues our long tradition.

On D - thank goodness we are basically done with the dino-Zone. I see the D gradually improving, but how good can it get with an undersized PG and a slow center ?

Bottom line - you cant win without talent. We lack even mid-ACC pack level talent, especially without JJ.

Now, if somebody thinks they can hang the portal selections on Red, then criticism is fair. If not, give the man a chance to prove or not prove how good a coach he is when we have a level playing field in terms of talent on the Court.

I was tired of all the JB bashing no one that wears orange or bleeds this program should be bashed.

 

[CapitalO]

I think everybody would agree that he did somewhere between a solid to a very good job last season.

This season's roster is screwed up because we blew the portal. Was that Red's fault ? Can anybody point to some other players in the portal that we could have gotten with our available NIL $$$$ that are doing better ?

Carlos and Lampkin are disappointments compared to our expectations. Taylor is a total bust. Only Davis has shown value in terms of our portal grabs.

We didnt pay up for Leffew who we clearly wanted. We let Brown leave. Team would have been entirely different if we had spent competitively. Same happened the year before when we didnt pay up for Jesse. Is that cheapness on Red ? You think Red didnt see that Brown > Lampkin or Leffew > Carlos ???

This season's mess got compounded with the JJ injury.

So what can we lay on Red ?

In terms of player development - maybe a lack of improvement by Bell is on the Coach. On the plus side - very nice progressions from Freeman and JJ (before he was hurt). Moore is coming along nicely - my biggest gripe with Red is I think Moore should be seen more.

On the recruiting front - Red has been a huge upgrade from what we saw of the last ten or so Jimmy years. Five stars in consecutive classes plus 4 stars Kiyan and Moore. I have a good feeling about the Aussie kid, though it is obviously pre-mature to say he will be the PG answer. We are in the mix for others. I think we have clearly had A level recruiting the last two classes. Only issue will be can we keep these kids for more than one season ??

This team cant shoot. A game with zero threes made in this day and age ???? Poor to erratic FT %. Well, that is at least something that just continues our long tradition.

On D - thank goodness we are basically done with the dino-Zone. I see the D gradually improving, but how good can it get with an undersized PG and a slow center ?

Bottom line - you cant win without talent. We lack even mid-ACC pack level talent, especially without JJ.

Now, if somebody thinks they can hang the portal selections on Red, then criticism is fair. If not, give the man a chance to prove or not prove how good a coach he is when we have a level playing field in terms of talent on the Court.

I really enjoyed reading your post you hit the nail on the head with everything you said, to many people are after coach Red he did a very good job last year and is now without GMAC by his side which makes it much more difficult, coach Strahan is only in his 2nd year here and coach Englestad is in his 1st and coach Griff. is probably taking on new responsibilities that takes time to get down, hopefully Chance can get a little more run and JJ recovers well and for the guys that came in from the portal that also takes time to get the system down. Hopefully we play hard and get better each week and win some games.

 

[ThyCookie]

If Red goes, then do we also lose Straughn and the DMV pipeline?
Unless there's an available coaching staff with an established recruiting structure that can replace what we have without skipping a beat, then we all know Red isn't going anywhere. That's the nature of the beast today.

 

[NKR1978]

If Red goes, then do we also lose Straughn and the DMV pipeline?
Unless there's an available coaching staff with an established recruiting structure that can replace what we have without skipping a beat, then we all know Red isn't going anywhere. That's the nature of the beast today.

I would imagine any coach we were to hire would have a pipeline.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I think everybody would agree that he did somewhere between a solid to a very good job last season.

This season's roster is screwed up because we blew the portal. Was that Red's fault ? Can anybody point to some other players in the portal that we could have gotten with our available NIL $$$$ that are doing better ?

Carlos and Lampkin are disappointments compared to our expectations. Taylor is a total bust. Only Davis has shown value in terms of our portal grabs.

We didnt pay up for Leffew who we clearly wanted. We let Brown leave. Team would have been entirely different if we had spent competitively. Same happened the year before when we didnt pay up for Jesse. Is that cheapness on Red ? You think Red didnt see that Brown > Lampkin or Leffew > Carlos ???

This season's mess got compounded with the JJ injury.

