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Shouldn't players be motivated to win all the time, regardless of what the coach says? That is the point of sports.

It is coaching, and Haase has to figure out how to address.

The wild card is that every season there is a whole new dynamic within the team, that has to be figured out quickly every year.

It's partly the coaching staff and it's partly the players. Maybe benching guys who aren't doing their part in these games might motivate some of them.

And mb I just want to make it clear that although I called out chad specifically I was not intending to knock him. I could understand it if he doesn't respect some of our seniors as players.

(02-16-2014 12:43 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  Oh, and UAB has got to do better at the FT line - we missed 15 free throws last night, including, numerous times, the front end of one-and-ones...

In conference games, UAB is shooting 63.6% from the charity stripe. That ranks 15th in the conference.

Earlier in the season, I thought UAB was doing a good job from the foul line. Overall, UAB is shooting 68.4%, so in OOC games UAB probably shot over 70%.

And I am sure that Moton is willing to help everyone with their math work.

When I was hard on Haase earlier, the lack of motivation and fire that the team seems to play with against bad teams was my main concern. He's been a great program ambassador and recruiter. Also, I don't have any objective reason to call into question his coaching ability, as far as X's and O's, but he's got to do something to light a fire under this team. It falls on the players yes, but this is something that obviously a deeper issue. When the team is clearly better than the results would indicate on the court, he has to do something about it. It ultimately falls back on him.

I agree with the other poster that was saying he's nearly 2 seasons in and should have his team playing better on a night to night basis. I just hope and pray that this doesn't seep over into next season, because we have the talent to have a true break out year. If we don't, there's something seriously wrong. On paper, Next years team has nearly as much talent as Davis's teams in year 2 and 3 (before injuries, academic, and personal issues started causing mass attrition). If things go the way they did this year, we could win the Atlantis tourney and then go .500 in CUSA. Unacceptable.

(02-16-2014 01:05 PM)thebernreuter Wrote:  Shouldn't players be motivated to win all the time, regardless of what the coach says? That is the point of sports.

i hate this argument...

It makes me sad to see teams like Wichita state, creighton, SLU, San Diego state, gonzaga, butler, vcu, etc all do so well (outside of butler this year). Will UAB ever get to that level?

(02-16-2014 02:03 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  It makes me sad to see teams like Wichita state, creighton, SLU, San Diego state, gonzaga, butler, vcu, etc all do so well (outside of butler this year). Will UAB ever get to that level?

We've been there before

(02-16-2014 02:06 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 02:03 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  It makes me sad to see teams like Wichita state, creighton, SLU, San Diego state, gonzaga, butler, vcu, etc all do so well (outside of butler this year). Will UAB ever get to that level?

We've been there before

How long ago? I want UAB to be a consistently great team, more like butler, gonzaga, or San Diego. The other teams have been mediocre in the recent past (SLU, creighton, Wichita, vcu) but have come on recently.

We've just wallowed so long in mediocrity or down right crappiness, and its starting to depress me..

(02-16-2014 01:01 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 12:58 PM)Grammar-Nazi Wrote:  One the jobs of the coaching staff is to motivate the team to win. This team has not been motivated to win against teams we should beat. Everyone here wants to defend Haase as a coach who's learning. He's 3/4 of the way through his second season as a head coach. His learning time should be about up.

Who says?

How do you know when the learning part is over?

Seems like someone who is a professional educator might know.

Yes, BBHC Haase is 3/4 way through his second season , BUT the players he had at the season's beginning are the same players he has 3/4 way through. He will not have any new players until next season.

Any athletic program is a building effort that continues over seasons, not over the months of the same season. Whatever weaknesses the team had in the fall may still be there in those same players as we approach the end of winter. The level of improvement of a team is dependent upon the talent limitations of those who make up the team. It may be this season is like the Jerry Reed country song, "When you're hot, you're hot; when you're not, you're not".

(02-16-2014 01:46 PM)LairDweller Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 01:05 PM)thebernreuter Wrote:  Shouldn't players be motivated to win all the time, regardless of what the coach says? That is the point of sports.

i hate this argument...

It's hard for me to see "we just don't get up for playing lesser teams" as something more than an empty sports cliché. Obviously coaching motivation is widely accepted as a big factor in a team's success. It's just hard for me to relate to as an outsider.

