Gottfried coaching performance thread (merged)

I watched the last five minutes of the first half during that stretch when little went right. It was apparent to me that this was a team with very little confidence and and an inability to make entry passes to the high post or to the wing. Does Coach Gottfried have an alternative offense to go to when the primary one is ineffective? Teams crowd our point guard and overplay the passing lanes and soon the game becomes a layup drill on the other end. We just don't seem to adapt very well.

Some observations:
*Our team and its offense are dependent on a guard who can handle pressure, deliver the ball to the wings or high post, and score when necessary to keep the defense honest.
*It has been evident since December that we didn't have that guard yet we stick with a precision offense that breaks down easily when players have a difficult time passing the ball or receiving it positions where they can be successful.
* No real adjustments have been made in the offense so the turnovers and the frustration (for the kids) mounts.
* Good coaches put their players in situations where they can succeed.
* Is it time for a change in philosophy on both sides of the ball? What do you think, Coach?
* It has been a very long time since I laced up my Chuck Taylors but it is obvious to this life-long Bama fan that our current schemes do not consistently work for the personnel we put on the court.
 
Once RH went out, they were trying to run motion, since we didn't have the personnel to run the HP. MSU knew our PGs were suspect, and they set out to prove it. And they did...
 
After i got over my frustration, I was so embarrassed for the kids especially Hollinger. Our talent level doesn't go very deep
and kids were finding themselves in situations where good things were not going to happen. I also began to feel for CMG because he was squarely in the middle of a coach's nightmare. An average team with slightly above-average personnel and playing well at the end of the year was making his team, the former 4th ranked team in the country, look like a mediocre high school team.

Coach Gottfried makes a good living but a lot of people at the University who make a lot of money are not paid to watch seasons unravel like this one has. Changes are a'coming.
 
I cant begin to touch this topic...i mean start off with inbounding the ball underneath we have probably scored out of it 2 times this year

Our press.........or lack thereof

Our team without RS

im gunna stop im getting sick
 
The first half was not good. What did he say at half time? Bama made a huge run in the first few minutes of the second half and got within 2 points.:conf3: Then we fell apart again! We have been blown out on the road this year. What is our average point differential on the road this season? It has to be 20+!!!!!! I am behind our team and CMG. The way this season fell apart is disappointing to say the least. Even if we were to win the SEC tournament (which I doubt), we will be one and done in the NCAA. I even think that if we go to the NIT we are one and done. What is CMG going to do in the off-season? Will he make some coaching changes? Is this poor performance due to coaching, players not performing, players hurt (all are excuses)? I hope he recruits well this year! :conf2:
 
The first half was not good. What did he say at half time? Bama made a huge run in the first few minutes of the second half and got within 2 points.:conf3: Then we fell apart again! We have been blown out on the road this year. What is our average point differential on the road this season? It has to be 20+!!!!!! I am behind our team and CMG. The way this season fell apart is disappointing to say the least. Even if we were to win the SEC tournament (which I doubt), we will be one and done in the NCAA. I even think that if we go to the NIT we are one and done. What is CMG going to do in the off-season? Will he make some coaching changes? Is this poor performance due to coaching, players not performing, players hurt (all are excuses)? I hope he recruits well this year! :conf2:

Sounds like you need to calm down some. We have played decent on the road the last month or so before today.

They can regroup some and win thursday. After that I have doubts..
 
The one thing that has always bothered me has been CMG's reluctance to go to the bench with the younger guys. I see lots of ability on the bench but unless they play, they don't develop. It seems to me to be a halmark of his. And when he has to go, like today, you see the results. It looked like street ball.

What does the team do in practice?
Nobody looks prepared when they are on the court. It's been that way for years now. Quite frustrating, indeed
 
CMG set hisself and us up for what transpired this season the past two years before by playing RS almost 40 minutes average per game. Didn't develop another point guard during that time in case of the inevitable. When the inevitable struck as it did this season, Steele getting injured, who did he have to step in? Hollinger? He's just not SEC calibre talent in my opinion but I could be wrong. The results speak for themself.
 
Just a suggestion as food for thought, but it takes a lot of nerve, at the SEC level to develop depth. Sure, in the pre-SEC season, it's easy to play a lot of guys, but, when you get into the conference schedule, there's risk every time you dip down into the bench. It's really easy to cozy down into those seven guys you can really trust to deliver. Having said that, I cussed Wimp for exactly the same practice...
 
