Post by Peacock on Apr 3, 2009 21:06:00 GMT -5
Well I see the gang is all here. Guess it is time to voice my comments on the last half of the season. For those who don’t remember, I was highly critical of Dunne as a coach after the end of the OOC. I had not posted much up to that time waiting to see what he brought forth. Well It was terrible and after some debate with apologetic supporters, I felt I would wait until the end of the season before commenting again. During this time I saw some rather pointless rah rah from posters patting themselves on the back and criticizing the detractors from not posting.
Well I had said he would have to be 8-8 in the conference to get me back, and he went 7-9. Close enough, but I equate this to a five set tennis match. Down Love-6, Love-6 in the first two matches (Seasons) and down Love-5 at the end of the OOC. In fact most seem to assign the Monmouth game as the nadir, they forget the miserable games of Stoneybrook, Marist and the first Siena game. It was not until the Niagara game, the 2nd half at that, that the run was started. No need to go into details, as the focal point was an increased intensity on defense and actually ran decent plays. Now I saw quite a few of these games and even commented positively on some losses off the board as the structure was there. Even the first Rider game showed that the ability was there despite the complete problems of the first half. So Dunne salvaged the third set 7-5. This has at least brought me back to where I was at the start of the season.
From this a few comments need to be made on the next season. Dunne needs wins in the worst way. So all these issue about scheduling have little merit because Dunne can not afford to not win 12-16 games next season. Anything below that will make the positive comments about improvement. Of courser these wins must come out of the OOC as the MAAC will be tough with most teams holding serve. We have the ability to crack one or two teams above us while holding off the four below. So we might improve 1 or 2 games in the MAAC, but need to gain 3-4 out of the OOC. When you consider how poor last season’s OOC teams were, Dunne deserved all the criticism he got. From what I understand, the OOC will not be much different next season and we are already penciled in for 2 losses away at Rutgers and SHU. So forget arguing about the need to schedule up, just beat the lower teams first.
Of course Dunne also needs a stellar recruiting season and the first two recruits this year, added in with Shumate and Conley are pure unknowns. Of the four, two have some credentials, with Belin making player of the year in his conference and had a reasonable HS ranking, being in the same area of Hawkins of Fairfield. Conley was a stud in his VA league but fell off his senior year but still managed a very decent performance. Little is known on Raymond and many are not high on Shumate. So basically we have a very unknown year with a minimum of two to be given, wondering if the third will be held or given to Kabongo.
So I didn’t try to upset too many, but I do see some Siena like posters emerging. Bring home a Hanson, or the freshman alluded to by JCHoops and it could turn out great. Surprisingly enough you can have Bennett too and the fiasco of the Jesuits at Fordham actually give our partisans some hope. If it is only two I would prefer Hanson but nothing filtered out after his visit and that bodes poorly for us. I do know South Florida is courting Hanson, and that is Big East. So Dunne needs this recruiting class to get the needed wins and take home the 4th and 5th sets. I only hope it doesn't take as long to get the newbies playing right as it took to get his first class to play decently.
Well I had said he would have to be 8-8 in the conference to get me back, and he went 7-9. Close enough, but I equate this to a five set tennis match. Down Love-6, Love-6 in the first two matches (Seasons) and down Love-5 at the end of the OOC. In fact most seem to assign the Monmouth game as the nadir, they forget the miserable games of Stoneybrook, Marist and the first Siena game. It was not until the Niagara game, the 2nd half at that, that the run was started. No need to go into details, as the focal point was an increased intensity on defense and actually ran decent plays. Now I saw quite a few of these games and even commented positively on some losses off the board as the structure was there. Even the first Rider game showed that the ability was there despite the complete problems of the first half. So Dunne salvaged the third set 7-5. This has at least brought me back to where I was at the start of the season.
From this a few comments need to be made on the next season. Dunne needs wins in the worst way. So all these issue about scheduling have little merit because Dunne can not afford to not win 12-16 games next season. Anything below that will make the positive comments about improvement. Of courser these wins must come out of the OOC as the MAAC will be tough with most teams holding serve. We have the ability to crack one or two teams above us while holding off the four below. So we might improve 1 or 2 games in the MAAC, but need to gain 3-4 out of the OOC. When you consider how poor last season’s OOC teams were, Dunne deserved all the criticism he got. From what I understand, the OOC will not be much different next season and we are already penciled in for 2 losses away at Rutgers and SHU. So forget arguing about the need to schedule up, just beat the lower teams first.
Of course Dunne also needs a stellar recruiting season and the first two recruits this year, added in with Shumate and Conley are pure unknowns. Of the four, two have some credentials, with Belin making player of the year in his conference and had a reasonable HS ranking, being in the same area of Hawkins of Fairfield. Conley was a stud in his VA league but fell off his senior year but still managed a very decent performance. Little is known on Raymond and many are not high on Shumate. So basically we have a very unknown year with a minimum of two to be given, wondering if the third will be held or given to Kabongo.
So I didn’t try to upset too many, but I do see some Siena like posters emerging. Bring home a Hanson, or the freshman alluded to by JCHoops and it could turn out great. Surprisingly enough you can have Bennett too and the fiasco of the Jesuits at Fordham actually give our partisans some hope. If it is only two I would prefer Hanson but nothing filtered out after his visit and that bodes poorly for us. I do know South Florida is courting Hanson, and that is Big East. So Dunne needs this recruiting class to get the needed wins and take home the 4th and 5th sets. I only hope it doesn't take as long to get the newbies playing right as it took to get his first class to play decently.
