Someone posted a rumor on another board that Crean could be out as HC. He's got a damn big buyout right now, so I don't know if Josh Brooks will make that move, although someone could lure him away, I suppose. One thing that disturbs me is that Crean has not bought a house in Athens. He currently lives in the Georgia Center, I believe, and commutes back and forth to Florida where he maintains a residence. If that is true, I have a problem with a coach not committing to the program enough to move his family to Athens. That's a set-up for a short timer.
I was not in favor of the Crean hire initially, but once he was hired I have backed the guy. He's done a great job promoting the program and drumming up fan support, but he has had less success on the court than I had hoped. True, Fox left him with next to nothing in the way of talent. But 3 years in, I can't say that Crean has significantly upgraded the talent on the team. We were far too young to win last year, and we were too small and couldn't shoot consistently enough to win this year. Crean's biggest problems are two-fold - he hasn't recruited well, particularly in state. Other than Anthony Edwards, the top talent in the state has been lost, mostly going to Auburn. Pearl has made a living on GA talent. He's killing us. Losing assistant coach Abdur-Rahim has really hurt our recruiting, with Jonas Hayes not staying on staff when Crean came in. Dollar has done nothing to bring in talent. He is dead weight on the bench. Neither of the other 2 recruiting-eligible coaches on the bench has southern roots. Our best players are rising juniors in the class signed mostly by Abdur-Rahim. Crean just hasn't signed the players he needs to. Plus, he has brought in some guys that are just dead weight, taking up space on the bench.
Second, our TOs, shot selection and defensive lapses are tied directly to coaching. Crean clearly emphasizes offense, but that's just one phase of the game. Fox was probably too controlling and defensive-oriented, but Crean is 180 degrees the opposite. Crean allows too much freedom offensively and just doesn't care about defense. For us to be successful, particularly when we don't have the talent others do, we have to defend and do the little things, like not turn the ball over and take good shots, to win games.
Perhaps the 2 problems are tied together. Bring in better talent and we shoot better, defend better and don't turn the ball over as much.
I was not in favor of the Crean hire initially, but once he was hired I have backed the guy. He's done a great job promoting the program and drumming up fan support, but he has had less success on the court than I had hoped. True, Fox left him with next to nothing in the way of talent. But 3 years in, I can't say that Crean has significantly upgraded the talent on the team. We were far too young to win last year, and we were too small and couldn't shoot consistently enough to win this year. Crean's biggest problems are two-fold - he hasn't recruited well, particularly in state. Other than Anthony Edwards, the top talent in the state has been lost, mostly going to Auburn. Pearl has made a living on GA talent. He's killing us. Losing assistant coach Abdur-Rahim has really hurt our recruiting, with Jonas Hayes not staying on staff when Crean came in. Dollar has done nothing to bring in talent. He is dead weight on the bench. Neither of the other 2 recruiting-eligible coaches on the bench has southern roots. Our best players are rising juniors in the class signed mostly by Abdur-Rahim. Crean just hasn't signed the players he needs to. Plus, he has brought in some guys that are just dead weight, taking up space on the bench.
Second, our TOs, shot selection and defensive lapses are tied directly to coaching. Crean clearly emphasizes offense, but that's just one phase of the game. Fox was probably too controlling and defensive-oriented, but Crean is 180 degrees the opposite. Crean allows too much freedom offensively and just doesn't care about defense. For us to be successful, particularly when we don't have the talent others do, we have to defend and do the little things, like not turn the ball over and take good shots, to win games.
Perhaps the 2 problems are tied together. Bring in better talent and we shoot better, defend better and don't turn the ball over as much.
