Men's Basketball

[filbert]

Re: Men's Basketball

I agree in whole with JackMD's comments.

The men's program is in a bad, bad place right now--partly because of bad performance by coaches and players (in scheduling, recruiting, preparation, and game performance), and partly because of bad luck.

I've said before that this is probably the biggest challenge that Nagy will probably ever face in his professional coaching career. He needs to adapt to the new realities, from being a top-tier D-II program to being a bottom-of-the-heap D-I program.

Coaching is very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately profession. Nagy and the Jackrabbits have not done much lately. This invites all manner of speculation and criticism, some of which is warranted, some is not. This is just another adjustment to D-I that we are all going through.

Being bad in D-I matters iin a way that it simply doesn't in D-II. Nobody cares if you're good or bad in D-II. But being bad in D-I gets you talked about around office coffee pots nationwide. Just ask Savannah State.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Men's Basketball

Rabbitden, you make good points, and most of this will seem directed at you, but realize I respect your opinion and where you are coming from. It seems like you and many others on this board are (understandably) very loyal to the coaching staff. Please try to be a bit more loyal to some of the kids playing their butts off for our beloved SDSU.

Of course I am not in the room but I am close enough to the program to understand and know what the players say about them.

This is exactly why I used the abused 5 year old analogy in my original post. Ask any young victim of abuse and they will tell you “my Daddy loves me very much.” This comes from a combination of not knowing any different and being scared to death of what “Daddy” will do if he finds out the youngster told. Of course the players are going to say the right things to prominent alumni and people close to the program. If they don’t, they know what will happen (behavior detrimental to the team is grounds for revoking a scholarship). All I'm asking is to think about it.

Coach Nagy's record is undisputed, I can't deny it. Try using something other than DII records in defense of your positions and you might change my mind. Woody Hayes had a lot of wins, too. There are some things more important than records, IMHO.

Why is it okay for you everyone to criticize 18-23 year old kids who "make" $6,000 worth of scholarship money to work their butts off to entertain us, but not okay to criticize coaches who are grown men and make much, much more? It seems strange and sad when people criticize players (and imply scholarships should be revoked) without allowing the least bit of doubt about the people who brought those players to campus and are partly responsible for their athletic development.

Finally, the reason I brought up Kleinjan in my original post is because others were calling his recruiting a mistake on the B-ball board. My most recent comments on him state that he is probably going to be a role player and not much more. I am biased (and have admitted it before) toward Kleinjan, Heien, and Casey (and soon Yackley and Cordova) as they are the local boys. ;D ;D

[90Jackrabbit]

Re: Men's Basketball

SF_Rabbit_Fan wrote:

"This is exactly why I used the abused 5 year old analogy in my original post. Ask any young victim of abuse and they will tell you my Daddy loves me very much. This comes from a combination of not knowing any different and being scared to death of what Daddy will do if he finds out the youngster told. Of course the players are going to say the right things to prominent alumni and people close to the program. If they dont, they know what will happen (behavior detrimental to the team is grounds for revoking a scholarship). All I'm asking is to think about it. "





Sorry SF_Rabbit_Fan but your posts don't jive with me. If the coaching staff is so abusive why haven't the walk-ons left to play somewhere else?

[jackmd]

Re: Men's Basketball

First let me say, comparing what a 5 year old victim of child abuse goes through to the relationship experienced between a college coach and his players is simply ridiculous. Lay off that or risk losing all credibility. I'll assign the "whoops" clause for that.

Evaluation should be expected by each and every athlete, employee, student, etc regardless of the situation. With evaluation comes praise, criticism and future expectations. In the role of administrator, boss, coach, etc.. you have to develop an effective method to get the most out of each individual or team you instruct. Has Coach Nagy done this? You could argue yes given his overall record and success in the NCC and you could argue no given the post-season disappointments and troubles during the transition to DI.

I fully support Coach Nagy and SDSU but will continue to reserve criticism (hopefully in a constructive fashion) as an expectation just as praise and support (financial and as a fan) are an expection. Doing something right and being recognized is important. Doing something wrong and correcting it after someone makes you aware is more important.

I think it would be a big mistake to detract from any support for Coach Nagy right now. He is the best man for the job at this time.

As for questioning the use of a scholarship on certain players, that will always be there. Did I expect anymore than I have seen from Andy Kleinjan? The honest answer is no. I think he was a decent 4th guard and role player at the DII level and overmatched at the DI level. Does that mean with the move to DI his scholarship should have been pulled? Absolutely not. He is still an important member of this team.

[filbert]

Re: Men's Basketball

I think, out of the depths of despair we're all feeling, we still need to "dance wit' the one what brung ya."

Until the year is over, we as fans need to root for the team and the coaches. We don't need to overlook the weaknesses, but we really don't need to dwell on them either.

They're well aware that this season has been tough. I daresay it's been tougher on the players and coaches than it's been on we fans. We can throw up our hands and walk away. They can't.

I'll admit my own despair, but you know what? It's not important. More important is to continue to say "Go Rabbits" all the remainder of the season. I'm not entirely ready to write it off yet.

I'll be up in S.D. for the SW Minnesota and IPFW games, in Tennessee for the MTSU game, and in California for the San Diego and Fullerton games. I expect to see Jackrabbit Basketball effort, and at least a couple of wins.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Men's Basketball

I
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  

Filbert thanks for bringing this famous John Bulligi line up from Animal House. We need some humor now and I hope you enjoy all the games.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Men's Basketball

You're absolutely right, Doc. My analogy was over the top. Thanks for your patience, I apologize. :-[ It was the best I could think of to get my point across.

md-Contrary to what many probably believe, my gripes are not all about Andy. Like I have said, he is a role player. Role players play defense and take care of the ball. Wish we had someone who could do that and score about 9 a night.

I got a little upset at some for posting about players (multiple) performance in a game (NDSU) he didn't even attend (unless he has a laptop with wireless, if that is the case I apologize). md knows this is a hot button for me. I wasn't at the game, so I didn't make comments about how certain players played (although if I look at the turnovers, points off turnovers, and assists columns, I raise my eyebrows). I can't judge the weather in ND, our away uniforms, or variety of choices at the concession stand based on what I hear on the radio any more than make judgements about how anyone played.

It frustrates me when alumni and fans want to toss kids (multiple) under the bus after we made a committment to them. Although not a fan of the way some play, I have never wished any of the players off the team. These are college kids, not middle management. (Don't mean to offend anyone in middle management, especially my boss) ;D

DW-Don't blame you if my lunatic analogy doesn't hold water. It was a bad one :-[. But as for players leaving the team, there have been several who have left in the last few years, both walk-on and scholarship.

fil-Thanks for the humor ;D Enjoy the games, wish I could be there.

[filbert]

Re: Men's Basketball

Those of you who just got done watching "American Idol" know what I mean when I say . . .

It could be worse. Much, much worse.