Doh = Bennett

[Hoop Fan]

fully agree that well rounded big men are hard to find, but you have to have a big body on the roster at all times who can at least defend the post at this level and set good screens even if he can't score. No excuse for being so much smaller than Rice. The whole team had to constantly collapse on the Kazemi and their big guys because of the mismatch, opening up Rices whole offense. Bohannon won the game for Utep last night.

[Hoop Fan]

oh my, i just checked the stats, I knew Bohannon dominated but this is ridiculous efficiency: 100% 7-7 from the field and 6-6 from the line for 20 points. And 8 rebounds. Utep beat us 30-21 on the boards. Our leading rebounder was Shawn Williams, a skinny small forward, with 4! There it is in a nutshell. No post defense or rebounding AND we play a grind it out half court style. How can that work?

[GiddyUp]

oh my, i just checked the stats, I knew Bohannon dominated but this is ridiculous efficiency: 100% 7-7 from the field and 6-6 from the line for 20 points. And 8 rebounds. Utep beat us 30-21 on the boards. Our leading rebounder was Shawn Williams, a skinny small forward, with 4! There it is in a nutshell. No post defense or rebounding AND we play a grind it out half court style. How can that work?

Yes, he dominated. Rice and UTEP slashed in the lane & paint with ease w/ no resistance. Our guys are very soft.

[whitwiki]

The turnovers killed us in 2nd half. Absolutely should've controlled the game better.

[hoopmanx]

Hoop fan is having a good thread. There are a ton of roster moves that Doh has made over the years that were questionable if not moronic. One of the worst was telling Frank Otis to leave before last season. Otis couldn't shoot, but he'd pick, rebound, and try to defend in the post. Real effort guy that didn't want to go. We could use an enforcer, 5 hard fouls etc. He's playing great for Weber St etc.

As Hoopfan points out, I'm just surprsied how much we're having to rely on the freshman. I really thought Jalen would be 8-10 deep on the roster, not lead the team in scoring in November. Vilde's minutes have been beyond dissapointing, and quite frankly, Cotton Giles is a vey different player than I'd heard from locals. Manuel/Cannen/Jones/Smith are exactly who I thought they'd be, which is great.

Next years class is effectively Nick Russell, Blaise mbargorba, Brian Bernardi & Uche Ofoegbu. IF Losh leaves, as has been speculated, we have a 4th coming this Spring, which I think would be a transfer big.

THe future is bright, at least from a roster perspective, but the system is too rigid, and we're just losing too many games, espcially close games

[Hoop Fan]

what drives me crazy about the Frank Otis thing and others is that Doh invested a bunch of playing time in Otis as a very young player (although some days he would bury him on the bench completely for some reason) and then he leaves or gets run off. So all of the losing we endured to invest and play young players like Otis was for naught and Doh just starts over and goes young again with the we are young excuses.

[hoopmanx]

what drives me crazy about the Frank Otis thing and others is that Doh invested a bunch of playing time in Otis as a very young player (although some days he would bury him on the bench completely for some reason) and then he leaves or gets run off. So all of the losing we endured to invest and play young players like Otis was for naught and Doh just starts over and goes young again with the we are young excuses.

Agreed. The Otis thing was also crazy b/c he decided he wanted the ship open, sat Frank down, and then got blind-sided by McCoy leaving. It wasn't until the end of Lutz/Reggie Brown that they stopped the bleeding, and chasing their tails on the trail. That's all Clink was, chasing our tail late in the Spring. Same w/Frog. Now we have posters waxing poetic on last year's team, and Harp playing PF for the team etc. The reality is that Harp had to play out of position b/c Doh ran off Otis and had no other option. It was genius, it was necessity.

Only reason I mention Otis is b/c he'd be a senior, and he's just the type of kid that helps bridge the gap to youth. Take charges, help on the glass, play physical, good passer.

[hoopmanx]

Hoop fan is having a good thread. There are a ton of roster moves that Doh has made over the years that were questionable if not moronic. One of the worst was telling Frank Otis to leave before last season. Otis couldn't shoot, but he'd pick, rebound, and try to defend in the post. Real effort guy that didn't want to go. We could use an enforcer, 5 hard fouls etc. He's playing great for Weber St etc.

