Kevin Willard thinks and acts like a victim. He believes that everything that goes wrong is either a) unique to his situation or b) beyond his control.
"It's a tough way to end the year, but I can't say a bad thing about those kids -- the amount of freshmen we played"
Yes, you a lot of freshman played this year. And do you know why so many freshman played? Because YOU DECIDED TO PLAY A LOT OF FRESHMEN. YOU signed a bunch freshman because YOU had a lot of scholarships to give out because of how YOU have recruited and then YOU - no one else - decided to play many of those freshman a lot of minutes. That's one of the things about being a head coach: YOU and ONLY YOU decide a) who gets to be on your team, b) who on your team gets to play, and c) how many minutes they get to play.
"and some of the stuff we had to go through, it was very tough on them,"
Yes, your players "had to go through" some stuff that I am sure it was tough on them - stuff like a divided locker room and players almost fighting and possibly bullying each other, and who knows what else. And do you know who is responsible for either 1) making sure that stuff doesn't happen in the first place or b) shutting it down when it does? IT'S YOU!
And, as you know, one reason YOU decided given even more freshman even more minutes was because one of your non-freshman starting guards left the team midseason because he decided he didn't want to spend another minute in the locker room YOU manage.
"We became very fragile in the second half of the year, which sometimes happens."
Yes, it does sometimes happen. In fact, it seems to happen every year. And do you know why it happens? Because YOU allow it to happen. YOU have to demand that players keep playing hard and within your system and if they don't YOU have to sit them down until they do. There's no guarantee that doing this will result in wins, but failing to do it guarantees losses.
Mind you, all these quotes are from a SINGLE POSTGAME. There are countless others from across five seasons.
"When guys bank shots in on you a couple of times, their fight and their grit is still there, they're not mentally able to get over that hump."
Yes, sometimes players on the other team make lucky shots - and sometimes players on Seton Hall make lucky shots, too! And yes, sometimes your players will feel defeated when "something went bad" and that's why YOU have to change that mindset so it doesn't defeat them.
Ugh, I'm actually already burned out on this - will just post the quotes - I'm sure you can see for yourself the many layers of victim mentality.
"When you have as many young guys who never really had to go through what they've went through, playing great competition every night, playing older stronger kids every night, I just think experience counts, I think it's one of the reasons the league is so good because it's so senior- and junior-laden."
"I think the thing I'm frustrated the most of, the only year I went gone into Big East play without anyone hurt was my 2nd year ... I think that's my frustration, I think we've gotten to a pretty good point, but once you're going into the toughest part of your season we're adjusting and then we're constantly adjusting and that's the only frustrating part."
"He's not as confident as he was in the beginning of the year, he just hasn't had enough time to practice, enough time to play. He's part of a fragile group."
"It's tough for them to end the year this way because they deserve a little bit better, they've earned a little bit better, they've worked hard, the attitude has been great, we just got really fragile toward the end of the year."
Obviously, Willard thinks going with #TEAMFRAGILE will make the players look worse than the coach. I really, really, really hope he's wrong.
"It's a tough way to end the year, but I can't say a bad thing about those kids -- the amount of freshmen we played"
Yes, you a lot of freshman played this year. And do you know why so many freshman played? Because YOU DECIDED TO PLAY A LOT OF FRESHMEN. YOU signed a bunch freshman because YOU had a lot of scholarships to give out because of how YOU have recruited and then YOU - no one else - decided to play many of those freshman a lot of minutes. That's one of the things about being a head coach: YOU and ONLY YOU decide a) who gets to be on your team, b) who on your team gets to play, and c) how many minutes they get to play.
"and some of the stuff we had to go through, it was very tough on them,"
Yes, your players "had to go through" some stuff that I am sure it was tough on them - stuff like a divided locker room and players almost fighting and possibly bullying each other, and who knows what else. And do you know who is responsible for either 1) making sure that stuff doesn't happen in the first place or b) shutting it down when it does? IT'S YOU!
And, as you know, one reason YOU decided given even more freshman even more minutes was because one of your non-freshman starting guards left the team midseason because he decided he didn't want to spend another minute in the locker room YOU manage.
"We became very fragile in the second half of the year, which sometimes happens."
Yes, it does sometimes happen. In fact, it seems to happen every year. And do you know why it happens? Because YOU allow it to happen. YOU have to demand that players keep playing hard and within your system and if they don't YOU have to sit them down until they do. There's no guarantee that doing this will result in wins, but failing to do it guarantees losses.
Mind you, all these quotes are from a SINGLE POSTGAME. There are countless others from across five seasons.
"When guys bank shots in on you a couple of times, their fight and their grit is still there, they're not mentally able to get over that hump."
Yes, sometimes players on the other team make lucky shots - and sometimes players on Seton Hall make lucky shots, too! And yes, sometimes your players will feel defeated when "something went bad" and that's why YOU have to change that mindset so it doesn't defeat them.
Ugh, I'm actually already burned out on this - will just post the quotes - I'm sure you can see for yourself the many layers of victim mentality.
"When you have as many young guys who never really had to go through what they've went through, playing great competition every night, playing older stronger kids every night, I just think experience counts, I think it's one of the reasons the league is so good because it's so senior- and junior-laden."
"I think the thing I'm frustrated the most of, the only year I went gone into Big East play without anyone hurt was my 2nd year ... I think that's my frustration, I think we've gotten to a pretty good point, but once you're going into the toughest part of your season we're adjusting and then we're constantly adjusting and that's the only frustrating part."
"He's not as confident as he was in the beginning of the year, he just hasn't had enough time to practice, enough time to play. He's part of a fragile group."
"It's tough for them to end the year this way because they deserve a little bit better, they've earned a little bit better, they've worked hard, the attitude has been great, we just got really fragile toward the end of the year."
Obviously, Willard thinks going with #TEAMFRAGILE will make the players look worse than the coach. I really, really, really hope he's wrong.