Sure, in the pre-SEC season, it's easy to play a lot of guys, but, when you get into the conference schedule, there's risk every time you dip down into the bench. It's really easy to cozy down into those seven guys you can really trust to deliver.

I agree with that statement and certainly understand CMG's predicament when he entered the league. He was expected to turn us around immediately and after being left out of the NCAA's one year because of our bad non-conference schedule he felt more pressure to win early in the season and against quality opponents. Which means playing less folks and sticking with the proven guys even early. Once that snowball got to rolling it became even harder to get out of it.

If he had of set the precedent to develop depth early in his coaching tenure regardless of outcome then we might have not had as quick of results as we did but might have fared better in the long run. I really don't know for sure but I would say a lot of the defections we have had would still be on the team had they have been given more of an opportunity. Whats the answer now though?
 
If you're a D1 guard, there is no excuse for a 5 second violation.

From my observation, BHoll seems to do ok out of the halves, out of timeouts, etc... almost like he's ok when he's looking at something CMG has told him to look for, but then he panics when the situation changes.

The thing that is frustrating to me is the defense. It is not hard to run back to keep people from scoring fast break points off a made basket. That's just lazy and shows no heart. Fast breaks are gonna happen, but after a basket.........
 
Lest we forget...did anyone pay attention to CMG when he said before the season "we are not a good team." Maybe the coach knows what he is talking about...It was looked at as "poor-mouthing"...what does it look like now? The truth...case closed.
 
IMHO as someone who has coached basketball since 1987, The team looks as if they have no discipline. I'm not talking about hanging out in bars and getting in trouble. I'm talking about a complete and utter breakdown during tense situations.

Offensively, they rely on the UCLA hi-lo set against a man and they run it to perfection most of the time. But, when the game gets tight or the man-to-man pressure is tight they go away from it. They start taking bad shots and doing too much one on one play (A sign of a lack of discipline). Against a zone, they rely on the outside shot way too often and the movement through the paint is limited. Finally, against the press, especially against a man press, they set no screens. They try to rely on athletic ability to get open and many times they fail.

Defensively, they are not disciplined at all (see 97 pts at MSU). When we play a zone we give up way too many threes. In the man defense, we constantly get beat off of screens because we are out of position. It looks like we do a lot of full fronting instead of playing hand and foot in the passing lane. On ball screens out front it looks as if we do not try to get through the screens quick enough and we get caught on the screener rolling to the basket, giving up a wide open shot outside. Defense has always been played with heart and pride. It seems our guys lack that somewhat.

Now, regarding CMG's performance, I think his philosophy is more than capable. I'm not a college coach, but I can imagine that trying to coach a team full of superstars would be difficult. Especially trying to humble them into getting better each and every day. Bottom line is that without discipline, teams fall apart and it is obvious what happens next.
 
Depth issue easy put a guy in for 3 minutes a half early in the conference shedule to start to develop it and go from there. But by all means try to at least develop it.

i am for him going but will not happen maybe he will move away from the high post ooffense and bring in a Defensive Guru.

regards
 
It's time we face facts. Gotfried will not ever be any better. Teams not prepared, poorly coached, not mentally up for any game, poor discipline, whining at press conferences, sports articles stating Bama was bullied? Bullied?


We need to change coaches now and get an up and coming coach who has proven he can get the job done. Does not have to be a Div 1 school. Look at SIU or other hot team who wins consistenlly and is well coached. This has been a disgrace and it is not going to get any better after nine years.
 
IMHO as someone who has coached basketball since 1987, The team looks as if they have no discipline. I'm not talking about hanging out in bars and getting in trouble. I'm talking about a complete and utter breakdown during tense situations.

Offensively, they rely on the UCLA hi-lo set against a man and they run it to perfection most of the time. But, when the game gets tight or the man-to-man pressure is tight they go away from it. They start taking bad shots and doing too much one on one play (A sign of a lack of discipline). Against a zone, they rely on the outside shot way too often and the movement through the paint is limited. Finally, against the press, especially against a man press, they set no screens. They try to rely on athletic ability to get open and many times they fail.

Defensively, they are not disciplined at all (see 97 pts at MSU). When we play a zone we give up way too many threes. In the man defense, we constantly get beat off of screens because we are out of position. It looks like we do a lot of full fronting instead of playing hand and foot in the passing lane. On ball screens out front it looks as if we do not try to get through the screens quick enough and we get caught on the screener rolling to the basket, giving up a wide open shot outside. Defense has always been played with heart and pride. It seems our guys lack that somewhat.

