Disclaimer: I totally get that none of us are at practice and that we are all basically armchair QB's. Still doesn't mean we cannot have opinions.
For the time being, recruiting seems to be on the rise. Mohammed was a super important get obviously and was the icing on the cake for a very nice class.
But for me, even with this really nice class coming in there is still one glaring hole in our program and it involves coaching. While most programs are employing the NBA-style offensive and defensive coordinator positions, Georgetown is stuck with an extremely underwhelming staff of assistant coaches. I get that Ewing has great loyalty and that is certainly no character flaw. But loyalty doesn't win you games.
If you go back this season and even through the last few seasons, you can read a variety of posts from members here putting a lot of the blame with turnovers, rebounding and defense on the players. I think that is very misguided. Take the case of James Akinjo. I saw him once in high school and I'll be interested in what LBC has to add as he saw him multiple times. The same Bay Area hoops coach that told me Domingo was overrated said that Akinjo was a ready-made elite college defender. That did not turn out to be the case at Georgetown. In fact, I would venture to guess that he leaned more toward a liability than a lockdown defender. So what happened there?
And I just read that Sibley is a sieve. Okay he sure looks like one. In fact about 95% of the players in Ewing's tenure have been roasted by members here as terrible defenders. I like to think of what Steve Kerr always says as his basic coaching motto: He wants to put his players in a position to succeed. In my opinion, we do not do that.
The impetus for this post is the very disturbing quote by Ewing that he sort of looks at analytics and then goes with his gut. Well his gut was about as tragic as ever yesterday as it is my opinion the very ineffective lineups he trotted out in the second half cost us the game. One of the biggest part of coaching in the modern era is information. And we are massively gimped in that regard. There is no way any analytical module would support his coaching decisions in the second half.
All you have to do is look at the defensive schemes of good mid-major teams. Teams that do not have the star power or athleticism that we do even in this very gutted roster talent-wise are much better defensively than we are. Defense is not about the individual. It is a about the team and the scheme. And our scheme sucks and has in his entire tenure.
And the same goes for basic fundamentals. It's easy to blame the player as someone gets the light shone on them every loss (this time it's Carey). But players aren't held accountable by Ewing and must be at a disadvantage due to the coaching. It is the only rational explanation. You cannot tell me that Ewing only recruits guys that can't take care of the basketball and can't play defense.
Summary: I think if Ewing doesn't upgrade his coaching staff (and I believe it should be two positions), it may ultimately doom him. He can reassign people to maintain his loyalty. But he better get a coach or coaches who can upgrade defensive schemes and analytic usage or I fear this 2021 class is going to be a disappointment.
Bottom line: Ewing is not putting himself and his players in the best positions to succeed due to his coaching staff. That is my opinion and I feel strongly about it. Sure there is the chance that one guy (Mohammed) may be able to blast through all those deficiencies and make everyone else better but it would be a lot easier with help. The staff has to be upgraded.
Final note: I love Patrick and I want him to succeed. I think offensively he has got it and that will be exceedingly evident in 2020-21 with the influx of talent. He just needs help on one side of the ball which in reality makes zero f**king sense considering who he was as a basketball player.
Thoughts?
For the time being, recruiting seems to be on the rise. Mohammed was a super important get obviously and was the icing on the cake for a very nice class.
But for me, even with this really nice class coming in there is still one glaring hole in our program and it involves coaching. While most programs are employing the NBA-style offensive and defensive coordinator positions, Georgetown is stuck with an extremely underwhelming staff of assistant coaches. I get that Ewing has great loyalty and that is certainly no character flaw. But loyalty doesn't win you games.
If you go back this season and even through the last few seasons, you can read a variety of posts from members here putting a lot of the blame with turnovers, rebounding and defense on the players. I think that is very misguided. Take the case of James Akinjo. I saw him once in high school and I'll be interested in what LBC has to add as he saw him multiple times. The same Bay Area hoops coach that told me Domingo was overrated said that Akinjo was a ready-made elite college defender. That did not turn out to be the case at Georgetown. In fact, I would venture to guess that he leaned more toward a liability than a lockdown defender. So what happened there?
And I just read that Sibley is a sieve. Okay he sure looks like one. In fact about 95% of the players in Ewing's tenure have been roasted by members here as terrible defenders. I like to think of what Steve Kerr always says as his basic coaching motto: He wants to put his players in a position to succeed. In my opinion, we do not do that.
The impetus for this post is the very disturbing quote by Ewing that he sort of looks at analytics and then goes with his gut. Well his gut was about as tragic as ever yesterday as it is my opinion the very ineffective lineups he trotted out in the second half cost us the game. One of the biggest part of coaching in the modern era is information. And we are massively gimped in that regard. There is no way any analytical module would support his coaching decisions in the second half.
All you have to do is look at the defensive schemes of good mid-major teams. Teams that do not have the star power or athleticism that we do even in this very gutted roster talent-wise are much better defensively than we are. Defense is not about the individual. It is a about the team and the scheme. And our scheme sucks and has in his entire tenure.
And the same goes for basic fundamentals. It's easy to blame the player as someone gets the light shone on them every loss (this time it's Carey). But players aren't held accountable by Ewing and must be at a disadvantage due to the coaching. It is the only rational explanation. You cannot tell me that Ewing only recruits guys that can't take care of the basketball and can't play defense.
Summary: I think if Ewing doesn't upgrade his coaching staff (and I believe it should be two positions), it may ultimately doom him. He can reassign people to maintain his loyalty. But he better get a coach or coaches who can upgrade defensive schemes and analytic usage or I fear this 2021 class is going to be a disappointment.
Bottom line: Ewing is not putting himself and his players in the best positions to succeed due to his coaching staff. That is my opinion and I feel strongly about it. Sure there is the chance that one guy (Mohammed) may be able to blast through all those deficiencies and make everyone else better but it would be a lot easier with help. The staff has to be upgraded.
Final note: I love Patrick and I want him to succeed. I think offensively he has got it and that will be exceedingly evident in 2020-21 with the influx of talent. He just needs help on one side of the ball which in reality makes zero f**king sense considering who he was as a basketball player.
Thoughts?
