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Topic: Hungry?

Topic: Hungry?

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colobobcat66
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Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 8:43:57 AM

So in the Post article,Christian says the team wasn't hungry because of prior success. What do you think of that?

FearLeon
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 8:48:28 AM

colobobcat66 wrote:

So in the Post article,Christian says the team wasn't hungry because of prior success. What do you think of that?

He's not Mr. Inspiration that is for sure. We are going to learn a lot about this coach over the next 12 months.

#BleedGreen #TrentIsGOAT

100%Cat
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 9:13:57 AM

This is something that has been on my mind about this team all season. As much resentment as there was within the team leaders when Groce left, how well are they going to "buy in" to what JC is preaching and teaching? I'd like to think that a group of seniors like this group would be able to get past a coach leaving, chasing the money, but what if they didn't? People here seem quick to jump on JC and blame him for the year's disappointments, but why do we assume the players were on board with Christian? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

I'm in no way saying that is, for a fact, what happened...simply questioning why it has not really been considered on here as a possible explanation.

mf279801
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 9:14:20 AM

I had the same thought/concern when we seemed slow out of the gate for our first several games against easy opposition this year...

OUVan
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 9:48:31 AM

mf279801 wrote:

I had the same thought/concern when we seemed slow out of the gate for our first several games against easy opposition this year...

Huh? We came out like gangbusters, winning our first five games by an average margin of 25 points. The only lackluster effort until the Robert Morris game was against Hampton. Then we got punched in the mouth and never really recovered our swagger.

Pataskala
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 9:49:12 AM

Is this the first time he's mentioned this? If so, it's kind of late to be calling out your seniors in public. I saw it more as an expectation that other teams would roll over because of the success, but not being as hungry could be another way to put it.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

TheGreenFever
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 11:41:18 AM

Not hungry enough? So, who were those guys that looked like Offutt, Kellogg, Stevie, Baltic, and Ric at the Little Dribblers camp saying how much they want to prove to the nation they are better than Sweet 16? You know who wasn't in attendance? Your "coach of the year" Christian. I just think he wants another type of team with his players to coach and not worry much about this team. I am happy with the results we were given even though it could have been more. But, I am not feeling good about JC. It's the same feeling I had with O'Shea. I hope I'm wrong but only time will tell.

OU_Country
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 11:53:33 AM

I'm not sure he said straight away that "They weren't hungry" when referring to the team. I think a little bit too much is being read into this. I think perhaps he could have found better words, but that's all. Read for yourself and decide.

thepost.ohiou.edu/content/mens-basketball-ohio-already-looking-ahead-senior-players-depart

Last Edited: 3/26/2013 11:54:06 AM by OU_Country

Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 12:39:45 PM

Are we supposed to be surprised that there are possible incongruities between a new coach and players he didn't recruit? This is natural. And they almost won 25 games with those incongruities. I thought that spoke well of the players and the coach.

Last Edited: 3/26/2013 12:40:28 PM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)

Ohio69
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 12:45:41 PM

Hoo boy. If the Post reporter got it right those two sentences could end up with 4-5 pages of posts on here, eh?

Stay hungry my friends.

Can somebody hit a pull up jumper for me?.....

JerseyArnie
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 1:31:46 PM

JC should author a book of excuses. He always seems to have one handy.

I would prefer a coach, who says "The buck stops here."

Last Edited: 3/26/2013 1:41:25 PM by JerseyArnie

perimeterpost
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 1:48:20 PM

I can't help but think of JC's comments when he took the job, he seemed to go out of his way to downplay the expectation of returning to the Sweet 16. Now to say they weren't hungry? Sounds like they followed their coach and aimed for the middle.

MY STATE. MY TEAM.

Jeff McKinney
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 2:10:07 PM

The Messenger article of a few days ago was more detailed and I think gives a better overall picture.

Jeff McKinney
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 2:13:40 PM

Coaches face a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" problem. If they sugarcoat things and talk blandly, they are accused of "coachspeak". If they are more candid in their remarks, a chunk of the fanbase will be offended.

C Money
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 2:24:12 PM

OU_Country wrote:

Agreed. I don't see those comments as criticism of particular players as much as observation of humans in general. To the extent it is about particular players, I don't think it's inaccurate to observe that there were some growing pains between these players and this coach.

But I think that it's basically a Rorschach. If you're inclined to disapprove of JC's performance in Year 1, you're probably inclined to take offense at the quote. If you're inclined to be patient with JC, you're probably inclined not to give the quote much thought.

Recovering Journalist
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 3:06:27 PM

Look at some year-over-year stats from key players from last March’s run.

Kellogg – 9% lower 3PT percentage, lower FG percentage, fewer points, and fewer steals
Baltic – Averaged 0.4 free throw attempts per game, had more TOs and fewer points
Offutt – Fewer points on more minutes and a lower FG percentage, lower 3PT percentage
Cooper (nitpicking here, as he increased his assists and was still spectacular) – Fewer points, more TOs, fewer steals

Meanwhile, Akron’s key players virtually all elevated their games, and Zippy added some strong new players.

You can babble about hunger, coaching, and injuries, and look for answers all day, but the final answer is simple. Akron beat us three times because their players and team got much better and ours did not. Hopefully that will reverse itself next year.

mf279801
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/26/2013 6:10:25 PM

OUVan wrote:

mf279801 wrote:

I had the same thought/concern when we seemed slow out of the gate for our first several games against easy opposition this year...

