Poll Vote of Confidence: Paul Hewitt (1/25)

[GMUgemini]

This is exactly what I was thinking.

I think Hewitt gets a bit of a pass this season because of unexpected developments that have impacted chemistry -- losing our best big after 1 game, the emergence of 2 freshmen as starters, etc. -- but I have a sinking feeling that we're going to be saying the exact same thing next February.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure we will have to suffer through one more season of this next year. And I'm not sure how better chemistry will be at the beginning of next season when we are losing three seniors who have started a lot of games and trying. To integrate 4 possibly 5 new players in the rotation.

To be slightly fair to Tom, our players do have some deficiencies and sometimes that compounds our problems. Sherrod passive on offense and defense, Allen turnover prone in late game situations, Copes VERY hit or miss on offense and foul prone, Moore can't shoot at all, Holloway undersized and gets beat up on the defensive side of the ball, Williams really really inconsistent and gets beat up defensively etc.

The last play against SLU is an example of this. Ideally you would want your best shooters out there and a ball handler who is a threat to drive and kick or pull up and hit a shot himself (Allen). But Allen is turnover prone in this situation and our best ball handler can't shoot. So that leaves Sherrod on the bench in favor of the two hot hands in Allen and Holloway to run curls off the ball and a true freshman point guard with very little experience trying to create a shot against one of the toughest defenses in the country.

SLU suckered Moore into taking that shot and he took the bait.

There is plenty of talent in this roster, but I can see it would be frustrating to try to fit the pieces of them coherently together on both the offensive and defensive sides of he ball. Next year won't be any better.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Talent was never an issue, consistency is the problem. We have the talent to compete night in and night out in the A10.

 

[gmutom]

I'm not backing down from anything I said. We've been below average at PG and in the post all year — the two most important positions on the court — and things didn't improve until until Moore and Jenkins started playing better. Guess what? The results even with those freshmen upgrades are are still losses.

Not one of our starters would start for SLU, GW, UMass or vcu, so yes that to me is a big talent deficiency when compared to our A10 opponents. Hell, other than Jenkins, Wright, Allen and maybe Holloway, I can't think of another player many upper-echelon A10 coaches would poach off our roster.

We've shown we can be a good team when we get production from several players on a given night, but the problem is we never know where that production is going to come from. P49 finally admitted that consistency is an issue, but consistency is what makes a good player great. It's the difference between a baseball player hitting .250 and being an all-star. It's the difference between a QB being Aaron Rodgers rather than Jason Campbell.

I've said many times that part of getting that consistency falls on Hewitt, but the reality is that many of our current players simply aren't good enough to perform game in and game out (see Sherrod Wright's up and down career). It's why we see J2 go from 0 points to 18 points to 0 points in 3 games.

Summary for those who want to cut and paste this statement: Our issues are with coaching AND player personnel. And nothing is going to change until both of those improve. We have an influx of new players coming in next season, so time will tell if they are the answer.

 

[Patriotfan49]

LOL Tom.

Who hasnt known or said consistency hasnt been probably the top problem with us? Anybody who watches 2 games of ours can see that. I have never said it wasnt. Feel free to try and find that, but you wont.

Dont try and pass the buck on me when you are staring all sorts of your hypocritical posts in the face....

 

[gmutom]

Who hasnt known or said consistency hasnt been probably the top problem with us? Anybody who watches 2 games of ours can see that.

And yet you try to act like talent and consistency aren't related. Nobody said our players have no talent (feel free to review my 20 quotes above). Copes can be a beast on at least 10 plays a game. Marko has one of the most talented hooks on the team. J2 could have the sweetest 10 foot shoot for a big man in the league. They just aren't talented enough to sustain in game in and game out.

Now, what can make us a better "team" is when the players put their collective talents together and play as one. Not one member of our Final 4 team could started for that UConn team, but we beat them because our team had great chemistry and played together. All five starters scored in double figures and didn't back down physically or mentally.

The St. Louis game was arguable the best we have played as a unit, whether it was sharing the ball (14 assists), switching on screens, setting picks or crashing the boards. There's no question we need to upgrade our talent, but we also saw Saturday that the sum of our parts can be fun to watch when things are going well.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Dont make this about me Tom lol...Stand up and face what Brian and QD were saying. You pretty much continually said in multiple ways the problem is that we dont have talent to compete with the upper A10 continually..... Im not sure why you are spinning it now, even since you said you still "stand" by what you said.

Talent and Consistency arent really related. You could have all the talent in the world, and just not be consistent. You see that in every single sport, in many many cases...year in year out. Heck essentially outside the top 5 picks in the NBA are all taken based off of inconsistent results yet immense talent and potential. Same with handfuls of picks in the NFL draft....

Your example about Rodgers and Campbell doesnt make any sense....Campbell is simply not talented enough to hang with Rodgers. Even in his best stretch, he was still a mediocre at best QB. When was Rodgers considered having mediocre skills?

