Illinois 68, Alabama A&M 47 Postgame

#251      
I’d suggest the only collapse was his one seed team that lost to the 8 seed. (Or were they 9?)

That was a true let down.

Other than that, his teams have been fine and performed up to expectations.

But if you base his ability to coach ONLY on his tourney success, you’d be wrongly over emphasizing that one aspect of a college b-ball coach.

Jay Wright didn’t make it to the 2nd weekend (or the round of 32) until his 11th year of coaching. BU made the round of 32 in his first year coaching D1. Jay Wright also didn’t even make the tourney until his 6th year as a Div 1 HC. BU did it in each of his first 4.

Tourney success does not always paint the full picture.
This isn't accurate. BU has never made it to the second weekend. Wright made it in his 4th year at Villanova. That's the round of 16, not the round of 32.

Tourney success doesn't paint a whole picture except the picture for tourney success. Still looking forward to this team gelling by the end of the year.
 
#252      
Didn't Wright loose the in first round when they were the overall #1 seed in the tourney. I bet there was a lot of naysayers then. Good thing he followed it up with a national championship.
 
#255      
There does seem to be a major leadership void on this squad, which shouldn't be a huge surprise. Trent and DMW had that personality from the outset and then had 5 years of maturation on top of it. I was hoping Hawkins would step into that role but maybe that's just not who he is.
I'm hoping that Goode can be that a bit more when he's actually able to be part of the 5 on the court. He has those leadership qualities, he's a BU type of guy, and he's smart enough to know BU needs him to be that guy (or one of them). Good example of the type of guy that is worth way more to a team than the talent-level he brings to the table, but you still need to be seeing the floor to be that kind of leader (i.e., not the same when it's coming from the bench and the other guys are doing the fighting).
 
#256      
The Hawkins body language has been around for 3 years. Every year we talk about him transferring. Every year his dad tweets about Brad making him tougher.

CoHawk could go average a double double, but im not sure he wants to. He is so unsure of himself and is it because he's afraid of Brad yelling at him, or is it because he has always been this way....inconsistent.

He will have to make a choice sooner than later. Do I want to bust my derriere and become a household name, or do I want to finish my career and move onto the work force.
I think he might be over-facilitating on offense but there are worse problems we could have.
If he took more shots at finishing at the rim instead of hitting the open corner 3, I wouldn't complain, but he's consistently busted his !!! on defense and played a crucial role in getting guys shots. That hasn't been a strength of ours this year and without him, it wouldn't be happening much at all.
 
#259      
This isn't accurate. BU has never made it to the second weekend. Wright made it in his 4th year at Villanova. That's the round of 16, not the round of 32.

Tourney success doesn't paint a whole picture except the picture for tourney success. Still looking forward to this team gelling by the end of the year.

I never said BU made the 2nd weekend, I said he made the tourney in his first 4 years as a Div 1 coach. It took Jay Wright until his 6th. Wright coached at Hofstra for 7 years prior to Nova.

And the first time Wright made the round of 32 was also the year he made the sweet 16. His 4th year at Nova and 11th year overall.

So yes, it is accurate, though possibly confusing by how I phrased it.

And the OP mentioned BU’s teams melting when the pressure was on in the dance as a reference point as to why BU’s style of coaching may not be all that great.

I was simply refuting that tourney performance by itself is a poor indicator of whether a coaching style works.
 
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#260      
Why did Constantinople get the works
that’s nobody’s business but the Turks.
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#265      
anyone else disappointed in Underwood's demeanor this year? starting to remind me of another former coach, Bruce Underwood maybe?
 
#268      
I get disappointed more by posts on this board, but then I see that the trolls are first time posters, I use the ignore feature and I feel much better.
I don't feel the belittling, berating, screaming and posturing is coaching, and I think the results will speak for themselves, just my opinion, and please be easy with the name/labeling it's also unbecoming
 
#270      
I don't feel the belittling, berating, screaming and posturing is coaching, and I think the results will speak for themselves, just my opinion, and please be easy with the name/labeling it's also unbecoming

Yeah, those banners he’s hung and all those conference wins and All American recruits he’s gotten/coached up really do speak poorly for his coaching demeanor.
 
#271      

Illini92and96

Austin, TX
I don't feel the belittling, berating, screaming and posturing is coaching, and I think the results will speak for themselves, just my opinion, and please be easy with the name/labeling it's also unbecoming
Yes, everyone should be entitled to share their opinion……. It’s just his personality. While he does that publicly, he shows enough love behind the scenes to make up for it or he wouldn’t be successful and players would leave in droves. I’d bet we all know someone like that in our lives.
 
#272      
Wow!! Eleven pages of angst with a sprinkling of reassurance. Let me jump in on the reassurance side with the caveat that I have no insider information as to the individuals involved. 1st -- I find it interesting that as a fan base, collectively for the last six months, with 3 transfers, 4 freshman, and 3 holdovers (that we would not have described as consistent), we have maintained the stance that it would take time for these players and coaches to figure out what makes each other tick and how to play as one. Yet with a couple players making the same comment out loud, some are losing their minds. 2nd -- There have been successful yelling coaches and successful quiet coaches and there always will be. Strong, mature players can be successful for both. Strong though not mature players may need that yelling to motivate them. After 11 games, I believe that our 4 freshman, Dainja, and TSJ are strong and mature. Hawkins and MM kinda look like they fall into that strong enough to take the yelling and need it for motivation (ignore CH's body language). Considering MM and Hawkins lit up the score board and stepped their defense up a notch after BU lit into MM on the bench and CH in the time out, I doubt you will see much of a change soon unless you see self motivation out of the players. I will end with this. I do have one concern. I have always told my children, if you have a yelling coach and he stops yelling at you, that is when you get concerned. He no longer cares about you. (It's only like a 6 inch ledge, but I need the insiders to talk me off of it.) RJ lost his starting job. He was the last to sub in off the bench. I never saw BU engaged with him. At one point in time during the shoot around, he came down to the end where Dainja and Lieb were practicing short shots and was by himself shooting bank three pointers. That gives the appearance of disconnect to me. Reading to much?
 
#273      
I don't feel the belittling, berating, screaming and posturing is coaching, and I think the results will speak for themselves, just my opinion, and please be easy with the name/labeling it's also unbecoming
We beat two top 11 NET teams already this season. Those are the results that are speaking to me. BU hasn't transformed into some guy who gets worked up during games and yells at players. That's who he's always been. The guys on the team aren't surprised by it. They knew what they signed up for. It's not a secret.
He expects them to practice hard, play hard, and play smart. If you fail to do those things, you will hear about it. If you fail to do them in public, you will hear about it in public.
A lot of talk about coaching Gen Z players, and how they should be handled differently... BU, TA, CF, & GA aren't out there looking for a one size fits all approach to retaining players. They are actively looking for 12 guys who WANT TO BE COACHED HARD. That's why they have cooled on some prospects many thought they should have pursued. They don't want this to be a welcome place for the Mark Smiths of the world. They want tough kids who thrive on being challenged daily.

He lit up Hawkins for NOT shooting. That's a coach who believes in his player more than the player believes in himself. I took Hawkins' body language as an admission that BU was right. He has to get more aggressive, or these NBA dreams will remain dreams.
 
#274      
RJ lost his starting job. He was the last to sub in off the bench. I never saw BU engaged with him. At one point in time during the shoot around, he came down to the end where Dainja and Lieb were practicing short shots and was by himself shooting bank three pointers. That gives the appearance of disconnect to me. Reading to much?
I believe I heard RJ is dealing with a mild shoulder injury. That's why he played so little, turned down open shots, and was only shooting short shots in warmups.