(02-16-2014 02:06 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 02:03 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  It makes me sad to see teams like Wichita state, creighton, SLU, San Diego state, gonzaga, butler, vcu, etc all do so well (outside of butler this year). Will UAB ever get to that level?

We've been there before

That's the past.
Just like people kept holding onto the LSU victory, that means nothing today and now.
UAB has a respectable past in basketball, but the present has no care about the past.
I do think Haase has to be given time. It's only his 2nd year as a head coach. The guys did good in the early season so now it's just a point of learning how to carry that into the conference schedule.

Two teams that we have beaten have now won AT Michigan state, and we can't beat the bottom dwellers of our league. Depressing

(02-16-2014 06:09 PM)rook360 Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 02:06 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 02:03 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  It makes me sad to see teams like Wichita state, creighton, SLU, San Diego state, gonzaga, butler, vcu, etc all do so well (outside of butler this year). Will UAB ever get to that level?

We've been there before

That's the past.
Just like people kept holding onto the LSU victory, that means nothing today and now.
UAB has a respectable past in basketball, but the present has no care about the past.
I do think Haase has to be given time. It's only his 2nd year as a head coach. The guys did good in the early season so now it's just a point of learning how to carry that into the conference schedule.

Yes, I realize it is the past. Notice the use of the word "been" which is a past tense verb. My response was in response to the question "will we ever get to that level." To spell it out for the dense, we have been to that level before, so we can get there again.

(02-16-2014 12:20 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  It is simply a group of players lacking confidence in themselves. When CJ came out and hit those three 3's against USM, it boosted everyone's confidence and everyone played well. When Tulane came out and couldn't miss, the entire team panicked and and didn't get composed until toward the end of the game, but by then it was too late.

There is a lack of focus on the team. Probably because of the accolades of beating NC earlier, they believe they can mail it in against inferior teams. There is also a lack of seasoning on the road, because of the genius schedule to give us two dozen home games against bad teams.

There is also a new coach who is still learning how to motivate players, probably the toughest thing to learn.

I think this says it well.

...and BBF is also correct that "when you're hot, your'e hot, when you're not, you're not." As we've said before, everything looks good when shots are falling. If shots don't fall, frustration and lack of confidence ensues. That's it in a nutshell with this team.

If it's maddening to us fans that teams consistently nail the three in high percentages against us, but we can't hit even the open three pointers, think how it must frustrate the players. Same with the damn lay-ups that roll off the rim and the plays where we work so hard and do so well to get the ball to the rim and then just don't finish. That's heartbreaking, and makes a player more reluctant to take the initiative the next trip down the floor. I don't want to say it's bad luck, but it feels like it at this point. It's hard to figure why we get burned so bad from the perimeter. Is our perimeter defense that bad? I know there are breakdowns now and again, but even when we seem to be defending well enough, the other team's shots just seem to fall. It's unbelievable.

If Jordan were averaging just 10 pts a game, we have several more wins. We don't have a truly reliable jump shooter anymore, and so have to work much harder for our buckets. If we can't rely on the jumper, then we have to drive the lane, and so far Chad is the only one doing that consistently (and maybe sometimes too much, but perhaps he feels there's no better alternative). Rucker plays like a warrior, but is undersized and doesn't have great touch around the rim. He has to take lots of shots and get lots of rebounds to get his points. I've begun referring to him as "front of the rim, Rod" because that's where a lot of his shots land. Though I like Jordan and Rod as great Blazers, perhaps we will be better when we have all Haase players. There could be chemistry issues between Chad and the seniors, but we have no evidence of that, so it's best not to speculate.

I absolutely remain fully behind Coach Haase. Coach can't make the ball fall through the hoop, and he can't shoot the free throws. He's recruited good players, and his team is getting good shots. Let's stay steady with him.

(02-17-2014 10:46 AM)DragonClaw Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 12:20 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  It is simply a group of players lacking confidence in themselves. When CJ came out and hit those three 3's against USM, it boosted everyone's confidence and everyone played well. When Tulane came out and couldn't miss, the entire team panicked and and didn't get composed until toward the end of the game, but by then it was too late.

There is a lack of focus on the team. Probably because of the accolades of beating NC earlier, they believe they can mail it in against inferior teams. There is also a lack of seasoning on the road, because of the genius schedule to give us two dozen home games against bad teams.

