The NIT Decision Revisited

[DSouthr]

The Carolina Way is summed up in PLAY HARD, PLAY SMART, AND PLAY TOGETHER (and as Roy added, and hit your darn free throws LOL). This past team hit exactly ZERO of those 3 fundamental pillars that Dean Smith put in place, ZERO? Forget about all the rest, when time outs are called, do we or don't we run breaks, forget all that if those 3 fundamental pillars are not there, it is a house of cards without those 3 fundamental building blocks, they are the basic load bearing foundation that all the rest is built on. We have had this situation now for the last 3yrs in a row, it has not been for a lack of talent, it is a lack of direction, it is a boat without a rudder.

Hubert lost this team, I got the distinct feeling that at some point the players realized, they didn't know what to do to fix this and they looked to the coach for the answers, wish I could say their coaches had those answers but it appears they didn't. As I have shared several times before, I am going to wipe the slate clean and watch and see if the coaching issues have been corrected come next season. But the gap between what this staff needs to be doing and what we saw last season is HUGE, so HUGE in fact that I am not really expecting what our talent level should be able to achieve to met the actual results. GEEZ, you can not understand how much I hope I am wrong, I hope this team has a great season and this staff makes the moves it needs to that allow for a great season, that I can once again feel solid about Hubert as a coach. I need to see play hard, play smart, and play together re-established, if it isn't as much as I hate to say it, Hubert will need to move on.

 

[dtodd4475]

To each there own. Personally I would of liked them to have played. I do not see it as quitting though. They played the season, and turned down an invitation to a POST season tournament. Quitting would be not finishing the season. As pointed out NIT invites have been declined many times for various reasons. Many bowl invitations have been declined by some of the most renowned schools. Schools have declined all kind of post season invites in multiple sports for various reasons. Post season invitations.

Totally understand if people think the invitation should have been accepted in their opinion, the school did not accept this post season invite.

 

[heels05champs]

The Carolina Way is summed up in PLAY HARD, PLAY SMART, AND PLAY TOGETHER (and as Roy added, and hit your darn free throws LOL). This past team hit exactly ZERO of those 3 fundamental pillars that Dean Smith put in place, ZERO? Forget about all the rest, when time outs are called, do we or don't we run breaks, forget all that if those 3 fundamental pillars are not there, it is a house of cards without those 3 fundamental building blocks, they are the basic load bearing foundation that all the rest is built on. We have had this situation now for the last 3yrs in a row, it has not been for a lack of talent, it is a lack of direction, it is a boat without a rudder.

Hubert lost this team, I got the distinct feeling that at some point the players realized, they didn't know what to do to fix this and they looked to the coach for the answers, wish I could say their coaches had those answers but it appears they didn't. As I have shared several times before, I am going to wipe the slate clean and watch and see if the coaching issues have been corrected come next season. But the gap between what this staff needs to be doing and what we saw last season is HUGE, so HUGE in fact that I am not really expecting what our talent level should be able to achieve to met the actual results. GEEZ, you can not understand how much I hope I am wrong, I hope this team has a great season and this staff makes the moves it needs to that allow for a great season, that I can once again feel solid about Hubert as a coach. I need to see play hard, play smart, and play together re-established, if it isn't as much as I hate to say it, Hubert will need to move on.

Hubert reset his roster which is a step in the right direction, however, I believe he needed to make at least one coaching change on his bench and he didn’t. So, if the coaching does not improve this year then that is on him for valuing his buddies over staffing needs.

Ultimately, he is the head coach and he allowed the NIT opt out. I want to see more competitiveness and passion to play the game of basketball from our head coach. Opting out was just weak and felt like a quitter mentality for the entire program.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Hubert lost this team, I got the distinct feeling that at some point the players realized, they didn't know what to do to fix this and they looked to the coach for the answers, wish I could say their coaches had those answers but it appears they didn't. As I have shared several times before, I am going to wipe the slate clean and watch and see if the coaching issues have been corrected come next season. But the gap between what this staff needs to be doing and what we saw last season is HUGE

Ouch.

But not wrong.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I believe he needed to make at least one coaching change on his bench and he didn’t.

I don't want to put you on the spot by asking who you think should be replaced (but feel free to specify). Instead I'll ask what skill or competence you think we are missing that you think Hubert should add to his coaching staff.

I have no sense of who we might be better off without, but I do have this clear image in my mind of a game that wasn't going well and the camera zoomed in from above on a trio including Hubert, RJ, and one of the bald white assistants (not sure who, could only see the top of the head, slightly from behind).

What I saw was Hubert yelling at his assistant. And I had the sense that the assistant was giving as good as he got. Meanwhile RJ looked like a deer in headlights, wanting to be anywhere else.

It wasn't a good look.

 

[strummingram]

I don't want to put you on the spot by asking who you think should be replaced (but feel free to specify). Instead I'll ask what skill or competence you think we are missing that you think Hubert should add to his coaching staff.

