Look, I know I’m not going to change the minds of those of you that went to the school of “fire the coach” if it isn’t working. I just want to give the readers the other side. I come from a different school, one that believes that you build a program by having quality people and build a program with high character players, solving problems as needed as you maintain continuity, something we haven’t had in years.
What I like about our program now is,
- We have a terrific coach that not only is a great coach but also an outstanding person. He wants to be at Ohio and build a program. He has never seen Ohio as a stepping-stone to a bigger school.
- He has recruited high character players, like James Gallon that will leave our program and become a physician and Gavin Block that will be a college coach in the very near future. You knock his recruiting but Jason Carter was not just another player lost last year, he was a member of the all-freshman team the year before. He is another high character player that is also an honor student. We were supposed to have had Ben last year. He is freshman this year averaging at double-digit points. Also, an honor student. And then there is TK, who last year was also, ALL-MAC freshman selection and also made honor role. Excuse me, but if you have two all freshman selections in two years out of two, your not losing the recruiting battle. The battle we’ve lost is the injury battle. If you have had the opportunity to communicate with our players, you would understand that these are high character student athletes that will leave Ohio and become successful citizens. These are the type of players that eventually lead you to a championship. And I repeat, IF COACH PHILLIPS IS HERE, we will have two freshman and two sophomores coming back that are our most productive players this year. If he doesn’t, not sure what we have coming back. I’m still of the believe that you build programs with character…….High character coaches that are going to do it the right way, and high character players that you can be proud of that they represent our university. His recruiting misses have come when he was under the gun, like when we lost Jaaron.
- He and his family have been a great fit in the Athens community, making valuable contributions. Again, this speaks to character and someone that cares about the community they are a part.
If our best four players were seniors, I’d be all about looking at a change but they aren’t. Our best five players are one that’s not playing this year, two sophomores and two freshmen. I’d ride this out another year.
I know that some of you just want to win, you don’t care how it gets done. Some of you probably don’t care if we start doing what Buffalo is doing. I understand, I just don’t want to go there. Some of you want a coach to come in and use JUCO character players to get the job done. I’ve seen that picture, not pretty, not for me.
I’m more about wanting a quality program with quality players.
Thanks for listening to me. I’m done, not going to respond any further. And by the way, YES, I know I’m fighting an uphill battle but I hate to see us lose a really good man and great coach.
The problem is you're just reiterating the things everyone already knows.
-Does Saul recruit high character guys who are pretty well schooled in the game of basketball? Yes.
-Is the Phillips family good for the Athens community? Unquestionably, yes.
-Is Saul Phillips a good person who genuinely cares about his players and family and would do anything for them? Again, yes.
-Have they attracted solid recruits who play a critical role on the team? Yes. (Laster, Dartis, Carter, Ryan Taylor, Doug Taylor, Carter, Block, BVP, Jimmy G, TK, Mickle, Simmons, Kaminski is a solid group of guys).
-Have they dealt with transfers? Yes, but every school does. Have you seen the yearly transfer list? (Ryan Taylor, Rodney Culver and Zach Butler probably being the biggest names)
-Has the regime had to deal with injuries to their top players the last few years? Of course, yes. (Carter, BVP, Dartis, Campbell to go along with lingering injuries Gollon, Laster and Block suffered).
BUT...given all of that...the results just aren't quantifiable enough.
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I've been a Saul guy since Day One and I fought the losing battle last year saying the injuries did us in. But you can't get past the glaring issues with this team this year.
-Free throw shooting (and shooting in general) is downright awful. No other way to sugar coat it. I've seen high school teams shoot better than this.
-Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
-Offensively they look completely lost half the time. Defensively they give up too many big runs, so when the offense is cold as ice you see Ohio get behind in huge deficits. Ohio simply doesn't have the game changer, firepower or bread/butter gameplan to get baskets when they absolutely need them. Carter shows flashes of it when he takes over and can get the ball on the block, but it's not a 100% certainty we can get it there.
-While losing Jordan Dartis is MAJORLY important to the functions of this team's offensive plans (spreads the floor, makes shots, opens up lane for DT, Carter and TK), it's not so much that Ohio would automatically be in Top Tier of the MAC this season. The other issues outweigh his importance. I hope he comes back next year because he deserves it and boy will Ohio need him. He's one of the best shooters in Ohio history for a reason.
-The air is completely sucked out of the Convo. Not withstanding the BG game which I've read was a pretty great crowd, the games have been...boring?
-$$$$$$ I don't know what the bottom line looks like, but if attendance and donations are down as much as people think, then financially Ohio won't be able to afford another "WHAT IF" season from Saul. So what, they extend him one more year to make it go right (Jordy back, everyone presumably healthy and year of experience under their belt). Does that really bode well for the FUTURE of the program? Probably not.