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We still too many shots on goal. Or defenseman have to do a better job clearing the zones. We allow the other team to linger too long. Our goalie is pretty good but the amount of shots he has to defend is way too high.

We have all the hallmarks of a poorly coached team, and I'm tired of giving our coaching staff a pass on it.

Poor preparation: We all to often come out with a dear-in-headlights look in big games. We often come out flat and unmotivated against perceived weaker teams. We coast when we have leads, letting people back into games and we self destruct when faced with adversity, letting six point runs against us become 12 point runs way to often.

Don't do fundamental "little things" correctly: We set horrible, ineffective ball screens because our screeners and ball handlers don't work together to setup the screen. We often do a half-assed job boxing out, and watch the ball in the air instead of finding and boxing out a man.

Our players keep making the same mental mistakes. Where is the improvement?: Fouling 3 point shooters, swiping at the ball in the post (and getting called for the foul) instead of staying strong and vertical. The players everyone said were too passive last year are still too passive. The players that were emotional hot heads last year are still emotional hotheads. The poor help defense that leaves so many 3 point shooters wide open is still there.

(02-06-2017 10:52 AM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  We have all the hallmarks of a poorly coached team, and I'm tired of giving our coaching staff a pass on it.

Poor preparation: We all to often come out with a dear-in-headlights look in big games. We often come out flat and unmotivated against perceived weaker teams. We coast when we have leads, letting people back into games and we self destruct when faced with adversity, letting six point runs against us become 12 point runs way to often.

Don't do fundamental "little things" correctly: We set horrible, ineffective ball screens because our screeners and ball handlers don't work together to setup the screen. We often do a half-assed job boxing out, and watch the ball in the air instead of finding and boxing out a man.

Our players keep making the same mental mistakes. Where is the improvement?: Fouling 3 point shooters, swiping at the ball in the post (and getting called for the foul) instead of staying strong and vertical. The players everyone said were too passive last year are still too passive. The players that were emotional hot heads last year are still emotional hotheads. The poor help defense that leaves so many 3 point shooters wide open is still there.

Basically, we are a regularly outcoached team that plays to the level of the competition - particularly on the road. Had to expect some of that with a 1st time head coach but I think many thought the experience level of this team would cover up for most of it...

This was the coach that the fans demanded. He is a first year coach. He will get better.

(02-06-2017 11:13 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  This was the coach that the fans demanded. He is a first year coach. He will get better.

Don't think I really demanded but I did send an email to Ingram supporting Ehsan for the job. Seemed like the smart move at the time. Ehsan had recruited most of our guys and I was still hanging on to that bit of magic this group showed in '15. Also, it was going to be tough asking boosters to pony up $ for a higher profile basketball coach at the same time they're paying off their commitments to UAB football. I know that right now my family can't do any more than we're doing for UAB athletics.

An athletic department the size of UAB can't have everything. It was a calculated risk and so far it doesn't look good. He has time to get it together and for our sake I hope he does. If he doesn't then I hope Coach Clark has football going well enough for us to crack open the checkbook a little wider and go after a more established head coach.

Until then, I guess we're doomed. DOOOOMED.

(02-06-2017 11:13 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  This was the coach that the fans demanded. He is a first year coach. He will get better.

Bingo. This is what happens with first year coaches whether you like it or not.

Lots of negativity in this thread. You guys must not be true Blazer fans.

(02-06-2017 11:13 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  This was the coach that the fans demanded. He is a first year coach. He will get better.

Not meant to be down on Ehsan. Just pointing out that this is commonplace with 1st time head coaches. They realize moving over 1 seat is a bigger deal than they originally thought. I agree Ehsan will get better. This season will make him a better coach in the longterm.

(02-06-2017 12:44 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(02-06-2017 11:13 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  This was the coach that the fans demanded. He is a first year coach. He will get better.

Bingo. This is what happens with first year coaches whether you like it or not.

In his first year, Mike Anderson took UAB to the championship game of the CUSA tournament when it was a top 8 league. Also made an NIT appearance. Bill Clark got UAB football bowl eligible in his first season, when Callaway couldn't win 6 games in 5 tries. Even Murry managed to get UAB into the NIT in his first season, also in a much tougher CUSA.

I would venture to say that Ehsan inherited the most talent ever for a first year UAB coach. I don't expect greatness but some signs of competence would be nice. This team is actually playing worse as the season goes on and they started out pretty bad.

IF we had the $, Ingram shouldn't put up with more than two seasons of this brand of basketball. Since we're UAB, we'll probably let the program wallow for 3-4 years.