 

[gmutom]

...our players do have some deficiencies and sometimes that compounds our problems. Sherrod passive on offense and defense, Allen turnover prone in late game situations, Copes VERY hit or miss on offense and foul prone, Moore can't shoot at all, Holloway undersized and gets beat up on the defensive side of the ball, Williams really really inconsistent and gets beat up defensively etc.

This is the discussion Hewitt's primary detractors don't want to have, because they incorrectly assume it gives him a get-out-of-jail free card. It's okay to acknowledge that we have talent and roster limitations while still holding the coach accountable.

The reality is we should not be 0-7 regardless of our limitations. With the talent we do have, we should have won at least a few of those A10 games (not to mention several other OOC games). I voted that I have no confidence that Hewitt could turn this team around, so it's not like I'm looking to give the guy an out. I think a number of coaches could have gotten more consistency and even a couple more victories out of this group.

Looking ahead a year, I am excited about some of the new talent coming in; that doesn't mean I have confidence Hewitt is the coach to harness that talent and turn them into a winning team. I get that people want his head on a platter, but admitting we are limited in the areas that gemini posted above does no exonerate Hewitt.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Instead of going off on your baseless rants saying people are missing things, or saying things they arent or insinuating complete falsehoods (meanwhile ingnoring your own hypocrisy) maybe read what people are actually saying. It is very old to have you make these inaccurate, and offbase claims about other peoples posts, meanwhile you cant even honestly deal with your own hyposcrisy when it is shown to you (multiple times).

Its a WELL KNOWN fact our roster has limitations and issues with consistency. NOBODY has said otherwise(since you say this alot, feel free to show posts that back you up in that people never admit this). That being said, we clearly have enough talent to compete top to bottom in the league....that has been shown multiple times. I have faith in the players, because they are doing their best and have shown they are able to play with the big boys.

Where we fall short mainly, is our coach finding a way to minimize the limitations and utilize the strengths that we do have. Put guys in the best possible situation to be consistent as well as sucsessful. NOT ONE game have I felt that we have a coach that could compete night in and night out in the A10. Which leads to no faith in the captain of the ship......

 

[GMUgemini]

I actually thought Hewitt did a very good job against SLU both scheming for our offense and defense. It just so happened that SLU had a beast in Jett who refused to let his team lose and we had no answer for him in the last five minutes of the game. Couple that with a 6'11 kid who has a quick release 3 (pretty much unguardable if he catches it) and that was all she wrote.

I wouldn't lay that loss on Hewitt at all (if I had to quibble, I would only wish the last play in regulation started with about 10 seconds left. I would even have accepted Moores decision to shoot it there if Jenkins had 3 seconds to do something with it instead of 1). Other games absolutely -- I wished we could have seen that kind of preparation and effort all year -- but what are you going to do?

 

[GSII]

I actually thought Hewitt did a very good job against SLU both scheming for our offense and defense. It just so happened that SLU had a beast in Jett who refused to let his team lose and we had no answer for him in the last five minutes of the game. Couple that with a 6'11 kid who has a quick release 3 (pretty much unguardable if he catches it) and that was all she wrote.

I wouldn't lay that loss on Hewitt at all (if I had to quibble, I would only wish the last play in regulation started with about 10 seconds left. I would even have accepted Moores decision to shoot it there if Jenkins had 3 seconds to do something with it instead of 1). Other games absolutely -- I wished we could have seen that kind of preparation and effort all year -- but what are you going to do?

Since we're handicapped with a stupid coach, maybe the A10 will let us have a week in between games.

 

[Patriotfan49]

The overall performance of feelings on Hewitt or even the team are not in a vacuum....its a total resume from 3 years. Were not talking about the SLU game in general, but the track record he now has as well as the direction we are going as year 3 is about to wrap up.

 

[gmutom]

P49, I'll never understand why you have to make things personal here with many of your comments, but I really do think you know a good bit about sports; so I would actually like to hear your thoughts on what we need to do to improve this roster to win more games.

I'll even help you by taking Hewitt out of the equation, so you won't get off tangent. For conversation purposes, let's say that he is gone after this year and that we keep all four recruits. Who do you see on the current roster that you think can compete night in and night out to help us win?

 

[patriot2000]

Who do you see on the current roster that you think can compete night in and night out to help us win?

Jenkins
Probably Moore
Halloway
Healthy Marko
Gray if allowed to play?

Freshmen can't be included on this list because you never know how anyone adjusts to the college game, especially in a top 5 league.

So, yeah, that's two good players, two strong maybes, and 5 big ifs. I see your point.

But with a different coach and a good off season, it's enough to compete, in my mind. Only a couple of those ifs need to pan out to put us in the top half of the league. I like to ne optimistic but at the same time next year's roster is far from "loaded" and heavy on "maybe"

 

[Patriotfan49]

P49, I'll never understand why you have to make things personal here with many of your comments, but I really do think you know a good bit about sports; so I would actually like to hear your thoughts on what we need to do to improve this roster to win more games.

