Noise from Mike White’s camp

Nobody is jumping ship, we just want a new captain. We are going in circles with the current one.

 

I agree that CMW seems to be getting increasingly more uncomfortable talking with the media or the public. His demeanor court side has really changed lately, IMO.

 

Yes- he has already told me that a source believes White will leave.
That may prove correct.
But two points:

1) if white does leave, it will not be at any displeasure, pressure or hinting from the uaa.

2) if white has made this decision and told the supposed source…. he has told the source something he has not told Stricklin.

 

Ok - and the LATTER part is wrong. I don’t know how I can make that any more plain.

 

Yes, Strawman…. I’m very satisfied to be waking at 5am to make the noon game, as a #9 seed.

 

i remember a really cool poster… I forget his name… dashingly handsome dude, witty, smart and a helluva fisherman. Anyway… I remember him giving you some far advanced intel regarding blackshear.

 

Thank you for the succinct explanation of the difference between the 2 of us Gator fans when it comes to men's basketball. SEC women's gymnastics tournament coming up the following weekend. It should be a good one. Another big G League game for Scottie Lewis last night. Great game by Nembhard in Gonzaga's win over St. Mary's last night. Over and out.

 

100% agreed. Appleby is a scrappy defender and has a really nice handle and ability to beat guys off the dribble, but he's erratic as hell with his decision-making and I rarely feel comfortable with the ball in his hands at the end of games.

 

Yeah… that’s kinda the point. You are not “jumping ship”, and the other side may not be “satisfied”.
See how that works? There can be a middle ground for BOTH opinions. This is a concept that has evaded the likes of @tampajack1.

 

Brent I think you are a great poster and I agree with most of the things you write, but you refuse to see that White just hasn’t panned out because you supported his hire seven seasons ago so strongly. I wish that he would have worked out and became the next great Florida coach but he hasn’t and there’s no painting it any other color. If all the fanbase wants from the basketball team is to squeak into the tournament most seasons, he fits perfectly but I think most fans want a chance to compete for the conference championship every now and then and be a consistent top 25 team. We had that with Donovan so why can’t we get back to that level once again? At least get the best coach that we can that has the ability to get back to that level. White just doesn’t have that ability, seven years has proved that. Why keep beating a dead horse?

 

at a certain point, murph, you either jump off the ship or sink with it.

we get that you haven't reached that point with coach White, but for many of us it's becoming increasingly clear that the program does not appear to be trending in an upward direction for the last five years. When that happens, there comes a time when you begin to question paying your head coach top 25 money for consistently less than top 25 results.

it's nothing personal against coach White, but I'm a fan of Gator basketball and not any particular coach (well except Saint Billy, may he live forever) and so I want what's best for the program. I do not see any positive indicators from our current coach that he has what it takes to right the ship and get us back on an upward track, so I'm in favor of making a change.

I'd love to be proven wrong next year, but like I said to you in another thread a while back, I admire your optimism but see no logical reason to share it at this point.

 

I don’t think I have ever refused to acknowledge that he hasn’t panned out... at least not to what/how I expected.
To the contrary- I have said that White has yet to produce the team, style or identity for which he was hired.
There are few bigger fans than me…. and I invest a lot of my time, energy and money following the program. I don’t think there is anyone who wants success more.
I think our differences are a matter of perspective regarding what our program is and what it “deserves”….as well as how it can find higher success.
But I am not going to sell you the notion that after 7 years… this is what I expected. It’s not, and I have been honest about that.

 

Fair enough, but would you be among those that want him to stay longer or would you rather try someone else?

 

I would want him to stay.

 

I suspect your right. At least by butts in seats. I was thinking about my own seats and think I'll keep them so I don't lose my spot for the next guy, which I think is inevitable. I've had a pair of season tickets for a couple of decades and those within my family used to clamor to go. Now we only go to about half the games and it's hard to find others to go, especially if it competes with softball or baseball. It's just not fun to attend anymore.

 

I remember the Donovan years and we had some really good years and we had some ok years. I never expected Billy D to become as great as he did. I see a lot of similarities in the growth of White vs early Billy D. Now… I understand Billy D got to the championship game in 2000. This is not a sinking ship. Not even close. Got nice additions coming in next year. Future looks good and my school has integrity in its program. I’m good.

 

They're far from identical situations, but once it became clear that things had turned on Mullen, I asked on the football board, "How does it get better?" And I sort of find myself asking the same question about White.

To be clear, I'm not saying I want him fired. I've said about a thousand times I'm agnostic on the question and there are a lot of good arguments on both sides. This isn't football, where we could reasonably expect to find a better coach anxious to take our job. There's nothing like that guarantee with basketball. If White leaves, we could well end up with worse.

But I just don't see how things get better, at least in a meaningful sense. We have some fine recruits coming in next year, but are they going to replace what we lose? We can hit the transfer portal again, and I'm sure we will, but what are the chances you find a difference-maker there? And long term (which is more important), how do we make the changes we need to make to get meaningfully better? Are we going to recruit better high school talent? Improve the on-court coaching and strategizing by some meaningful percentage?

I can't see the narrative of how we get from where we are at this moment to where we want to be in a few years under White. I don't know what that story looks like.

 

Thanks for being honest. I don’t understand why you want him to stay. I sure as hell don’t.

 

I saw Donovan had it long before he won the championships. I don’t see it in White.

 

I am curious in the similarities you see between Donovan and White at this point in their careers. For me, a big part of why I have lost faith in White is that I feel there has been a lack of growth displayed by a youngish coach.