My Howland Take

Im still in full support of Ben Howland and let me explain why. Im not a basketball mind where Im going to go draw stuff up on the board but it’s been my favorite viewing sport since I was 5. I watched a ton of pro and college ball.

-Without going too deep in to this year, we are on the bubble and need to finish strong to make the tournament. It?s very possible and I think it happens. 8-2 our last 10. Finishing strong and that should not surprise considering Nick missed the first 10 games.

-Last year we made it back to the dance. This year we?re in the discussion. I think Ben Howland has returned us to this type of season as the baseline. Winning 20ish games and being in the hunt was the Stansbury standard and Howland returned is there after inheriting a dumpster fire.

-I do not think folks give Howland as much rebuild credit as he deserves b/c it took him a few extra years to get it rolling. When we signed Howland, objective 1 & 2 was get Malik and the other JPS big whose name escapes me. He does and we think we are fast tracked. Those 2 kids cost the program another 2 years of rebuild for being both overhyped and more importantly impossible to manage from who they had around them. Those 2 kids absolutely killed our program when we were trying to literally claw out of the dumpster.

-That situation from his first class will never happen again. He?s got 4 years of relationships built in to every class we sign from here on out. He?s going to avoid the bombs and sign good players consistently b/c he is a big name (and w/Addidas).

-Howland has run a really good program. The only hiccup was the Weatherspoon suspension and it was handled accordingly. Seems to be an isolated deal. The team has 10x the discipline it has under Stands off the court. He isn?t afraid to sit someone if need be (see Peters).

-Now that we?re back at that NCAA bubble baseline and the culture of the program is the best it’s been since Richard Williams all we need to do is hit on better guard play. Howland?s bigs evals have been exceptional. Keep doing what he is doing there and we are set. We need a little more offense in the back court. I think Molinar and DJ have really bright futures. But that is where the next step is.

-If you want to run Howland now, why? What are our expectations? Traditionally we?re a top 8 SEC program and fringe NCAA squad. That?s where we are. Howland recruits better kids than Stands because of how he does it. If we run Howland, who do we get who is going to take us up a level? With us just getting back to what should be our ground zero, that is a huge gamble.

I agree with your post. What I?ve heard from a few that are allowed to attend a practice from time to time is that practice is really weak! Weak practices breed bad habits, and personally, that?s what bothers me is our lack of fire, toughness, and hustle on both ends of the court. I have no idea what CBH says to the team, but he should go ?scorched earth? on their asses. Maybe reduce some minutes of playing time to make his point.

We should have several more wins then we do, and it?s bc there?s none of the above at times. If your head man doesn?t demand excellence there won?t be excellence or even a glimmer of greatness. We have yet to play a full 40 minutes of really good b-ball. Recruiting them to campus is big, but coaching them up from physicality, mentality, b-ball IQ, discipline (both individual and team), etc is what makes a HC damn good! With that being said, I believe we are underachieving this year.

I agree completely with this.

Something that people also have to consider is how much the game has changed since Stans had his best seasons. The SEC is getting 6-8 teams into post season instead of 3-5 a decade ago. Players do not have the fundamental skill sets they had because of AAU ball, more kids are problematic, there is more roster turnover, and in general there is much more parity. Even rock solid programs like Duke and Kentucky are getting knocked off by Mid-majors, and UNC is about as bad as I have seen them in my life.
Pining for hard nosed 80s, 90s and early 00s college basketball is pointless as it will never come back (kind of like wanting us to run the wishbone ain't gonna happen).

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Originally Posted by Thick

I agree with your post. What I?ve heard from a few that are allowed to attend a practice from time to time is that practice is really weak! Weak practices breed bad habits, and personally, that?s what bothers me is our lack of fire, toughness, and hustle on both ends of the court. I have no idea what CBH says to the team, but he should go ?scorched earth? on their asses. Maybe reduce some minutes of playing time to make his point.

We should have several more wins then we do, and it?s bc there?s none of the above at times. If your head man doesn?t demand excellence there won?t be excellence or even a glimmer of greatness. We have yet to play a full 40 minutes of really good b-ball. Recruiting them to campus is big, but coaching them up from physicality, mentality, b-ball IQ, discipline (both individual and team), etc is what makes a HC damn good! With that being said, I believe we are underachieving this year.

