Hey JWest, I have a question for you. If these guys have done nothing wrong and are totally innocent, what is SJ's motive for tossing them now? There were 5 or 6 games left when this was done. Why not wait until the end of the season? You and or the other players don't know what was said behind closed doors. You are speculating like we are. I do know that it makes no sense to do this now( hurting the team's depth) rather than waiting 3 weeks unless something has been occurring which has made the situation with these 2 guys untenable.
rave, I agree,why hurt the team now? We do not have the greatest depth before the greannan/davis incident and we are even less depth now.. Unless it is so bad, in sids judgement, that "you cut of your arm to save your body". Personally, I'm suspicious, this sounds like BS to me. Sid I belive is making scholarship room because his recruiting judgment was not so good with grennan/davis. I would prefer him to sit down with the student athletes and their parents/guardians and advise them he will not be renewing their scholarships and is looking to replace them next year. That's the right thing to do and that is precisely why it won't happen!
You know the saying "there are always three sides to every story". In this case, the players, SJ, and the truth. I guess we "can't handle the truth", since we just get coachspeak when it comes to these issues. If it's true that these guys have done nothing wrong, e.g. academics, code of conduct, etc., then I hope Sydney has not targeted these players as the scapegoats for a horrendous season. Something's just not right about this.
rave, I agree,why hurt the team now? We do not have the greatest depth before the greannan/davis incident and we are even less depth now.. Unless it is so bad, in sids judgement, that "you cut of your arm to save your body". Personally, I'm suspicious, this sounds like BS to me. Sid I belive is making scholarship room because his recruiting judgment was not so good with grennan/davis. I would prefer him to sit down with the student athletes and their parents/guardians and advise them he will not be renewing their scholarships and is looking to replace them next year. That's the right thing to do and that is precisely why it won't happen!
This is not the time to sit down and talk about renewing scholarships, there is still a good amount of basketball left and a lot could change. Renewing scholarships is for after the season April-May. No need to do that now. But what I feel is currently happening is that Sydney is letting the players know that some level of committment on the players part is not being met, and that other players are meeting those expectations or committments. And he is giving them an opportunity to change.
The right way to do this is constantly give the players feedback, it comes in all flavors..... verbal, non-starting, lack of PT, remove from team. But the players should have knowlege of where they stand in the depth chart and future. There should be no surprises.
Post by reindeerfan on Feb 9, 2014 16:07:59 GMT -5
Its very interesting to see how different fans perceive this situation. For the most part, people seem to be on the side of Grennan/Davis versus when Han left most folks seemed to be supporting the coach. I think there are a few reasons for this: 1) Cooley was a great communicator / Sydney is not 2) Cooley had support of the media / Sydney does not 3) Cooley suspended only one player / Sydney has suspended two. 4) Cooley got rid of a senior so there was no speculation it was to free up scholarships / Sydney's move is viewed by many to be illegitimate simply making young players fall men to free up scholarships 5) Cooley dismissed a senior and 4 year starter. Sydney has suspended players that were not playing as well as he would have liked.
As much as I loved Han's play, I was 100% behind EC. I can't be 100% behind SJ because the appearances of this move make it seem like the players have not done much if anything wrong, and the communication from Sydney has done little to make anyone feel this move was justified.
The move with Grennan and Davis is not about freeing up roster spots. You don't need to suspend players with a few weeks left to free up spots, you sit down with them at the end of the season and let them know where they stand. So if SJ wanted these guys gone he would do that rather than put everyone through this.
This is about effort, and SJ either wants one or both of these players to figure something out and commit to the program at every level. No one is saying either player is a bad kid or broke any rules, but clearly the head coach doesn't like something in the way they have practiced or prepared. I can't imaging this hasn't been communicated directly to both players.
Well, maybe a bit more. Sean may be a great person and student, but, with a D1 scholarship there is a certain level of performance expected. Based on his shooters reputation coming out of high school and seeing, quite frankly, these atrocious numbers, one has to question his dedication to his craft.
Its very interesting to see how different fans perceive this situation. For the most part, people seem to be on the side of Grennan/Davis versus when Han left most folks seemed to be supporting the coach. I think there are a few reasons for this: 1) Cooley was a great communicator / Sydney is not 2) Cooley had support of the media / Sydney does not 3) Cooley suspended only one player / Sydney has suspended two. 4) Cooley got rid of a senior so there was no speculation it was to free up scholarships / Sydney's move is viewed by many to be illegitimate simply making young players fall men to free up scholarships 5) Cooley dismissed a senior and 4 year starter. Sydney has suspended players that were not playing as well as he would have liked.
As much as I loved Han's play, I was 100% behind EC. I can't be 100% behind SJ because the appearances of this move make it seem like the players have not done much if anything wrong, and the communication from Sydney has done little to make anyone feel this move was justified.
Fact Checker - Sydney and Paxton gave us the best coverage that we have had in a very long time. The current issues are with the CT Post. - Cooley suspended at least 3 player (Flemming, AJ, Han) - Cooley got rid of many Players to free up scholarships (Nate Hawkins, Jeremy Reedal, Roi Buckbinder, Rich Flemming, Devin Johnson, John Han, Jamal Turner, Shimeek Johnson) - Cooley also took away MOS's 5th year scholarship so he could use it to free up scholarships. - Cooley suspended Han after the season blew-up with injuries to Edney, AJ, and Nero. While The team was winning, Han was considered a great Captain and Leader. Once the team was going under, suddenly Han was Garbage. So lets not sugar coat how this was handled.