So what can we lay on Red ?

In terms of player development - maybe a lack of improvement by Bell is on the Coach. On the plus side - very nice progressions from Freeman and JJ (before he was hurt). Moore is coming along nicely - my biggest gripe with Red is I think Moore should be seen more.

On the recruiting front - Red has been a huge upgrade from what we saw of the last ten or so Jimmy years. Five stars in consecutive classes plus 4 stars Kiyan and Moore. I have a good feeling about the Aussie kid, though it is obviously pre-mature to say he will be the PG answer. We are in the mix for others. I think we have clearly had A level recruiting the last two classes. Only issue will be can we keep these kids for more than one season ??

This team cant shoot. A game with zero threes made in this day and age ???? Poor to erratic FT %. Well, that is at least something that just continues our long tradition.

On D - thank goodness we are basically done with the dino-Zone. I see the D gradually improving, but how good can it get with an undersized PG and a slow center ?

Bottom line - you cant win without talent. We lack even mid-ACC pack level talent, especially without JJ.

Now, if somebody thinks they can hang the portal selections on Red, then criticism is fair. If not, give the man a chance to prove or not prove how good a coach he is when we have a level playing field in terms of talent on the Court.

Not sure everyone agrees he did a solid to very good job last season. We didn't make the tournament. That's the standard for me. The floor of acceptability.

You're saying we "blew the portal," and not attributing that to the coach. Then demanding alternative player names? Wouldn't only the staff own the truth in that matter? We only have rumor and speculation.

Carlos and Lampkin are "disappointments." Taylor is a "total bust." But, we can't "bash" the staff for that? As much as you may be annoyed by "bashing" of Red, why isn't it as distasteful for you to "bash" these players? They're trying (mostly). If the soldiers get slaughtered, is it their fault or that of the generals?

I wonder what you're watching in these games. Do you not see rampant issues with the basics in skills and execution? If these players had these same issues when they played with other teams, were these issues not noticed? Shouldn't these basic issues have been addressed by now? Are you seeing improvement in those areas? I'm not. Basic, basic stuff.

Are you seeing any rhyme or reason in the lineups or substitutions? Before the injuries. Seems like half the posts are something like, "Why is -x- on the floor right now/for so many minutes?" That's every game, all game. I don't remember that sort of cloud of questioning of reason in any previous season. "What's he doing with time management?" So many constant and consistent questions about the basics of game management. Yes, some of that accompanies poor play and losing. But, those questions are also coming in real time, live in game play, before the results are known. That's on the coach, no?

The man makes millions of dollars and represents, essentially, a franchise. He's a professional. Scrutiny is a part of the game and a part of the position. And all of the "bashing" has been pretty fair—it's definitely not personal. I don't think i've seen a single thing that indicates 'we' don't like Red. It's 'fair game' to talk about what he (and the staff) have done, are doing, and that we don't like those things.

 

[dasher]

It isn't bashing to wonder if the guy can coach? He still hasn't coached a big game so we haven't even seen that yet. So far, honestly, I have my questions. Other than recruiting, what does he do well as a coach? If I asked that about Fran, people would have a number of answers.

 

[Blanko97]

It isn't bashing to wonder if the guy can coach? He still hasn't coached a big game so we haven't even seen that yet. So far, honestly, I have my questions. Other than recruiting, what does he do well as a coach? If I asked that about Fran, people would have a number of answers.

Yup

 

[shu 49]

I think everybody would agree that he did somewhere between a solid to a very good job last season.

This season's roster is screwed up because we blew the portal. Was that Red's fault ? Can anybody point to some other players in the portal that we could have gotten with our available NIL $$$$ that are doing better ?

Carlos and Lampkin are disappointments compared to our expectations. Taylor is a total bust. Only Davis has shown value in terms of our portal grabs.

We didnt pay up for Leffew who we clearly wanted. We let Brown leave. Team would have been entirely different if we had spent competitively. Same happened the year before when we didnt pay up for Jesse. Is that cheapness on Red ? You think Red didnt see that Brown > Lampkin or Leffew > Carlos ???

This season's mess got compounded with the JJ injury.

So what can we lay on Red ?

