Q&A with Coach Hewitt?

[GMURaider]

I think there's a difference between constructive criticism and negative criticism... When someone on here offers an X's and O's critique he's not being negative to hurt the program. We all want to win desperately and frankly I think we all deserve credit for being great fans despite these past 3 years.

I am currently out of the area but will be moving to NOVA in July. Am I his lone defender? I suppose. We have had issues these past 3 years be it turn overs, lack of a strong PG, off the court issues, and occasionally underachieving. I expect nothing less than an NIT bid. I can't in good faith say bring the guy back for year 5 if we don't have something to look at as some progress.

 

[gmutom]

I'm a little confused about last night. It sounds like it was something gmuhoops.com put together, yet he only tweeted three times about it all night (one of which was a photo). I guess the big news that was revealed is that we might be playing in Spain this summer.

 

[mkaufman1]

G M U basically hit the high points. Hewitt is very concerned with what is said about the program online in general which is oddly similar to what happened at his tenure at Georgia Tech. He doesn't want anything to be used against the program to persuade anyone to not come to Mason, whether its posted here or elsewhere.

Hewitt did pull a few of the posts in this thread to laughs and "oh dear" type comments.

Overall I'm glad he did it and wish him all the best but I have to see it on the court as well.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Interesting, Im with Jim. Id think the horrible play on court, and the losing record and general down trend of the program would do more to send recruits running the other way than some comments on a message board. Then again, if a recruit is that sensitive to where a random internet opinion will alter a major decision in his life.....

Adams golf R&D and execs did a funny spoof (similar to what Jimmy Kimmel did where Celebs read funny/negative tweets about them) on the golf forum I read. They took quotes from the iron release thread and read some of the funnier "criticisms" and then made sure to quote the person. Would have been funny if Hewitt did it that way and quoted some us lol........

 

[mkaufman1]

Interesting, Im with Jim. Id think the horrible play on court, and the losing record and general down trend of the program would do more to send recruits running the other way than some comments on a message board. Then again, if a recruit is that sensitive to where a random internet opinion will alter a major decision in his life.....

Adams golf R&D and execs did a funny spoof (similar to what Jimmy Kimmel did where Celebs read funny/negative tweets about them) on the golf forum I read. They took quotes from the iron release thread and read some of the funnier "criticisms" and then made sure to quote the person. Would have been funny if Hewitt did it that way........

I agree with what you are saying, and many people Ive talked to have said the same. But in essence if we want to help the program as a whole we should just be mindful like most of us are.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Im assuming that comment about losing a recruit was whatever happened with Crosby?

 

[Dawgs99]

Hewitt mentioned the message board drama on gmu hoops site in reference to the recruitment of Isaiah Jackson. Apparently other schools who were recruiting Jackson were sending him to that site to show him why he should go else where. Hewitt never said we lost a recruit due to blog/message board stuff. I was there and actually really enjoyed talking with the assistants coaches. All 3 guys seem like good dudes and all 3 seemed to really like the new kids coming in. The Spain trip is all but a done deal as well. Hewitt mentioned the Arledge situation as well. It was Hewitt's idea for him to red shirt and heal up for next season, however Jon said that he may look to transfer after the red shirt year so essentially PH said thanks but no thanks. Also mentioned was a possible open practice this July with a tour of all the facilities to follow. Marko also mentioned as the emotional/vocal leader of the team.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Ahh ok, I hadnt heard that about Jackson. I just figured the only thing we knew about with online stuff was with Crosby. Interesting.

I agree, all the coaches are great people. I met Coach Houston in the fairfax golfsmith and he stopped and talked to me for a bit. Was super nice.

 

[Cool Disco Dan]

I agree with what you are saying, and many people Ive talked to have said the same. But in essence if we want to help the program as a whole we should just be mindful like most of us are.

Weren't you square in the middle of the Crosby twitter fiasco?

 

[mkaufman1]

Weren't you square in the middle of the Crosby twitter fiasco?

yes. I was caught in the crossfire. I already explained what happened and apologized. Won't happen again in any shape or form.

 

[GMUgemini]

Hewitt mentioned the message board drama on gmu hoops site in reference to the recruitment of Isaiah Jackson. Apparently other schools who were recruiting Jackson were sending him to that site to show him why he should go else where. Hewitt never said we lost a recruit due to blog/message board stuff. I was there and actually really enjoyed talking with the assistants coaches. All 3 guys seem like good dudes and all 3 seemed to really like the new kids coming in. The Spain trip is all but a done deal as well. Hewitt mentioned the Arledge situation as well. It was Hewitt's idea for him to red shirt and heal up for next season, however Jon said that he may look to transfer after the red shirt year so essentially PH said thanks but no thanks. Also mentioned was a possible open practice this July with a tour of all the facilities to follow. Marko also mentioned as the emotional/vocal leader of the team.

