Re: Boston University 2018-2019 - Still Alive!
Seems unfair to Albie. It was his first year as a head coach--anywhere. And I know he was on staff but ultimately Quinn called the shots. The current roster construction should fall on Quinn not Albie. Need to give the guy a few years to put his program together. Not like BU was great last year either. Needed to win HE tournament to get in just like this year. And easily could have lost to BC in that semifinal game last year.
I don't think they're talking about the roster construction. I think they're referring to:
1) the fact that there didn't seem to be much improvement throughout the course of the year
2) he was never able to get them to jell and play completely as a team (and I say "he" because that IS the head coach's job - to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts
Now, of course, and this is the wild card, it's tough to measure when you have players whose heads are dreaming about $$$. And that's the dilemma with the present setup. As was previously mentioned, in general today, people have shorter attention spans and demand immediate gratification. Few want to put in the work to get to the point where they will earn their spots. They instead are somewhat delusional about how good they are. But is this totally their fault? No. When you are told from the time you are 10 years old how great you are, this is what happens. You get entitled people who are looking to short-cut the process. Which is exactly why you need continuity and leadership to keep them focused on today, not where they will be playing next year. But it's getting more and more difficult in today's society to do this, because we see examples of the same thing all around us. This is exactly why you get a team that loses to Merrimack, Quinnipiac (a game they should have won), Union and UConn. Yes, top end talent plays "better" when they're challenged and motivated. The trick is to keep them that way when the games don't mean as much. That's why, as much as you say people like Calipari and Coach K get the "best players," they still have the knack of getting them to give a great effort most nights. Which brings us full circle back to the skill set. There's usually a reason why an assistant never advances. And why the great ones typically rose to the top early in their careers. Again, not an indictment of Albie. Only 1% of coaches are in that category, so it's not fair to say he "failed" if he's not in that 1%. The better response would probably be that perhaps they should have hired someone else to begin with. Time will tell, but if he doesn't succeed, it's more likely that he just doesn't have that skill. Which is nothing to be ashamed of. Extracting potential from someone is a very difficult task. Most people can't do it.
