Th time issue is one where coaches need to learn to prioritize. They need to work on fundamentals. The amount of traveling calls on our guards highlight this, along with my consistent observance that they are completely out of position defensively. I think Tre has been schooled fundamentally, and he needs more work. As freshmen, not much of what they do right can be attributed to the coaching, unless all players seem to have similar movements/skills. Dribbling without purpose is also something that kills me. Some catch the ball and put it on the floor right away.TheOFFSeason wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 3:55 pmI will just give my opinion based on some experiences. There are multiple reasons for this but I will give 3:LS71 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:57 pmThere was no evidence of that under the previous coach either. It seemed to be roll the ball out and let 'em play.TheOFFSeason wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:55 am ...crapping the plays and letting the guys ‘just play’...both could work but neither will work without rebuilding the foundation of the fundamentals these players play with...develop that and they can run any offense or defense they want. In 2+ years I have not seen any evidence that this is being addressed.
Why is, what seems to be coaching 101, so difficult for our coaches to do?
1. Kids show up with more athleticism but less fundamentals when they get to campus than they used to(certainly there are exceptions to this) because they haven’t been taught them correctly. An example, I was at a prep school practice within the last couple of years...respected coach...4 HM D1 players on the roster...they were running their offensive sets and they were struggling to get the ball in the post. The coach could not figure out what the problem was so he stopped practice and had them do a 3 man passing drill. However, he didn’t teach the wings how to catch the ball properly to be in position to enter the ball...he didn’t teach how to pivot to enter to either side...he didn’t teach the post how to position himself to make the pass easier.
So during their season they struggled on offense, despite having lots of physical talent, lost double digit games and lost early in their tournament.
Now this coach was good at getting players, communicating with them and keeping them in line but he didn’t even recognize the lack of fundamentals that all of his players had. This is just one example.
2. Lack of time...all coaches have less practice time than they used to...College coaches get limited hours with a mandatory day off and 4hrs a week during the off season, HS coaching is a joke-they get so little time with their players, AAU coaches play way too many games.
An example, the best teacher I have ever seen is Pitino...when he took over Providence he would practice 3 times a day and he corrected every mistake because he had the time to do it.
Personally I believe that if you practice the proper way to do things and correct mistakes, instead of working on plays, you will be able to run any offense or defense you want and the players will succeed. Conversely, you can have the greatest offense but if your players don’t catch in the proper position, cut in the proper timing etc it won’t be successful.
3. This one is more and more prevalent...the coaches don’t know what they don’t know.
Serious Question
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Context is missing here. Last year Mark Schmidt took a team of mostly freshmen to the conference finals. Other teams confront the same challenges as we do, but haves been much more successful. They beat us, of course.
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Right, because he prioritizes fundamentals most likely and interchangeable schemes based on fundamentals. I have coached basketball. The worst I ever did was coaching kids who were supposedly more skilled, so I tried to teach them different sets and plays off the bat. That lasted three practices. Right back to fundamentals. Things like facing the basket, moving to get open, proper defensive stance, stepping into passes, coming to passes, etc. those are things I see missing from this Umass team as well.
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I don't understand why a McCall would not be teaching fundamentals. McCall spent all those years with Billy Donovan. Surely Donovan taught fundamentals
Last edited by uz2b-len on Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Serious Question
Probably because McCall saw the fundamentals being taught, but he did not have to learn them. You learn by doing.
Re: Serious Question
Perhaps the staff is not chosen for teaching fundamentals, but aspects such as recruiting talent.
IMO, the AAU system rewards spectacular athleticism via videos, "top 10', etc., not talent development. And whatever their skill level is in high/prep school, most can simply outrun or outjump the competition.
If one sees how many non-USA players are now in the NBA, the one distinguishing characteristic is their better basic skills and court awareness.
IMO, the AAU system rewards spectacular athleticism via videos, "top 10', etc., not talent development. And whatever their skill level is in high/prep school, most can simply outrun or outjump the competition.
If one sees how many non-USA players are now in the NBA, the one distinguishing characteristic is their better basic skills and court awareness.
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AAU is the awful for skill development in most cases.econalum wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:21 am Perhaps the staff is not chosen for teaching fundamentals, but aspects such as recruiting talent.
IMO, the AAU system rewards spectacular athleticism via videos, "top 10', etc., not talent development. And whatever their skill level is in high/prep school, most can simply outrun or outjump the competition.
If one sees how many non-USA players are now in the NBA, the one distinguishing characteristic is their better basic skills and court awareness.
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Re: Serious Question
Obviously a guy like Tre is skilled... his lack of quickness hurts him on D a bit.. but that can come. TJ, CP, and Samba are also pretty "skilled". outside of that though I really think there a lack of talent depth on this team. I think that's why Offseason said its a couple year build. I think our biggest hole is in the guard/ball handler position and that's really the most important position to be successful in the A10.
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You can build fundamental skills in practice. The will has to be there.
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It looks really bad when you can’t keep your freshman recruits (Sy and Woods).
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What do you mean by "freshman recruits?"
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I agree with this, while true that players attitudes have changed, fundamentals may not be as well developed etc. it is an equal bar for every coaching staff to overcome. Somehow our coaches always seem to limbo under that bar consistently.
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Re: Serious Question
I find it hard to believe that McCall doesn't teach/work on fundamentals in practice. I didn't buy it that DK was not teaching/working on fundamentals either. I get that their philosophies might be/have been more "let the players play" during the games, but in my mind that should lead to more time for fundamentals in practice. What the hell is going on during practice time if fundamentals are not a major part?
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