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If he is going to ride players like he reportedly did yesterday at an open practice, I can just imagine what it like behind closed doors.

No, I don't think K and Cal ride their players like that today. One thing I have always heard about Coach K is how professionally he treats his players. Most kids today just tune out that berating crap after the first couple of times.

Someone mentioned earlier that these guys are adults and used that as a justification for it. Do any of you treat other adults at work like that? Do you berate an intern at work like that?

Rickma was able to get away with some of that BS because he was a basketball genius and had the resume to prove it.

I mentioned the players being adults. I have no issues with tough coaches. As I stated before, if a kid cannot mentally and physically handle tough things I am not sure I would ever want them on my team. In sports when the testosterone is flowing from both the players and the coaches, you got to expect a certain amount of out of control stuff. I don't think it needs to be sarcastic and demeaning, but I have no issues with a coach laying into their players when necessary.

I get what you are saying, but I just don't think it's realistic. Like others have said, most all of coaches do it.

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For those of you that never served in the Army or other services: The popular notion of how things are done inside the Army (and other services) is not true. The Army is a place where you get reamed repeatedly for whatever it is that displeases some superior or the other. Remember the Navy saying; "BOHICA" (Bend Over Here It Comes Again). Anyone having to live and advance within such a system has to develop a very thick hide, enough said. If Crews was rough with some kid in the team, boo hoo to the pussyfooted sensitive player, what kind of a soldier is he going to be anyway? When you are in the Army, you are not following the rules of upper class etiquette or political correctness. You are not a gentleman in the Army, you are a soldier, you are different than civilians are, you think differently too. You are in an organization that trains constantly and is in the business of killing people. If you have not served your really have no clue.

And this is why the men of yesteryear were real men. Unfortunately, most of those men have sadly been dying off.

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I mentioned the players being adults. I have no issues with tough coaches. As I stated before, if a kid cannot mentally and physically handle tough things I am not sure I would ever want them on my team. In sports when the testosterone is flowing from both the players and the coaches, you got to expect a certain amount of out of control stuff. I don't think it needs to be sarcastic and demeaning, but I have no issues with a coach laying into their players when necessary.

I get what you are saying, but I just don't think it's realistic. Like others have said, most all of coaches do it.

Fair enough.

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You must not have been there the first day. I like tough coaches, but just not sure certain tones are productive. The first practice may have been an anomaly, so the next two may not have been that way. I was actually a little surprised at that practice. Correcting a kid is great, but taking a shot that they are no Allen Iverson or Dwayne Wade is another. The tone seemed one of frustration at times, which surprised me so early on. I do think the practice was well run though.

True story - When I was 7 my coach told me I wasn't Magic Johnson and until I became him I should use proper fundamentals on lay ups. Was that too harsh?
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I wanted to thank Crews and staff for the open practices. Unfortunately we were only able to attend one but we really enjoyed it. We learned a lot and from what we saw we are excited for the season to start.

Good luck in the Bahamas!

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I was not able to attend any of the open practices but after slogging through all the posts - thanks by the way to all who shared - I found myself somewhat confused as to what was actually happening. I wonder if Crews understands that this could be his make or break year. Some might remember that I shared a conversation about 6 months ago my son had with our new president when he attended a small group gathering in San Diego. In that conversation my son was told that while he liked Crews personally he did understand that you can not be rebuilding all the time - ultimately, results matter. I took that to mean that he understood the need to be patient but improvement has to be evident at some point. My guess is that he and Crews or least he and Mays had this conversation at some time. If Crews knows he has to show results this year, then I am sure he has a sense of urgency therefore, he does not have the luxury of not being demanding. I also wonder if Crews had conversations with the players at the end of the year where he told them what he wanted them to work on and now in practice he is seeing that some did not heed his words. I am sure frustration can be the result. Someone earlier said that a couple of players may be on the hot seat and will learn throughout the year that their services may be better appreciated elsewhere unless they improve. Thus, this education process is starting. As far as a player getting called out for poor practice play who has skill/ability - well of those who have been given much much is expected. Now all this being said, I may be totally off base and Crews might be starting a self destruct period - who knows! What I do know is I have him on a short leash as do some others who post on the board. I also know that success breeds happiness so if they have some success early on all will be right in the world with the players.

