Big East Championshio game

[kyzrex]

How come loses are always blamed on the coaches, while the victories are always attributed to great play by the players?

[Anti-Homer]

How come loses are always blamed on the coaches, while the victories are always attributed to great play by the players?

Sir,

I think the exact opposite is true. However, I do understand your implication, that the CEO, the person paid millions of dollars TO OWN THE RESULTS of the program should take the overall responsibility. Well played! If Company “X’” stock goes down, is it the supply chain manager, sales rep, or PHD scientist who bears the greatest brunt? Nope. If the stock goes up, he is also the same one paid hundreds of thousands or millions in bonuses, or 100-fold times greater than the worker bees, if they are lucky enough to get a bonus at all. The other difference is when fired, the CEO is paid millions to go away and retire very comfortably, but the others are given a small severance. Mid-major Wichita State‘s coach Isaac Brown was just let go after only three years, going 48-34. Fair? You decide. I’m sure he was paid millions, or 10, 20 or 50x more than if he was the store mgr of Aldi, GM of a car dealership, or hospitalist., to go to fantasy camp for three years!

Like most of this Board, I have been overly effusive about our great coach. 94.6% of my posts about SM have been positive, but when I do dole out very rare, but extremely insightful, constructive criticism when warranted, the pitchforks come out. I often opine what a great job he had done (NCOY candidate I often say), stating accurately that he has restored X’s reputation as a near-elite program. I don’t say it is due to Jones, Boum, or KyKy, but SM. Why? Because the ends justify the means in sports, which is why coaches get paid millions to do something hundreds of thousands do for free. Some even coach both a boy’s and girl’s bball teams simultaneously to league titles. Sadly, the relentless criticism about players is rarely met with the same umbrage, as evidenced by my mentor’s criticism about Edwards fumbling the ball all the time, or Jones missing a lab to start the 2nd half, and none of the posters but a brave Co-Mod called him out on it. Be better, Mman.

There is no sport that reflects more the direct overall management and influence of a team sport than a cbb coach. He decides which players are offered a scholarship, the players who play, and frequently calls both the offensive and defensive sets for each possession. I think history is on my side when you see EVERY single coach not named Boeheim or Bennett change defenses. The difference is the metrics have shown well over the decade that Bennett is the best defensive coach in the county, so the end justifies the means in his case. Boeheim was told to retire or get fired.

Metrics are my friend regarding my analysis with respect to X’s defensive strategy (or lack thereof) under Miller. However, again, I still consider his overall performance to be in the top 5% at his craft. Thankfully, most astute posters on this board who don’t own seven estates in Indian Hill, know I am the biggest cheerleader and homer for the great SM, and always will, if he continues to conduct this program with the utmost integrity that he has, and to the sustained level of excellence he has shown this year, and during his previous tenure. I think that’s fair.

[X-lucidity]

“That's usually when most coaches develop players for the Tourney, in the 2nd half of the last conference championship game. The year off of coaching shows he has cobwebs to clear.” per the honorable mention Mod, AH.

Well I must say just a bit disappointed in this thread in general and many of the posts. Number 1 on that disappointed scale is easily AH’s above. Now do not get me wrong, I do enjoy reading his takes and usually agree with them. Even when I don’t, I can respect the thought process from whence it came. But this one, really?? Sean had been trying to ramp Craft up since day one of practice. His playing time lessened over the season as the bench tightened, and you could say he could have played more down the stretch, but I mentioned early on his athleticism limits, and lack of length may require more seasoning than first imagined. Plus, Craft suffered a major injury about 4 weeks ago and just now was even remotely able to get back on the court. So I am thrilled he got a few minutes last eve. Because that means he should be able to go 100% during practices this week. As for Tucker, as Uncle Joey Biden would say, ‘ Come on Man’. He lost all of last year with a lingering injury and is playing catch-up at this level. He is WAY behind Edwards and that is saying something. Great kid and he might just blossom for us this off-season with this experience and being fully healthy.
I just now this morning even read through this thread because I generally subscribe to the “avoidance-avoidance” method of dealing with a big loss by my beloved X-men. I figured there would be some sour grapes and sniping, but thought honestly that y’all would be generally positive. I mean, crap, Kansas had their collective ass handed to them yesterday, do you think that will destroy their seed? I believe yesterday and possibly today will highlight the shortcoming of these league tourneys. Playing 3 gms in three days and often 4 in four is asking a lot to then expect the teams that made the final to be clicking and energetic. But heck, it’s fun and lucrative so don’t expect much to change. That said, X likely did not get back to their hotel Friday eve after the game, interviews and showers, until 1 am. Then to play 17 hours later – when you are a 6.3 man rotation? OK. Personally I am elated about this NY experience. The BE tourney monkey is off our backs, IMHO. Coach Miller could not have laid it out better in his postgame. He praised Marquette; he cited the fact we were gassed without using it as the only excuse. He mentioned Souley was fighting a mild chest cold. Missing shots can be contagious. Kunkel and Souley each had wide-open 3’s in first three minutes of the game. Both misses, and the trend was unfortunately set. Then the fatigue factor emerged and it snowballed. This also can translate into your mental & emotional collective psyche. Heck, we saw it a bit Friday the 2nd half with Creighton. So what, we got boat-raced, it happens. I for one am not going to blame players or coaches. You offer me a scenario pre-season where we come in a close 2nd in BE league and make it to the tourney final with a likely 4 seed awaiting in the Big Dance and I am gleefully running to the counter and grabbing that puppy. Welcome back Coach Miller, I am amazed at what you have been able to do and squeeze from this group amid many injuries and trying to instill a new culture. Now I sit back in my favorite chair, grab a vodka & redbull or two, and await the Selection Sunday show like a kid on Christmas morn….

[XU85]

I'm with you Lucidity and your mostly lucid remarks. I will be sipping my favorite bourbon and drinking a couple of bottles of Miller High Life (turns out it's a great combination) while watching the selection shows tonight celebrating how far we have come in 12 months.

[edgecliff hall]

Thank you x-lucidity for a great and brilliant post. They had XAVIER on their shirts. They had XAVIER in their hearts. I wish I could hug them all.
Including SM.

[kyzrex]

Time to put this thread to bed and move on to the NCAA tournament.

[Xavier2005]

X has been a very very good team this year. Cannot win all the games. No team in all Division One won all their games. X is a top 20 team in the country this year. Likely a 4 seed, maybe a 5 seed at worse. X is capable of winning their first 2 games and maybe three games in MM. Winning that 4th game to get to the FF is always the hardest to do for any team, but X is good enough to do that also. This season was a great season overall. A sweet 16 would be great, an Elite 8 would be wonderful, and a FF would be totally unexpected because no X team has accomplished that. All is possible.

[Anti-Homer]

Of all the boards I moderate, I did not think there could be a more hypersensitive fan base than Cornell’s Rowing Team, but MM runs a very close 2nd. Obviously, many of you missed my post earlier in the day stating how X has exceeded expectations due to SM’s leadership, something I have consistently expressed over and over throughout the season. I point out that maybe, just maybe he is not perfect, and defensive adjustments are something he should implement, which is supported by multiple objective metrics, including the platform I built with some nerds from M.I.T.

I am as giddy as X-Luc about the Selection Show tonight, where X will be a protected seed. I also echo edgecliff’s comments about giving a collective hug to the players and coaches. I also include the managers, bus drivers, servers for our Mod suite, and most of all, my fellow posters. An hour plus until the S.S. Let’s do this!