I would disagree strongly that Ehsan had the most talent every for a first year head coach. Anderson's had Mo Finley his first year and a very talented freshman named Demario Eddins. Murry Bartow had Carlos Williams. Gene Bartow had the probably the most talented team his first year, with players like Larry Spicer, Oliver Robinson, Darryl Braden. In my opinion, only Haase had a lesser talented team in his first year.

Talent isn't the only factor that wins ball games. And I don't think this team is as talented as many fans like to think they are.

Heart and energy and desire to win is just as important as talent and outside of the coach's control sometimes. This team has the talent necessary to win in CUSA, but lacks heart and motivation. Maybe because they accomplished so much early in their careers or maybe they do not connect with Ehsan as a head coach. The fact is they do not play hard and are too panicky for the amount of experience they have. Everyone is quick to blame the coach and it is his job to take the blame, but the problems with this team is with the team itself, not the coach.

My biggest critique of Ehsan, and this extends to Haase as well, is that our offense doesn't put the ball in our best players' hands often enough. Since we have an equal opportunity offense, some players are under-utilized and others are over-utilized. As a result, we get something that's "okay."

Players control energy and effort, so I won't blame the staff for that.

The single worst damnation of this staff to me is the lack of execution on pick and roll plays on both sides of the ball, but especially on offense. Watch how effectively a well coached team executes ball screens, You can look at any Duke game, or the St mary's & MTSU games this year; I mean hell, go to a mountain brook high school game even and watch how well they execute screens. Then watch us play and by comparison it looks like our guys are playing pick up ball at the Y. Its basketball 101 and our guys a flunking it. That's piss poor coaching, pure and simple.

Ehsan may not have the best talent a first-year UAB basketball coach has ever had, but he is probably the only first-year coach in UAB history to inherit talent, that on paper, is above every other school in the conference at that time. He has done less with more, is all I am saying.

(02-06-2017 02:27 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I would disagree strongly that Ehsan had the most talent every for a first year head coach. Anderson's had Mo Finley his first year and a very talented freshman named Demario Eddins. Murry Bartow had Carlos Williams. Gene Bartow had the probably the most talented team his first year, with players like Larry Spicer, Oliver Robinson, Darryl Braden. In my opinion, only Haase had a lesser talented team in his first year.

Talent isn't the only factor that wins ball games. And I don't think this team is as talented as many fans like to think they are.

Heart and energy and desire to win is just as important as talent and outside of the coach's control sometimes. This team has the talent necessary to win in CUSA, but lacks heart and motivation. Maybe because they accomplished so much early in their careers or maybe they do not connect with Ehsan as a head coach. The fact is they do not play hard and are too panicky for the amount of experience they have. Everyone is quick to blame the coach and it is his job to take the blame, but the problems with this team is with the team itself, not the coach.

I didn't count Coach Bartow. It was a new team but he was a Final Four coach too, at the top of his game. Not fair to compare assistants with no head coaching experience to a Hall of Famer.
Rankings-wise, it's not even close among the other guys. Carlos Williams was very good but that was only one player. Ced Dixon was decent but who else? Norm Williams? UAB was Mo Finley's only D1 offer and he was never a full time starter for Murry (stupidly). Eddins was a 3 star recruit, same ranking as Lee, Madison, Mehinti, and Cokley. Sidney Ball ended up a good player but was another lightly recruited local kid that barely played until Anderson showed up. Ehsan inherited 4 starters and multiple subs with experience from a defending conference champ, one year removed from an NCAA win.

Nit picking the talent issue aside, I totally agree with your assessment of this team EXCEPT about it not being the coach's fault. Ehsan had a huge hand in recruiting and developing (or not) this team. That was the main reason for hiring him in the first place. I could maybe buy the "it's the players" argument if we had hired from the outside. But even then, the supposedly low talent UAB football team suddenly figured out how to compete once they had a good coach leading them. Heck, we even discovered we had a some NFL starters on the team.

Mike Anderson and Bill Clark are living examples that coaching matters and it doesn't take years for a good one to start showing it. Gene Bartow, Mike Anderson, and Bill Clark are really the only good coaches that the major sports at UAB have ever had. It didn't take any of them more than a season to get it going either. Should be a lesson for UAB people but somehow I doubt it is.

*ADDENDUM* Somehow forgot all about the Anderson to Davis transition. Damn: Delaney, Mukubu, Kinnard, and Frank Holmes. That's pretty strong with pre-injury Delaney. OK, on paper, Ehsan tied with Davis for inheriting talent. After Paul's injury I think Ehsan pulls ahead. Oh, the minutia...

