(02-07-2020 10:06 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote: (02-07-2020 09:43 AM)CG_Hawk06 Wrote: To be completely fair in argument here, I don’t care who you are as a coach... one week of practice is hardly ever going to make kids that aren’t good D1 PGs to be decent D1 PGs.
Of course not. I was just hoping to see some small, incremental improvement. Much like we wanted to see during the CB era and never got.
I definitely think the ball should have been in Jaylen's hands more. No, he doesn't have a PG skillset. No, he's not a terrific ballhandler. But he's the best playmaker you have, so you put the ball in his hands when you're not making a bunch of quick passes. Again, he's not a great option, but he has to be a better option that Gadsden or Okauru.
I agree with 33's point that Burke was actively coaching these kids when they came off the court. But if they're still not doing what they're told to do when they get on the court....what do you do? Which is why that's not the part of Burke's coaching I'm looking critically at; he's great at trying to get in these kids' ears. I'm talking about the big-picture stuff required of a HC.
And that's why you can't make a kneejerk reaction about someone being "the guy" on a small sample size when we seemingly have some candidates with a lot of HC experience under their belts who are interested in the job. And its also why we need to do our due diligence during the coaching search.
If we wade through the candidates and decide Burke is the guy, great. If not, I'm not going to lose sleep over that or b*tch about it. Its a business decision, not an emotional one, and we HAVE to get this hire right. We need someone to get this program back on track.
Sims isn't close to our best playmaker, which is why he was removed as a starter. The problem is that he plays a lot and shoots a lot. He and Okauru with 114 attempts each. Phillips next highest at 96. He also has by far the most 3 pt. attempts with 74. Next highest is Gadsden with 45 and Okauru with 41. Like i've said, nice kid, but not an offensive player. He should focus on defense, rebounding and setting picks for the guards to get to the basket. Look at the stats below. He's last or next to last in every offensive category on the team.
This isn't about Burke, it's about reality. I gave McGrath the benefit of the doubt as the head coach when he started and i'm doing the same with Burke. You could see the failures of McGrath on the court and in his recruiting as time went on. Our defense was awful, we didn't play hard, there was no movment on offense and he had no idea how to maximize Cacok or any of the players on the roster. Anyone could identify his problems as a coach.
I have yet to see one person on this board identify what Burke is doing wrong...as a coach. Still waiting. But I can see the changes he's made that are positive. Our defense has improved without a doubt. I've laid out the FACTS to prove it. Our offensive movement improved drastically...with Phillips as PG. He realized that Sims was a hindrance as a starter and replaced him with Tolefree. Unfortunately, Phillips was limited in one game and out for the next two games just as we were getting our momentum. And now everyone is bashing him as a coach when all the evidence points to improved play with a devastating loss of our only real PG.
Conference play FACTS
Sims 33.9 mpg, .307 fg%, . 243 three pt. %, .667 ft's, 11.5 ppg
Gadsden 25.7 mpg .329 fg%, .289 three pt %, .884 ft's. 10.2 ppg
Linssen 21 mpg .511 fg% .467 ft's. 8.7 ppg
Okauru 29.6 mpg .421 fg% .317 three pt% .800 ft's 11.4 ppg
Phillips 29 mpg .448 fg% .600 three pt% .714 ft's 9.9 ppg
Tolefree .366 fg% .269 three pt% .813 ft's 7.1 ppg
Boggs 18.6 mpg .300 fg% .300 three pt% 3.3 ppg
Dodd 17.4 mpg .459 fg% .852 ft% 4.8 ppg