Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
^Roo, that is odd. But what I would say is that you can argue there’s also a multiplier effect in other giving areas, whether it’s WPC, or to other funds and endowments. I have a friend who’s a retired economics prof from Clemson, and they’ve attempted to monetize the effect of football success on other programs and endowments and enrollment. Winning is a plus in many areas, at least in Clemson. Conversely, losing hurts you in more areas than one.
Go Pack9! I’ve already made the transition to Spring. Can we pitch? Can EA win us a few close games, or not cost us a few? If so, we might be tough. I like the speed, defense, and we’ll hit.
And for the record, I’ll pony up some loot for the buyout. Ticket raise, I’m in. Can we start a Gofundme page? Call it “Gotttogo2017”. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. WPC doesn’t need to be the involved in the buyout.
Rye, when I look at your list, I see flawed teams and coaches in 2 trip crowd and below.
Look at the 3-4 trip crowd. Solid fundamentals, she lid talent, complete rosters, and they play their tails off every night.How many of those inherited a roster? Or a recruiting class?
A few sweet 16s ain’t no better than cornering a market or making a good pick on the ponies or the market or finding that shiny nugget in a stream. There’s some work and a lot of luck. im not saying gottfried is just lucky; he’s clearly put in time and work, but he’s more a product of opportunity than a culmination of fundamentals, scheme, adaptability, and tenacity.
I of the Marshall and Lon Kruger persuasion last go around
I’m not sure how anyone can defend Gott as a good coach, even with 1 Elite 8 and the extra pair of sweet 16s. In my book, good coaches are consistent, with teams that give solid effort every night, are fundamentally sound, and adapt to the personnel and officiating and the way the game changes. There have been a few years of those sprinkled in at best. And I say that as one who was baptized by fire living with SEC grad roomies during his stint at Bama.
What he is is opportunistic, a really good recruiter/salesman, and an above average motivator. He capitalized on a very weak SEC, inherited a very strong nucleus in Raleigh, and has underperformed here every year since the first. Every single one. An average coach can win in Raleigh. That’s been proven. You don’t have to be good or great. He’s neither.
Year 2, friends. It’s been down hill since then. The fair Gottfather was always a fraud. The only changes are the additions of our old Big East friends and Notre Dame and a full complement of his recruits, minus Bobby Lutz, who was never a defensive genius, but at least provided some level of game prep that now appears lost.
He simply thought we’d out talent people this year. And he’s perplexed now and has no solution, because to swallow the pill, he either has to say he can’t coach, or we don’t have players. He’s run out of excuses, so now it’s “bad energy.”
Was it troll who predicted our football season wins? Troll, what are we looking at on the hardwood. Call it on down the line for us betting fools
Hell, half the time when I do watch I wonder if the kids are gassed. The whole damn team was bending over with hands on knees every dead ball I saw against UNC. And that was first half
We should be running and pressing and trapping with this roster, and we,re plodding along with bad sub patterns and lineups. Ive long expected atrocious defense from his teams, but its inexcusable that he refuses to mask his deficiencies with a style of play that leads to more possessions, greater opportunities for easy baskets, and eliminates the need to play half court defense for 30 seconds
how many dunks and layups and wide open threes did we give up?
How bad were the lineup combinations, substitution patterns?
How many layups and dunks did the mighty matadors from Raleigh give up tonight? How many uncontested threes?
How many early shot clock threes?
How many unproductive minutes from our stellar cast of stahs?
I’d also add that when Gottfried was hired, it was also widely known that his teams often played inconsistently, were bad on defense, had spurts typically in every game where focus was missing, and would lay plenty of eggs. There were plenty of pieces written in the national media and plenty of discussion on the boards.
What he said upon his hiring was that he learned in his time away from the game, and some of us hoped that with our resources and tradition, and his time off, he might be able to put it together. But when pushed on that question, he never really said what he learned. He quipped something along the lines of, “The teams with the most talent win.” That’s his motto. It isn’t preparation, hardwork, committment to detail or defense. It’s outscore your opponent, hope you shoot it 50% or better, and out-talent them.
I was impressed with the second half of the conference season during Year 1, and the tournament results, and for that reason excited about the future, with a highly touted recruiting class coming in Year 2, and the nucleus of the previous season’s class returning. But early in Year 2, I knew he hadn’t really grown as a coach in his time away from the game. It was clear. Most folks attributed it to the knuckleheads on the roster, the transfer of Deshawn Painter, graduation of C. J. Williams and Alex Johnson, but I never bought it.