Now, regarding CMG's performance, I think his philosophy is more than capable. I'm not a college coach, but I can imagine that trying to coach a team full of superstars would be difficult. Especially trying to humble them into getting better each and every day. Bottom line is that without discipline, teams fall apart and it is obvious what happens next.


With all due respect CRIMTIDE, to which "superstars" are you referring? Sorry guys, I don't buy the notion that CMG has done less with more.

I'm not saying he's earned his keep this year. But for heaven's sake, twice we've watch Auburn pound us. They did it because their so-called substandard talent made way more basketball plays -- on both ends of the court. They played faster and tougher. They exploited our weaknesses again and again. Some of that is coaching. But some of it is a talent gap that's been clear since the Notre Dame game. Without Ronald, we have no consistent outside shot or ball-handler. None. JD and Richard have limited offensive games and real problems guarding anyone. Alonzo Gee still plays like a kid, up/down night after night.

Is part of a coach's job making his players better? Sure it is. But let's stop acting as if Gottfried started the season with the Celtics in their prime. This was a team with flaws that became more and more exposed as the level of competition rose, and Ronald played more and more hurt.
 
With all due respect CRIMTIDE, to which "superstars" are you referring? Sorry guys, I don't buy the notion that CMG has done less with more.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. My perspective is that of a high school basketball coach and I was referring to the fact that most every player playing in the SEC was or should have been the top player on their team and maybe even their district. I have watched many players through the years and did my graduate work at Jax State from 1989 - 1993 with their Women's program. We were pretty talented and even being division II at the time, we didn't go out and sign the 4th or 5th best player on a team. Alot of these kids come out of school and they are pampered, spoiled, or they have relied on their talent to get them through high school. The one's who have the discipline are the ones who go on to be successfull in college and then the pros.

I didn't mean to insinuate that CMG had a full squad of superstars, but I can guarantee that they have worn that label at some point in their career.
 
OK... I've withheld my comments a long time, while just reading what has been discussed on the board this year. Here's where I stand on CMG and his ability or lack thereof to succeed as a top-notch coach in the SEC.

First, Gottfried habitually has teams that have the same weaknesses. Every year, we have a problem playing defense, especially defending the 3-pointer. Every year, we seem to go through periods where we lack intensity... not w/ regards to a game or two only, but a couple of weeks of it. Every year, we have a short bench, which is always going to be magnified when anyone gets injured. These weaknesses, simply put, are not addressed to the point where the problems improve.

Second (IMO), Gottfried is prone to playing certain guys above others for some reasons unrelated to talent/ability. While I want to footnote the fact that this is my opinion only (no factual info from a player to back it up), when you look at how many talented guys have left the program in the past several years, I have to reach this conclusion. Either that... or he promises incoming players automatic playing time, advantages, etc.

Third, Gottfried is sold on the UCLA high-post offense. When you look at the top 20 teams in the country, there is a reason why none run this offense... it has a lot to do with the fact that it's a very difficult system to learn. In b-ball today, talented kids look to stay at a program for 2-3 years at the max. Yet, with our complex system, big men coming into the program almost look lost or are redshirted their first year. IMO, in today's game, it is an outdated system that does not work well for the athletes Gottfried recruits. Oh, BTW... did I mention the fact that he doesn't recruit players specifically for his system... but he rather seems to recruit the best athletes, hoping they work out? The UCLA high-post offense requires certain kinds of players... just recruiting the best athletes does not always help you out with certain needs in the system.

Where do we stand, therefore, with Gottfried. When you see UA losing the same way season after season, fans get disgruntled quicker than anything (see Shula as an example this past year). When you consistently lose some players every year because of non-grade issues, kids start wondering what's going to happen to them at the Capstone. When you refuse to change your system or adapt it when times change, you appear to be stubborn to a fault or incompetent.

Will Gottfried, then, be let go? Like Earle said, it's going to take an act congress for it to happen. However, make no mistake about it, he's got a terrific start towards it with the failures of this year. Just as CMS went into this past season needing to make a statement on the progress of the FB program by making changes, Gottfried will have to make some changes that will shore up some of the weaknesses I highlighted above. And, like Shula, if he refuses to make some of the needed changes, I believe we legitimately have a chance to see him gone at the end of next year. With that said, however, I do believe it is possible that the PTB say, "hey, we're doing OK... after all, we're really a FB school." If that's the case, we will likely have Gottfried for his career... in the same capacity that Arkansas has Houston Nutt (sorry to be harsh but that is where I stand right now).
 
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