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Richmond from da' Couch ......


Taj79

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8 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Hindsight is 20/20.  Virtually everyone believed in the inflated numbers Isabell had at Drexel.  Us MBMs, the preseason rags, Rothstein, Katz.  Everybody.  I only ding coaches for making moves that were obviously incorrect at the time.  And if JJ was scared off by an off-injured shooting guard with even less than vertical than he has, I don't know what to tell him.  I'm giving coach a mulligan on this one. 

That being said, Coach has already expressed his preference for building the roster using high school players going forward.  I don't think he's taking any chances with bringing in multiple transfers that might send Thatch or Hankton packing.  He's gotten burned twice already.

+1

SLU72.  Isabell and Wiley are guards. CG is what likely caused JJ to go. CG, French, Foreman, Santos and Welmer were his competition. Not sure if Hankton was on the team before JJ’s departure but these were his competition. 

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1 minute ago, Clock_Tower said:

+1

SLU72.  Isabell and Wiley are guards. CG is what likely caused JJ to go. CG, French, Foreman, Santos and Welmer were his competition. Not sure if Hankton was on the team before JJ’s departure but these were his competition. 

I disagree, Clock. Jalen was playing primarily as a 3. I can't recall what the timing on Hankton's signing was, but I'll stick with my belief that either the signing of Isabell or Wiley or both made Jalen think he'd been recruited over. Gordon coming to SLU for over a year and Jalen made no move transfer before last season. 

I hope Travis sticks w/the HS or JUCO recruiting road. Do a transfer when you see a need but have at least a 12 man roster. The only GT I'd go after this year is a big but only if he signs a big FR this spring. 

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53 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

 

We all know S2 is not on Ford.  We can also assume that Santos is not either.  Welmer is perpetually injured.  Johnson and Gordon leave because .. kids leave.  So I don't think Ford is any dumber this year.  But if the trend of departures continues, then we might have question.  Might.
 

-I was thinking about transfers earlier this morning, not sure coaches can be faulted on even most of them as it seems like transferring happens so much now it should be expected that a kid or two from a 4 or 5 person class will not make it 4 years, things have changed and with the NCAA having inconsistent application of "rules" on playing the next season I expect the number of transfers will increase

-in addition I think the big boys will go after kids who could fill a need and get the kid eligible the next season as I think the NCAA is the height of corruption

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25 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

The way I remember it, Hankton signed after Pearson asked out.  Jalen Johnson left later, and I think that's what opened up Wiley's slot.

5/4/18 - Johnson requests release and transfer.

5/31/18 - Hankton commits.

6/3/18 - Wiley commits.

6/18/18 - Pearson requests release from LOI.

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5 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Not directed only at Bizzken, but I am surprised (but then again, not surprised) that when we "unexpectedly" won 17 games last year, Coach Ford received all types of praise from most of the same posters who now say the above:  Ford can recruit but not game coach.    No doubt Oklahoma State fans believe this, and not saying that Ford is on RM"s level, and not say there are not issues to criticize about Ford's decisions this year (that's part of being a fan, even a fan of your own team) but how can Ford be an overachiever last year and a dumb as rocks coach this year?   

And not saying that Ford is not a great recruiter... he is... but enough already with constant claims about how much talent we have this year, how "athletic" our guys are this year.. Again, athletic does not always beat skill, and more importantly, we just aren't as athletic as some might think.  Again, we are at the point, down the stretch of the conference season and ready to take on the better A10 teams, and I would rather not go through each of our guys to point out their flaws and limitations. But re-evaluate our current roster, re-evaluate the talent level, and if you  realize that the talent isn't what you read and were told prior to the season, then back off Coach Ford, enjoy hopefully a 20 win season, enjoy watching Bess, and if you find yourself apathetic about the Billikens, take a break.  Coach Ford has been set back by Situation 2, we are experiencing that setback now but the future looks bright to me..

Point taken. However, I've never been sold on Ford as an in-game coach (even last year), and that's perfectly fine. I think he is a great leader, an excellent recruiter, and an outstanding ambassador for the program. I fully support him as coach. But let's not ignore reality here...he's a questionable in-game coach. Not the worst, not the best. 

On one side of the spectrum you have a great Xs and Os guy who struggles to get talent, and on the other, you have a great recruiter who is lacking in the Xs and Os department. Obviously, people have preferences somewhere on that spectrum. 

With respect to last year, we had a serious talent/depth deficiency, yet overachieved. I think a lot of that had to do with Ford as a leader/motivator and the types of kids we had on the roster (and less about coaching). He cultivated a great atmosphere (TeamBlue) and instilled a 'Never Give Up' philosophy. I absolutely love it. But, we got blown out a lot last year in games that should have been closer. Davidson in the A-10 Tourney, Butler, St Bonnie just to name ones off the top of my head. We also lost a lot of close  winnable games, too. At the end of the day, I certainly don't think Ford is a liability on the bench, I just think he will get out-coached some of the time. 

