Much has been made of the men’s basketball team’s poor shooting and disjointed iso-heavy offense, but imo this team is painfully hard to watch because they just don’t play hard. They often look apathetic, lackadaisical, and generally disinterested in playing defense and/or rebounding. Playing hard should be a non-negotiable of any team from junior high through D-1, and its often questionable with this team.
I have been a big Fred supporter and defender through 2 and 1/3 seasons of some pretty bad basketball, but I don’t think he is going make here unless he considerably changes his philosophy and recruiting approach. This team is soft, and seems incapable of playing even semi-complementary basketball.
Why isn’t clicking for Fred here like it did at ISU? I think it starts with the fact that his teams at ISU had much better leadership and his best players played hard. Melvin Ejim, Georges Niang, Monte Morris, etc all were tough and scrapped and played at both ends of the court. This team’s “best” players look particularly disinterested on the defensive end of the court…go under screens, soft closeouts, and slow rotations.
I hope Fred is able to pull off a miracle and get this turned around because he’s a very likable guy and a true professional, but it doesn’t appear very likely.
I have been a big Fred supporter and defender through 2 and 1/3 seasons of some pretty bad basketball, but I don’t think he is going make here unless he considerably changes his philosophy and recruiting approach. This team is soft, and seems incapable of playing even semi-complementary basketball.
Why isn’t clicking for Fred here like it did at ISU? I think it starts with the fact that his teams at ISU had much better leadership and his best players played hard. Melvin Ejim, Georges Niang, Monte Morris, etc all were tough and scrapped and played at both ends of the court. This team’s “best” players look particularly disinterested on the defensive end of the court…go under screens, soft closeouts, and slow rotations.
I hope Fred is able to pull off a miracle and get this turned around because he’s a very likable guy and a true professional, but it doesn’t appear very likely.
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