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Is there hope?

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A letter from an aggravated fan to struggling Billiken men’s basketball head coach, Jim Crews:

 

Dear Jim,

I have been a loyal fan for years, and I have seen hard times before. These past few years were like a fairytale: wildly successful, seemingly surreal and impossible, yet very short-lived. All good things come to an end, and I was fully prepared for the troubles we as a fan base would have to face this year, but watching my beloved team come up short game-after-game with few evident signs of improvement, it brings to mind a few big questions:

 

  • Why don’t we run any inbound plays?

Are we afraid of turnovers down low? Clearly turnovers aren’t a great concern, so why not try to create easy points from a position that proves to be difficult to get back to when we chuck the ball deep into the front court nearly every single time. These are trivial, fundamental plays that every team – from grade school to the pros –  uses to take full advantage of the hard work that put them in that position under the basket in the first place. We are taking these opportunities for granted and had we fixed this problem a long time ago, I believe we would see a couple more victories in the book.

 

  • What is your reasoning for your distribution of minutes?

Do you still see something in Tanner Lancona? I don’t think anybody is still, for good reason, supporting him, and yet we’re seeing more than enough of him in games where we are struggling and he comes in to provide nothing but poor defense, unproductive offense, turnovers, and fouls. He’s just wasting space on the court, and by now you should know that he’s better used filling water cups for his teammates.

Have you failed miserably to help Manning reach his “potential” that Rick Majerus spoke so highly of, or did he ever even show any real potential? All I have seen is slow, timid play in the post and stats that cause me heartaches. Why do we continue to see so much of him when he isn’t locking down his match-ups on defense, providing any real contributions on offense, and, like Tanner, being a waste of floor space?

When will we see more of McBroom? He is unarguably our best pressure ball handler and can facilitate an offense better than any other guard we have. I like the potential I see in Marcus Bartley, but he needs to add about 20 pounds in the weight room before he can be a real threat. Davell Roby has proven his worth but I would still find him more useful as a complement to the point guard. Ash Yacoubou can be an offensive maniac, and when he stays in control and doesn’t turn the ball over he’s a prized item, but he’s certainly no point guard. Miles Reynolds is on the come-up, but he cannot run the show by himself and still lacks poise and experience. Especially in games like tonight against a tough press like VCU’s self-proclaimed “Havoc” defense, where is your head at? To me, McBroom is the only guard that has the composure and experience to handle such pressure.

 

  • Are you incapable of adjusting your game plan, or simply unwilling?

Why does it feel like there was no strategy or planning to beat a defense you were fully aware that you would be facing? You’ve seen it before, you’ve beaten it before, and tonight we came out knowing exactly what to expect yet we looked completely shell-shocked. I saw a group of young, inexperienced guards trying to run up the floor as fast as possible and then throwing desperation passes at the first sign of trouble. Again, Austin McBroom sounds to me like the obvious answer to the problem that “Havoc” poses to our offense, yet he was virtually nonexistent tonight.

 

  • How long will it take until you teach your kids how to use screens in practice?

Sure, I see them attempted every once in a while, but frequency is just one of the many problems surrounding this crucial, fundamental aspect of a team’s offense:

1- We don’t set them often enough. For example – tonight, had we used screens whilst trying to escape the pressure of VCU’s Havoc defense, I believe we would have seen much greater success in getting up the floor and initiating our oh-so-successful offense…

2- When will you teach them to WAIT FOR THE SCREEN TO GET THERE. Tonight especially, as a ref I would have called moving screens on our team on many occasions. Specifically when Manning sets screens on the perimeter for the ball handler: he sets screens too far away, the ball handler runs his route before he is anywhere close, and all that we have accomplished is pulling players way out of position.

3- Why not try rewarding the man rolling off of the screen he set? This seems like such an obvious offensive option, yet more often than not the man curling off of the pick has plenty of space to catch and shoot or create a shot for himself, whereas we only use the pick to create enough space to pass the ball around the perimeter a little longer.

 

 

I understand rebuilding years, and this year was sure to be one. After such an incredible string of years filled with success, a year or two of struggling – at least – is inevitable for a smaller, less prominent program like our beloved Billikens. Rebuilding years are supposed to be CONSTRUCTIVE, but I see no real progress throughout the season that I can accredit to your work. National Coaches of the Year should be able to do a lot more damage with the roster you have, and while I barred any possibility of a wildly successful season, I surely expected to see exponential growth and development amongst the guys I am hoping will prove worthy of being the foundation of our team in years to come. This season has been a huge blow to our recruiting prowess, and that could be vital in a time where we have to really step up and show our power.

 

I hope you can get it together sooner rather than later.

Sincerely,

a very worried fan.

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