I think it may be be a good idea to bring in a very experienced eye like Carmody who can bring an impartial assessment to the situation and probably make a lot of helpful suggestions to Sidney. Clearly a number of adjustments are needed.
We have some good pieces on this team and some changes in strategy and blending of those pieces could bring some improvement (and then some increased confidence) for the players.
As to the timing, now that the new guys have 20 games under their belt ( and half a MAAC season as well), I think they have the experience to better make some adjustments in their play now that they know what MAAC play is all about.
I like the move and think it could pay dividends down the stretch. Especially since we tend to play a lot of close MAAC where some good coaching decisions can tilt a game one way or the other.
Welcome Coach Carmody! Time to break down those game films!
Problem is, as stated, Carmody will not be on the sidelines during games. That's exactly when Sydney needs strong advice.
Post by reindeerfan on Jan 26, 2015 21:35:05 GMT -5
I was at first fairly positive about the move. Yes, there are way you can views this negatively but in simple terms bringing in a quality guy who has a record of winning who is respected by Johnson and can influence him is a move that was worth making.
However after reading the press release I now am looking at this as strictly a PR move. The release states "While he will not coach the players during practices or games, Carmody will serve as an advisor to Johnson and his staff in regard to preparation and strategy for practices and games."
So what are we getting? How much time will the guy be dedicating to the program? Sounds like Johnson was already "unofficially" using Carmody anyway. Is this just an attempt to quiet the natives and to appear to be doing something? I hope we start winning but I'm not sure this will help much and it appears now to be nothing more than PR and damage control.
Last Edit: Jan 26, 2015 21:36:36 GMT -5 by reindeerfan
I was at first fairly positive about the move. Yes, there are way you can views this negatively but in simple terms bringing in a quality guy who has a record of winning who is respected by Johnson and can influence him is a move that was worth making.
However after reading the press release I now am looking at this as strictly a PR move. The release states "While he will not coach the players during practices or games, Carmody will serve as an advisor to Johnson and his staff in regard to preparation and strategy for practices and games."
So what are we getting? How much time will the guy be dedicating to the program? Sounds like Johnson was already "unofficially" using Carmody anyway. Is this just an attempt to quiet the natives and to appear to be doing something? I hope we start winning but I'm not sure this will help much and it appears now to be nothing more than PR and damage control.
Referring to the part about not coaching the players during practice or games, actually I am a little bit hazy on the technicalities as to what or what not he will be able to do. There are other teams that have this same setup of an experienced "advisor" but not an official coach. St. John's currently has that exact situation with former Purdue coach Gene Keady, and he sits on the bench every game. Not that he tells players directly what to do during games, but I'm sure he is constantly whispering into the ear of Steve Lavin concerning the proceedings. Same thing a couple of years ago with UConn in Kevin Ollie's first season. I thimk George Blaney stayed with the program not as an assistant coach but rather as an advisor. And he was always visable when they played. So I wouldn't be surprised if Carmody was with the team on Friday night.
I was at first fairly positive about the move. Yes, there are way you can views this negatively but in simple terms bringing in a quality guy who has a record of winning who is respected by Johnson and can influence him is a move that was worth making.
However after reading the press release I now am looking at this as strictly a PR move. The release states "While he will not coach the players during practices or games, Carmody will serve as an advisor to Johnson and his staff in regard to preparation and strategy for practices and games."
So what are we getting? How much time will the guy be dedicating to the program? Sounds like Johnson was already "unofficially" using Carmody anyway. Is this just an attempt to quiet the natives and to appear to be doing something? I hope we start winning but I'm not sure this will help much and it appears now to be nothing more than PR and damage control.
Referring to the part about not coaching the players during practice or games, actually I am a little bit hazy on the technicalities as to what or what not he will be able to do. There are other teams that have this same setup of an experienced "advisor" but not an official coach. St. John's currently has that exact situation with former Purdue coach Gene Keady, and he sits on the bench every game. Not that he tells players directly what to do during games, but I'm sure he is constantly whispering into the ear of Steve Lavin concerning the proceedings. Same thing a couple of years ago with UConn in Kevin Ollie's first season. I thimk George Blaney stayed with the program not as an assistant coach but rather as an advisor. And he was always visable when they played. So I wouldn't be surprised if Carmody was with the team on Friday night.
Well Nashville if he is at harbor yard, I will view it positively. I know there are limits on how many coaches a team might have, and if we are at our limit and he's duties need to be limited to "advising" that's OK, if he's attending games, talking to sydney and viewing players live. If all we are getting is phone conversations and video review, I don't think much of the move. Time will tell.
I was at first fairly positive about the move. Yes, there are way you can views this negatively but in simple terms bringing in a quality guy who has a record of winning who is respected by Johnson and can influence him is a move that was worth making.
However after reading the press release I now am looking at this as strictly a PR move. The release states "While he will not coach the players during practices or games, Carmody will serve as an advisor to Johnson and his staff in regard to preparation and strategy for practices and games."