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Great discussion on whether Crews gets terse at practice or has the right to or did at Army or whatever is happening here. Did anyone pay attention to the players (and no I don't need to hear about Milik's body language again), because that would be cool to read about. I'm also worried about having a giant ass rotation again. You'd think the locks are DR, AY, MB, MC in the backcourt, with MY, MN, RA, AG up front? But I'd guess everyone else will get some run too.. That worked out well last season

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Great discussion on whether Crews gets terse at practice or has the right to or did at Army or whatever is happening here. Did anyone pay attention to the players (and no I don't need to hear about Milik's body language again), because that would be cool to read about. I'm also worried about having a giant ass rotation again. You'd think the locks are DR, AY, MB, MC in the backcourt, with MY, MN, RA, AG up front? But I'd guess everyone else will get some run too.. That worked out well last season

It's very early to tell. I went to the first practice and have heard from people that have been to each of them. I think they will all get time in the beginning, but I would hope that he would get down to a 9 man rotation at some point. However, I thought that last year as well and it never happened. Jolly and Reynolds haven't shown much in the very small sample size so far, but I guess that could change.

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My dad did business with the parents of Jon Scheyer (now assistant at Duke) and he said that coach K said he would cut his dick off if he took another bad shot. How's that for political correctness?

That threat is only effective if at least one player in the locker room has had it done.

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Great discussion on whether Crews gets terse at practice or has the right to or did at Army or whatever is happening here. Did anyone pay attention to the players (and no I don't need to hear about Milik's body language again), because that would be cool to read about. I'm also worried about having a giant ass rotation again. You'd think the locks are DR, AY, MB, MC in the backcourt, with MY, MN, RA, AG up front? But I'd guess everyone else will get some run too.. That worked out well last season

Trust me I wish I hadn't said anything about Milik in my original post.

I would be surprised if Wellmer isn't in the rotation. The kid can really shoot the ball.

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You'd think the locks are DR, AY, MB, MC in the backcourt, with MY, MN, RA, AG up front? But I'd guess everyone else will get some run too.. That worked out well last season

I agree with that group of 8, but hope Welmer is capable of being in that top 8. I would think Jolly, Reynolds, and Bishop will be the odd men out this coming season.

I just have a tough time seeing how these pieces best fit together and if there is a lineup that could create some matchup problems.

The most interesting development for me will be what Milik is. He is the one guy who truly has the versatility to create matchup problems. I know Majerus kept hoping Dwayne Evans would develop his perimeter game to play the 3, but that never happened and he struggled when playing on the perimeter offensively. Things worked out well though because that roster had the versatility to primarily play Dwayne in the post offensively (where he had most of his success) and the 3 on defense when he played with Cody (6'8 skilled offensive player) and Loe was the center, with his perimeter ability it further allowed for Dwayne to play in the paint with teams unable to truly help down on him, so it created matchup issues for the opponent. Early in Dwayne's senior season when they tried to play him as more of the 3 with Glaze as the 4, we saw that he needed to be in the paint, so we went to Jake starting at the 3 with Dwayne at the 4. Without Cody and him playing as the true 4 we saw teams guard him with their top defensive big man and they really didn't have to guard Jake, so there was not the same matchup problems for our opponents and the #s show that. The prior team had a lot of versatility allowing for favorable matchups for Dwight to take advantage of. If Milik is not capable of producing at the 3 and instead plays the 4 on both ends of the court, that really limits the minutes for the group of bigs and I am not sure if we create matchup problems with Milik being the power forward on both ends of the court unless he has developed his perimeter game or if we have a big who can play the 3/4 alongside him like Ellis and Evans. This is where Welmer is kind of intriguing to me because he in theory could fit that Ellis role creating matchup problems with teams possibly having to guard Milik with a 3 in the post and not being able to help down.

