After William and Mary women’s basketball decided to opt out...it got me thinking. Our men’s program should opt out too. It has less to do with covid risks although that’s something to consider.
Does anyone really think anything productive can be accomplished in the next month? If we still get a cut of tv money then it’s a no brainer. I have trouble imagining us learning or changing enough in whatever games we MIGHT play for this to be productive. Start hitting the weights and work on the things each player needs to improve. If season ends bad with drama it will only set us back further.
Just throwing it out there. Also a chance for our athletic department to cover up and make an excuse for a struggling program.
Um...NO, they shouldn't. If anything, they need that conference tournament for a shot to make some noise and give an FU to the rest of the league who screwed them over. They're not 3-5 because they're a bad team. They're 3-5 because all of these COVID cancellations that aren't their fault are preventing them from getting into a consistent rhythm.
I can argyue they are 3-5 because of coaching! However, I do think they should complete their season especially for our seniors.
i mostly posted for discussion sake because if we opted out it would actually be interesting. been a while since we did something interesting.
you really think we can win the tournament if we "get in rhythm"? seems like the problems run deeper. we probably haven't seen enough to know for sure. only 4 games left to know even if all goes well. probably should just quarantine in harrisonburg and see how many other programs are actually available for the tournament.
(02-15-2021 01:42 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote: [ -> ]i mostly posted for discussion sake because if we opted out it would actually be interesting. been a while since we did something interesting.
you really think we can win the tournament if we "get in rhythm"? seems like the problems run deeper. we probably haven't seen enough to know for sure. only 4 games left to know even if all goes well. probably should just quarantine in Harrisonburg and see how many other programs are actually available for the tournament.
I can't tell you if they can win the tournament or not if they play the games. They haven't had enough games to judge them on. They haven't played two consecutive weekends of regularly scheduled games all CAA season and 75% of the games that they have played have been on the road where the traditionally do not do well.
But I can tell you with 100% certainty how they CANNOT win the tournament. That's by opting out and not playing.
Point is, you play the games and find out. Covid has f'd up sports, and added a lot of unpredictability. Heck, the Miami Marlins made the playoffs a few months after literally 1/2 of their time was shut down for Covid. So who knows what's going to happen in Harrisonburg.
http://alwaysadragon.com/playing-aces/
always an interesting read from metsox. i didn't know most of that about juric...that he wants to go to med school after he graduates. i think metsox is being more diplomatic about what he brings to the floor. his defense did make a difference against sju.
i'm in with playing these games if the freshmen see the floor...a lot. otherwise we should pack it in.
Despite being all over, there is no way we should opt out. This team is still too talented to throw in the towel. Do I think they will win it? No. From fans of other teams, do I think most want to avoid us, yes. Keep playing, sometimes teams put it together when it doesnt seem possible. There is too much talent on this team. I do think they can string something together. Not constantly getting cancelled on would be a good start, for sure
i wanted something interesting to happen and i got it.
how do you think this changes spiker's approach? unless there is a strong indication that we're going to hire in-house and somebody he has a good relationship with...which unfortunately wouldn't surprise me...everybody is suddenly on the hot seat. sju railroaded martelli after a new ad. they're 1-14 now and they handled that horribly but the point is everything will be re-evaluated with a new sheriff in town. it shouldn't matter what you've done, who you know, or how long you've been around if this is done right.
he has to win now and hopefully this will at least motivate him to put the best players on the floor. if there was a long term plan he had for the freshmen...it's out the window now.
I'm 99.99% certain that Spiker will be back next year. He's showing that the program is turning the corner with a higher level of talent, and it's really not fair to judge him on what's happened so far this year on a season in which 11 games have been cancelled or postponed where none of those cancellations were due to a positive test at Drexel.
I think next year will be a critical year for Spiker's future, now that "No Changes Zillmer" will be out of the picture. I'm not saying that they have to win the whole thing next year, but with the talent on the roster, they need to make a serious run at it, AND continue with a stream of high caliber talent funneling into the program. To me a serious run is 20+ wins, and at least a trip to the CAA Semi-Finals with an earned shot at some sort of postseason bid.
agreed...he's going to be back. it should be a shot across the bow though.
you would hope the expectations would be higher next year. i don't blame other people for being cynical about this though...especially if we promote somebody from within. i guess even in that case he/she would feel like he has to produce results which would trickle down to the head coaches in all of the sports.
i hate to pick on softball. i found 3 winning records going back to 2002. they were 32-27 in 2019 which was their first winning season in 10 years. the current coach is entering his 7th season. he could be a hell of a nice guy and a great coach...and of course you can play the covid card right now...but eventually you have to start competing don't you?
the bar across our whole department has to be raised. otherwise we should bail out completely. i've said that before.
