Big East Awards 2022

[Xuperman]

So a Preseason #3 team finishes a dismal #8 with TWO Preseason 1st team All league guys.

This explains a whole lot.

https://www.bigeast.com/news/2022/3/6/mens-basketball-champagnie-gillespie-repeat-on-all-big-east-first-team.aspx

Coaches award Nunge the big Honorable Mention to avoid the shutout. Massive underachieving across the board.

[IM4X]

Nunge may have deserved second team but honestly no one else was consistent enough to deserve any other honors.

So far, it’s been a very disappointing year for Scruggs and Free. I can’t help but think those two probably needed a coach who pushed them more and kept things brutally honest for them. When your two most seasoned players who are projected to be all-conference end up being less dependable, less tenacious and less productive as scores and rebounders, it really points to the ineffectiveness of a coach’s approach.

Let’s Hope a switch gets turned on when Scruggs and Free and the rest of the team are on the big stage of the BE Tournament at MSG. We need to see the version of Paul we saw in the Ohio Stare show up.

[whopper]

this is too bad..Paul has been a warrior but looks kind of down. Others must take the ball out of his hands bringing it up the court as he is a classic 2 guard. Zach should call for the ball less, get offensive rebound position, try to draw offensive fouls, run court harder and plan for 25 minutes of intense play tops instead of pacing himself. Cesare makes that possible. Lets go X

[bleedXblue]

A real indictment on many levels.

The all BE freshman team is an eye opener as well.

Feel Edwards could have been there if only given some more minutes.

[xuphan]

A real indictment on many levels.

The all BE freshman team is an eye opener as well.

Feel Edwards could have been there if only given some more minutes.

Didn’t we recruit Jordon Hawkins from UConn only to get AK instead?

[Xuperman]

So far, it’s been a very disappointing year for Scruggs and Free. I can’t help but think those two probably needed a coach who pushed them more and kept things brutally honest for them. When your two most seasoned players who are projected to be all-conference end up being less dependable, less tenacious and less productive as scores and rebounders, it really points to the ineffectiveness of a coach’s approach.

How can it be coaching when it was Steele and staff that coached them to their previous accolades? Coached Zach from ALL Frosh, to Most Improved, to 1st ALL BE. Coached Scruggs to Pre and Post season honors every year.

I think Free has maturity issues that conflict with his enormous ego. Scruggs? It could be a confidence/mental snag or something non basketball.

If there was some obvious chemistry problems, that could explain this away, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Very perplexing.

[kxblue]

How can it be coaching when it was Steele and staff that coached them to their previous accolades? Coached Zach from ALL Frosh, to Most Improved, to 1st ALL BE. Coached Scruggs to Pre and Post season honors every year.

I think Free has maturity issues that conflict with his enormous ego. Scruggs? It could be a confidence/mental snag or something non basketball.

If there was some obvious chemistry problems, that could explain this away, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Very perplexing.

I dont see it that way at all. Freemantle's percentage stats are almost identical to his previous years. He just played fewer minutes, shot way worse from 3-pt range, and perhaps coincidentally also had lower rebounding numbers. His defense has always been pretty atrocious. These pre-season awards factor improvement, we never get any improvement under Steele.

Who has gotten better under Steele? We have seen one BE all-frosh player (Tandy) seem to lose all ability to play bball. Jones seemingly isnt progressing despite possessing all the talent in the world. Our best players continue to be transfers (Nunge, Johnson, Kunkel).

Maybe Odom will continue to improve, but honestly i would be scared he regresses as well.

At the end of the day coaches in big time sports never get a free pass. And this isnt year 1 for Steele, its year 4 of the same exact thing. I dont really know what X will do, but i think they are certainly playing with financial dynamite if they decide to keep Steele.

[IM4X]

How can it be coaching when it was Steele and staff that coached them to their previous accolades? Coached Zach from ALL Frosh, to Most Improved, to 1st ALL BE. Coached Scruggs to Pre and Post season honors every year.

I think Free has maturity issues that conflict with his enormous ego. Scruggs? It could be a confidence/mental snag or something non basketball.

If there was some obvious chemistry problems, that could explain this away, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Very perplexing.

See if you can find any team in the BE or in any major conference where two preseason All-Confeence players flamed out. I know I can not recall any. Does Jay Wrights ever have two players of that caliber regress. Maybe part of it is the argument that Paul is a more natural 2. Then that would be on the coach for pushing him to play the 1 or even agreeing to let Paul play the 1 (if it was Paul who begged to do it to have a better shot at the next level).

