I can see why people laugh at this OP, but I think he makes some good points. I actually think that there has been good player development, outside of Woodbury. Marble, McCabe, and Olaseni are examples of guys that have come a long way. They are now legit contributors (Marble is more than a contributor) for a competitive team. Woodbury is the lone example of a guy that hasn't developed yet. I can't stand watching him play most of the time. But in all fairness, he does a number of things pretty well. He is a good passer in many situations (when he can get and catch the ball) and he does a solid job of keeping the ball high around the rim. Maybe others will disagree with that, but I've been pleasantly surprised with his skill of keeping the ball at or above his head, a skill that so many big men don't have.
However, his lack of athletic ability is a serious problem that he has yet to overcome. He can't jump, move around laterally with any sort of quickness, or finish around the basket. The result is inconsistent play on offense. And I think he's getting shafted by the refs on defense quite a bit; it's as if the refs know he's slow, so they just call fouls that they think he's committing, his lack of quickness hurts him in this way and he's getting in foul trouble so early and often that he gets taken out of the game and he doesn't get very many minutes. If he could improve his movement and defense, and maybe not get BS fouls called on him, he would play more minutes and get more time to practice and display his game and offensive skills.
But because he's a somewhat unathletic big man, he'll take a ton of time to develop and it's an ongoing (slow) process. To get over-frustrated is unfair to him and I think he's improving in ways that we can't always see. By his senior year, I truly think he will be a really good college player, but it may take that long to get there.
So as to lack of player development, I pretty much disagree. But through their first couple games I will say this: I seriously question Fran's ability to be an in-game coach and I've thought that for the past couple seasons.
I think he in fact is a good player developer, he is a solid recruiter, and he seems to be a great motivator of his players. But there are times when I am frustrated watching them struggle (offensively, defensively, both) and I wish he would do what great coaches do, and step in. In these first few games against Nova and ND, I think he's taking an early season approach of letting his players play through their own struggles and rough patches. So maybe that explains why he is sort of a hands off coach, and if that's the reason then I have no problem with it. But I have been frustrated with his tactics on both ends of the floor.
My two main criticisms are: If they have so many bodies and such a deep bench... why are they playing terrible zone defense? And when they are struggling on offense (to score and get good shots) how about he calls a play once in a while and try to set something up?