I'll even help you by taking Hewitt out of the equation, so you won't get off tangent. For conversation purposes, let's say that he is gone after this year and that we keep all four recruits. Who do you see on the current roster that you think can compete night in and night out to help us win?

Its not personal, I just didnt like how you rolled over and played dumb with Brian and QDs posts and then threw me into the mix meanwhile then playing the victim card like Im personally attacking you. You said those things, not me.....I just wanted you to stand by them and admit you were off instead of always it being we read wrong, or we couldnt read between the lines, or didnt understand, or you were kidding....

In regards to the roster....I think Jenkins, Copes, Gray, Holloway, Moore, Marko all can play in the league against anybody. You even posted that video of Mayimba lighting it up against a ghost, so that means he can compete too...right?

That being said, nobody is advocating they are all pro, or all A10 or even top players at their positions in the leauge...nobody ever has. But they can compete and put us in a position to win each night.

 

[KAOriginal]

How about:

Years 1-2..Mostly on Hewitt...had a good core of a team year 1, watered down CAA year 2....expectations of PRETTY good seasons should have been met.

Year 3: Mostly on players....sh*tstorm of losing a core player, finding out there's a final gear they are missing that you need in the A-10, coupled with a hint of still questionable coaching issues which may make might make the player issues worse.

I have seen the light of we just have alot of problems....

 

[EXpatriot13]

The Men's Basketball Instagram account posted a picture of practice this morning. Gray is holding the ball during a play. Who knows if he's performing well in practice or not, but it's great to see him active and in a positive state of mind, as I too saw him cheering on the sidelines against St. Louis.

 

[gmutom]

Its not personal, I just didnt like how you rolled over and played dumb with Brian and QDs posts...

Never once played dumb or rolled over. I defend every statement I've ever made about our lack of talent. We are what our record says we are, but I do believe Hewitt should still have gotten a few more wins out of them by using their strengths and talents better to our advantage. That's on him.

You even posted that video of Mayimba lighting it up against a ghost, so that means he can compete too...right?

I actually qualified the video of Maybimba with a statement directly aimed at you that he was not being covered, because I knew you would eventually make the very comment you just did. Time will tell if he can hit those shots while being covered.

But they can compete and put us in a position to win each night.

We are in agreement that they can compete. I actually like this group of players a lot and think they all have traits and talents that can help us compete in every game. Now they, along with the coaches, need to find a way to get better to turn those close losses into close victories.

 

[GMUgemini]

P49, I'll never understand why you have to make things personal here with many of your comments, but I really do think you know a good bit about sports; so I would actually like to hear your thoughts on what we need to do to improve this roster to win more games.

I'll even help you by taking Hewitt out of the equation, so you won't get off tangent. For conversation purposes, let's say that he is gone after this year and that we keep all four recruits. Who do you see on the current roster that you think can compete night in and night out to help us win?

Assuming Royal has the tools I would like to see:

Moore
Holloway
Jenkins
Royal
Copes

Moore would have to develop his jumper and Jenkins would have to be more consistently drive the lane and be able to hit at 15-18 footer and we'd also have to play a lot of zone with this lineup.

If Royal won't work out I would give Gray a run:

Moore
Holloway
Gray
Jenkins
Copes

Second lineup gives us two deadly shooters for Moore to dish to on the perimeter and as long as Copes doesn't get himself suspended for a third year in a row, a very physical frontcourt.

 

[GSII]

Royal will have a major impact on offense. And with the added pressure, Hewitt will be riding this kid hard. He can shoots three's. Mid range J's too. Defense and overall toughness needs a little work.

 

[gmujim92]

Assuming Royal has the tools I would like to see:

Moore
Holloway
Jenkins
Royal
Copes

Moore would have to develop his jumper and Jenkins would have to be more consistently drive the lane and be able to hit at 15-18 footer and we'd also have to play a lot of zone with this lineup.

If Royal won't work out I would give Gray a run:

Moore
Holloway
Gray
Jenkins
Copes

Second lineup gives us two deadly shooters for Moore to dish to on the perimeter and as long as Copes doesn't get himself suspended for a third year in a row, a very physical frontcourt.

I like your first lineup a lot -- especially since we've now seen that Jenkins has the raw athleticism to play on the perimeter.

Royal is a skilled offensive player, which is what we're going to need. In order to get the best 5 players on the floor, that means you have to find some way to play Royal and Jenkins together.

Jalen will need to work his a** off during the offseason to become a legit threat at the 3. He's gonna have to tighten up his handle and at least be able to consistently make a 15-17 foot jump shot.

But I'm not worried about that at all. He's proven he's willing to do what it takes to get better -- that attitude should serve him well over the next 3 seasons.