He can win any night but a consistent program builder, a guy who’s going to position you well, he isn’t. His teams will generally improve, and most here seem to cite that as a reason for optimism. Why? Barring lack of injuries, etc..don’t most teams improve? Of course they do. That’s no reason for celebration. His problem is that his teams aren’t fundamentally sound in numerous areas, seem underprepared, and are never ready to play early in the year. That’s not how you position yourselves consistently for late season success.
Have to agree with ryebread on this one, Tau. As much as I respect VaWolf’s opinions, #5 about the perception of our program and its resources, and the impact on coaching searches, is just bologna.
I’ve said it multiple times on here, and I know it from personal sources, closely tied to Greg Marshall. He wanted this job at least twice, maybe 3 times. I’ll repeat it. HE WANTED THIS JOB. First time, he wasn’t offered. Second time, he was offered, and was close to taking it. He’s said as much in public. The reason he didn’t take it are more complicated, but one factor in that, undoubtedly was Yow’s handling of it. Smart was offered first, not Marshall. Marshall knew this. He ain’t nobody’s second choice. Nobody. He was also offered after losing to Smart in very poorly seeded first round 5/12 matchup, or 3/14 matchup, in which case both teams were underseeded and should’ve never played in a first round game. Yow went after the hot name based on tournament results, and ignored a longer track record of success. I’m never a fan of this hiring method…the hot newcomer. Give me tried and true.
Well done! We should rename ourselves the Matadors. Don’t Mr. and Mrs. Wolf wear capes? Can we have a half-time bullfight skit? Something Shakespearean…
xphoenix’s posts on our defense for several years now have always been spot on. Gott’s response: “somewhere along the line, in third or fourth grade, you learn to not gamble, to stay between your man and the ball,” or “we know what to do, we’re just not doing that” (lack of execution–sound familiar?) and it’s youth…or something to that effect. Uhhh…sorry Gott, the numbers don’t lie. For what it’s worth, Henderson was one of WVU’s better defensive players, often tasked with matching up with the opposing team’s best scorer when on the court.
That was the most interesting takeaway from the article on Gott’s offseason issues/events, that Lutz was replaced by a recruiters. he simply thinks he’s losing because we’ve been getting out-talented, out-scored, and he needs more guns. Never a problem with defense, ever. The excuse this year, already in the works, is that we were young, inexperienced, and our full complement of players wasn’t available, and had trouble meshing..No matter that he always has difficulty meshing players..
My reminder every year…his first team was his best with the Pack, and there’s a reason for that..
Happy Coach G’s health and personal life are on the mend. But what caught my eye in this article was his reasoning behind the parting of ways with Lutz. Now I was never thought of Lutz as a defensive savior. His teams at UNC-Charlotte weren’t known for their defense. But to paraphrase, Gottfried says Lutz’s strengths were X’s and O’s, not recruiting. So he replaced with Lutz with recruiters. The bottom line is, and he’s said this before, the teams with the most talent win, and he thinks he just trot out a bunch of horses and win big in today’s game.
That ain’t the way it goes coach. The teams that win big have the horses AND THEY BUST THEIR TAILS and are fundamentally sound. Watch an Izzo or Calipari, Pitino, Coach K, Greg Marshall, or even ole Roy’s bunch. You gotta have both.
^I have to agree with Tex on the Johnson and Smith assessments. It’s clear with Smith’s size and athleticism and shotmaking ability why scouts drool over him. But his defense leaves something to be desired and decision making and turnovers are problems > But let’s face it, are we really surprised? A Freshman who didn’t play in a year coached by Gottfried. I expected the turnovers and decision making, and lack of defense. No shocker there.
But Johnson is Cat like with his defense, and he’s been less turnover prone, granted with a few less minutes, than Smith.
I expect we’ll improve but I already have bad feelings about this year. The defense is the worst we’ve seen under Gottfried, and that’s saying a lot. I’m trying to reserve judgment until the full complement of players arrive, but I don’t see a strategy that plays to the team’s strengths, and hides its weaknesses.
For NCSU, I think a track record of building and winning as a head man, as opposed to assistants and head D-1 coaches who’ve inherited successful programs or have been canned and command big paydays, is the path to success. I’m not saying it’s a guarantee, but I’d rather hedge in that direction. It’s cost effective to hire from the lower ranks. You have a proven record to gauge success. If you want a data driven approach, show me the guys from the SE or connections to the area who meet this criteria, and I’ll take my chances. Doesn’t mean the Dabos and the Hermanns aren’t out there, but the odds of finding those folks are slimmer than finding the other guys.