I am not criticizing Cooley for doing all this. just pointing out that He operated the same way that Sydney has handled it. Why would the move not be justified if the players were not showing the committment and focus that they were expected to. Sydney is being proactive, and as far as I can tell, both Grennan and Davis should know exactly where they stand .
Speculation, Speculation, Speculation. It means nothing. We should all save our breaths we're going to need them when we're 75 (all due respect Bridgeport and Albert).
The only facts are we don't know all the facts. I have been as critical as anyone about Syd's game coaching and overall demeanor with the fans and media but you gotta give him a break on this one.
I am certain he is doing what he thinks is right for the team. I do not believe this is a scholarship move. As JS stated, that's a discussion easily scheduled for post season and no need to take action now.
He has what he believes are valid reasons for whatever this action is. He wants to win like everyone else, but I believe a college basketball coach has a responsibility to develop young men for life.
Gossip makes for wonderful discussions on blogs and twitter. We just don't know, we may never know and that's ok. Some things should be between a coach, his team, and a player's family.
Re: the coverage - We get none out of the Mirror and limited information out of our SID. If the Post has decided that FU hoops isn't worth a full time writer, then we need to make it up in house somehow.
I think FU made up for MOS by giving JOS a scholarship in a subsequent year.
Its very interesting to see how different fans perceive this situation. For the most part, people seem to be on the side of Grennan/Davis versus when Han left most folks seemed to be supporting the coach. I think there are a few reasons for this: 1) Cooley was a great communicator / Sydney is not 2) Cooley had support of the media / Sydney does not 3) Cooley suspended only one player / Sydney has suspended two. 4) Cooley got rid of a senior so there was no speculation it was to free up scholarships / Sydney's move is viewed by many to be illegitimate simply making young players fall men to free up scholarships 5) Cooley dismissed a senior and 4 year starter. Sydney has suspended players that were not playing as well as he would have liked.
As much as I loved Han's play, I was 100% behind EC. I can't be 100% behind SJ because the appearances of this move make it seem like the players have not done much if anything wrong, and the communication from Sydney has done little to make anyone feel this move was justified.
Fact Checker - Sydney and Paxton gave us the best coverage that we have had in a very long time. The current issues are with the CT Post.
I do not agree at all. We had better coverage in print media under Cooley. Paxton's blog and recorded interviews were great but did not reach the casual audience the way the print media articles in the cooley era did. But that's not the point. The point is Sydney is not supported by the media like cooley was. (see chris Elsberry article). But even if we were getting coverage there is a difference between filling air time and actually saying anything. This point has been discussed at length in past threads.... Read more: fairfieldstags.proboards.com/thread/1096?page=1#ixzz2st7ARx2e
- Cooley suspended at least 3 player (Flemming, AJ, Han)
You are miss-stating my point. Cooley never suspended two players together. I don't have any problem with Johnson or any coach suspending players. It is something coaches need to do. It is the suspension of two players together for non-specific reasons that looks questionable. like the coach is making players the fall guys. When Cooley suspended players it was for specific reasons that were articulated. Missing classes. Violations of team rules. What did these players do to get suspended? What team rule did these players violate? What specifically do they need to do to return to the team? I suggest that the three suspensions during the Cooley era and the suspensions under TOT and Cormier all had three things in common. The players were suspended for a specific thing they did, the suspension had a specific duration and the players knew what they needed to do to return, if a return were possible. If the case of Deng Gai, and John Tice, certain details of the incidents could not be publicly discussed but it was clear that there was a serious matter involved in both instances.
- Cooley got rid of many Players to free up scholarships (Nate Hawkins, Jeremy Reedal, Roi Buckbinder, Rich Flemming, Devin Johnson, John Han, Jamal Turner, Shimeek Johnson)
Jon Han was a senior, getting rid of him did not free up any scholarship. Of the other players you mention, some choose to transfer over playing time concerns. Others like Flemming were pushed out the door by Cooley, and at least in one case I think it would be fair to say this decision was with good reason. If Sydney were to sit down with a player at the end of this season and counsel them that they might be better served to transfer because they would never get playing time at Fairfield, that would be a different matter. I won't have an issue if he does that. That is not what has happened here. I will also be fine if Sydney dismisses players from the team for repeated rules violations.
- Cooley also took away MOS's 5th year scholarship so he could use it to free up scholarships.
Players are offered 4 years of scholarships not 5. Cormier did not offer one to Brent Wall for a fifth year and there was no guarantee that Marty would get a 5th year scholarship. With regards to Marty, the matter of course was much more complicated than that. No one ever discussed the O'Sullivan scholarship matter as it had the potential to be construed by the NCAA as a rules violation. But the scholarship that was freed up was used by Marty's brother Jimmy and I understand this was the approach the family preferred to handle this matter. [/quote]
- Cooley suspended Han after the season blew-up with injuries to Edney, AJ, and Nero. While The team was winning, Han was considered a great Captain and Leader. Once the team was going under, suddenly Han was Garbage. So lets not sugar coat how this was handled.
Seriously? In your words Han went "ape-shit" on a teammate. Had that incident never happened, Han would not have been suspended. The idea that Cooley considered Han Garbage because Edney and Nero got hurt and that the incident after the Manhattan game had nothing to do with Han's departure is a statement that really needs fact checking.
Last Edit: Feb 9, 2014 22:57:45 GMT -5 by reindeerfan