As Hoopfan points out, I'm just surprsied how much we're having to rely on the freshman. I really thought Jalen would be 8-10 deep on the roster, not lead the team in scoring in November. Vilde's minutes have been beyond dissapointing, and quite frankly, Cotton Giles is a vey different player than I'd heard from locals. Manuel/Cannen/Jones/Smith are exactly who I thought they'd be, which is great.

Next years class is effectively Nick Russell, Blaise mbargorba, Brian Bernardi & Uche Ofoegbu. IF Losh leaves, as has been speculated, we have a 4th coming this Spring, which I think would be a transfer big.

THe future is bright, at least from a roster perspective, but the system is too rigid, and we're just losing too many games, espcially close games

Manuel, Cannen, Jones, and Smith are GREAT! Maybe in the Dedman Center during pickup games. Now Otis would defintely help us this year. Was he run off? Did he leave on his own? Glad to see McCoy leave but he was talented just a "pain in the %%%%" to "beg" him to play. Very selfish.

harry callahan says mean things about good kids/players.

[Pony ^]

I will take ANY coach that can run an exciting offense.

[LHS81]

Wrong about Paul Westhead not having success in the NBA. Who do you think won a title as a coach with the Lakers, when Magic was a rookie and started the Showtime Lakers. He also won a championship recently with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. He probably would have won an NCAA Championship, if his Loyola Marymount team didn't happen to run up against one of the NCAA's greatest teams; the UNLV Runnin Rebels team that featured Larry Johnson and Stacy Augmon.

[hoopmanx]

SHAMAN, They seem to be very nice young men. You over-hyped them and your "koolaid" drinking followers have brought into to the hype thus creating high expectations for a team that is young, fragile, and have decent athletic ability. Hey, I want them to win but if they don't we blame the coach. How can he not win with these TALENTED players?

The freshman class averages 20 ppg and 11 rb. They aren't over-hyped at all.

[Mitch McConnell]

Travis you already acknowledged this was a talented group but not developed yet.

[HorsePower]

"Players play coaches don't play the game" and other permutations of the same statement is a common refrain in the latter part of a coaches tenure.

Can you speak English? Not quite understanding your logic but do you know your a "follower" of you know how and he is the gospel to you. Think for yourself sometime.

Let bring in Bob Knight;

1. He took TT to the sweet 16 with really no players.
2. He won't give our donors the time of day.
3. He is high profile and will get "smart" players to run the motion offense and will be entertaining as he "tells" the press exactly how stupid they are.
4. His oldest son lives in Dallas and his other son coaches at Lamar.
5. Our crowds will increase.
6. He won't give you know how the time of day.

Hope that if Doh is let go he has a great buy-out and his good friend Michael Jordan gets him a gig with Charlotte in the NBA.

If you're going to jump RGV, I thought I'd point out the difference between "you know WHO" and "you know HOW" ... whatever that is.

[GiddyUp]

Hey Travis, errr David Miller...,Not only has Doh run off players, how come not one assist has hung around? Its been a revolving door too.

[papawasamustang]

This is a really interesting conversation re: this topic.

I'll just say that anybody that understands basketball can easily see that this is the most talented roster that Doh has had here. The biggest problem that I see is that the pieces to the puzzle don't fit.
The teams I played for had a style that fit the talent. Our coaches always adjusted the style of play to the type of players we had. It appears Doh, in his 6th season, has a system in place ( the 2nd year of the system), & forces the team to play a style that the talent is not best suited for.
It is frustrating to watch several fast break opportunities per half disappear because the team is instructed to slow it down & walk the ball up the court. For a team that has to scrap for every point, fast break points would ease the pressure off the milk the shot clock, 1 & done, jack it up style we are currently watching.

The talent on the basketball team/court is not this problem IMO. Its the lack of talent on the bench.
If you have watched this program closely like I have for 6 years, its obvious.