There is also a new coach who is still learning how to motivate players, probably the toughest thing to learn.

I think this says it well.

...and BBF is also correct that "when you're hot, your'e hot, when you're not, you're not." As we've said before, everything looks good when shots are falling. If shots don't fall, frustration and lack of confidence ensues. That's it in a nutshell with this team.

If it's maddening to us fans that teams consistently nail the three in high percentages against us, but we can't hit even the open three pointers, think how it must frustrate the players. Same with the damn lay-ups that roll off the rim and the plays where we work so hard and do so well to get the ball to the rim and then just don't finish. That's heartbreaking, and makes a player more reluctant to take the initiative the next trip down the floor. I don't want to say it's bad luck, but it feels like it at this point. It's hard to figure why we get burned so bad from the perimeter. Is our perimeter defense that bad? I know there are breakdowns now and again, but even when we seem to be defending well enough, the other team's shots just seem to fall. It's unbelievable.

If Jordan were averaging just 10 pts a game, we have several more wins. We don't have a truly reliable jump shooter anymore, and so have to work much harder for our buckets. If we can't rely on the jumper, then we have to drive the lane, and so far Chad is the only one doing that consistently (and maybe sometimes too much, but perhaps he feels there's no better alternative). Rucker plays like a warrior, but is undersized and doesn't have great touch around the rim. He has to take lots of shots and get lots of rebounds to get his points. I've begun referring to him as "front of the rim, Rod" because that's where a lot of his shots land. Though I like Jordan and Rod as great Blazers, perhaps we will be better when we have all Haase players. There could be chemistry issues between Chad and the seniors, but we have no evidence of that, so it's best not to speculate.

I absolutely remain fully behind Coach Haase. Coach can't make the ball fall through the hoop, and he can't shoot the free throws. He's recruited good players, and his team is getting good shots. Let's stay steady with him.

This paragraph basically sums up my feelings of this team. Our seniors have been great Blazers, but they just aren't great basketball players. When we had seniors like Cam and AJ and Squeaky, they made senior plays. Our current group just haven't been winners on the court consistently.

My biggest thing with some of our fan base is they may start to get impatient. Next year looks good on paper, but we are going to be really young unless we get a JUCO or two. I like the direction Haase has the program headed in, but he has only been able to use what he had in place since he got here. His guys have wound up being some pretty good players for us so far. I'm expecting that more of his guys will only add depth and help make the team even better. We could both be way off, but I have complete faith in Haase right now.

Rod was an all conference player last year,he play better when he play inside so stop shooting so many jumpers.

Chad is a good player, he need to play the 2 more, move Denzell into the lineup at the 1, bring Williams and Swing off the bench they both play hard with energy, they really are trying.

Mehenti (s) need to get a start, and Faz need to come in off the bench at this point its a wash, and the Freshmen need the experience more then Faz.

Washington plays hard, the ball need to go inside out, Washington needs to get more touches.

So for starters, we have Chad, juco, Washington, juco, Rucker, juco, Mehenti freshmen, and Denzell Freshmen...

Says alot about program ( playing below expectation ) when the top players are all JUCO.. and you bring seniors off the bench..seniors with the exception of Swing that are 4 years players.

Hasse recruits and Davis recruits are different and its shows that Davis recruited bid Wings, who ran from screen to screen, cutting and getting to the wing to shoot.

Screens is something rare in Hasse offense as he recruits athletes to run run and run, he will win because at the end of the day he will recruit superior ballers..

This is in contrast to what one posters said, no good player wants to play in CUSA, well tell that to Calhoun, Sullivan, Cokley, Lee, Mehenti, Madison, Brown, Washington, Chad.

That team can compete in CUSA NOW!!!! they are being recruited to run a offense predecated on superior play by superior athletes.

Swing & Purifoy have had their moments over their careers, but certainly the senior years have been disappointing.

I don't have any problems with Rod's contributions. He is about one of the only players on the team who can drive from inside the lane. He is a Haase recruit. Rod & Foz signed with Haase.

While it may seem that our offense has let us down (& it has), if our defense could play anywhere close to a level that it did against USM we would have at least 5 more wins.

One thing that you had during the Anderson years was a consistent defense.