The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(05-24-2021 02:36 PM)Prideofalion Wrote:  

(05-24-2021 10:26 AM)BigBlueBobby Wrote:  

(05-24-2021 08:46 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote:  

(05-24-2021 08:07 AM)BigBlueBobby Wrote:  

(05-21-2021 07:41 PM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote:  It must be a tough balancing act, but just when it seems as if we are turning the corner something else happens. I realize it isn't all the coaches fault, and Shanu or other players may have unrealistic expectations about their talent level, but it seems like we are getting shafted all the time, nothing seems to bounce our way of late.

Isn't the coaches fault? Getting shafted all the time? Nothing seems to bounce our way? ARE YOU KIDDING ME! It's 100% the coaches fault. Who else would be responsible? JJ is not getting the job done. The program is in shambles. His recruiting is pathetic. Get used to it (I can't) as long as JJ is there this is what you get.

I said it isn't all his fault, I didn't say he has no culpability. While he is ultimately responsible for his team, my comment was related to the players (like Shanu) leaving for playing time; mostly becasue becasue they (the players) have unrealistic expectations of how good they are, and how ready they are for D-I basketball. Oh and breathe it is just a game.

Players playing time is 100% up to the coach! I don't blame Shanu for leaving, would have thought more would also. Shanu is 6'10" on a heighth restricted team. Surely he could of helped just being on the floor. But that isn't JJ's style. So he leaves. No body else to blame but JJ

So the mindset is that the entire roster is supposed to play so that kids feelings don’t get hurt and they don’t transfer? I keep hearing people say this on this message board. How many people feel this way? What is wrong with this country? How old are you? How soft are we? This way of thinking is just unbelievable to me. Both Baylor and Gonzaga played 7 guys in the National Championship game. Tell us which programs play their entire roster to make sure everyone is happy...

I don’t know man. The softness and entitlement of just everything at this point is hard to stomach. It’s not just the kids that are soft and entitled. It’s obviously the fans and parents as well. We’ve got no shot. Y’all probably think I’m some old get off my lawn type guy. I’m not. I’m 38 years old and played college athletics. I know what it’s like to compete at something and not be given my playing time. Everything is just anti competition at this point and it’s sad. So I’m choosing this forum to vent my frustrations.

Its not a matter of EVERY player should play, and it is not a matter of playing every player in a game with the significance of a national championship games. It is a matter of being a little more attentive to when you might be able to get young guys who you think will play a significant role for you in the future some opportunities to get minutes in real game action when the situation allows. It is about not making guys just rot on the bench, except when there are 15 seconds left in a 25 point game if they are important to your future plans. You can find some spots. When you have a 15 point lead, give a dude a rotation. You can't convince me that ODU's season would have been worse if Brady got one of Green's rotations in most games last season. JJ is just stubborn, and that just won't fly with kids today. It is obvious to the kids when they are just sitting on the bench because it "isn't their turn yet" and like it or not, that just is not going to go over well with a lot of these kids.

To your point about being soft and all of that, I agree with you, and I hate it too, but you have to operate in the world you live in, and if you want to excel in college basketball these days, you can't let your stubborn disdain for the way the world currently is drag your program down. You, as a college basketball coach, aren't going to change the way an entire generation thinks, or the way the game is played today, so you have two options, go down with your stubborn old approach, or adapt and hopefully keep players around long enough to instill your values in them, but if you lose them after 1 year, you are not accomplishing anything.