Julius Page made some comments last night that were interesting.
He said the way Howland coached his Pitt teams would never work today. The defensive style that Pitt played won them games and put Pitt back on the map, but players of today don’t want to play that way. He said that every offensive possession was critical for Pitt and while he was a player capable of scoring the ball, howland and the team knew that there was usually a team on the other side of the floor who had guys (AA’s and more pedigreed players) capable of scoring more. So Pitt played the law of averages and limited other teams possessions.
Fast forward to today, Julius said that Capel would not be able to recruit HS players by demanding better defense on one side of the floor, and allowing less offensive freedom on the other side of the floor. So in a sense, Capel is sacrificing wins in the gym today for wins on the recruiting trail tomorrow.
I don’t agree with Julius. I think the easiest way to recruit is to win games and show improvement of the program. If Pitt were in more games and winning some games playing a style more similar to Howlands, it would be easy for Capel to explain why the team is currently playing that ugly brand of basketball. Because as it stands now, the brand they are playing is ugly enough and hard to watch.
Thoughts?
He said the way Howland coached his Pitt teams would never work today. The defensive style that Pitt played won them games and put Pitt back on the map, but players of today don’t want to play that way. He said that every offensive possession was critical for Pitt and while he was a player capable of scoring the ball, howland and the team knew that there was usually a team on the other side of the floor who had guys (AA’s and more pedigreed players) capable of scoring more. So Pitt played the law of averages and limited other teams possessions.
Fast forward to today, Julius said that Capel would not be able to recruit HS players by demanding better defense on one side of the floor, and allowing less offensive freedom on the other side of the floor. So in a sense, Capel is sacrificing wins in the gym today for wins on the recruiting trail tomorrow.
I don’t agree with Julius. I think the easiest way to recruit is to win games and show improvement of the program. If Pitt were in more games and winning some games playing a style more similar to Howlands, it would be easy for Capel to explain why the team is currently playing that ugly brand of basketball. Because as it stands now, the brand they are playing is ugly enough and hard to watch.
Thoughts?
