For those that have not come around on this (I believe Woofingdawg is on the same page with me), it has now become painfully obvious to me, and should be obvious to everyone else, that talent is the only issue.
Not saying Fox is the best coach in the world, and I'm sure Coach K could do a better job with our team, but I believe coach Fox has proven that he is in the top half of our league when it comes to coaching (player development, scheming, in game, etc). The problem, is that Fox is in the lower half of the league when it comes to recruiting and roster management.
Biggest problem: OFFENSIVE RECRUITING
- The #1 thing that Fox and his staff should be focused on is getting players who can score the F'ing basketball. This has always been the main weakness behind Fox's teams. We've always been pretty solid defensively, but almost never that great on offense.
Here are some crazy things to think about:
- 4. The number of players on our entire roster averaging more than 4 points a game
- No one on our team is a good/consistent shooter at any range, except JJ, Gaines, and Maten (only from within 15 feet). And you guys think coaching is why we suck at Free Throws????
- We have 2 players on our entire roster who can shoot the three. 1 of them is 5'10", and the other (Gaines) can dribble/drive, so the defense can play up on him because he is not a threat to drive it to the basket. And, in the chance that he does dribble around someone, he can't drive and dish it, because he one of only 2 people who can hit a 3, so if/when he dishes it, there's a good chance that person can't shoot the ball.
Cliff notes for those who don't want to read it all:
- 4 players on our roster average 4+ points a game (everyone else is under 4)
- We have 2 players who can shoot the 3
- JJ is 5'10", so when we play big, talented teams like UK, FL, A&M, etc, they can easily shut him down
- Mann is not a threat when it comes to shooting, so teams play off of him
- Kenny can not dribble, so teams play up on him
- We have one post player who can score (Yante), so all you have to do is get him in foul trouble
- We are wasting 4 scholarships on players who aren't even SEC caliber players or are hurt all year (Parker)
There's our problem. I'm down to critique some things Fox does and I want to have threads on here, but I'm tired of people complaining about Fox's coaching and saying that is our problem. It's not. I've never played organized basketball in my life and I can tell that the issue is talent. This isn't rocket science. Just watch the game and you can see how over matched we are when we play teams like Kentucky.
Not saying Fox is the best coach in the world, and I'm sure Coach K could do a better job with our team, but I believe coach Fox has proven that he is in the top half of our league when it comes to coaching (player development, scheming, in game, etc). The problem, is that Fox is in the lower half of the league when it comes to recruiting and roster management.
Biggest problem: OFFENSIVE RECRUITING
- The #1 thing that Fox and his staff should be focused on is getting players who can score the F'ing basketball. This has always been the main weakness behind Fox's teams. We've always been pretty solid defensively, but almost never that great on offense.
Here are some crazy things to think about:
- 4. The number of players on our entire roster averaging more than 4 points a game
- No one on our team is a good/consistent shooter at any range, except JJ, Gaines, and Maten (only from within 15 feet). And you guys think coaching is why we suck at Free Throws????
- We have 2 players on our entire roster who can shoot the three. 1 of them is 5'10", and the other (Gaines) can dribble/drive, so the defense can play up on him because he is not a threat to drive it to the basket. And, in the chance that he does dribble around someone, he can't drive and dish it, because he one of only 2 people who can hit a 3, so if/when he dishes it, there's a good chance that person can't shoot the ball.
Cliff notes for those who don't want to read it all:
- 4 players on our roster average 4+ points a game (everyone else is under 4)
- We have 2 players who can shoot the 3
- JJ is 5'10", so when we play big, talented teams like UK, FL, A&M, etc, they can easily shut him down
- Mann is not a threat when it comes to shooting, so teams play off of him
- Kenny can not dribble, so teams play up on him
- We have one post player who can score (Yante), so all you have to do is get him in foul trouble
- We are wasting 4 scholarships on players who aren't even SEC caliber players or are hurt all year (Parker)
There's our problem. I'm down to critique some things Fox does and I want to have threads on here, but I'm tired of people complaining about Fox's coaching and saying that is our problem. It's not. I've never played organized basketball in my life and I can tell that the issue is talent. This isn't rocket science. Just watch the game and you can see how over matched we are when we play teams like Kentucky.