Maybe part of Free’s struggles have to do with his injury earlier in the season, making it hard for him to find his place after Nunge became the go-to guy inside. Regardless, Steele had all season to work on finding a good way for him to fit into the offense and yet he just decided to him play around on the perimeter shooting threes instead of making his inside power game and his rebounding a priority.

If part of Free’s problem is going to be blamed on him becoming more immature and establishing the wrong kind of attitude, I would point to the fact that it was clear Free was acting this way during games earlier in the season and Steele was doing nothing about it. He let Free’s bad attitude and immature behavior continue and become a distraction instead of setting him straight about gown it was negatively impacting the team and his even own goals to play at the next level. The reason we know Steele didn’t have the “get your head on straight or your going to blow it for yourself and this team” talk is because Free continued his antics (getting technicals and laughing about them, laughing it up on the sideline during games he was playing poorly and creating many fouls) foe many games. It didn’t stop after the first time he did it ot the second time or the third time.

It didn’t seem until fans really start getting down on him (maybe a coincidence) that Zach seemed to change his tune. That shows me the coach is not doing what needs to be done - like playing the role of the tough coach who has to raise his voice at least a little to get through to some of the players.

I do like Steele’s demeanor for the most part. I like that Xavier has a nice, approachable guy as a coach who doesn’t snap at the media or throw players under the bus. Yet, the same old “I told my guys” approach apparently is not getting though to players or effective in getting results. Sometimes it is necessary to set your players straight when they are not doing what you think they should be doing. A good coach sets expectations on and off the court. He will find roles for each player that both plays to their strength and helps make the team stronger.

Sure, players are expected to give their best, but it is the job of the coach to put each players in the best place for him and the team to succeed. In other words, the buck stops with coach Steele. Enough excuses. He either wakes up and recognizes that some of his approaches (his ways of communicating, his strategies for the game and his roles for certain players) are not working and figures out approaches that do work, or he’s gotta hand over the job to someone else who can do it.

[xukeith]

I dont see it that way at all. Freemantle's percentage stats are almost identical to his previous years. He just played fewer minutes, shot way worse from 3-pt range, and perhaps coincidentally also had lower rebounding numbers. His defense has always been pretty atrocious. These pre-season awards factor improvement, we never get any improvement under Steele.

Who has gotten better under Steele? We have seen one BE all-frosh player (Tandy) seem to lose all ability to play bball. Jones seemingly isnt progressing despite possessing all the talent in the world. Our best players continue to be transfers (Nunge, Johnson, Kunkel).

Maybe Odom will continue to improve, but honestly i would be scared he regresses as well.

At the end of the day coaches in big time sports never get a free pass. And this isnt year 1 for Steele, its year 4 of the same exact thing. I dont really know what X will do, but i think they are certainly playing with financial dynamite if they decide to keep Steele.

Jones has improved. His rebounding and recent surge in scoring is a welcome benefit.

Odom is different this year as he is playing more minutes and his turnover rate, assist rate and FT% are pretty solid.
He is not going to launch 5-6 three pointers anytime soon.

I do put a small % of Zach's lower performance to hi slack of health due to his foot AND he is no longer playing center.

[xukeith]

See if you can find any team in the BE or in any major conference where two preseason All-Confeence players flamed out. I know I can not recall any. Does Jay Wrights ever have two players of that caliber regress. Maybe part of it is the argument that Paul is a more natural 2. Then that would be on the coach for pushing him to play the 1 or even agreeing to let Paul play the 1 (if it was Paul who begged to do it to have a better shot at the next level).

Maybe part of Free’s struggles have to do with his injury earlier in the season, making it hard for him to find his place after Nunge became the go-to guy inside. Regardless, Steele had all season to work on finding a good way for him to fit into the offense and yet he just decided to him play around on the perimeter shooting threes instead of making his inside power game and his rebounding a priority.

If part of Free’s problem is going to be blamed on him becoming more immature and establishing the wrong kind of attitude, I would point to the fact that it was clear Free was acting this way during games earlier in the season and Steele was doing nothing about it. He let Free’s bad attitude and immature behavior continue and become a distraction instead of setting him straight about gown it was negatively impacting the team and his even own goals to play at the next level. The reason we know Steele didn’t have the “get your head on straight or your going to blow it for yourself and this team” talk is because Free continued his antics (getting technicals and laughing about them, laughing it up on the sideline during games he was playing poorly and creating many fouls) foe many games. It didn’t stop after the first time he did it ot the second time or the third time.

It didn’t seem until fans really start getting down on him (maybe a coincidence) that Zach seemed to change his tune. That shows me the coach is not doing what needs to be done - like playing the role of the tough coach who has to raise his voice at least a little to get through to some of the players.