In terms of player development - maybe a lack of improvement by Bell is on the Coach. On the plus side - very nice progressions from Freeman and JJ (before he was hurt). Moore is coming along nicely - my biggest gripe with Red is I think Moore should be seen more.

On the recruiting front - Red has been a huge upgrade from what we saw of the last ten or so Jimmy years. Five stars in consecutive classes plus 4 stars Kiyan and Moore. I have a good feeling about the Aussie kid, though it is obviously pre-mature to say he will be the PG answer. We are in the mix for others. I think we have clearly had A level recruiting the last two classes. Only issue will be can we keep these kids for more than one season ??

This team cant shoot. A game with zero threes made in this day and age ???? Poor to erratic FT %. Well, that is at least something that just continues our long tradition.

On D - thank goodness we are basically done with the dino-Zone. I see the D gradually improving, but how good can it get with an undersized PG and a slow center ?

Bottom line - you cant win without talent. We lack even mid-ACC pack level talent, especially without JJ.

Now, if somebody thinks they can hang the portal selections on Red, then criticism is fair. If not, give the man a chance to prove or not prove how good a coach he is when we have a level playing field in terms of talent on the Court.

I agree asi am a Red fan. He just needs a defensive genius and a will that either u play defense or leave mindset period. The tougher mentally, the better we will play.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I agree asi am a Red fan. He just needs a defensive genius and a will that either u play defense or leave mindset period. The tougher mentally, the better we will play.

Is that something normally said about good basketball coaches? He’s fine—he just needs someone else to coach half of the game. It’s not like we’re also saying he’s an offensive genius and just needs a little help on the other side. Where is the ‘plus’ aspect? Recruiting?

 

[imdevo]

If Red goes, then do we also lose Straughn and the DMV pipeline?
Unless there's an available coaching staff with an established recruiting structure that can replace what we have without skipping a beat, then we all know Red isn't going anywhere. That's the nature of the beast today.

Recruiting structure? Dmv pipeline?

It’s 2024. We just need cash.

 

[Sbucketball]

It isn't bashing to wonder if the guy can coach? He still hasn't coached a big game so we haven't even seen that yet. So far, honestly, I have my questions. Other than recruiting, what does he do well as a coach? If I asked that about Fran, people would have a number of answers.

So far, the only thing done well is recruiting high school. But we’ll see if that continues after a rough year. And we’ll see if he’s actually a good recruiter or if we’re just starved for talent and giving too much credit. Moore committed to Boeheim. Kiyan is orange family and not exactly a rabbit out of the hat. Donnie and Sadiq are great gets, but doesnt Straughn get most of the credit? Red closed, to be fair.

 

[dasher]

So far, the only thing done well is recruiting high school. But we’ll see if that continues after a rough year. And we’ll see if he’s actually a good recruiter or if we’re just starved for talent and giving too much credit. Moore committed to Boeheim. Kiyan is orange family and not exactly a rabbit out of the hat. Donnie and Sadiq are great gets, but doesnt Straughn get most of the credit? Red closed, to be fair.

Red gets the credit for Donnie and White even though we don't get them without Straughn. He hired Straughn.

 

[kingtidge]

Red's preseason is officially over

We have G'town on Saturday.

The answer is simple.

Win.

 

[shu 49]

Is that something normally said about good basketball coaches? He’s fine—he just needs someone else to coach half of the game. It’s not like we’re also saying he’s an offensive genius and just needs a little help on the other side. Where is the ‘plus’ aspect? Recruiting?

Yeah. He obviously can recruit but he is trying to teach a defense he doesn’t or didn’t play much of.

 

[Newhouser]

My biggest concern is that Red's game management doesn't seem to be improving at all which means he isn't learning on the job. I can't comment on the practice instruction, but the game decisions (from subbing, to TO use, etc) is bad and not improving at all.

 

[hoopsupstate]

When you have players that are really talented it’s easy to know who to play. When you have a bunch of guys with different skill levels you have a tendency to juggle lineups to see what works. Red has a mixture of guys who don’t do anything really well but are ok at some things. Sometimes you just look for lightning in a bottle and hope it works. Last night Cuffe had one of those 6-7 minute stretches that was great. He was just the opposite when he put him in later in the second half.

