WOW - Some good posters here abandoning ship! Get your butts back in the engine room and help me bail please!!
This really is no different than hiring a defensive minded coach as your head football coach... think Muschamp. So as good as your defense may be, you will never win the tough games because you simply cannot score enough points. MW does not seem to be able to recruit, or gain through the transfer portal, exceptional ball-handling/shooting talent. Without that type of player defense, and a defense heavy strategy, will only carry you so far. I would rather see us get outscored in a shoot-out than watch 5 minute spans of no points and a 60 to 70 point total.
Eh..Saban was a defensive coach. Stoops was a defensive coach. kirby was a defensive coach. I don't think it's about the head coach's specialty. It's about how they can run a program and who they hire/trust to help with the coaching.
6 plus years of a meandering program can do that. It was clear after 3 years that a guy like Zook was what he was and he was let go. He went to Illinois and stayed what he was. Same with Muschamp. We keep seeing the same issues every year with White with little to no improvements yet he is in year 7. He has had double the time to prove himself because he has had some unforseen curveballs thrown at him and he is a great ambassador of the program but at what point is he what he is as a coach?
I'm there, too, frankly. I really like White as a person and desperately want him to succeed....but we're 7 years in and not even competing for championships at this point. I just don't think this gets better. Time to cut bait and move on.
I said this when we were 6-0, we will end up somewhere around 15-10. Next year, 15-10. The year after that 15-10. Our program is 60%er, we win 60% of our games. Some people are ok with that, many aren't. Not when Bama is quietly becoming a blue chip program in men's basketball. I would not be surprised if they end up with those back-2-back-2-back football/basketball tshirts, one upping our 04s. Looking at the schedule, the next 2 games are automatic losses, so we'll be 9-6 and 0-3 in the SEC, with a 3-6 record since that 6-0 start. My guess is at best, we'll finish 17-11. Not bad if you like being just a bit better than average. Not good enough to make the NCAA tourney, but not sucky enough to get beat in the 1st round of the NIT.
Yup. A couple people here are hell bent on blaming fans for expecting too much or always being responsible for coaching turnover but I want nothing more than a young passionate college coach who by all accounts is a great person to be our coach for 10 to 20 plus years. There is no reason to root against the guy....except for results.
I understand your point Apex but in basketball there are fewer coaches involved than football. MW is essentially the OC, DC and HBC. He sets the tone for the program, and defense seems to be the over-riding theme with regard to the type of player he wants to bring in. And, as we all know, in basketball the five guys on the court play both O and D as opposed to football where you field completely different players on O and D. Saban and Stoops certainly understand/understood the importance of a strong offense, one that can score points. Kirby seems to be doing well in that area as well. So, I agree that it's about how he runs the program. I just think because he is more defensive minded, he can't seem to get the type of player that will light it up on the offensive end of the court, and that makes his teams style of play hard to watch.
No arguments, facts are what they are, but I'm not quite ready for the hammer, let this season play out. I think BAMA may be better than some think. I doubt the Gators cut the cord during the season anyway. (barring a complete collapse of course). I have been watching CMW's demeanor this season and it sure seems to me from his court-side presence and actions he's feeling it. I root for good people to succeed, but CMW is starting to creep closer to the edge, lets hope the club rebounds.
Duruji only with 1 field goal attempt yesterday...gotta figure out a way for him to get more involved. For starters, he needs to stay out of foul trouble. He should easily be averaging double digits with his shooting ability (57.5 FG%, 45.5 3P%) & athleticism. Needs to be more confident
Imagine Dru with a consistent 22 foot jumper. His shooting HAS improved but he disappeared on offense last night.
There was a guy at La Tech a few years back who had a great offense, maybe we should try to hire someone like that?
There was a YUGE difference between that Charley Pell coached football team and these Mike White coached basketball team. I was a student then and went to every game. We were IN most of those games except for Bama. We had very little talent, but the effort was definitely there, as well as improvement. The next year we went 8-4 and won the Tangerine Bowl against Maryland. I did not attend those games with dread. I approach EVERY Mike White Gator basketball game with dread. Like I’ve said before, Mike White has destroyed the magic of the O’Dome - it now belongs to Auburn. He has sapped the energy out of Gator basketball and it may take years to rebuild (see football).
We have had way too many bad losses at home during his time here. There have been more than a few games where a special guest was in attendance or a coach like Mullen, Napier others addressed the crowd and we in turn laid an egg. Home court advantage isn't much of a thing anymore. I'll admit We are beating a dead horse here but thats what happens when the same problems happen year after year.
Would somebody do the leg work and go back to find out how many times Whites teams at La Tech made the Dance??? I have a suspicion but don’t want to comment and don’t have the time to do that.
Maybe one game where White (as the rest of the Florida fans can easily see) sees us getting outrebounded as lopsidedly as we did last night, he will put in a large lineup of Castleton, Jitoboh, Duraji, Felder, or Fleming and Appleby. With that lineup, the front line should be able to box out the wiry players and even the bulky players of opponents. The fact that this is the second year of Castleton, Jitoboh, and Duraji playing on the same squad, and NOT ONCE, NOT ONCE, has White tried to go big with the lineup, raises questions as to his innovativeness, and more, his appreciation for basic basketball strategy. The claim that we lose offensive firepower with that lineup is completely debunked by the almost 10 minutes in the second half that it took us to even score a field goal against Alabama with the small lineup that White is obviously obsessed with. I find it hard to believe that with Duraji not having to focus on trying to rebound misses, and defenses having to account for Felder or Fleming from outside or as slashers, that such a lineup would EVER go 10 minutes without scoring a FG. Yet game after game after game we see these tiny lineups that White insists year after year are the best option for his team. Meanwhile, teams like Alabama and FSU who are playing larger lineups year in and year out are winning conference tournaments, conference championships, and going deeper into the NCAA tournament rather than backing in which is Mike White's penchant.