So what are we getting? How much time will the guy be dedicating to the program? Sounds like Johnson was already "unofficially" using Carmody anyway. Is this just an attempt to quiet the natives and to appear to be doing something? I hope we start winning but I'm not sure this will help much and it appears now to be nothing more than PR and damage control.
Referring to the part about not coaching the players during practice or games, actually I am a little bit hazy on the technicalities as to what or what not he will be able to do. There are other teams that have this same setup of an experienced "advisor" but not an official coach. St. John's currently has that exact situation with former Purdue coach Gene Keady, and he sits on the bench every game. Not that he tells players directly what to do during games, but I'm sure he is constantly whispering into the ear of Steve Lavin concerning the proceedings. Same thing a couple of years ago with UConn in Kevin Ollie's first season. I thimk George Blaney stayed with the program not as an assistant coach but rather as an advisor. And he was always visable when they played. So I wouldn't be surprised if Carmody was with the team on Friday night.
That was my thought Nashville. I have seen Keady sitting on the sidelines with Lavin and assumed Carmody would be doing the same.
That was my thought Nashville. I have seen Keady sitting on the sidelines with Lavin and assumed Carmody would be doing the same.
Carmody has the exact same title as Keady, and their job responsibilities look to be exactly the same
St John's view of Keady's role Though Keady's current role at St. John's does not involve any on-court coaching, his keen eye and feel for the game assists the St. John's coaching staff in terms of developing strategy, analyzing game film and planning practices with contributions at staff meetings.
Fairfield's view of Carmody's role While he will not coach the players during practices or games, Carmody will serve as an advisor to Johnson and his staff in regard to preparation and strategy for practices and games
Carmody's role will be more Strategic than Tactical.... I would think it will be more along the lines of changes to the philosophical approach:
- Do we go to a 3 guard line-up to become a quicker team - Evaluate our personnel to determine if we are better off playing more Zone vs. man to man. Or press/gamble vs position/switching - How do we approach the balance between offensive and defensive players...... this is extremely important as many of our players are not multi-dimensional
I do not know what Carmody's approach is to using a 3 guard line-up as many good teams do, but that is certainly is a major philosophical difference that has ripple affects on tactical decisions. Quickness vs Height has always been a major decision throughout the History of Basketball, no matter what style of game is being played
I am a bit surprised that a formal announcement was made about this. I could see SJ bringing in an old friend behind the scenes for a few days to provide "another set of eyes" to help solve some problems. I would think even a successful coach might do that when their team is going through a rough patch.
But in this case I think it is kind of embarrassing to have something like this announced in a press release. It basically screams "Our highly-paid coaches don't know what they are doing, so we are bringing in someone to help them figure it out."
This program is free fall. SJ needs to do something so at least he is giving himself another voice to listen to. If it works Carmody will probably be gone but at least the program will a little upturn. The last few losses were all winnable games. We came away 0-3, a good team would have been 3-0. Sad part is that I think we have the horses to win.
While much has been said about Syd (his record speaks for itself), from day one he failed to surround himself with competent assistants. When Brian Nash left we promoted the video guy. Contrast that with Cooley who brought in senior assistants (Simon/Blaney) and held open interviewing for his other positions Carter (Xavier), Aki (Memphis), Fuller (Missouri) all now at high-major programs. He also brought in experience like Al Skinner, Chris Smith, others...
Its about time to add someone like Carmody. I'm surprised Gene/Administration hasn't tried to shake up the bench earlier.
I am a bit surprised that a formal announcement was made about this. I could see SJ bringing in an old friend behind the scenes for a few days to provide "another set of eyes" to help solve some problems. I would think even a successful coach might do that when their team is going through a rough patch.
But in this case I think it is kind of embarrassing to have something like this announced in a press release. It basically screams "Our highly-paid coaches don't know what they are doing, so we are bringing in someone to help them figure it out."
I think it needed to be announced. We all complain about lack of communication, if in fact Carmody appeared on the bench Friday night without any explanation lots of questions would be asked by the fans and the result would be more rumors/speculation. I hope he is on the bench that would show me this is more than just a PR move.
Last Edit: Jan 27, 2015 9:56:53 GMT -5 by reindeerfan
This idea of 3 guards is incredible. It hurts offense, defense, rebounding. And we only have ONE good guard! Circle March 10 on your calendar.
Bum, it seems our opponents have no problems playing 3 guards..... so why can't we? Matter of fact, its when they play 3 or 4 guards is when they do seem to go on a run. Teams that play 3 guards, make themselves a lot quicker. If you feel that we have enough quickness on the team, then I think we are watching a different game.
Other teams play 3 guards because they have 3 guards that can play. What 3 guards could we play that would make us quick? One more point. Carmody appearing on the bench without any explanation would be like Threatt not appearing on the bench without any explanation, so I guess we are witnessing progress.
Did anybody really expect the University to buy out SJ's contract, which runs through like 2019? Please, that's not going to happen. This is the cheap easy fix to the situation at hand. And who knows, perhaps it will yield some positive results. We'll see. GO STAGS!