 

[Orangezoo]

I feel like one of the things that gets over played in sports is ones coaching ability on the basis of having played and excelled at the level they are now coaching. Application of knowledge and understanding on the court vs strategizing and coaching off it have some major differences and the ability to see everything on the fly and mix together a vision with a roster is a unique skillset no different than a good PG on the court.

Red to me stands out that he struggles to see the game from the sidelines and from afar in a different lens than as a player and is struggling to put it all together. He knows what he wants to accomplish to be successful but just doesn’t have the remaining acuity needed to build a plan and team to execute it well.

He relied on playmakers last year to win iso matchups a lot and we still see that approach this year at times as though it’s a major fallback because it simplifies the approach. Some of that is of course Carlos not being good enough at this level of competition but I think it is that comfort zone to try and just have guys attack their matchups while hoping Lampkin can facilitate enough and to now a lesser extent Carlos. It’s a really vanilla approach that speaks to a serious gap in coaching strategy and IQ.

 

[swish7]

I think everybody would agree that he did somewhere between a solid to a very good job last season.

This season's roster is screwed up because we blew the portal. Was that Red's fault ? Can anybody point to some other players in the portal that we could have gotten with our available NIL $$$$ that are doing better ?

Carlos and Lampkin are disappointments compared to our expectations. Taylor is a total bust. Only Davis has shown value in terms of our portal grabs.

We didnt pay up for Leffew who we clearly wanted. We let Brown leave. Team would have been entirely different if we had spent competitively. Same happened the year before when we didnt pay up for Jesse. Is that cheapness on Red ? You think Red didnt see that Brown > Lampkin or Leffew > Carlos ???

This season's mess got compounded with the JJ injury.

So what can we lay on Red ?

In terms of player development - maybe a lack of improvement by Bell is on the Coach. On the plus side - very nice progressions from Freeman and JJ (before he was hurt). Moore is coming along nicely - my biggest gripe with Red is I think Moore should be seen more.

On the recruiting front - Red has been a huge upgrade from what we saw of the last ten or so Jimmy years. Five stars in consecutive classes plus 4 stars Kiyan and Moore. I have a good feeling about the Aussie kid, though it is obviously pre-mature to say he will be the PG answer. We are in the mix for others. I think we have clearly had A level recruiting the last two classes. Only issue will be can we keep these kids for more than one season ??

This team cant shoot. A game with zero threes made in this day and age ???? Poor to erratic FT %. Well, that is at least something that just continues our long tradition.

On D - thank goodness we are basically done with the dino-Zone. I see the D gradually improving, but how good can it get with an undersized PG and a slow center ?

Bottom line - you cant win without talent. We lack even mid-ACC pack level talent, especially without JJ.

Now, if somebody thinks they can hang the portal selections on Red, then criticism is fair. If not, give the man a chance to prove or not prove how good a coach he is when we have a level playing field in terms of talent on the Court.

Coming to this thread late, but I disagree.

He's a big boy & has earned this.

Its a high pressure job.

 

[RF2044]

I feel like one of the things that gets over played in sports is ones coaching ability on the basis of having played and excelled at the level they are now coaching. Application of knowledge and understanding on the court vs strategizing and coaching off it have some major differences and the ability to see everything on the fly and mix together a vision with a roster is a unique skillset no different than a good PG on the court.

Red to me stands out that he struggles to see the game from the sidelines and from afar in a different lens than as a player and is struggling to put it all together. He knows what he wants to accomplish to be successful but just doesn’t have the remaining acuity needed to build a plan and team to execute it well.

He relied on playmakers last year to win iso matchups a lot and we still see that approach this year at times as though it’s a major fallback because it simplifies the approach. Some of that is of course Carlos not being good enough at this level of competition but I think it is that comfort zone to try and just have guys attack their matchups while hoping Lampkin can facilitate enough and to now a lesser extent Carlos. It’s a really vanilla approach that speaks to a serious gap in coaching strategy and IQ.

Very good post.

I think that there was some hope that Red would overcome the lack of HC experience by bringing a solid understanding of game management / hoops IQ, as a former point guard. The best ones are [sometimes] extensions of the coach on the floor, and demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the game that comes with being the "quarterback" out there. But that has been unfortunately been lacking on both accounts thus far.

