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COACHES

B

bill breen

Well-known member
DONOR
Pat Kennedy, 23 years with a 406-293 (.722%) record. Took 8 teams to the NCAA and 5 teams to the NIT.

Brian Marso, in 4 years as coach in junior college arena went 116-16 (.872%) and mentored 6 all-americans.

Wayne Tinkle, everyone know Wayne's credentials including proffessional ball.

So, Griz have a great coaching staff and a stable of players in their own individual right are exceptional. But as a team they are 5-13 (.277%).

Help me out here. I see intelligence and talent here that would make these Grizzlies the dominate team in the BSC. Is everybody getting into everybodies may here. I certainly am not giving up on these people and truly believe there is a light at the end of of tunnel, but I am stumped for any clear answers other than maybe they are getting in each others way.
 
I believe the Griz are finding out how difficult it is to win at a consistent level without a true point guard with leadership skills. IMHO
 
Derrick is a pretty good defensive point...but he does lack some leadership skills. Cummings has great leadership skills but he hasn't been taking any shots. I really don't think anyone on the team is actually playing to their full potential...and I don't think anyone has any clue why.
 
grizgirl if 1/4 of the students had 1/2 the enthusiasm for the Griz that you do Griz basketball would be great again. I don't know how you can always have such a positive attitude about the Griz, and I don't know if I always agree with everything you post, but I do admire your enthusiasm
 
Kennedy had good players in his previous jobs that he could "turn loose" and not have to "Coach" them much. In BSC, you have to "Coach" and he has not had to do that in a long time or should we wonder if he can "Coach". He is a good recruiter, but he needs to be a good "Coach" also.
 
I totally agree with Sarge, 1) Your team needs a POINT GUARD (check your team assist totals) 2) You need a coach who can coach and not just stack talent on the bench (See assist totals). In hoops, if you have 5 guys trying to do their own thing playing a team with 5 'average' players who are playing as a team ... the 5 'average' players will beat them almost every time. Reputation or not .. you still need to coach in the BSC as there are a lot of good coaches in the league.
 
Mansell has actually been pretty good at point guard this year. He's played good defense and has averaged about 4 assists per game (Currently 5th in the bigsky in assists per game according to espn.com). He doesn't seem to take too many shots, but does have a nice looking shot when he takes them. Losing Booker hurt, even though he's still sort of in the process of being converted to a PG, he did offer a good offensive spark in many games and is always a threat to score from the PG position. He hasn't played much the past 2 games since he missed so many practices and games when he was ineligible. It'll help take some of the pressure off of Mansell once Booker is back to playing more minutes.

I think one of the big problems we've had this year so far has been in the post. Davis has been fairly consistent this year, but most teams will double team him or even triple team him since there isn't much threat from the 5 position. Seyfert has been a good rebounder and defensive center but hasn't done much offensively. It may be time to start Venters to see if he can give the Griz some much needed offense from the 5 position. I know Venters isn't exactly a big 5, being probably only 6'6", but he does have some nice post moves and can score. I'm not saying give up on Seyfert, he's just a sophomore. I think he'll be fine once he gets some confidence and starts taking more shots from the low post. I'm sure with Tinkle working with him he'll turn out to be a good center for the Griz.

I do agree with Grizgirl317, the Griz aren't playing to their full potential unfortunately. We've seen what they can do when they beat St Mary's early in the season, and how they played in the first half against ISU was very impressive. Like Kennedy says, February has to be their month. Having 5 of the last 7 conference games being home games should help.

Sarge, I imagine with the freshman he had at Depaul he did need to do a fair amount of coaching to get them to play they way they did. Same with Iona and Florida State. At least with Florida State the program wasn't in great shape when he took over. Just recruiting alone didn't turn around the Florida State or Depaul program, or turn Iona into the midmajor power they became under Kennedy.

Just to add a little to what Bill Breen said above; Kennedy also won coach of the year for the ACC in 1992. That's the same conference as Duke, North Carolina, Maryland, Wake Forest, etc... Kennedy was also named to the Iona Hall of Fame in 2000. Jim Valvano was the head coach of Iona when Kennedy was assistant coach there. Kennedy took over when Valvano went to NC State. I'd say Kennedy has a pretty impressive resume as not only a good recruiter but as a good coach. If he's given enough time he should be able to do some great things with this basketball program.
 
I think at this stage of the season you probably need to go with your 5 best players and sub as needed for rest. It's time to quite all of the different combinations as the players have lost confidence as to what might work. There appears not to be any basketball instinctiveness or cohesiveness among the players. (i.e. player breaks for the basket and ball is thrown to the spot vacated or player gets open but by the time it is noticed the pass is picked off). With the talent we have, play out the season and make the best of whats left of it. I watched these guys at homecoming playing amongst themselves at the volleyball gym and did'not see a basketball team in the making.
 
Grizbeer said:
grizgirl if 1/4 of the students had 1/2 the enthusiasm for the Griz that you do Griz basketball would be great again. I don't know how you can always have such a positive attitude about the Griz, and I don't know if I always agree with everything you post, but I do admire your enthusiasm
Click to expand...

I think I can maintain a positive attitude because I know a lot of the guys and I know how hard they are trying...and how much they hate losing. I also talked to a couple of coaches before the season started and know how talented they considered our team and players.
 
Sorry for being nit-picky but is 406-293 a winning % of 72? it looks more like 58 would be closer.

dexter, you make some good points. however, i agree with sarge.
Even the strongest supporters of PK at his previous schools mention that he's as sarge say's "turn 'em loose" kind of coach.
Clearly this doesn't mean he doesnt coach at all, also it doesn't mean its to blame for every problem the team is having thus far.
 
I was surprised to read in Missoulian that coach Kennedy is lookinh for more playing time for Booker and Cummings. They both have seemed to struggle alot---- Booker with to's and Cummings both on offense and defense. Shows you what I know.
 
I think he wants to play Booker more because he adds an offensive spark and some energy to the team (even though he has a lot of to's these should diminsh as he gets more playing time and practice at the point guard position). He wants to play Cummings more for his senior leadership, although I'm not sure this is a good idea because he only averages 2 points a game, Horne averages a lot more and is also a senior, although in the paper today it said Steve might not play because of an injury from practice this week. A question: Is Booker still playing the point guard position? I know at the beginning of the year he started out that way, but then I thought they decided to move him back to the shooting guard spot that he was more used to, what's his latest status?
 
ohyeah said:
He wants to play Cummings more for his senior leadership, although I'm not sure this is a good idea because he only averages 2 points a game
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Brent is fully capable of scoring more points...he just hasn't been taking very many shots. Plus I think his back might be bothering him. He's been spending a lot of time stretching at the end of the bench...something he really didn't have to do at the beginning of the season.
 
If Brent is capable of scoring more points then he should be taking more shots because we need more offense!
 
Sometimes I think Brent is a little too much of a team player. He's really not big into individual stats and sometimes I think that hurts him because instead of taking a shot when he has one a lot of the time he passes it off to someone else. He's scored in double digits in 4 or 5 games so far this season but the last time he did it was at EWU. I'm really wondering if his back is doing ok...I think he's been having problems with it getting tight.
 
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