(02-06-2017 03:05 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  The single worst damnation of this staff to me is the lack of execution on pick and roll plays on both sides of the ball, but especially on offense. Watch how effectively a well coached team executes ball screens, You can look at any Duke game, or the St mary's & MTSU games this year; I mean hell, go to a mountain brook high school game even and watch how well they execute screens. Then watch us play and by comparison it looks like our guys are playing pick up ball at the Y. Its basketball 101 and our guys a flunking it. That's piss poor coaching, pure and simple.

Maybe the coaching staffs—both Ehsan and Haase—believe we don't have the guards to effectively run P&R, or perhaps it's just an aspect of their offensive philosophy, but variations of the P&R are a core play in most modern offenses. Given our willingness to continually post-up bigs, I'm not sure what to think. With the additional guards next year, I'm holding out hope that Ehsan changes our offense quite a bit.

In any case, since the P&R isn't a core play for us on offense, we have that much less exposure on defense during practice.

(02-06-2017 03:57 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  

(02-06-2017 02:27 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I would disagree strongly that Ehsan had the most talent every for a first year head coach. Anderson's had Mo Finley his first year and a very talented freshman named Demario Eddins. Murry Bartow had Carlos Williams. Gene Bartow had the probably the most talented team his first year, with players like Larry Spicer, Oliver Robinson, Darryl Braden. In my opinion, only Haase had a lesser talented team in his first year.

Talent isn't the only factor that wins ball games. And I don't think this team is as talented as many fans like to think they are.

Heart and energy and desire to win is just as important as talent and outside of the coach's control sometimes. This team has the talent necessary to win in CUSA, but lacks heart and motivation. Maybe because they accomplished so much early in their careers or maybe they do not connect with Ehsan as a head coach. The fact is they do not play hard and are too panicky for the amount of experience they have. Everyone is quick to blame the coach and it is his job to take the blame, but the problems with this team is with the team itself, not the coach.

I didn't count Coach Bartow. It was a new team but he was a Final Four coach too, at the top of his game. Not fair to compare assistants with no head coaching experience to a Hall of Famer.
Rankings-wise, it's not even close among the other guys. Carlos Williams was very good but that was only one player. Ced Dixon was decent but who else? Norm Williams? UAB was Mo Finley's only D1 offer and he was never a full time starter for Murry (stupidly). Eddins was a 3 star recruit, same ranking as Lee, Madison, Mehinti, and Cokley. Sidney Ball ended up a good player but was another lightly recruited local kid that barely played until Anderson showed up. Ehsan inherited 4 starters and multiple subs with experience from a defending conference champ, one year removed from an NCAA win.

Nit picking the talent issue aside, I totally agree with your assessment of this team EXCEPT about it not being the coach's fault. Ehsan had a huge hand in recruiting and developing (or not) this team. That was the main reason for hiring him in the first place. I could maybe buy the "it's the players" argument if we had hired from the outside. But even then, the supposedly low talent UAB football team suddenly figured out how to compete once they had a good coach leading them. Heck, we even discovered we had a some NFL starters on the team.

Mike Anderson and Bill Clark are living examples that coaching matters and it doesn't take years for a good one to start showing it. Gene Bartow, Mike Anderson, and Bill Clark are really the only good coaches that the major sports at UAB have ever had. It didn't take any of them more than a season to get it going either. Should be a lesson for UAB people but somehow I doubt it is.

*ADDENDUM* Somehow forgot all about the Anderson to Davis transition. Damn: Delaney, Mukubu, Kinnard, and Frank Holmes. That's pretty strong with pre-injury Delaney. OK, on paper, Ehsan tied with Davis for inheriting talent. After Paul's injury I think Ehsan pulls ahead. Oh, the minutia...

+1

We need to acknowledge that Anderson's style also had a lot to do with his success. He doesn't need basketball players, he needs athletes. Also, he went 8-8 in conference play before the cusa tournament run. Not knocking him at all, but he was a first round loss away from being declared a disaster by some of our fans. We are far too quick to react to any sort of adversity as a fan base in my opinion.

(02-07-2017 10:49 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  We need to acknowledge that Anderson's style also had a lot to do with his success. He doesn't need basketball players, he needs athletes. Also, he went 8-8 in conference play before the cusa tournament run. Not knocking him at all, but he was a first round loss away from being declared a disaster by some of our fans. We are far too quick to react to any sort of adversity as a fan base in my opinion.

And now that the game has made rules that hurt his style of play, he is not as successful as he was here or at Missouri.

(02-07-2017 10:49 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  We are far too quick to react to any sort of adversity as a fan base in my opinion.

Let's club Rob like a baby seal.....................