|
Post by B02 on Dec 27, 2005 23:23:42 GMT -5
I am just catching the replay of the Coach Solomon radio show from last. Its great how he explains his moves in a very logical way (many of the criticized ones on this board). He really understands the Bona faithful and felt really bad for losing in front of the Bonnie fans at Marist. I think this is the right man to turn around the ship as was shown tonight winning in OT on the road.
|
|
|
Post by sbuSTUDent2005 on Dec 27, 2005 23:48:06 GMT -5
We won against a 300+ rpi team in overtime. don't get to excited over it. i maintain my stance in the chatroom that solomon is not the right guy for this team. we've got the talent, just not the leadership.
|
|
|
Post by B02 on Dec 28, 2005 0:15:34 GMT -5
Yes we have the talent, but they are young.
|
|
|
Post by southhampton on Dec 28, 2005 0:25:58 GMT -5
We won against a 300+ rpi team in overtime. don't get to excited over it. You might want to check your numbers. FIU is 110 in the RPI and is our best rpi win of the season. FIU's rpi is higher than WVU's, Toledo's, Niagara's, or any of our previous wins.
|
|
|
Post by magnusbu on Dec 28, 2005 1:14:43 GMT -5
Have to give Solomon more time. There are very few coaches in America that could have turned this program around any quicker than its happening now. I have to disagree with anybody saying we have the talent to be a better team. A lot of the talent on the team is young and in D1 basketball young talent rarely succeeds unless they are legitimate lottery picks the next year. Also, if they are so talented, then why can't they shoot and don't try to tell me its cause of the plays that the coach calls. Shooters find a way to shoot and scorers find a way to score. These guys do not go to A-10 schools, they go to the big least and the ACC. Also, compare this teams talent to the 1999-2000 teams talent. PVP, Cyrus, Winn, Capers, Messiah, Prato, Bremer. Not even a close comparison. So this team still has a long way to go in terms of talent level. Do I think that Solomon is a great coach? No Do I think Solomon can be a good coach? Yes, As he gets more talent and a team thats been playing together for a longer period of time then you will see a better coach out of him. Imagine if Duke fired Coach K after his first 3 seasons. 1981 (17-13), 1982 (10-17), 1983 (11-17) Wow he must have been a bad coach. Baron didn't start out very hot and I'm sure there were plenty of people calling for his head. Bonas gave him time and he eventually turned things around. End of discussion
|
|
|
Post by sburizz on Dec 28, 2005 8:24:30 GMT -5
I agree we have to give him more time but I am not yet convinced that he is definitly the right man for the job. Yes he can recruit, yes he is a nice guy, yes he understands the fans but on the court I have yet to see him make any game changing adjustments. He does not have an on the court coaching identity yet. I don't think we should fire him but we need to look at him critically. Good recruiter, bad strategist. Hopefully he'll come around and be able to win at least 12 this year. Good coaches can take a team with little talent and make them win. Our talent is not quite as bad as everyone thinks.
|
|
|
Post by B02 on Dec 28, 2005 8:54:21 GMT -5
You have to look at this way, whenever Coach Solomon leaves he will leave the state of Bonaventure basketball in much better shape than his predecessor. If we beat Marist does he still get all the criticism he has gotten lately on this board? You have to remember these are young players and some times they will have their bad days and that was shown in the Marist game. I think Bonaventure will grow as a program as Coach has been progressing as a head coach over the 3 years here. I think the most telling sign of this team is how they scrap out victories when their shooting isn't at its best. Keep in mind Bonaventure is 6-4, not too many people in the country could have imagined a 2 win team a year ago would have a winning record through 10 games.
|
|
|
Post by sburizz on Dec 28, 2005 9:03:08 GMT -5
I definitly think that Solomon will leave the program better than he entered it but People on this board are criticizing the players to no end and not really giving Solomon that much flak. The fact that he couldn't coach through a zone bothered me at the Marist game. Obviously we need to give him time still but everyone needs to spread the blame out evenly.
|
|
|
Post by Chuck on Dec 28, 2005 10:31:50 GMT -5
I agree VBK destroyed this program, but he left Solomon 4 talented players. Solomon was left with 6 returning players: Marques Green, Moe Young, Ahmad Smith, Patrick Lottin, Saulius Dumbliuskas and Cortez Sutton. Saulius and Cortez probably didn't deserve D-1 scholarships, but the other 4 players were quality D-1 players:
Marques Green is the Bonnies 7th all time leading scorer. Moe Young was a former top 100 recruit and finished his career scoring 428 points in only 2 seasons with the Bonnies. Ahmad and Patrick will both become 1,000 point scorers for the Bonnies.
