Desco, you deserve Coach K ....the top coach in college basketball history. And of course, you'd still complain,but you deserve nothing less.
Really? I don't like Lavin, so that means I could only be satisfied by the winning-est coach ever?
He has moved the program forward. We are better than we were under Norm. The perception of the program and it's visibility has improved. He made a tournament in 2010 and it looks like he might again this season.
All of these things are true.
But I truthfully don't know if that is good enough. I also look at the state of the program and wonder if the brief success of two 1st round losses, is worth struggling for the next 2+ years.
Because I don't think we get Diallo, and I think we lose at least one of Sheed or Chris, and possibly both. That will leave us rebuilding when we should be peaking.
Players leave early. Thats part of the game now. As a coach he has to manage that better. And one way to manage that is to build depth in your program.
His starters have been quite good, but his role players and bench players have never been of the quality that can step up and become starters. From Marco and GG to Hooper, Felix, Jones, JDR, and so on.
With the exception of last season, I don't think I've ever felt that we had a full roster. This year we are obviously thin in the frontcourt with two inelidgible big men. When will we have a normal team with 2 at every position?
So, in this day of players constantly moving around you need to either develop your 2nd team players, or recruit guys who in a year or two can start and take the reigns. He's failed to do that.
It's possible that Amir could be his first player capable of doing that. It's "possible" that Adonis could start down the road, but in his case we're talking 2+ years from now, and in reality he might have to start next season.
The good don't out weigh the bad with Lavin.
And, roll your eyes all you like, but his personality, habits, and other intangibles, from what I can tell, do not impress me. He's not someone I would hire.
That has manifested itself not in how he has coached, but how he has handled discipline, how he has managed his roster and scholarships, and how he has assembled a staff.
Darrick Martin had never coached before. He had worked in the front office. Rico Hines had never coached before. He was a trainer.
And Tony Chiles is a recruiter.
Why is 4/5s of our staff not known for actually coaching the game of basketball? How do you not let Dunlap return?
Why are we constantly taking chances on the most highly questionable recruits? Michael Chandler, Artis etc.
There is a lot not to like here. You can choose to ignore it because we're going to make the tournament and lose in the first round, but to me it is not kosher.