I think there can be a lot of good discussion with what direction this team should go in. Initially I thought playing the 3 top wings and Milik together made the most sense and while that is likely what we will see, I am not sure whether that lineup (Roby, Ash, Crawford, Milik, and Gillmann/Neufeld) can have that much success because none of those guys strike me as being plus players at the positions they would be playing at in that lineup.

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Nice, great to hear. Better shooter than AG?

Will probably shoot a similar percentage from 3. Different kind of player, though. Has no post game whatsoever. Quicker, shoots a high arching shot. If you run out at him, he's quick enough to go by you. Give him another year and he should be strong enough to finish dribble drives consistently.

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I agree with that group of 8, but hope Welmer is capable of being in that top 8. I would think Jolly, Reynolds, and Bishop will be the odd men out this coming season.

I just have a tough time seeing how these pieces best fit together and if there is a lineup that could create some matchup problems.

The most interesting development for me will be what Milik is. He is the one guy who truly has the versatility to create matchup problems. I know Majerus kept hoping Dwayne Evans would develop his perimeter game to play the 3, but that never happened and he struggled when playing on the perimeter offensively. Things worked out well though because that roster had the versatility to primarily play Dwayne in the post offensively (where he had most of his success) and the 3 on defense when he played with Cody (6'8 skilled offensive player) and Loe was the center, with his perimeter ability it further allowed for Dwayne to play in the paint with teams unable to truly help down on him, so it created matchup issues for the opponent. Early in Dwayne's senior season when they tried to play him as more of the 3 with Glaze as the 4, we saw that he needed to be in the paint, so we went to Jake starting at the 3 with Dwayne at the 4. Without Cody and him playing as the true 4 we saw teams guard him with their top defensive big man and they really didn't have to guard Jake, so there was not the same matchup problems for our opponents and the #s show that. The prior team had a lot of versatility allowing for favorable matchups for Dwight to take advantage of. If Milik is not capable of producing at the 3 and instead plays the 4 on both ends of the court, that really limits the minutes for the group of bigs and I am not sure if we create matchup problems with Milik being the power forward on both ends of the court unless he has developed his perimeter game or if we have a big who can play the 3/4 alongside him like Ellis and Evans. This is where Welmer is kind of intriguing to me because he in theory could fit that Ellis role creating matchup problems with teams possibly having to guard Milik with a 3 in the post and not being able to help down.

I think there can be a lot of good discussion with what direction this team should go in. Initially I thought playing the 3 top wings and Milik together made the most sense and while that is likely what we will see, I am not sure whether that lineup (Roby, Ash, Crawford, Milik, and Gillmann/Neufeld) can have that much success because none of those guys strike me as being plus players at the positions they would be playing at in that lineup.

I haven't seen any evidence yet that Milik is more than a 60% shooter from the free throw line or more than a 40% shooter outside of 5 feet. Hard to play the 3 that way. He is jumping better now without the baby fat. Hopefully that translates into a higher conversion rate near the rim during A-10 play.

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I haven't seen any evidence yet that Milik is more than a 60% shooter from the free throw line or more than a 40% shooter outside of 5 feet. Hard to play the 3 that way. He is jumping better now without the baby fat. Hopefully that translates into a higher conversion rate near the rim during A-10 play.

Agreed (my point in comparing him to Dwayne Evans who had similar limitations), that is why I think it would be so huge if a guy like Welmer could step up and play the 3/4 with him. Then you have teams needing to decide how to guard those two with Milik playing in the paint and Welmer on the perimeter. One of those guys would have a mismatch similar to Evans and Ellis with teams often guarding Evans with a 3 and him going to work on him in the paint. Then defensively you could have Milik guard the small forward position and Welmer the 4. Again, this may not work this coming season depending on what Welmer is capable of, but on paper that is a lineup that could be worth trying down the road.