Agree 100% with your point about great players not always being great coaches. But some are [or can learn to be]. But it isn't a given.

 

[CuseTG2003]

Like Red and want him to succeed, but it feels like we're still in the JB era. Only differences are more man than zone and the lack of in-game coaching acuity. The whole culture needs to change IMO (i.e., A LOT more accountability & discipline).

 

[UpstateSM]

Like Red and want him to succeed, but it feels like we're still in the JB era. Only difference is more man than zone and the lack of in-game coaching acuity. The whole culture needs to change IMO (i.e., A LOT more accountability & discipline).

At the end of the JB era the players did not look like they were having fun and also didn't appear to be playing particularly hard. I was not a big fan of going in-house but one of the biggest reasons that it wasn't hard to convince myself that it would work was because I thought those two things would immediately change under Red.

They haven't. At all. You could even argue that they have gotten worse. If you aren't going to be a good basketball team, you at least need to be fun to watch and/or play your balls off for 40 minutes every game.

Instead, we are bad at basketball and it is very hard to find any joy watching us play. That leads to a level of apathy that continues to reach levels that I never thought would be possible five years ago.

 

[swish7]

At the end of the JB era the players did not look like they were having fun and also didn't appear to be playing particularly hard. I was not a big fan of going in-house but one of the biggest reasons that it wasn't hard to convince myself that it would work was because I thought those two things would immediately change under Red.

They haven't. At all. You could even argue that they have gotten worse. If you aren't going to be a good basketball team, you at least need to be fun to watch and/or play your balls off for 40 minutes every game.

Instead, we are bad at basketball and it is very hard to find any joy watching us play. That leads to a level of apathy that continues to reach levels that I never thought would be possible five years ago.

You mean like when his own sons absolutely played hard as heck to try to get into the tournament? One punched his way out & the other went off for 35ish points?

I recall at least those two playing hard & being extremely high IQ players.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Like Red and want him to succeed, but it feels like we're still in the JB era. Only difference is more man than zone and the lack of in-game coaching acuity. The whole culture needs to change IMO (i.e., A LOT more accountability & discipline).

Red needs to dial 1-315-Fran-Brown or someone could call into the Fran Brown show for him to ask Fran what his particular method is and how he was able to turn it around so fast.

No joke, and what Fran did is near impossible in any other line of work, and probably wouldn't work without the transfer portal, but Fran could make lots of money being a motivational speaker for crafting a great blue print. Can't wait to see what he does against a much harder schedule next season.

So a great Xmas gift for Red, his staff and all those players would be those nice DART hats that Fran loves to wear along with a personalized message for each one.

 

[baggerbob]

I feel like one of the things that gets over played in sports is ones coaching ability on the basis of having played and excelled at the level they are now coaching. Application of knowledge and understanding on the court vs strategizing and coaching off it have some major differences and the ability to see everything on the fly and mix together a vision with a roster is a unique skillset no different than a good PG on the court.

Red to me stands out that he struggles to see the game from the sidelines and from afar in a different lens than as a player and is struggling to put it all together. He knows what he wants to accomplish to be successful but just doesn’t have the remaining acuity needed to build a plan and team to execute it well.

He relied on playmakers last year to win iso matchups a lot and we still see that approach this year at times as though it’s a major fallback because it simplifies the approach. Some of that is of course Carlos not being good enough at this level of competition but I think it is that comfort zone to try and just have guys attack their matchups while hoping Lampkin can facilitate enough and to now a lesser extent Carlos. It’s a really vanilla approach that speaks to a serious gap in coaching strategy and IQ.

He had 2 players last year who had the ability to make something out of nothing in Judah and Q. The problem with both of them was neither one understood they both could be better doing the simpler things.
Both could have been great distrubuters and scorers. But both wanted to play iso, and go for the great play.

 

[SimonSays]

I agree asi am a Red fan. He just needs a defensive genius and a will that either u play defense or leave mindset period. The tougher mentally, the better we will play.

if you need to bring someone in to coach 50% of basketball , you are not a good coach. I actually think he has good defensive principles, but he somehow hasn't squeezed m any effort out of this team.