Changing the subject for a moment........to nuture what sanity we SHU fans have left...........I was very impressed by the postgame remarks of Dave Popkin and Gary Cohen and their radio interview of Shaheen Holloway. As you may know the Big East requires all head coaches to be in the official BET press conference after every tournament game, so Kevin Willard simply could not be available for the radio interview and Shaheen sat in for him.
Before and after Shaheen arrived, Cohen and Popkin were appropriately critical of pretty much every aspect of the team's performance and did NOT spout any "party-line", "homer" remarks. Then, when Holloway got there, Gary Cohen, in particular, was even tougher (albeit politely and professionally) than he typically would be with Kevin Willard.
However, last night was not just any loss. The nature, magnitude, finality and apparent effort displayed called for a more rigorous interview and Cohen stepped up to that challenge..............not to pick on Shaheen but because the circumstances required that the coaching staff's representative be called on the carpet.
One reason he may have been so aggressive last night could be that Gary was confident that Shaheen could handle the situation. As challenging as Cohen's questions were, Shaheen's reactions and answers were, under the circumstances, quite excellent as well.................certainly about as good as could reasonably be expected, given the results Shaheen was being asked to explain.
Without remembering the exact questions, I recall that one of Cohen's first questions was a real haymaker..............and, to their mutual credit, both Cohen and Holloway "let their conversation breathe" through a two......... or maximum three........... second silence before Shaheen delivered a responsive, cogent and intelligent answer that did not excuse what happened last night but did not leave any embarrassed victims underneath any buses.
Cohen was then able to effectively follow-up without appearing to "badger" Shaheen and both gentlemen performed their necessary duties at what I considered to be a high level of performance.
Gary Cohen has been recognized as an outstanding performer in his field for many years, so no surprises there.
However, with respect to Mr. Holloway, I viewed what I heard last night as a real measure of professional growth. The Shaheen Holloway of three or more years ago would not have done as well, IMO and I would have had concerns about how well he'd come across in such a situation. No such concerns last night........and the fact that he went down the road he did suggests that Cohen, who knows Shaheen much better than I ever will.............harbored no such concerns either.................since I doubt that Gary would have wanted to trigger any dialogue that would only serve to make anyone appear to be foolish or make himself appear to be bullying anyone.
Just three experienced professionals (Cohen, Popkin and Holloway) doing their job well at a very trying time.
What does this portend for Shaheen ? From my perspective, you can simply cross "Media/Public Relations" off any list of reasons why Shaheen Holloway could NOT be a successful NCAA MBB Division I Head Coach/Program Manager. Does this mean that he should be a candidate to immediately replace his current boss ? I will leave that for others to debate, as to whether the pros of his contacts with returning players outweigh any preference for him to first get Head Coach experience on a stage smaller than the Big East.
For now, it's enough for me to be proud, as a Seton Hall fan, of whatever SHU may have contributed to Shaheen Holloway's development, either from his years as a student or his years as an employee. Even our downtrodden present Head Coach Willard (from his time at both Iona and SHU) can be justifiably proud of Shaheen's current growth and expected future development during and after his time as Kevin's subordinate.
Those are my positive thoughts on what otherwise comes across as a sad time for the team from South Orange.
Better days are coming.......................
Before and after Shaheen arrived, Cohen and Popkin were appropriately critical of pretty much every aspect of the team's performance and did NOT spout any "party-line", "homer" remarks. Then, when Holloway got there, Gary Cohen, in particular, was even tougher (albeit politely and professionally) than he typically would be with Kevin Willard.
However, last night was not just any loss. The nature, magnitude, finality and apparent effort displayed called for a more rigorous interview and Cohen stepped up to that challenge..............not to pick on Shaheen but because the circumstances required that the coaching staff's representative be called on the carpet.
One reason he may have been so aggressive last night could be that Gary was confident that Shaheen could handle the situation. As challenging as Cohen's questions were, Shaheen's reactions and answers were, under the circumstances, quite excellent as well.................certainly about as good as could reasonably be expected, given the results Shaheen was being asked to explain.
Without remembering the exact questions, I recall that one of Cohen's first questions was a real haymaker..............and, to their mutual credit, both Cohen and Holloway "let their conversation breathe" through a two......... or maximum three........... second silence before Shaheen delivered a responsive, cogent and intelligent answer that did not excuse what happened last night but did not leave any embarrassed victims underneath any buses.
Cohen was then able to effectively follow-up without appearing to "badger" Shaheen and both gentlemen performed their necessary duties at what I considered to be a high level of performance.
Gary Cohen has been recognized as an outstanding performer in his field for many years, so no surprises there.
However, with respect to Mr. Holloway, I viewed what I heard last night as a real measure of professional growth. The Shaheen Holloway of three or more years ago would not have done as well, IMO and I would have had concerns about how well he'd come across in such a situation. No such concerns last night........and the fact that he went down the road he did suggests that Cohen, who knows Shaheen much better than I ever will.............harbored no such concerns either.................since I doubt that Gary would have wanted to trigger any dialogue that would only serve to make anyone appear to be foolish or make himself appear to be bullying anyone.
Just three experienced professionals (Cohen, Popkin and Holloway) doing their job well at a very trying time.
What does this portend for Shaheen ? From my perspective, you can simply cross "Media/Public Relations" off any list of reasons why Shaheen Holloway could NOT be a successful NCAA MBB Division I Head Coach/Program Manager. Does this mean that he should be a candidate to immediately replace his current boss ? I will leave that for others to debate, as to whether the pros of his contacts with returning players outweigh any preference for him to first get Head Coach experience on a stage smaller than the Big East.
For now, it's enough for me to be proud, as a Seton Hall fan, of whatever SHU may have contributed to Shaheen Holloway's development, either from his years as a student or his years as an employee. Even our downtrodden present Head Coach Willard (from his time at both Iona and SHU) can be justifiably proud of Shaheen's current growth and expected future development during and after his time as Kevin's subordinate.
Those are my positive thoughts on what otherwise comes across as a sad time for the team from South Orange.
Better days are coming.......................
