RE: ***Official Memphis vs Stephen F. Austin Game Thread***
SFA isn't horrible.
They lost to a 7-0 Northern Iowa Team (Who crushed Virginia Tech), Baylor and Xavier.
As decent as SFA was last season.
32-3
They lost 2 starters from that team.
1. Nikola Gajic (9.6 PPG, 5 RPG)
2. Desmond Haymon (14.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.9 APG)
Also a KEY bench player.
1. Deshaunt Walker (11.7 PPG)
They are definitely not the same team.
Even with all of that it is not the worst loss in our history.
So we can put that argument to rest.
It's not the loss so much that even gets me personally.
It's the way we have been losing these games. You can point the the back court, you can point to the front court, you can point to every single player on the court and blame them all you want.
The fact of the matter is, we are not good. We knew coming in this season we would find out 1 thing. If Josh could coach or if our struggles in the past were our players. Up to this point it is our Coach.
Do I blame Josh when the players aren't shooting well? NO!
Do I blame Josh for only having 1 decent threat from behind the 3 point line? YES!
Do I blame Josh when the players make a bad pass? NO!
Do I blame Josh for the repeated attempts by EVERYONE to pass the ball inside even WHEN IT'S NOT THERE? YES!
Take Indiana State for example. We shot 62% from three the first half. Woodson was 4-4 with 12 points. WHAT WERE OUR HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS? We worked the ball inside 90% of the time, forced passes in there, turned the ball over quite a bit, and each time we forced it in successfully, our bigs were triple teamed and either took a bad shot or lost the ball. He ADMITTED before the season started that we have finesse guys. We don't have BIG bigs, we have finesse bigs. So why are we throwing it inside like Shaq or Nichols are gonna power their way through 2-3 opposing players and score consistently?
Last season he didn't trust the bigs, this season he doesn't trust the guards.
Nick King has regressed, Nichols looks to have regressed, Shaq is the same player and doesn't seem to have drive. Pookie and Markel had the opportunity to LEARN last season while sitting on the bench. Did they? It certainly doesn't look like it.
Every season we have been HORRIBLE at defending the 3 point line. It killed us last season, it killed us the season before and it's killing us now. Why does every single team we face get so many open shots. It doesn't matter who it is. Every team we play seems to have just as good or BETTER bigs at times...
Baylor hit 5 inbounds play three pointers. Indiana State had 3 opportunities to do the same thing and missed them. Why do our players every season seem to hope that the opposing player misses their open shot versus staying on them and playing good defense.
This is NOT their first season playing basketball. I learned how to play a zone when I was 5 years old. In the leagues I have played in since I still know how to play a zone and stay in good position. Will it always work 100% of the time? NO! However, it should work most of the time. Players are either gonna hit tough contested threes, long twos, get it inside after breaking down the defense or they are going to miss. Most games though, your opponent isn't going to shoot 60% from three point range and the inside game never opens up for them. Being in position and keeping your head in the game is not that hard. If they hit a shot it sucks but it happens. I'd much rather watch our players get a three knocked down in their face then a wide open one.
We just can't seem to figure it out. We haven't been able to figure it out for several seasons. We have no identity, we have no drive, we never play with heart, the intensity isn't their for 40 minutes, our players never leave it all on the floor and so on..
We are never freaking motivated.
Looking back at the past few seasons, we have had either average seasons or mediocre seasons. For a program that puts as much into basketball as we do it's unacceptable 1-2 seasons sure, but EVERY SEASON? All you 1950's-2000 people can take your stats and tell them to someone else cause 90% of the people here aren't listening that that crap anymore.
We know for a FACT what we should be getting out of our program for what we have at our disposal and what we put into the program. You can be happy with that on your own. Enjoy that to the fullest. Don't let us people that want to win break your spirit, just don't be offended when we expect more and post about it.
Also, for whatever reason some of you post crap about Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and about 500 coaches. We don't give a crap about those stats either. No one cares what Coach K did at Army his first 5 seasons, or what he did at Duke his first 5 seasons. We care about what MEMPHIS is doing. Pump your chest all you want to about Joshes record and his 5 top 25 wins that our players pulled off last season. The PLAYERS pull that off, even in those games it was very apparent the game plan was lacking.
We look absolutely terrible. It's not TALENT or SKILL, it's not 10 NEW guys. It's coaching, motivation, and a lack of a TRUE Identity that is screwing this program over.
Josh recruits who he thinks are the best players. He does not recruit to a system. If you are recruiting players who are built for man to man, they won't be as successful when they play zone. If you are recruiting players who are best suited for a zone, they won't be as successful in the man to man. If you recruit guards who are athletic but can't pass well, shoot the ball, or play defense WHY ARE YOU RECRUITING THEM?
If you recruit BIGS who are finesse and not overpowering. WHY are you trying to pass the ball inside so much expecting them to go bang and overpower opposing players. If they are built to RUN, why are we NOT running.
We have a big jumbled mess is what we have. We have 1-2 players all built for different things and that doesn't make a damn team....
Why is he hiring is friends over qualified assistant coaches who could help him learn, help develop the team and so on. Why does he not LISTEN to the coaches he has hired who have come here with 17 years of HEAD COACHING experience?
He is hard headed, prideful and that is killing him.
Yes, his record looks good. Now go show me 30 wins (less than 25%) that are worth a damn.
We could be much better than we are. We could have been much better than we were in the past. In college basketball, you can't be a "feel" guy. Basketball is like anything else. You win with a SYSTEM, good chemistry, motivation and a TEAM full of PLAYERS built for your SYSTEM or developed to fit your SYSTEM.
We're better than this.
2-3 on the season. With blowout losses to Wichita State, Baylor and SFA is pathetic.
As I have stated before I would RATHER have a GREAT Josh Pastner than anyone else, because I love what he stands for. However, if he's not gonna get the job done my loyalty is to MEMPHIS and not Pastner all day long.
There is still time to fix this, but he's gotta do a better job. If he can't at this point, with what resources this program has available to it, we can get a new coach. No one wanted to follow Cal. Following the Josh Pastner era is not nearly as intimidating..
(This post was last modified: 12-03-2014 01:16 AM by Tigermaniac.)
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***Official Memphis vs Stephen F. Austin Game Thread***