Drexel and JMU have by far had the worst luck with losing series. JMU will end up playing only 2 of 9 scheduled weekend series because of other teams going on pause.
(02-16-2021 06:46 PM)jmu98 Wrote: [ -> ]Drexel and JMU have by far had the worst luck with losing series. JMU will end up playing only 2 of 9 scheduled weekend series because of other teams going on pause.
JMU is at least making those games up, and they've been playing games consistently lately and winning. Drexel hasn't had 2 weeks in a row of regularly scheduled games all season.
any idea what some of the stories are behind these new infections?
i feel like this should have been figured out by now. cases are coming down around the country including caa territory.
Its definitely shots fired. New ADs want their own coaches. Then again it also depends on the priorities of the new AD and what they intend on accomplishing. Ultimately, Spikers contract will dictate how hot his seat is. With 2 years remaining, he is safe next year, however his expectations may be extremely high or else he will be shown the door.
With NU finding a way to get a game against UNC in February, how hard are school really trying to make games up? JMU clearly is, but is Drexel? Seems like schools are all playing a big game of chicken and picking and choosing only to make games up with the bad teams and ducking good ones. It seems like we are falling on the good teams side of the coin, and there is not a lot of motivation to make up with us.
Kudos to Drexel also. With Hofstra finally getting hit, we are now the lone CAA team to not have had a shutdown.
(02-17-2021 12:53 PM)dan10 Wrote: [ -> ]With NU finding a way to get a game against UNC in February, how hard are school really trying to make games up? JMU clearly is, but is Drexel? Seems like schools are all playing a big game of chicken and picking and choosing only to make games up with the bad teams and ducking good ones. It seems like we are falling on the good teams side of the coin, and there is not a lot of motivation to make up with us.
Kudos to Drexel also. With Hofstra finally getting hit, we are now the lone CAA team to not have had a shutdown.
I saw the NU/UNC game was scheduled, which pisses me off even more that the CAA is not making it a priority to reschedule games first. Northeastern should be coming to the DAC for one or two games rather than NU going to UNC. Only thing I can think of is $$$$$. I hope Drexel and the rest of the CAA gets a piece of that UNC game money.
I didn't realize that Drexel is the only team not to have a positive test during the season. Yet, they're going to get screwed the most of any team, because the rules in place will force Drexel to be a 7 seed in the tournament, making it nearly impossible for them to steal the CAA Tournament.
You blame the CAA, I blame the schools moreso, though the league is not off the hook. I agree the league could step in and mandate games to be made up on short notice, but I dont think a conference wants to be the one swinging a big stick towards its members, especially on a conference that is clearly on the fritz of falling apart. To me it appears the schools are all looking out for themselves, naturally, and it is creating this mismatch of games. The league, however, does not appear to be stepping in and giving guidance and encouragement towards making up league games. So imagine that, a cluster, in the CAA.
From Drexel's standpoint, we appear to be sitting ideally by instead of trying to play basketball games. We have been clamoring on here about picking up more non-conference games if we couldnt get CAA games, yet we have not publicly seen any movement on that. I think this shows more reasons why our AD needed to step down as he was not actively doing anything to help our student athletes be better prepared for what is important, which is making the tournament and competing in the CAA. (This is not to say health is not important at all)
You're right that we really don't know who to blame. The CAA is supposed to be taking charge here and it shouldn't be up to schools to decide who they want to play and who not to play. That's ridiculous if it's really come down to that.
Drexel hasn't put out any statements announcing what's going on. And since the media cares very little about Drexel, there are no beat writers pushing the envelope to find out what's going on. This leads to pure speculation on the part of fans like us on social media.
If I were going to games, I would have people to ask to get the inside scoop about the program. Right now, I'm separated from that. It is very frustrating.
Just look at which games are getting made up and which ones arent. To me its very clear. The best teams are being avoided and teams are only rescheduling games they believe they can win. The league is not doing anything to remedy the situation. They are letting the schools decide and approving all games that the schools agree on, no matter the day of the week. The league is not hindering schools from playing, but they are not forcing them to reschedule, either.