I do like Steele’s demeanor for the most part. I like that Xavier has a nice, approachable guy as a coach who doesn’t snap at the media or throw players under the bus. Yet, the same old “I told my guys” approach apparently is not getting though to players or effective in getting results. Sometimes it is necessary to set your players straight when they are not doing what you think they should be doing. A good coach sets expectations on and off the court. He will find roles for each player that both plays to their strength and helps make the team stronger.

Sure, players are expected to give their best, but it is the job of the coach to put each players in the best place for him and the team to succeed. In other words, the buck stops with coach Steele. Enough excuses. He either wakes up and recognizes that some of his approaches (his ways of communicating, his strategies for the game and his roles for certain players) are not working and figures out approaches that do work, or he’s gotta hand over the job to someone else who can do it.

He wont voluntarily hand anything over unless Danny Peters shows him some coaching tips he learned from Miller.

[MHettel]

Jones has improved. His rebounding and recent surge in scoring is a welcome benefit.

Odom is different this year as he is playing more minutes and his turnover rate, assist rate and FT% are pretty solid.
He is not going to launch 5-6 three pointers anytime soon.

I do put a small % of Zach's lower performance to hi slack of health due to his foot AND he is no longer playing center.

Dont overlook the impact of adding Nunge and removing Carter has on Freemantle's productivity. Free played the 5 with Carter out there, and he was the MAIN big guy trying to gobble up boards and provide post scoring. With Nunge, he's playing more of a 4, and is not carrying the same burden to score / rebound.

[X Factor]

Dont overlook the impact of adding Nunge and removing Carter has on Freemantle's productivity. Free played the 5 with Carter out there, and he was the MAIN big guy trying to gobble up boards and provide post scoring. With Nunge, he's playing more of a 4, and is not carrying the same burden to score / rebound.

Don't think so

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

See if you can find any team in the BE or in any major conference where two preseason All-Confeence players flamed out. I know I can not recall any. Does Jay Wrights ever have two players of that caliber regress. Maybe part of it is the argument that Paul is a more natural 2. Then that would be on the coach for pushing him to play the 1 or even agreeing to let Paul play the 1 (if it was Paul who begged to do it to have a better shot at the next level).

Maybe part of Free’s struggles have to do with his injury earlier in the season, making it hard for him to find his place after Nunge became the go-to guy inside. Regardless, Steele had all season to work on finding a good way for him to fit into the offense and yet he just decided to him play around on the perimeter shooting threes instead of making his inside power game and his rebounding a priority.

If part of Free’s problem is going to be blamed on him becoming more immature and establishing the wrong kind of attitude, I would point to the fact that it was clear Free was acting this way during games earlier in the season and Steele was doing nothing about it. He let Free’s bad attitude and immature behavior continue and become a distraction instead of setting him straight about gown it was negatively impacting the team and his even own goals to play at the next level. The reason we know Steele didn’t have the “get your head on straight or your going to blow it for yourself and this team” talk is because Free continued his antics (getting technicals and laughing about them, laughing it up on the sideline during games he was playing poorly and creating many fouls) foe many games. It didn’t stop after the first time he did it ot the second time or the third time.

It didn’t seem until fans really start getting down on him (maybe a coincidence) that Zach seemed to change his tune. That shows me the coach is not doing what needs to be done - like playing the role of the tough coach who has to raise his voice at least a little to get through to some of the players.

I do like Steele’s demeanor for the most part. I like that Xavier has a nice, approachable guy as a coach who doesn’t snap at the media or throw players under the bus. Yet, the same old “I told my guys” approach apparently is not getting though to players or effective in getting results. Sometimes it is necessary to set your players straight when they are not doing what you think they should be doing. A good coach sets expectations on and off the court. He will find roles for each player that both plays to their strength and helps make the team stronger.

Sure, players are expected to give their best, but it is the job of the coach to put each players in the best place for him and the team to succeed. In other words, the buck stops with coach Steele. Enough excuses. He either wakes up and recognizes that some of his approaches (his ways of communicating, his strategies for the game and his roles for certain players) are not working and figures out approaches that do work, or he’s gotta hand over the job to someone else who can do it.

This seems like a fair assessment to me. I think we slightly over-rated our talent this year but we had a veteran team returning. That was an appropriate reason for optimism. Looking back, I don't think our pre-season expectations were unreasonable. That was borne out in our pre-conference record (although we had some cupcakes in the "W" column). We played well until we hit the B.E. which as we all agree, is tough league-good coaching, talented teams, tough venues. Plain and simple (to me) Steele committed coaching malpractice. He doesn't seem to learn from past experience and make adjustments. I think he led this team right over the cliff. His player management is stunningly poor. Sure, we can extend him and give him another year to figure it out and likely, in my view, will. But, he won't figure it out.