Yes, we won our first five games by an average of 25 points, and in each of those games it seemed like we started slow and sloppy, not going out there and playing with great passion until the game got underway:

Portland - 1-point game at the 10-minute mark, tied at the half, up 15 at the 30minute mark
UNC Wilmington - Checking the box score, we came out on fire and never looked back
Wofford - Tied/1-point game for the first 9 minutes, then we took off
Hampton - We trailed by 1 13.5 minutes into the game before taking off
Richmond - We went up 2-0 and didn't lead again until there were 4.5 minutes left in the 1st half, didn't take the lead for good until about the 14 minute mark in the 2nd half.

So yes, I'd say that with one exception we started our first few games slow.

redrustler
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 2:19:10 PM

When guys have had that much success the year before, and now they become seniors, human nature is that you’re not as hungry,” he said. “We had to fight through a lot of things this year, and I hope that hungriness prevails.”

Really? You mean those teams that had repeated success in the NCAA tournament as seniors and upperclassman bucked the trend of human nature? You mean the team won a game at Georgetown, and then came back and won two games did so only because they were not seniors? You mean a coach's job is only to recruit, draw the X's and O's, and that is it? Not to get players to perform to their potential? You mean it is actually better to have good players leave early because now you don't have to worry about that old human nature kicking in as seniors?

Great. A team does not perform to expectations, and the coach blames "human nature." So, what was the problem at TCU? That, my firends, is not a leader.

Recovering Journalist
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 3:10:30 PM

redurustler, by your definition, the team that beat Georgetown actually came back to go 19-16 with a loss in the CIT.

How did the NCAA Tournament became an Ohio birthright after two aberrant runs? Those three tourney wins defied all measures of the regular seasons they followed. Neither the 2010 team nor the 2012 team won the MAC in the regular season. They both had middling RPIs and mediocre KenPom ratings. Neither had a true signature win until the tournament.

The only difference between making the tournament and not making it was the fact that Akron improved enough win all three match-ups. Just like the only thing that allowed us to even make the tournament was an OT win in 2010 and a missed jumper in 2012.

JerseyArnie
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 3:49:13 PM

Recovering Journalist wrote:

Armon Bassett chose not to return, if he had you would have had a more valid point. He was quite a player, and DJ had a great freshman year in large part, one can speculate because of Armon.

redrustler
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 5:56:01 PM

Recovering, you are missing the point. Tthe team did not reach "the next level" this year, which it had reached the year before. JC blames "human nature." The point is that JC obviously felt a need to explain the reason for this, and rather than say, as you suggest, hey, you need a lot of luck to get there, Akron was a better team, Akron dramatically improved themselves, they were a different team than last year, and Coach Dambrot got all his guys playing on all cylinders, I can accept that. But that is not what he said. He did not claim Akron dramatically improved, instead he blamed his players' lack of hunger, and then tried to throw them a bone by claiming that their lack of hunger is really not their fault, but rather their "human nature" is to blame. Which is complete, and utter, B.S. That is not the statement of a leader for whom a player will march into the trenches.

If this is his public position when the season is over, it makes me wonder what his disposition was like during the year, in private, when nobody was watching. It may also explain why JG's teams played better in March when it was time to separate the men from the boys.

JSF
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 9:42:26 PM

JerseyArnie wrote:

Armon Bassett chose not to return, if he had you would have had a more valid point.

I assume you mean Armon chose not to return when he punched that dude. And he was not good before March, so let's not minimize DJ's freshman year too much, mmkay?

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

My blog about depression and mental illness: https://bit.ly/3buGXH8

JerseyArnie
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 10:25:36 PM

JSF wrote:

JerseyArnie wrote:

Armon Bassett chose not to return, if he had you would have had a more valid point.

I assume you mean Armon chose not to return when he punched that dude. And he was not good before March, so let's not minimize DJ's freshman year too much, mmkay?

Geez Louise! I apologize that he was not good before March! And what tournament that we are not in, starts in March?

2008 HONORS

Third team All-Big Ten selection as chosen by the conference media and coaches.

SOPHOMORE (2007-08)

Led the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage (45.4) and fifth in the league in 3-pt. field goals made (2.38) • ninth in the league in assists (3.31)

The Terre Haute native played one season for the Bobcats. He led the Bobcats in scoring with 17.1 points per game and won the MVP award in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, which OU won.

Bassett scored 32 points during Ohio’s 97-83 victory against Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Last Edited: 3/28/2013 10:30:12 PM by JerseyArnie

JSF
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/28/2013 11:38:04 PM

You said one can speculate DJ had a great freshman year because of Armon. I disagree. Armon was not a good player until he decided to turn it on in Cleveland (37.4% shooter before the MAC tournament started). DJ may have had even better regular season stats that first year without him.

JerseyArnie
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RE: Hungry?

Posted: 3/29/2013 6:07:03 AM

How about we agree to disagree.

Been a long time, but if my memory serves me, I believe DJ was more consistent his freshman year, than his sophomore year.

You don't think he didn't look up to the 23 year old has a mentor?

That was a pretty good back court, and naturally it was harder to key in on DJ, with Armon back there.

Last Edited: 3/29/2013 6:11:58 AM by JerseyArnie

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