At Least We Have Better Cheerleaders Postgame Thread

I’d feel much less miserable if I did

They were stubborn to and didn’t adapt…

Here’s to hoping that CBH has a chat with Wooden, or is inspired in some other way to go back to the drawing board. If this game can act as a lesson to CBH regarding the flexibility required to succeed year after year, then it’s more than worth it IMHO.

How long should the leash be? I absolutely agree CBH has done a lot to bring the program back from the Lavin shambles, but our performances in the three final fours have been less than memorable and last year’s game plan against Villanova was terrible.

The players that we had Love, Westbrook, Farmar, Afflalo, Mbah Mute, Holiday, and Collison are holding their own in the NBA, yet CBH could not deliver better than getting blown out by Florida (twice) and Memphis? Then getting hammered by Villanova? Has CBH gone as far as he can with his grinding half court, nonexisant zone offense, and pressure D?

We need to find a way to work with the players we have. The half court, stagnant offense against the zone tonight isn’t going to work in my opinion. If thats all teams need to do to beat us (play zone) then we are in for a long season. Who is our go to guy by the way?

It’s very, very difficult to beat a zone when you can’t shoot. You can attack it through the high post, but ultimately it requires making open shots, which most good teams can do. If somebody knows a way to beat a zone without being at least decent from outside, I’ve yet to hear it.

he didn’t think it would be like this. I didn’t either, because I thought we would score 55. I didn’t think we could beat a strong senior team, but I didn’t think Roll would disappear on offense. He can catch and shoot, but he was playing as though Shipp or Collison or somebody else was going to do the heavy work. He worked hard on D, but that was all. Of our seniors, only Keefe deserved the minutes he got. Howland can’t just demolish the structure he is building and start over, nor should he. Besides, you can only teach what you know. When I counseled myself and others to have faith, I don’t think I realized how much would be needed, but it nows seems realistic to believe that, at this point in the season, we cannot be expected to beat any team in this tournament other than, maybe, Long Beach State. But things will come along. CBH will have to make a decision about who is going to play and who is going to sit. I don’t see that anyone’s job is completely safe. But I would tell this team that those who want to play will enter the game intending to have some positive impact and will find the courage, determination and skill within themselves to do it. Don’t panic, don’t quit, don’t sulk, just play basketball. I do believe it will get better. I do believe, i do believe… Wait a minute, is that Kansas?

1. It seems that the talent we do have was overrated. Before / beginning of last season, I was under the impression that this class would have more potential than any of BH’s previous teams; in reality it has less.

2. The style of offense does not fit the team well. Safe to say, even with a perfectly-customized offense this team would have difficulty advancing deep into the tournament. But the current BH offense hasn’t adapted to the team, exacerbating their weaknesses without utilizing their strengths.

3. Substitutions have not been made wisely. Many people point to a lack of experience: last year our freshman should have gotten much more court time. ND should not get any time. If our team is going to have down time, we might as well use it to train for the future.

4. Portland is good, but not THAT good. They’re underrated but not a top 10 team in the nation.

5. Part of this is on recruiting gaps. Kevin Love’s year had only him and Stanback (and Stanback was mis-evaluated as well). He would have been an upperclassmen on this year’s team. Jrue Holiday was a one-and-done going into the program, and could not be counted to be here this year. Even if Westbrook were here last year he would be gone this year. Keefe isn’t a leader. ND is doing a disappearing act a la Vujacic. Roll is pretty decent but not someone who can carry a team.

6. =(

Our sophomores should have gotten more playing time last year. CBH was stubborn in playing the seniors. But we knew last year’s senior warriors would not be able to get us to the elite level.

Also, our two 5 stars from last year are non factors. Holiday is gone and JMMorgan is definitely not a 5 star recruit. And our third 5 star from this year, Honeycutt, is injured.

I wish we played more zone. With the current speed , er, i mean non speed, we would be better off playing zone defense. Will CBH bend with the talent he has?

And I agree with a majority of the posts, I think ND should be getting a fourth of the time that he does. It would be better off playing Nelson, Lane and Moser. They will be better next year and later this season for it.

While CBH has stuck with the same system year after year and taught players how to succeed in it, it’s actually worked every time right up to this point. I doubt that any changes he could have made last year would have put us past the sweet sixteen. And even though it’s worked, he’s made changes every year to tailor the program to the players he had.

With Farmar, we played what was essentially a half court offense. With DC, we ran a lot of fast breaks thanks to his steals and his speed, and we got away (at least somewhat) from the ugly, slow offense that we ran with Farmar. Enter Love and suddenly the offense is less catch-and-shoot and more about getting the ball inside.

These aren’t huge changes, but they were changes that CBH made without prompting, and despite success with his previous offense. Of course, the changes we need now are of an entirely different magnitude, but my point is that CBH actually has made small changes to tailor the offense to the team. Let’s at least give him a chance to realize that he needs to adopt another system before we write him off as stubborn and inflexible.

It’s a [redacted] disgrace.

We aren’t losing because of our offensive system. ML and JA can’t stay in front of ANYONE! With the players we have, there is no way we can outscore our defense. Against older, more polished offensive players with greater confidence in their sytem, we will lose every single time until our guards buy into playing defense.

Sometimes “stubborn” is simply making a point. Lee is hearing he’s a pro.. NOW? I think letting him drown in his own arrogance is fine if gets him to commit to the kind of effort we need from him.

Finally… I think the only area we can really criticize CBH is in his recruiting. Maybe it is because of how clean he runs this program (I think he is viewed nationally as about the cleanest coach you’ll ever find at a major program). If you can say anything about the failings of the program, it has been that in ALL our tourney losses we are clearly athletically inferior. He recruits good character guys, and I think we all agree too support him in that. The downside is that some of the guys who cheat on SATs, or expect thousands in cash and benefits are phenomenal athletes. Westbrook aside (and was almost completely ignored by recruits), we haven’t had many guys who just stun you with their physical abilities.

I believe that we will win the right way. I am willing to wait a little longer to make that happen. We know these players improve. We know his teams have light bulb moments. It will come.

He played zone on one famous occasion. After losing to Houston, he went to a diamond and one gimmick defense in the rematch, and won, but that is the only occasion I can remember. Of course, the 2-2-1 zone press was a trademark, as was the high post offense; something that never really changed. I would say Coach had a system, but was flexible enough. I agree that CBH is not completely inflexible, but, at least on the surface, is not highly flexible, because he believes what he teaches is the most effective way to play basketball at the college level. But I also believe he is no fool and will do what can be done with what he has. I have to agree, after seeing some of the other teams in early season games, that we don’t have the physical specimens they possess. But that just makes playing within a system even more important. So, knowing that this season cannot be pretty, I am still signed on for the long haul, and completely in support of the Bruins and their coach. Now, if someone would just make a shot….

Much ado about the Wizards record but how do you think he’d fare (won lost wise) in today’s world? Not any better than many other coaches around, IMO. Of course he’d have won with Kareem in his freshman year (when he didn’t in reality cause LA wasn’t eligible), but then how would he have done the next year when he was lost to the NBA? Same for BW and on and on. In todays world you better be planning for one and done’s and BH has not learned that yet.