I have no sense of who we might be better off without, but I do have this clear image in my mind of a game that wasn't going well and the camera zoomed in from above on a trio including Hubert, RJ, and one of the bald white assistants (not sure who, could only see the top of the head, slightly from behind).

What I saw was Hubert yelling at his assistant. And I had the sense that the assistant was giving as good as he got. Meanwhile RJ looked like a deer in headlights, wanting to be anywhere else.

It wasn't a good look.

"...one of the bald white assistants..." That made me laugh.

Pat Sullivan, Jeff Lebo or Brad Frederick. Probably one of the last two.

 

[heels05champs]

I don't want to put you on the spot by asking who you think should be replaced (but feel free to specify). Instead I'll ask what skill or competence you think we are missing that you think Hubert should add to his coaching staff.

I have no sense of who we might be better off without, but I do have this clear image in my mind of a game that wasn't going well and the camera zoomed in from above on a trio including Hubert, RJ, and one of the bald white assistants (not sure who, could only see the top of the head, slightly from behind).

What I saw was Hubert yelling at his assistant. And I had the sense that the assistant was giving as good as he got. Meanwhile RJ looked like a deer in headlights, wanting to be anywhere else.

It wasn't a good look.

I think he needed to consider adding basically a Steve Robinson or Larry Brown type assistant. Someone with a ton of experience that could help with game planning and in-game adjustments and player development.

 

[DSouthr]

I don't want to put you on the spot by asking who you think should be replaced (but feel free to specify). Instead I'll ask what skill or competence you think we are missing that you think Hubert should add to his coaching staff.

I have no sense of who we might be better off without, but I do have this clear image in my mind of a game that wasn't going well and the camera zoomed in from above on a trio including Hubert, RJ, and one of the bald white assistants (not sure who, could only see the top of the head, slightly from behind).

What I saw was Hubert yelling at his assistant. And I had the sense that the assistant was giving as good as he got. Meanwhile RJ looked like a deer in headlights, wanting to be anywhere else.

It wasn't a good look.

You asked " what skill or competence you think we are missing that you think Hubert should add to his coaching staff." Well we were one of the worst NCAA teams in the country jump shooting and movement off the ball to get in to a position where the ball can get to you for a clean shot was nearly totally absent. So we end up taking a ton of bad shots and hitting a paltry %. So getting open and being able to hit a darn jump shot would be nice for a coach to be able to teach.

Example, how many times did you see one of our players fly off a screen and put up a rushed jumper as a defender flew out to him? Honestly, it is just to easy to sell a pump fake and drive that pressure for a wide open clean look or even a flush finish. Puff was especially problematic with this, his release was a touch slow anyway but he really struggles to shoot when he is rushed. Off the cuff I can recall 1 time only that Puff caught it and sold the pump fake, got all the way to the board for a easy finish, why he put up so many rushed prayers is beyond me. You can not allow a defender to simply fly out at you on your jump shot, you will rush it darn near every time and a rushed jump shot is a bad shot period. You have to make them respect the pump fake, when they do they tip toe out to you rather than fly and you have the time to take your natural rhythm jumper. Guys like Manek that can make that triple threat decision before the ball gets to them and have that hair trigger quick release that is "dead on balls accurate" (it's an industry tourm, My Cousin Vinny) are rare, being able to do so is a special skill/talent.

 

[DSouthr]

I think he needed to consider adding basically a Steve Robinson or Larry Brown type assistant. Someone with a ton of experience that could help with game planning and in-game adjustments and player development.

Isn't the head coach the guy that should be really good at those things?

I may get some flack for asking this but I think it is a valid question. Could it have been that Roy was so in control of his teams that he maybe didn't delegate enough of the responsibility to his assistants that they were not as ready as maybe they should have been to take over a program of their own?

I have now seen 2 former Roy assistant coaches become head coach for UNC and they BOTH made really head scratching decisions that proved they were not really ready to be head coaches. I am trying to think of a former Roy assistant that went on to have a successful head coaching career, is there one?

 

[heels05champs]

Isn't the head coach the guy that should be really good at those things?

I may get some flack for asking this but I think it is a valid question. Could it have been that Roy was so in control of his teams that he maybe didn't delegate enough of the responsibility to his assistants that they were not as ready as maybe they should have been to take over a program of their own?

I have now seen 2 former Roy assistant coaches become head coach for UNC and they BOTH made really head scratching decisions that proved they were not really ready to be head coaches. I am trying to think of a former Roy assistant that went on to have a successful head coaching career, is there one?

Yes, that would be the preference but with an inexperienced head coach he really may need to lean on veteran assistants at times.

I can’t think of one of Roy’s assistants that did really well. His coaching tree has not performed that well. I guess Stallings or Turgeon had some moderate success but nothing overwhelming.