Selfisms

“Junk defense”, “fools gold”, “house money”’ “I might be wrong, but”…all “Selfisms” we have gotten used to hearing. But is it possible, especially with the first two, that they are just a reflection of a guy who sometimes just doesn’t value the same things we as fans do? As I have stated many times I am not calling for the head of our coach. But am I willing to follow him off the cliff no matter what? Uh..no. He will be in the hall of fame at some point and rightly so, but he has repeatedly proven he can be stubborn to a fault. His unwillingness to change styles, offense or defense, has cost his teams wins IMHO. He wants, he lives for, and is determined to have a team that plays aggressive, help, man to man D and hi-lo O. I really believe he feels a team that can do that consistently can win a huge majority of their games. He is correct. But history is a cruel “female dog” sometimes. Anybody remember how many games the 65-66 Hawks won? Not many, but everybody remembers Jo Jo “might” have stepped on the sideline. 23 is the answer with only one loss in the Big 8. Anyone remember how many games the 96-97 ( greatest team Ive seen since I was alive) won? More I am sure, but everyone remembers freakin Miles Simon and his hoodlums beat three number ones. That number was 34 with one loss to the slavers. Both very good teams but history and most people only remember the loss. IMHO though this coach could care less about how anyone remembers individual teams but does care about the legacy he leaves as an overall great coach. I think for most of us that’s hard to accept. But as long as as he remains in charge we just have to get used to it. Thankfully, last night he somewhat gave in to what he generally considers a gimmick. It worked but I don’t believe he’s all that pleased in having to resort to it.

First and foremost he has good guards, not great ones. We have seen what most people consider great guards a couple of times this year and we have not fared so well in m2m. Clearly, playing a zone against any guard at least creates a different set of choices and issues for any player. I don’t think Ulis was overwhelmed by a triangle and two, but it obviously presented him with more issues than beating Frank or Devonte to the paint. OSUs Evans lit us up for 22 points and 8 assists. Against Baylor (a “decent” zone team) he averaged 9 points in two games. Coincidence? I for one am just happy HCBS felt he was out of options. I just wish he could have felt that way in Stillwater.

This was the Selden I thought was returning from Korea. The leadership, the intensity and most importantly the desire to be the“go to guy”’ is what I thought we might see all year. Hopefully, winning this game against this team on this stage will allow him to continue to be THAT guy. Could not be happier for Wayne.

Perry as it seems in most games against real competition faded. No dunks. Airballing a free throw. Missing important FTs. Real lack of leadership. He is all that college athletics is supposed be, great kid, excellent student and model citizen. He needs some attitude. I just don’t think its in him.

I was shocked to see that Frank only had 3 TOs. It seemed he had 10. I was really hoping this could be a breakout game for him but he was just OK. Clearly, getting some help from the zone was what he needed. He hit a huge three but beyond that was almost a liability.

Devonte was again pretty good. Did all the right things but just wasn’t the “spark” this team continues to need. I think being an underclassman still is in his head. I believe that “spark” is in him, he might just need to get over being a sophomore.

I am finished talking about Lucas.

Diallo and Bragg were contributors for sure. But again, in a tight game HCBS decides to go with experience over talent. This could be an absolute microcosm of what too often happens in March games with this coach.

So NOW we learn Hunter has an injury? Something smells there.

Long post I know. But this was such a big win for this team and this coach. I just hope he learned as much about himself and the game as the players did. Obviously, that is not to say I have anywhere near the basketball IQ of HCBS but I do think even the brightest of us can learn something new every day.

RKCKJHK!!!

Nice post. Pretty accurate analysis of Self and his approach to coaching. He has an 'ideology,' and is very resistant to tweaking it, even when it proves to be wrong. If he has the players to execute his offensive philosophy and defense philosophy, we are always in the hunt for a title. But injuries and the simple reality that sometimes other teams and other players are better then we are, even if it's only one game.

This team is profoundly flawed. We have the talent at the 5 to do what Self wants, but that talent is not accompanied by the ability to execute. I've been in New England since 1978, and have had the opportunity to observe the Patriots repeated efforts to 'develop' talented wide-outs into impact players with very little success. The reason is that Belichick's offense approach is simply too complex for most guys who have depended on talent for their entire careers, without addressing the 'mental' component of professional football. Self's players MUST have the 'mind' to go along with the 'body,' and for some that is simply not possible. Lucas, as an example, appears to have the 'mind,' but his body is big but not athletic. Give him a 30 inch vertical, bigger hands, quicker feet and a decent set of back to the basket moves, and he'd be an All American. But he doesn't have the body, and never will. Give Diallo Lucas's understanding of our offense, and he'd be an All American. Mason is physically gifted, but lacks Aaron Miles understanding of how to play PG. I could go on, but the point has been made. We have a team that is flawed in some very odd ways, but it appears that these flaws aren't going to get fixed any time soon. If, by some miracle, Diallo figures it out by March, we'll be a load in the NCAAs. But if he doesn't, we're gone by the 2nd weekend. Last night we beat a good, but not great, Kentucky team, which didn't play very good defense. And they have a flawed offense, depending almost entirely on 2 guys, with a couple of guys who can help if they are on the floor. We played pretty well, but it's pretty clear that our guards can't guard very well, and given the reality that the best teams have better guards than we do, we'll eventually crash and burn at exactly the wrong time.

I really thought our guards were better defenders than they have shown so far this season. And now I don't understand why I thought that. Weird. Perhaps we simply need to play zone all the time, and simply forget about the man defense. If we do, it might even make it easier for Diallo and Bragg to contribute more.

But is was a nice win, and I'll settle for a couple more of those in the next week or so. But until and unless we can play well on the road, we're toast this season.

At the game last night, behind and it was looking bleak, my son and I looked at each other and said, "In Self we trust."

RC ;-]

Hawknmo wrote: IMHO though this coach could care less about how anyone remembers individual teams but does care about the legacy he leaves as an overall great coach. I think for most of us that’s hard to accept. But as long as as he remains in charge we just have to get used to it.

That's a very interesting theory, Hawknmo. Never thought of it before, and while we don't know if it's true, it's definitely some food for thought.

I think Self does have a sense of how the game ought to be played and he undoubtedly sticks to that too long. I was struck when he said after the game something along the lines that it would not have been right for a great game like that to have ended with a lucky heave from more than half court. I still like that he plays the game like he thinks it ought to be played. I hate zones.

There is no question Mtn that zones turn the game down a few notches. For lots of reasons seeing Syracuse orange makes me throw up in my mouth just a bit. But there is no denying our backcourt D isn't the best so busting out the zone gives the team a chance to win. HCBS obviously thought this W was important enough to do just that. Glad he did.

RKCKJHK!!!