I’d go the route that’s been successful in the past for us. I don’t follow football enough at the lower levels to throw out a ton of names, but I’m a skeptic about hiring retreads and assistant coaches. As I’ve said in the past, I think AD have become risk averse. Search firms and ADs are looking for the sexy name as opposed to making hard choices. The sexy name is a marketing gimmick.
I’d look for a head man from the southeast, with experience recruiting and coaching in the southeast, who’s relatively young, but has had success at a subdivision school. In other words, they didn’t inherit the success. They made it. I give them a shot on a relatively small budget. I invest in assistants as well.
^Yogi, you’re cherry picking. Playing in the SEC East isn’t like playing in the ACC. Dabo may not be the sharpest coach on the sideline, but he’s a heckuva recruiter and motivator, and he won his fair share those first few years, which is why he was retained. They were visibly building. It was clear from Year 1.
I agree with you that the cupboard was bare when DD arrived. But DD was and is squarely in the hotseat now because he hasn’t been able to win the close games. Nobody expected him to beat Clemson or FSU the last few years. His problem is not being able to beat the likes of BC, ECU, and win the 50/50 games. Clock management, field decisions, penalties…those fall on the coach. Coordinators and coaches get paid big bucks to win the 50/50 games. You win the ones you should first, then you win some others against comparable teams, and then you steal a few.
I applaud those who see the glass as half full, and I want DD to succeed as well. But if you choose to see this year as a step forward, and live by the “we were a few plays away” mantra, it’s just as easy to look at other side. We were a few plays away from being smoked by Clemson, who coughed it up in our red zone multiple times, and Watson threw a pick-6, the only one of his entire career. Clemson moved the ball at will against us, and Watson threw some really bad deep balls in that game that should’ve been touchdowns. They could’ve just as easily beaten us by 5 TD’s. We beat ND in a hurricane with Kelly throwing the ball all over the field.
My point is that he’s not as dynamic a recruiter, and he’s not going to win the talent contest, so he’s got to win the 50/50 games. He hasn’t shown the ability to do much of that.
CD, I know a few ole’ timers who shoved some gravel down a horn or two. You sure that was impromptu and not a tradition passed along?…A few years ago, I had to restrain the ole’ man from getting into it with some drunk UNC college kid yelling insults as we left Carter-Finley. Had I been a few years younger, I’d have punched the kid myself.
And Mac…I want to hear more about these thefts. You sure those were copies ya’ll plucked?
For what it’s worth, I was raised red and white. My pops was raised in Raleigh and wore the red and white under Edwards. He was recruited by the blues. I also had plenty of family members on my mom’s side who graduated from UNC, and my uncle wore the baby blue under Dooley. Arrogance..That’s what crawls me. I could care less about the bandwagon faithful, but for every 1 UNC fan who I get along with on a personal level, there are 9 others I despise. Cannot tolerate them. Holier than thou, smarter than thou, better than thou, richer than thou…Lived in NC most of my life, and no matter where I’ve lived all over the state, that’s the honest truth. The place breeds this sort.
I almost wore the baby blue. Had the opportunity to walk on there, with some help from Johnny Swoff, but in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I loathe them.
I’m reserving judgment until we have the full complement of players available. But anyway you slice it, we’re going to be average to bad on defense unless the following happen:
1. The nastiness witnessed against Creighton translates to grit and determination and commitment to defend
2. Schroyer is allowed to call the defenses and the head man reinforces that poor effort/execution on that end results in pine time.I’m with Chop, our zones have been terrible under Gott, even worse than man, because they encourage standing around. We excel in standing around, not having active hands, not moving our feet, not boxing out, not helping on defense. Rather than masking these deficiencies, the zone encourages them.
Now if we were to mix in some quarter court, full or half court trap and press, with regularity, I like the idea of going more zone. Anything to stymie the offense before it gets past half court is a good thing. The longer we have to play defense, the worse off we are.
Rye + 1. And I’ll raise you.. I like a lot about this team and its potential, but unfortunately, I think the numbers all show that you need to be above average defensively to advance into the the final weekends of the Dance. No matter how good on offense you are. Why? Because you’ll have bad shooting nights. And you’ll run into teams, like Creighton, who shoot it lights out. One of SFN local statisticians crunched some numbers and nicely summarized the results about 2-3 years ago. Better be better than average on both sides.
Cause for concern, is that the inmates appear to be running the asylum already. I’ve seen Schroyer go nuts several times on the bench, but zero reinforcement from the head man. If pine and time don’t follow the crime, youngsters don’t listen and learn. No excuse this early in the season to not use the bench as a lesson.