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I certainly agree we have underachieved a bit this year but it’s solely b/c of Nick missing the first 10 imo. I don’t think we are grossly underachieving though. About 3 games off

Well Howland isn't getting younger, #1. #2, why can't he incorporate some offensive schemes and maybe some zone defense. Shit, at least get our guys ready to see a zone defense.

Other than that, I hope he gets us to the show every year, beats Kentucky eventually, and coaches untip he retires.

We are one of the toughest and most physical teams in the league. I have heard the opposite regarding Howland practices than what is stated above.

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Originally Posted by BeastMan

Im still in full support of Ben Howland and let me explain why. Im not a basketball mind where Im going to go draw stuff up on the board but it’s been my favorite viewing sport since I was 5. I watched a ton of pro and college ball.

-Without going too deep in to this year, we are on the bubble and need to finish strong to make the tournament. It?s very possible and I think it happens. 8-2 our last 10. Finishing strong and that should not surprise considering Nick missed the first 10 games.

-Last year we made it back to the dance. This year we?re in the discussion. I think Ben Howland has returned us to this type of season as the baseline. Winning 20ish games and being in the hunt was the Stansbury standard and Howland returned is there after inheriting a dumpster fire.

-I do not think folks give Howland as much rebuild credit as he deserves b/c it took him a few extra years to get it rolling. When we signed Howland, objective 1 & 2 was get Malik and the other JPS big whose name escapes me. He does and we think we are fast tracked. Those 2 kids cost the program another 2 years of rebuild for being both overhyped and more importantly impossible to manage from who they had around them. Those 2 kids absolutely killed our program when we were trying to literally claw out of the dumpster.

-That situation from his first class will never happen again. He?s got 4 years of relationships built in to every class we sign from here on out. He?s going to avoid the bombs and sign good players consistently b/c he is a big name (and w/Addidas).

-Howland has run a really good program. The only hiccup was the Weatherspoon suspension and it was handled accordingly. Seems to be an isolated deal. The team has 10x the discipline it has under Stands off the court. He isn?t afraid to sit someone if need be (see Peters).

-Now that we?re back at that NCAA bubble baseline and the culture of the program is the best it’s been since Richard Williams all we need to do is hit on better guard play. Howland?s bigs evals have been exceptional. Keep doing what he is doing there and we are set. We need a little more offense in the back court. I think Molinar and DJ have really bright futures. But that is where the next step is.

-If you want to run Howland now, why? What are our expectations? Traditionally we?re a top 8 SEC program and fringe NCAA squad. That?s where we are. Howland recruits better kids than Stands because of how he does it. If we run Howland, who do we get who is going to take us up a level? With us just getting back to what should be our ground zero, that is a huge gamble.

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Great post Beast. Anybody who wants to run CBH off has this fantasy that we were actually better in the past than we actually were.

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Originally Posted by Thick

I agree with your post. What I?ve heard from a few that are allowed to attend a practice from time to time is that practice is really weak! Weak practices breed bad habits, and personally, that?s what bothers me is our lack of fire, toughness, and hustle on both ends of the court. I have no idea what CBH says to the team, but he should go ?scorched earth? on their asses. Maybe reduce some minutes of playing time to make his point.

We should have several more wins then we do, and it?s bc there?s none of the above at times. If your head man doesn?t demand excellence there won?t be excellence or even a glimmer of greatness. We have yet to play a full 40 minutes of really good b-ball. Recruiting them to campus is big, but coaching them up from physicality, mentality, b-ball IQ, discipline (both individual and team), etc is what makes a HC damn good! With that being said, I believe we are underachieving this year.

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I don't know who told you that, but that is straight up BS!

I have seen the team practice, I have been in a number of film sessions, I have seen the pre-game scouting reports on the whiteboard...some clowns around here seem to think Howland and staff are not aware or don't care or don't know what is going on. It's OK if you don't like or agree with the strategy, but to assert that Howland doesn't know what's going on or doesn't care is absurd and insults the intelligence of anyone with half a brain.