Some on this board have been questioning Saul's coaching ability based on the current swoon the basketball ball Bobcats are in. I realize that things look like a total mess right now, and like the rest of you I'm frustrated and upset that the season has been such a downer. However, I don't really think the problem is one of coaching ability. I think it may be a poor mesh between the coach and the players that he inherited. I had an interesting conversation with Brandon Hunter at a recent home game, and I thought his take on Saul was quite interesting. He told me that he thought Saul was going to be an excellent coach for OHIO and that the program would get much better under his leadership. He then called Saul a "player's coach." This was coming from one of our all-time great players and one who has a basketball IQ many, many times greater than mine. At this point, I'm just going to consider this the proverbial rebuilding season and look for incremental improvement as the season progress. Hopefully, this improvement will be seen in the team, if not at least in the individual players, particularly the newcomers.

When Saul came here he indicated on numerous occasions that he was here for the long-haul. I think he's making decisions now not based so much on winning the next game but on building a foundation for the future. I'm not saying that he's not trying to win every game and is not coaching to the top of his ability in terms of game-day situations. It just appears to me that offense and defense he is trying to run are geared for the future. I also get the impression from some of his post-game comments that the team is often not executing in games what they are learning in practice. There appear to be too many "individualists" on this team who are having trouble getting the whole team concept.

I see a rough parallel here with football. Frank put in a new defensive scheme last fall. It will probably pay dividends down the road, but may have cost us a game or two this year because of lack of execution during the learning phase. I predict next year will be a banner year in both hoops and the oblong-ball sport.

One other nugget from my conversation with Hunter: he seemed to imply that he was getting reconnected with the program -- and was planning on attending additional games this year -- in part because of the way Saul had reached out to him.

Go OHIO!

What?!?!? People are upset with Saul? Hey, he is still in the 1st year of his tenure, not year 10 like another of OUr programs where that staff apparently gets a pass.

Thanks for that keen insight, Monroe.

After a response borna gave to me regarding my "why not play zone" and other thoughts in another thread, it kind of made me want to go see practice. It might put a whole lot of this into perspective. Agreed that this is the time to stay on the wagon, no question. Fifteen games, and just a couple of his own guys on the roster isn't nearly enough of a sample size to evaluate a coach and his staff.

And how many games has the football staff won versus their losses. Yes, I'll give them a pass.

I expected a .500 team this year. Winless in the MAC would be a bigger surprise if I didn't watch the games. We really needed those JUCO guys to come. Nehemias Morillo (9 pts, 5.7 rbs per game for South Florida) and Wiggington (8 pts and 4 rbds for Buffalo) are certainly more ready than Taylor and Laster. And likely a bit quicker. And, who knows, Crute could've been the dead eye 3 point shooter we just don't have.

At this point, I'm just going to root for the team. Especially Ndour, who deserves way better. His OHIO experience isn't ending up that good at all. I hope he has some monster games in the Convo and gets a lot of love. (At least Stevie Taylor had the Sweet 16.)

I don't expect miracles next year either. Simmons and Kaminsky sound great. But, we need a lot more, especially with Ndour departing. Likely at least 2 years before we have a deep, talented team again.

It's been debated on here again and again regarding the "absence" of Morillo and Wiggington. I'll take 4 years of Ryan Taylor over 2 years of those guys, particularly Wigginton. Laster may or may not be a different story, but so far, I like what he's doing. I would have enjoyed seeing Crute here, but it seems he wasn't coming regardless of who the coach was.


Expecting miracles next year isn't what anyone should expect. From the little that I'm seeing & hearing, I do expect that Simmons will be much better than Bean, and at least somewhat better than Stevie. The guys that will really be crucial to next year will be Dartis & Block, and how they contribute in year one. I think Dartis is going to be a heck of a get for Ohio in the long run. Ryan Taylor, Simmons, Kaminski, Campbell, Laster and Setty are known commodities that will have an extra year in the system.

My curiosity is to see what Doug Taylor, Dozier, Wadley, and Harley are able to give next season. Bottom line, for next year and the future beyond that, we'll be fine because we'll have 8 guys on the roster that are recruited by this staff and not prior staffs. That alone will make a difference.

I think if not Wagner then certainly Dandy Don has been warmed up for at least a couple games now.

Mark Turgeon was 9-19 in his first season at Wichita State.

Gregg Marshall was 11-20 in his first season at Wichita State.

I'm not worried about Saul, but the obvious response to anyone pointing out weak first seasons for excellent coaches is their predecessor was fired for poor performance. In Saul's case, the predecessor was hired away by a larger program, a testament to the condition of the program in which Saul took over.

I'd be curious if we could find examples of such a significant decline in the 1st year after a coach is poached. O'Shea to Groce I suppose is one example, though it doesn't feel like it since he went to Bryant.

Marshall followed Turgeon who had just been hired by Texas A&M. I think a good example is that of Billy Hahn following Danny Nee. That team returned some talent from a good team the year before but lost Paul Baron and Robert Tatum. Baron and Tatum took a lot of leadership with them (and ball movement).


Edit: Not trying to say that Saul is Billy Hahn just that both teams lost a lot of their leadership. Also included Roger Smith as being lost from that team but he returned the next year.

its not unreasonable to expect a program that has averaged 26-10 for the last 3 seasons to perform better than 5-10, even with a new coach.

In a vacuum, perhaps not. But we're not in one.