We do tend to be a little harsh with recruits sometimes. I remember the negativity surrounding Jackson and people questioning whether he could play, knowing almost nothing about him and never seeing him play.

But I think it comes from this desire to want to seem "big time," sign the splashy players with the stars next to their names and the BCS school offers.

I do question how "effective" us idiots are at running away recruits (I seriously doubt we are) but some of our negativity (which seems to be about everything) can be very tiring.

 

[99 Patriot]

Thanks for the recap from those who made it.

I am one who is a believer in this board having an impact on recruits. Think about it, if you are a 17 or 18 year old kid and you are about to decide where you are going to spend the next 4 years of your life, you are probably going to spend a bunch of time online reading up on your options. If the site for one of those schools is nothing but a countdown clock for when they hope the coach will be fired I think it would cause me to pause and maybe reconsider my decision. As has been said, X and O criticism and personnel/playing time complaints are one thing, but childish name calling and even finding fault in our successes is a bit over the top. Not trying to overstate things, and yes, the on-court product matters most, but I believe there is absolutely merit to this.

 

[sigmanorm]

I was there and actually really enjoyed talking with the assistants coaches. All 3 guys seem like good dudes and all 3 seemed to really like the new kids coming in..

All the coaches are good guys and great to talk to, just wish the kids would listen to them

 

[MasonFanatic]

Crosby not coming to Mason had nothing to do with anything that happened on Twitter so let's just let that one drop and stop inventing stories that don't exist.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Did everyone hear that? It's unicorns and rainbows from now on or you'll never see a good team play again, you ungrateful brats. Stop your tweetering now!!!....Give me a break.

For all those who think that we should stop treating the program like it's UCLA, Kentucky, et al, it works both ways. You ever seen the criticism on their boards of players and coaches? Makes us look like preschool teachers. Does it really matter what recruits we get if the team still stinks because they aren't coached well?

 

[Dawgs99]

I was there and heard everything PH said about message boards, blogs, etc. He never said people shouldn't write what the feel, and IMO never came close to chastizing the fan base in any way. All he said was people might want to think about ramifications before they post. PH actually read some of the things off the "other" website that were pretty classic, very similar to some of the hyperbolic stuff that gets thrown around here from time to time. I just find it funny how 95% of the posters here were not at the event last night but seem to think they know exactly what and how things were said. Not saying I agree with everything that was said but atleast I got the info first hand.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I am a big proponent of saying what you want on the Internet. Plus Hewitt shouldn't care at all, and winning solves everything. We have every right to criticize him after last year.

But I would urge people not to rip him and the program in every. Single. Fricking. Thread. Including the recruiting ones and after a win. More because it drives people insane, but yes, also because you're hurting the program.

Jeez. If Hewitt's so concerned about it, which I actually dont think he is, he can hire me to create users and spout his Jay Carney best bulls### if he wants...

 

[KAOriginal]

Nothing new here it seems....

http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-b...s-undone-at-georgia-tech-by-more-than-losing/

♦ There was the emotional side: Hewitt didn’t respond well to criticism. He fell into the common athlete trap of a borderline juvenile Twitter war last year with critics. His intent to come to the defense of his players was admirable. But his actions backfired. It was the strategic equivalent of Wile E. Coyote accidentally tying the dynamite fuse to his foot.

♦ There was the irritant side: Hewitt often came off as arrogant and dismissive in public, even though he actually could be one of the nicest and classiest men around. Some of my more entertaining debates came with Hewitt, even though they also left me with a headache. I told him on a few occasions he was one of the most paranoid individuals I had ever met. His response often was along the lines of, “The world is out to get me.”

 

[Patriotfan49]

. PH actually read some of the things off the "other" website that were pretty classic, very similar to some of the hyperbolic stuff that gets thrown around here from time to time.
.

Thats because GMUhoops copies everything from here....so chances are they were comments from here lol

I dont think anybody is trying to change what was said, or act like they know what was said when they werent there.....people are just asking questions to be answered by those who were

 

[Mason2005]

Nothing new here it seems....

http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-b...s-undone-at-georgia-tech-by-more-than-losing/

♦ There was the emotional side: Hewitt didn’t respond well to criticism. He fell into the common athlete trap of a borderline juvenile Twitter war last year with critics. His intent to come to the defense of his players was admirable. But his actions backfired. It was the strategic equivalent of Wile E. Coyote accidentally tying the dynamite fuse to his foot.

♦ There was the irritant side: Hewitt often came off as arrogant and dismissive in public, even though he actually could be one of the nicest and classiest men around. Some of my more entertaining debates came with Hewitt, even though they also left me with a headache. I told him on a few occasions he was one of the most paranoid individuals I had ever met. His response often was along the lines of, “The world is out to get me.”

This is what I got from that article.

♦The only thing more remarkable than Hewitt’s fall was how quickly some fans and alumni turned on him, to the extent that several were celebrating his imminent firing. The whole thing became distasteful.

Lets all try not to get to the distasteful level.