 

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3 hours ago, Taj79 said:

Some responses ....

Bizziken --- I'll give you McKillop as a decent coach but Dambrot and Mooney?  The deans of coaches in this league are McKillop and Martelli (not sure I believe that).  Mooney hasn't done squat at Richmond in years.  And Dambrot has yet to prove much in his two years at Duquesne.  He's coming on but give it time.  I also like Schmidt at Bonaventure -- nobody does so much with so little as he does.
 

I absolutely think Mooney is one of the best coaches in the A-10. Only 3 losing seasons (out of 13)...and that includes this season and his first 2 years at Richmond. He took that program to the Sweet 16 in 2011, and made a postseason Tournament (yes, I'm even counting the small ones) in 7 of his 13 seasons. He's been mentioned as a candidate for several high-profile jobs (Cal and Georgia Tech being two). I like his system, and he coaches his guys up. 

And Dambrot is a great coach. Questionable recruiter. Taking AKRON to 5 NITs and 3 NCAAs in 13 seasons is pretty impressive to me. 

McKillop is the best coach in the A-10 as far as I've seen. Schmidt is up there, too (can't stand his accent though). Martelli is overrated. 

Most coaches in the A-10 are unproven at this level (UMass, VCU, G-Dub, LaSalle, Fordham).

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13 minutes ago, Bizziken said:

Point taken. However, I've never been sold on Ford as an in-game coach (even last year), and that's perfectly fine. I think he is a great leader, an excellent recruiter, and an outstanding ambassador for the program. I fully support him as coach. But let's not ignore reality here...he's a questionable in-game coach. Not the worst, not the best. 

On one side of the spectrum you have a great Xs and Os guy who struggles to get talent, and on the other you have a great recruiter who is lacking in the Xs and Os. Obviously, people have preferences somewhere on that spectrum. 

With respect to last year, we had a serious talent/depth deficiency, yet overachieved. I think a lot of that had to do with Ford as a leader/motivator and the types of kids we had on the roster (and less about coaching). He cultivated a great atmosphere (TeamBlue) and instilled a 'Never Give Up' philosophy. I absolutely love it. But, we got blown out a lot last year in games that should have been closer. Davidson in the A-10 Tourney, Butler, St Bonnie just to name ones off the top of my head. We also lost a lot of close  winnable games, too. At the end of the day, I certainly don't think Ford is a liability on the bench, I just think he will get out-coached some of the time. 

 

Agreed. He's definitely more Dale Brown than Larry Brown. 

 

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2 hours ago, Pistol said:

5/4/18 - Johnson requests release and transfer.

5/31/18 - Hankton commits.

6/3/18 - Wiley commits.

6/18/18 - Pearson requests release from LOI.

And on June 1, 2018, the Post Dispatch broke the news that Isabell had committed to SLU 

SLU72.  Now, in fairness, maybe JJ left on May 4, 2018 because of Mickey Pearson - who was not released until June 18, 2018. Maybe Coach Ford knew on or before May 4, 2018 (when JJ requested his release) that he was bringing in Isabell and Wiley but that the announcements would come later.  Maybe Coach Ford told JJ before May 4, 2018 that he would be bringing in veterans ahead of JJ so that JJ's playing time would be limited.  Or maybe, JJ simply looked around and say that his playing time would  be limited b/c of the others already on the team/plus more guys to follow so that things would only get worse -- and they did with Isabell and Wiley.

And yes, the loss of Mickey Pearson also is hurting us right now.  Fall recruit vs. Spring recruit - but hopefully Hankton will prove us wrong.

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13 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

And on June 1, 2018, the Post Dispatch broke the news that Isabell had committed to SLU 

SLU72.  Now, in fairness, maybe JJ left on May 4, 2018 because of Mickey Pearson - who was not released until June 18, 2018. Maybe Coach Ford knew on or before May 4, 2018 (when JJ requested his release) that he was bringing in Isabell and Wiley but that the announcements would come later.  Maybe Coach Ford told JJ before May 4, 2018 that he would be bringing in veterans ahead of JJ so that JJ's playing time would be limited.  Or maybe, JJ simply looked around and say that his playing time would  be limited b/c of the others already on the team/plus more guys to follow so that things would only get worse -- and they did with Isabell and Wiley.

 

What I read, or heard on one of the many radio interviews, was that Johnson wanted to play more of a shooting guard rather than a hybrid 3/4 that he had to do last season.  Perhaps Coach saw Johnson's future a little different.

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3 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

What I read, or heard on one of the many radio interviews, was that Johnson wanted to play more of a shooting guard rather than a hybrid 3/4 that he had to do last season.  Perhaps Coach saw Johnson's future a little different.

Interesting.... thanks for sharing.

 

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