we almost got back in the game twice.
We really didn't. We just closed the gap a little bit a couple of times when they were only up by 14-16 and they promptly put their foot back on the gas pedal and blew us away.
UNC Game & Other Dribbles ...
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We really didn't. We just closed the gap a little bit a couple of times when they were only up by 14-16 and they promptly put their foot back on the gas pedal and blew us away.
That's what I'm saying.
Dixon can bench them..it's his stick to his PT carrot. But, that's about it.
Just like all of us in our lives..ultimately WE motivate ourselves. If you need to be barked at to execute the basics of your jobs consistently, odds are you'll be out of a job quickly.
Harve--at what point does the head coach become responsible for his players not performing to their potential? For players not exerting maximum effort?
We all know the answer to that. The job entails a lot more than just drawing Xs and Os on a dry erase board.
It's not like this is a one or two game problem.
The MO with many on this board is blame the players when things are bad, credit the coach when things are good.
That really doesn't fly. The failures--and successes--of the program are the failures and successes of its head coach. Period.
1. Always.
His stick to motivate the players is to bench them. His carrot is more playing time.
Dixon's entirely responsible for the attitudes and efforts of his players.
Yes, you have been very consistent on that, I was agreeing with you, in too many words probably.
I'm not excusing Dixon. Recruiting went off the track completely. We can disagree why and what the solution is, but continuing to trot out the 2009 team, which was a huge exception to the rest of the almost 2 decades of Howland/Dixon is disingenuous. Even the core of 2009 team rankings is somewhat of a question because there is such disparity of where some of those guys ended up and where they were ranked when they committed or signed.
Sam Young and Blair ended up ranked highly, but Young was mostly bejng recruited only by mid-majors when Joe Lombardi got his mother to pull him out of high school and reclassify via prep school, where he blew up. His original senior year, he wasn't in the Rivals 150. Gil Brown, too. Blair likewise got healthy at the end of his junior year and his rankings soared late. Biggs on the other hand saw his rankings drop like a rock. At one point earlier he had been a Top 15-25 kid, as had Ashton as a HS FR.
And, it WASN'T 10 Top 100 guys. It was 7. Nobody else was Rivals or RSCI Top 150.
DeJuan 36
Brad 89
Sam 71
Levance 93/88
Tyrell Biggs 71 78 Rivals 150
Nasir 85/110 Rivals 150
Gil 91
Ashton NR
Travon NR
Dixon NR
McGhee NR
Miller NR
Our best ranked recruiting classes have been since then and our results have gone steadily downhill.
Still, we gotta get better recruits than Luther, Cam and Haughton. And the 5th year's, plus Nix and Milligan.
Why is it disingenuous? Because you don't like it?
That was our best team during that span, do you agree?
And still 7 kids on the top 100 is 7x 1 top 100 kid.
And like you said Gibbs was rated top 100 at one point and so was Woodall I believe. McGee at one point was top 150. The point is he was considered a reach at that point. Now our absolute best players are barely ranked 150.
That was our best team during that span, do you agree?
And still 7 kids on the top 100 is 7x 1 top 100 kid.
And like you said Gibbs was rated top 100 at one point and so was Woodall I believe. McGee at one point was top 150. The point is he was considered a reach at that point. Now our absolute best players are barely ranked 150.
I'd argue that a significant portion of the posters here have always blamed the coach for every loss. And only rarely blamed the players.
It sort of is the old strategy vs tactics argument.
Ultimately, the buck always stops at the top. Dixon has responsibility for the roster and the strategy.
The players have the job of execution or actually playing the game.
It has become obvious that there is a breakdown between the two.
My opinion has been that the recruiting strategy changed and we have not recovered. MAYBE that philosophy has changed back towards what was successful and maybe we just lucked into slightly better players in Manigault and Kithcart. . It's too early to tell.
However, the execution has been as bad as I've seen since the Williard years.
As I said above, we're changing the roster completely in '17-18. Maybe we need to bite the bullets and clean house now. I don't think anyone has 15-20 million to buy Dixon out so it's easier to change players.
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Agree. The problem is the kids on this roster have not developed at all. We used to get lowly recruited kids and develop them into great program players. Now we have a kid like Robinson, big time 4 star recruit, who keeps getting worse and worse. Artis and Young, also have fallen apart. Cam Wright, yes he was injured, but completely fell off last season. The development is the most worrisome thing IMO.
When Dixon had a lot of success, he had far too many detractors. That proved that our fans are idiots.
However, a very vocal (maybe not large, it is hard to say, but a very vocal group) as blamed the players. Think of all the vitriol Karl got. How many people went nuts because Gray "couldn't make a layup". Add in all the Brad detractors and those who often jumped on Gil, Lamar, etc and it is fair to say that at least on this board there has always been blame for both the players and the coaches. Often times unfounded. Our best teams were REALLY good, sometimes, teams just lose. My frustration with the Nova loss wasn't that we didn't guard Reynolds, or that Jamie, or Jermaine, or Gil blew the defensive assignment, or that nobody other than the Big 3 contributed, it was that I was pretty sure that we'd never be in that position again.
247 team recruiting rankings.
2005-18
2006-44 only had 2 players.
2007-19
2008-39
2009-21
2010-33
2011-11 this counts Khem birch who didn't finish 1st semester. Without him probably 30
2012-15
2013-34
2014-90
2015-80
2016-70
2005-18
2006-44 only had 2 players.
2007-19
2008-39
2009-21
2010-33
2011-11 this counts Khem birch who didn't finish 1st semester. Without him probably 30
2012-15
2013-34
2014-90
2015-80
2016-70
It's going to take more than Manigault and Kithcart, even assuming they are what we all hope they are, to turn this thing around. It will take more than grad transfers and last second desperation recruiting grabs. The problem is I don't see it happening. I don't see us involved with a lot of players and I don't see us filling a class with 4-5 legit P5 prospects. I am no recruiting insider but from the outside perspective there does not seem to be much on the radar screen. Until we no longer need to reach for the Chris Jones or Cam Johnson types out of desperation, or have to unsuccessfully beg a Jon Severe to fill the a critical hole in our roster at the late LOI deadline, I don't see this getting better.
I agree with your post. However, early on Jamie recruited quite well. He also had capable assistants at that time. Things can change very quickly if we dump these assistants that are failing the program and add even one assistant who can say the right things and have the right ties to get better kids here. It didn't take long to crash the program, I don't think it has to take all that long to build it back up. Step one is changing assistants immediately after the season and get new blood on the recruiting trail immediately. It's pretty clear to me that is our biggest problem, Jamie must see it, and agree to shake up the staff!
It's not how big the class is, but how you use it which is important, or so I hear.