I just don't know how much better we can expect this team to be playing a traditional lineup (Roby, Ash, Crawford, Milik, and Gillmann/Neufeld) and taking Roby out of position and playing him at the point and having Milik battle power forwards in the post. Another option would be playing small and trying to get up and down the floor a bit and play Reggie at the 5 (Bartley, Roby, Ash, Milik, and Reggie). I am just trying to think of some lineups that could create a different identity for the team that could have some success since I am not sure I see it with a more traditional lineup.

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Evans had an accurate mid-range jumpshot by his junior year. Milik does not, so his post up successes require him to be pretty close to the basket. Yes he can handle the ball but he's not quick enough to beat many wings off the dribble. You know who he is quick enough to get around with his dribble? Power forwards.

Welmer is the unrated recruit that nobody on the board wanted. I'm glad that folks are starting to warm up to him now that they've seen him in the flesh. But he isn't physically capable of giving you Cody Ellis-level production right now. Maybe next year.

I agree that mismatches make playing offense much easier. Perhaps Neufeld can develop into that guy as an upperclassman. Or maybe Milik will lock himself in the gym until he develops a mid-range jumpshot. Until then, our margin for error will be thin.

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Evans had an accurate mid-range jumpshot by his junior year. Milik does not, so his post up successes require him to be pretty close to the basket. Yes he can handle the ball but he's not quick enough to beat many wings off the dribble. You know who he is quick enough to get around with his dribble? Power forwards.

Welmer is the unrated recruit that nobody on the board wanted. I'm glad that folks are starting to warm up to him now that they've seen him in the flesh. But he isn't physically capable of giving you Cody Ellis-level production right now. Maybe next year.

I agree that mismatches make playing offense much easier. Perhaps Neufeld can develop into that guy as an upperclassman. Or maybe Milik will lock himself in the gym until he develops a mid-range jumpshot. Until then, our margin for error will be thin.

But Evans still scored the majority of his points at the rim. Sure he developed a decent shot from around the free throw line in, but he was not killing teams shooting the ball (I am sure you could find a few games in which he did shoot the ball well from 15 feet out, but I don't remember that being the norm). He was most impactful playing in the post with Ellis and Loe on the perimeter leaving him often guarded by a 3. Then with him playing as the true power forward with a wing at the 3 his senior season, the offense was not very good and he struggled a bit.

So I am saying get a lineup on the court that gets Milik matched up with a 3 and play him in the post offensively. If he can't shoot and plays the 4, but steps out a bit with the intent of him taking a 4 off of the dribble, if he can't shoot eventually teams will just sag off of him. Maybe that is the move, but I think that will be scouted fairly easily. Although if we play small and look to run, I think playing him as the 4 with 3 guards is an option as well.

Just trying to throw out some potential lineups that could give us a different look since I think Milik is likely our most talented player and it is the offseason with nothing else of interest to talk about. Maybe we are best off just playing our top 4 guys (Roby, Ash, Crawford, and Milik) plus Gillmann/Neufeld, but unless those guys have really improved, I don't see us being much improved from last season.

I didn't go to the practices, so I have no idea whether Welmer is capable of playing early in his career. His skill set just looked like a potential fit to me in a lineup with Milik similar to how we used Ellis, Evans, and Loe together.

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It isn't 1990 anymore and Jim Crews got fired from Army for the way he treated a player. Repeat, he got fired from Army for how he treated a player. Let that sink in for a second.

You hate Crews. We get it. You can give it a rest now.

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Wow. I don't know why I'm surprised people are watching a d1 basketball practice and trying to figure out if the coach has been told something about his job security because he yells and is tough. I can help. He hasn't been told his job is in jeopardy nor is it. There is nothing to surmise except a coach holding a practice and being tough. It's normal, nothing going on here. I know it'd be silly of me to ask if we could just relax and forget about whether or not JC will be fired until at least a few games into the season.

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