I think everyone gets it by now. Do we have to go over this after every game though?
There is no game. This is a general season thread.
I had minimal criticisms in the last game thread. Because we won. And while I’m not thrilled, winning is better then losing.
I posted a note on jalen Tate
And then followed up on why a former player of CJB would choose Arkansas over Uc. I personally think maybe the relationship wasn’t as strong
Nothing less nothing more
Well there was more than a note on Tate and that is my point. You went on about total speculation in the locker room and how we aren't respected anymore yada yada yada. Then you wrap it all up about getting back to the dance (which we can't do at the moment because season not over.) So it seems until we make the dance again (which we would have last year without Covid)...you are going to be addressing this each game until it happens again even in mid season. And of course even if we did make the dance last year it would not have had much if anything to do with the coach. It would have been Cronin hold overs.
It's a lose lose proposition. If he makes it...it will be something other than the coach that made it happen. If he doesn't make it...then it will be his fault. If he lands a recruit it will have fallen in his lap.
Jaevin fell in Brannen's lap but Tate is almost unforgiveable. Harvey and Eason was luck of the draw I guess (and are probably going to transfer). But the transfers have been awful and any transfer that has done well or decent...was not because of coach evaluation. Just dumb luck.
No one said Tari fell in his lap. But Harvey did. We know this. It’s not rhetoric, it’s the truth.
He did a good job landing DJD and Tari. Harvey required the AD to send a press release that they properly vetted him. He had virtually no offers at the time.
But then he decides to kill any kind of 2021 momentum by either striking out on the few recruits he offered or just straight up abandoning going after any freshman bc of Covid when virtually all other coaches adapted.
So Harvey fell in his lap? When, by your assessment, no other teams would touch it or offer?
So the coach said let's get him on campus and I want to talk to this kid and get a better feel for the situation. He worked with the administration to take a chance on a young man that made a mistake. As you say they properly vetted him and then let him know he is redeemable. Someone had to go to administration and vouch for the kid and say...I talked to this young man and I believe he is a good kid and deserves a 2nd chance. And I am sure there were many many more conversations than that. Someone had to sell UC to the player and then sell the player to an administration that other universities didn't want to touch or risk.
This is not how something lands in your lap. This is called making something happen that other coaches either didn't see or thought was too much work to be worth it. This is the opposite of something falling in your lap. But hey, that doesn't fit the narrative so...
You know exactly what I meant.
This kid picked cincinnati because cincinnati gave him a chance. And I commend the school and CJB for doing that.
But the reality is we didn’t go in and compete with Kansas and Xavier and other big name schools and out recruit them for him. He isn’t your normal top 50 recruiting win.
He’s the reality.. a situation happened in which he lost a lot of high major offers. He then chose to sign up to go to prep school and be a 2020 recruit to try and earn his offers back, but then his prep school decided to not accept him. So very late in the process he’s a kid with out a home both in college and in prep school. So he reclassify back to 2019 and UC was one of the few schools to take a chance on him and also had room for a late addition:
I’m glad we got him. But it did not prove brannen & his staffs recruiting chops.
That’s just reality.
We have a losing record with zero 2021 commits (the only AAC school with zero commits). I don’t believe in this staff when it comes to going up against high majors for recruits.
I don’t think next years team is a tourney team... do you ?
If we start winning then I’m happy like I said. But when you have losing record I think it’s absolutely fair to criticize a coaches roster, strategy and process who’s never coached at this level before.
Winning kills all criticism.
I sometimes hated the 52-50 mick Cronin grind it out road wins but when you win, you can tolerate a lot more. When you lose, not so much.
If uc wants sold out tickets next year they have to finish string.
Appears harvey quitting.
One thing is very clear. John isn't going to cater to me first guys. At all.
Which means star players and Brannen don’t get along.
Give him 13 mason madsons and he will win a championship...... in the MEAC.
I’m kidding.
But yea. Not good. Not good at all.
I think my hunch on brannen being better at X and O’s but not very good with player relationships has more weight than people want to admit. 5x now players have left in the middle of a season. Only 1 has returned. Yikes
The jarron thing I understood. A star player that could do whatever he wanted and a new coach comes in and tries to treat everyone the same. That has happened a million times in all sports. Harvey was his guy. This one is way more alarmingI'm with Justin, I'm not sure what Brannen's criteria is for playing guys is, but it sure seems like he plays favorites and not based their abilities. Don't forget the whole issue with Jarron either and how he was managed.
Maybe Harvey didn't give us the best chance to win games. But as I've said repeatedly, in a season that is already lost, we should be building for next year. Keeping Harvey happy was a very big part of next year.
Justin Williams is reporting that Harvey is not expected to return next season.
Maybe Brannen is bad at relationships, maybe he promises and doesn't deliver. Maybe he cares more about guys being in the right spot than what they can do when they have the ball.
Besides the worry of if we are a NCAA tournament team without Harvey next year, the other concern is will this spiral. It seems one guy leaving increases the chances another guy will go. I know there is nothing substantial on Eason, but there wasn't anything substantial on Harvey until he left. If Eason leaves too, we are looking more like a team that needs a complete rebuild than a team that is going to be returning to the top of the AAC.
What would even cause that many guys to quit? Seriously. What could he possibly be doing that would be that bad?
The jarron thing I understood. A star player that could do whatever he wanted and a new coach comes in and tries to treat everyone the same. That has happened a million times in all sports. Harvey was his guy. This one is way more alarming
In the case of Rap/Sorolla I think it was making promises he couldn't deliver on.
I'd guess he told Sorolla he'd be starting, than Vogt got a waiver and Sorolla wasn't happy with the backup roll. I think he told Rap he'd be our starting 4, than realized that we couldn't defend with Rap/Vogt both on the floor. Harvey it's less clear, seems like Harvey couldn't get minutes, even though he often played well when he was on the floor.
We have so many guards, we can survive Harvey leaving, though it will make us a worse team in the future. Just hope Eason doesn't follow. Eason seems to be in a similar situation as the guys who have left. Playing a position (the 5) he doesn't want to be playing and not getting minutes.
My suspicion is that Brannen is very stubborn and unwilling to compromise. He wants guys who will do anything for the sake of the team (whether it means playing in a position they don't want to or in a way they don't want to). As Justin says, more about x's and o's than about relationships. I don't think Brannen is concerned about what guys want, only about them doing what he wants.
For 4/5 stars (or guys like Rap) who have been the best player on their team and given free reign for their entire lives, there needs to be more of personality management aspect if you want to keep them around and happy. I don't think Brannen has that personality management skill and I'm not sure he even wants to.
The problem with Harvey leaving is that even if TheLivingLegend is correct and Harvey just isn't that good, it's a bad look for the program. Future recruits are going to look at guys like Jarron (who has made it clear he thinks Brannen is a mid-major coach in over he head), Rap and Harvey.
With a track record like that, it's going to be harder to get high-rated recruits or transfers. Even if Brannen is great at relationships and just got unlucky, at this point he can't afford to have another high-rated guy leave (or a guy like Keith show displeasure with his coaching when he leaves). 4/5 star Recruits are already going to be questioning playing for Brannen based on Jarron, Rap and Harvey. Eason leaving - for example - would be the death knell for Brannen's future recruiting of high rated recruits.