Honest question and concerns...

loesshillshawk

loesshillshawk

Well-Known Member
Having been a coach and dealing with the dreaded "chemistry" issues before. I have really been thinking lately if our issue is more "chemistry" then x's and o's. I deliberately watched the Illinois game through my coaches glasses watching personnel interactions. I noticed several things...Mike never gets much love from his teammates or coaches. I cannot imagine that is an issue Mike exudes...I mean he was voted sportsmanship of the year in the B1G. Aaron White does a lot of coaching on the floor to his teammates...in my opinion a lot of finger pointing, which is never good. He might want to look in the mirror. Woodbury spends more time shaking his head about mistakes then he does than just playing...and he has little or no interaction with anyone other then Mike or White. Marble really has no interaction at all with anybody...I think that is sad. Melsahn has his moments but most of the time he plays very stoically. I also look at our assistant coaches, they look like they could be in the morgue except for Speraw. Point is maybe our issue is Fran and squelching that passion with his, how should I say this, fiery demeanor on the court toward players, officials, scorers benches, chairs, etc. Other coaching staffs are involved...excited...coaching.

My conclusion is we have a bunch of basketball players playing a team game on an island. I always told my players that once you take a team game and start playing on an island...you are done. What I mean by that is with no communication, with no interactions among teammates, you simply have no emotion. Often the difference at any level is emotion and passion. The Hawks really have none of the above. When is the last time you saw guys chest butting, high fiving, etc. Really one of the most obvious things is free-throw situations we never huddle together like other teams do. Now to me this "island mentality" is a top down process. It is the coaches job to instill in their team how to play with passion, or more importantly demand that they play with passion. A perfect example is Matt Painters video at the season end where he talks about it being his job to instill passion and a love for the game to his guys...guys he recruited. Then if they do not play that way it is his job to make them better or to ask them to leave. He also pointed out it was his responsibility to recruit that kind of athlete...he does not coach at a public school, he gets to pick his players.

So just curious what others thought. I just do not buy the it is all x's and o's...I think some of it is...but I am now leaning more toward internal issues. There is way too much talent to play like we are. Well talk among yourselves...and let's figure this out. :confused:
 
yeah, who knows, maybe they just need a team hug. This is pretty much the same team as last year, so why the chemistry issue 20 games into this season? I'm pretty sure we will never know what exactly is going on here but I suspect its as simple as this team hit the wall physically and emotionally, and hit it damn hard.:(
 
loesshillshawk said:
Having been a coach and dealing with the dreaded "chemistry" issues before. I have really been thinking lately if our issue is more "chemistry" then x's and o's. I deliberately watched the Illinois game through my coaches glasses watching personnel interactions. I noticed several things...Mike never gets much love from his teammates or coaches. I cannot imagine that is an issue Mike exudes...I mean he was voted sportsmanship of the year in the B1G. Aaron White does a lot of coaching on the floor to his teammates...in my opinion a lot of finger pointing, which is never good. He might want to look in the mirror. Woodbury spends more time shaking his head about mistakes then he does than just playing...and he has little or no interaction with anyone other then Mike or White. Marble really has no interaction at all with anybody...I think that is sad. Melsahn has his moments but most of the time he plays very stoically. I also look at our assistant coaches, they look like they could be in the morgue except for Speraw. Point is maybe our issue is Fran and squelching that passion with his, how should I say this, fiery demeanor on the court toward players, officials, scorers benches, chairs, etc. Other coaching staffs are involved...excited...coaching.

My conclusion is we have a bunch of basketball players playing a team game on an island. I always told my players that once you take a team game and start playing on an island...you are done. What I mean by that is with no communication, with no interactions among teammates, you simply have no emotion. Often the difference at any level is emotion and passion. The Hawks really have none of the above. When is the last time you saw guys chest butting, high fiving, etc. Really one of the most obvious things is free-throw situations we never huddle together like other teams do. Now to me this "island mentality" is a top down process. It is the coaches job to instill in their team how to play with passion, or more importantly demand that they play with passion. A perfect example is Matt Painters video at the season end where he talks about it being his job to instill passion and a love for the game to his guys...guys he recruited. Then if they do not play that way it is his job to make them better or to ask them to leave. He also pointed out it was his responsibility to recruit that kind of athlete...he does not coach at a public school, he gets to pick his players.

So just curious what others thought. I just do not buy the it is all x's and o's...I think some of it is...but I am now leaning more toward internal issues. There is way too much talent to play like we are. Well talk among yourselves...and let's figure this out. :confused:
Click to expand...


I agree wholeheartedly. I see the following when I watch:

1. A team without a leader on the floor. Marble is a heckuva player, but he's never taken a real leadership role on the court.

2. A "power struggle" between Marble and White. Several times White will get great post position and Marble will just look at him and then pass it back around the top of the key and White will be visibly frustrated. Or on a fast break, White will be streaking down the court and Marble will keep it and often miss the layup or turn it over.

3. Uncertainty and frustration with the sub patterns. Guys consistently getting PT who clearly don't deserve it or guys getting "crunch time" minutes who clearly have shown they aren't clutch players. This has clearly caused frustration and mistrust in the coaching staff.

4. Guys tuning out Fran who have clearly grown tired of his constant berating everytime a mistake is made.

As a result, you rarely see guys high fiving each other or the coaches anymore. Rarely communicating on defense. Rarely encouraging or motivating each other. It seems to me like the guys are ready for the season to be over.

Thats my opinion.
 
Haha "chest butting".

I have a hard time thinking its chemistry issues 20 games into their second year of playing together.
Unless something happened, i.e. some players turned on fran some didnt. Or some players started seeing preferential treatment. Who knows though.
 
Very much agree it is chemistry issues. It looks like there is a divide between players and even coaches on how the team should work and it basically is being pulled in multiple directions and therefore going nowhere fast.
 
SpiderRico said:
I agree wholeheartedly. I see the following when I watch:

1. A team without a leader on the floor. Marble is a heckuva player, but he's never taken a real leadership role on the court.

2. A "power struggle" between Marble and White. Several times White will get great post position and Marble will just look at him and then pass it back around the top of the key and White will be visibly frustrated. Or on a fast break, White will be streaking down the court and Marble will keep it and often miss the layup or turn it over.

3. Uncertainty and frustration with the sub patterns. Guys consistently getting PT who clearly don't deserve it or guys getting "crunch time" minutes who clearly have shown they aren't clutch players. This has clearly caused frustration and mistrust in the coaching staff.

4. Guys tuning out Fran who have clearly grown tired of his constant berating everytime a mistake is made.

As a result, you rarely see guys high fiving each other or the coaches anymore. Rarely communicating on defense. Rarely encouraging or motivating each other. It seems to me like the guys are ready for the season to be over.

Thats my opinion.
Click to expand...


I don't agree with your number 2. I agree that Marble doesn't pass it into White when he's open and White gets visibly frustrated. I just don't think its an issue with those two players because I see every guard miss opportunities to pass the ball into the post.

As far as Marble on the fast break goes, it does seem like he keeps the ball a good majority of the time. But he also makes some great passes on the break too. I'm not sure what to think on that one.
 
I think you guys made some real good points. White said in interview they wernt communicating on the floor. But said it was his fault too
 
Chemistry issues can be solved by ending a 1-5 stretch. Tough for anyone to be happy playing through a stretch like this.
 
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