RE: Those who don't like Gottfried sign in here--long response
I decided to put this out here on its own just incase it got misconstrued as me disliking coach Gottfried.
I follow the program very closely, I was a career member of Mark's Madness and was on the organization's leadership committee while I attended U of A until I graduated this past May.
I will say this one time and one time only--I like Mark Gottfried--as a person. I only halfway like him as a coach. He is a great man and he recruits his @$$ off.
Talented athletes, however, can get you only so far. We have as well stocked a team as any in the country. We have two of the most versatile post players in the country in Dudley and Walker. Mo Williams is one of the top point guards. Shooters like Meade, Shelton and Winston supplement the scoring and Pettway gives an incredible spark off the bench. Everyone on the team plays solid defense.
Take a look, if you will, at a typical Alabama offensive possession and you will see more standing around in that 35 seconds than you will outside the cinema at McFarland Mall on a Friday night. I saw Erwin stand in the same position for no less than 15 seconds one trip down tonight--not even in post-up position--just standing there face to face with his defender. What is he achieving there? Maybe taking a well deserved breather? Perhaps but when Pettway and Mo Williams want so despirately to get the ball down low all that can be done is a forced pass in to Kenny Walker.
An interesting stat from the TV underscores what was already intended to be my next point. 22-52. That's his record on the road. You absoulutely cannot expect to build the program any further when you can't win better than 30% of your contests on the road with a top 10 team on your bench. It's gotten to the point where far lesser opponets expect to beat us on their home floor, because we have pretty lengthy skids now at most SEC venues.
This, folks, is what it looks like when a team is riding on individual talent and that alone. Threes are fine, after you reverse the ball or kick it out from the post for an open look. The post game is fine, when Erwin and Kenny decide to get posted up so they can receive the ball.
So what's lacking here? X's and O's. Bobby Knight is a classic example of how a well taught team can defeat a group of superior athletes. Coach Mike Price stresses the importance of surrounding your self with top quality athletes, but he is also surrounded with, and is himself a great football mind.
I think Gottfried needs to mature as a coach very quickly if he wants to stop the slide. He must teach during practice and reinforce during timeouts. He rarely calls timeouts and when he does says very little. If he can't teach, he absolutely must hire assistants that can. The departure of T. R. Dunn hurt immensely.
The high school game develops a player's physical ability. The college game develops a player's mental ability--and I don't see that happening on our team. Asking for a screen is not the same thing as running a play to isolate a shooter. Great teams do the latter.
A wise man said the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. What makes that so is the influence of the coach on the chemistry and coordination of his team. All we have right now is the sum of the parts.
As I sit here, the Ole Miss students' chant of "Overrated!" reverberates through my apartment. Maybe they're smarter than we give them credit for.
NateDogg
I decided to put this out here on its own just incase it got misconstrued as me disliking coach Gottfried.
I follow the program very closely, I was a career member of Mark's Madness and was on the organization's leadership committee while I attended U of A until I graduated this past May.
I will say this one time and one time only--I like Mark Gottfried--as a person. I only halfway like him as a coach. He is a great man and he recruits his @$$ off.
Talented athletes, however, can get you only so far. We have as well stocked a team as any in the country. We have two of the most versatile post players in the country in Dudley and Walker. Mo Williams is one of the top point guards. Shooters like Meade, Shelton and Winston supplement the scoring and Pettway gives an incredible spark off the bench. Everyone on the team plays solid defense.
Take a look, if you will, at a typical Alabama offensive possession and you will see more standing around in that 35 seconds than you will outside the cinema at McFarland Mall on a Friday night. I saw Erwin stand in the same position for no less than 15 seconds one trip down tonight--not even in post-up position--just standing there face to face with his defender. What is he achieving there? Maybe taking a well deserved breather? Perhaps but when Pettway and Mo Williams want so despirately to get the ball down low all that can be done is a forced pass in to Kenny Walker.
An interesting stat from the TV underscores what was already intended to be my next point. 22-52. That's his record on the road. You absoulutely cannot expect to build the program any further when you can't win better than 30% of your contests on the road with a top 10 team on your bench. It's gotten to the point where far lesser opponets expect to beat us on their home floor, because we have pretty lengthy skids now at most SEC venues.
This, folks, is what it looks like when a team is riding on individual talent and that alone. Threes are fine, after you reverse the ball or kick it out from the post for an open look. The post game is fine, when Erwin and Kenny decide to get posted up so they can receive the ball.
So what's lacking here? X's and O's. Bobby Knight is a classic example of how a well taught team can defeat a group of superior athletes. Coach Mike Price stresses the importance of surrounding your self with top quality athletes, but he is also surrounded with, and is himself a great football mind.
I think Gottfried needs to mature as a coach very quickly if he wants to stop the slide. He must teach during practice and reinforce during timeouts. He rarely calls timeouts and when he does says very little. If he can't teach, he absolutely must hire assistants that can. The departure of T. R. Dunn hurt immensely.
The high school game develops a player's physical ability. The college game develops a player's mental ability--and I don't see that happening on our team. Asking for a screen is not the same thing as running a play to isolate a shooter. Great teams do the latter.
A wise man said the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. What makes that so is the influence of the coach on the chemistry and coordination of his team. All we have right now is the sum of the parts.
As I sit here, the Ole Miss students' chant of "Overrated!" reverberates through my apartment. Maybe they're smarter than we give them credit for.
NateDogg