Without a doubt I believe Solomon inherited more returning talent than Tom Chapman, received from DeCarli: Michael Burnett, Rob Lanier, Kyle Anglin and Dan Putney. Solomon received 3 players listed among the Bonnies all time scorers while Chapman had only 1 with Michael Burnett.
This post is not intended to be a criticism of Solomon, but only to state the facts. I'm thankful to see Solomon showing signs of turning things around and hopefully this becomes a break through year for the Bonnies and Solomon.
|
|
|
Post by B02 on Dec 28, 2005 10:40:18 GMT -5
Solomon also inherited 2 years of probation including post-season bans and scholarship reductions don't think for a second that didn't hurt his recruiting his first 2 years. He was severely restrained with what his staff could do as far as travel and hosting recruits. Solomon has been criticized quite often on this board.
|
|
|
Post by mangham on Dec 28, 2005 10:53:14 GMT -5
I for one, am happy with what Solomon has done.
If Mario Boggan had attended class you all would be singing a different tune!
|
|
|
Post by DemBonnies on Dec 28, 2005 11:10:22 GMT -5
Come on Chuck...I'll give you Marques and Ahmad but Moe Young was no producer take the 428 pts and divide by 50 games (2 X 25 game seasons) and you get 8.6 ppg and that's a plus??? That's what a former Top 100 recruit gives you and you're okay with that?
PML has been plagued by inconsistencies throughout his career at Bonas. You tout that he will be a 1000 pt club member divide that by 100 games and he's a 10 ppg man. In the Marist game I wasn't sure whether he was going to get called for a backcourt violation as he retreated to launch a three. He shows no restraint and no remorse for his poor decision making on the floor and he definitely doesn't make up for his lack of offense by hustling on defense
Back to Marques the first Sol season there was not a big man for him to dish to on his penetrations, which made him ineffective for the most part.
I say that glass for Sol was half empty when he took over and not half full like you think.
That plus the restrictions put the double whammy on him. The fact that we have an eager young coach who can recruit and is learning to coach at this level is an intangible that is lost on many of his detractors.
In the next one/two seasons with the type of ballplayers he is bringing into Bonas and the knowledge that he will glean from mistakes and whacking heads with Martelli/Cheney et al....we'll be fine.
I am sorry if Sol's dog is pooing on your lawn but cut him much more slack than a traditional coaching change.
He's leading us back from death's doorstep and it's baby steps we need to start out with!!!
|
|
|
Post by Chuck on Dec 28, 2005 11:11:00 GMT -5
I wonder what this team's record would be with Mario Boggans on the team. I remember hearing reports of Boggans dominating practices. There wasn't anyone on the team, who could handle Boggans in the paint. I believe Boggans is the highest ranked recruit ever to sign with the Bonnies. He was a top 50 recruit. It is strange that Solomon signed his 2 highest profile recruits (Boggans and Burch) during his first season with the Bonnies, especially with the sanctions affecting most of their careers.
I'm hopeful Solomon has a long and successful career with the Bonnies.
|
|
|
Post by Chuck on Dec 28, 2005 11:35:38 GMT -5
Dem I agree with your entire post. I do think you are under estimating an average of 10 points a game. Many of the teams the Bonnies have played do not have more than 1 or 2 players to average more than 10 points a game. Without a doubt Moe Young's career would be consider a dissapointment, but he obviously has more talent than Rob Lanier, Dan Putney and Kyle Anglin.
I've never stated Solomon has not faced difficult obstacles. I agree he has been faced with a challenge that is more demanding than any other coach for the Bonnies have ever faced. I just believe the portrayal of Solomon beginning "below zero" is not accurate. I sincerely hope Solomon has a long and successful career with the Bonnies. I've never stated anything to the contrary. Solomon obviously has the character and image needed, we just now need some wins.
|
|
|
Post by DemBonnies on Dec 28, 2005 12:15:41 GMT -5
Chuck:
Okay so we agree that Marques' role is diminished by a lack of interior presence thereby making him not as effective as he previously was.
We agree that Moe Young is not a Kevin Houston.
We agree that Ahmad has improved his game since Sol got there.
That leaves us the PML question mark as unagreed upon territory. I say PML is not the same person as he was pre-injury albeit he was never a tenacious defender. I worry now that Tyler's unwillingness to drive and penetrate is a factor of his injury. Many times until these injured players take a whack to the previously injured area, are stepped on or twist an ankle and find that they're okay, they may be hesitant to test it.
Certainly Patrick has had more than enough time to totally heal.
I question how much longer we can afford to let him try and shoot his way out of his slump. That's a check we can't cash right now.
Given all this, how you cannot say that Solomon started at/below zero is hard for me to fathom, unless it is an axe you have to grind with him.
Oops , my bad, I forgot he inherited Saulius.
It's up to you whether that makes/breaks my argument.
|
|