As someone who has been very critical of Willard here, I have to give him his due that he has done a hell of a job with this team this season. I am pumped that this team is gonna make the tourney and think we can do some damage if we get in the right bracket. So pumped, let's go......
Willard
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Who is doing a better job than KW? Every aspect of our game is vastly improved and the players have all shown great personal growth. We play defense as good as anyone. I am amazed at the turnaround.
And if (hopefully when) we are dancing, my guess is that an extension will be agreed to. Frankly, by year 6, we should be making the tournament. That is more than enough time for a coach to develop a program. Bringing in Antigua and Tiny were controversial (especially the latter), but it basically landed us Angel, Carrington, Whitehead and Desi. If that results in us making the tourney and leads to continuing success, I'm fine with it, even as much as I disdain the whole Morton situation.
Sportsfanatic had the onions to come on board and make his mea culpas.
But the silence of the other naysayers as they say is deafening. Frank
But the silence of the other naysayers as they say is deafening. Frank
I remember people complaining last year he got a secret extension. Maybe this is another NO, NO, NO, NO, YES!!!!!!!!! moment in basketball.
It is much more than just that. If you don't see that, well I don't know what to say.
He has done an outstanding job this season on nearly all fronts.
Also missing, where are the posters on this board who are posting all over game threads, basically hijacking them with every small in-game miscue that they jump and turn into a bash Willard. This was happening a few games ago. As soon as the Pirates win, they just disappear. Those are the posters that have an agenda. I swear then don't want the Pirates to win. How can you go form dozens of posts talking about all the negativity, and when they win....they don't post.
I think the balance sheet has to be taken into consideration. I am absolutely thrilled at the turn around but in fairness the prior years performance by Willard was rather dismal.Many of the posters are just as loyal as the next person but had grown weary .Too nit pick at this stage of the game is somewhat baffling, and hope that everyone gets on board. Willard for whatever reasons is not the same guy he was before, and so maybe it is time for us to believe that this is our time, and he deserves credit as he deserved criticism before.
I would hold off on any extension talk. Willard has a multi year contract in place and this is more than adequate for now. I love our team and I am thankful that our school can at least achieve some value from Willard's present contract.
Pretty much asked and answered between these two posts. You take the whole body of work into account. In six years Willard has done little to put SHU on the map. on the court it has been 5 miserable years with tiny bright spots like in 2012-13 and for about a week last year. Off the court the record is better than Gonzo, but not beyond reproach (team meltdowns over internal conflict, players acting out physically).
This year he has his team on the bubble (on the right side right now). Right in this thread you've got people talking another extension already. I don't think I'm with them yet. I'm thrilled with the team this year, and I'm happy with the direction. I'm enjoying the games and waiting to see how Willard holds it together down the stretch. If we get to the tourney, Willard will get all the praise for it.
The entire staff deserves praise. It is a team effort by them. The player development and scouting is off the charts this season. Also the recruiting has taken a huge turn by the staff with the staff working all angles of HS coaching and AAU guys.
Perhaps Pat Lyons had more insight into the problems last year than we did
Perhaps Pat Lyons had more insight into the problems last year than we did
Willard has been a revelation this year. It's been noticeable all season long. This is a team that is well organized and has a leader.
He's take a lot of heat over the years and justifiably so, which makes it an even better story. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit and glad to see it.
Almost there.
He's take a lot of heat over the years and justifiably so, which makes it an even better story. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit and glad to see it.
Almost there.
Here is the problem. If these are the type of kids he needs to win. Then he needs to consistently bring these type of kids in. Tiny and Antigua aren't here anymore. So will he continue to get top kids now that he doesn't have a high school coach of the best player in the area on staff.
The best thing that can happen is that the team makes a deep run into the tournament and Willard is hired away by another school. That would be the culmination of a dream season.
Has Willard improved this season. Yes. The best example of that is when he sat Delgado, Whitehead and Desi at the Creighton game. But until he can show that he can land a class like the IW, Desi, Whitehead, Delgado, Ish class consistently, I still don't think he is a good fit here at Seton Hall.
Has Willard improved this season. Yes. The best example of that is when he sat Delgado, Whitehead and Desi at the Creighton game. But until he can show that he can land a class like the IW, Desi, Whitehead, Delgado, Ish class consistently, I still don't think he is a good fit here at Seton Hall.
Exactly. He has done a great job this year though. They'll dance this year and if everyone comes back they should do some serious damage next year.
However, we all know how he landed that recruiting class. He has followed it up with a poor recruiting class last year and another one so far this year. It's still very hard for me to see Willard having long term success here. He would need to land a top 20 recruiting class every 2-3 years for that to happen.
I still think the program will be better off if/when he leaves. Pat Lyons and Willard will look like heroes to most of the fans and we can go out and find a real coach.
You need the winning to improve the recruiting now. This group could hang 2-3 Tournaments on the wall by the time they're Seniors. Now you're talking perennial. Now you're relevant, a draw, on radars.
It should get easier if we make noise in the NCAA Tournament consistently. That will absolutely be a huge boost to the recruiting.
It should get easier if we make noise in the NCAA Tournament consistently. That will absolutely be a huge boost to the recruiting.
I agree that if that happens recruiting will improve. I really hope it does happen and the good recruiting follows. It would be a boon for everyone.
Par deserves a lot of respect for what he does beyond just men's basketball. The facilities are tremendously improved, we are developing strong academic athletes, even the women's golf program is a success. He has really done a lot. And he does a really good job ( as does Felt) with boosters and larger donors to the program. SHU is not Nova and we are not a rich athletic department by any stretch. Given what we do have, he and his assistants have done a really nice job. If you gave an opportunity go take a detailed tour of our facilities and think what they were like just 5 years ago. Very impressive stuff.
I am not saying give him another extension, but I am comfortable with him as HC. Powell was a good get. We seem to be doing a good job recruiting right now, with local interest better than it has been in years. The team has made great improvement this year's and the players have made great strides individually. Any potential speed bumps have been handled and we keep going strong.
The last two months have been an awfully fun ride and I'm excited as the next guy, that the team is poised for the first NCAA in a long time. Evaluate when the season is over and take a step back and assess the past, present and trajectory of the program.
When you judge Willard and the staff in the moment vs. overall, it obviously skews the thinking one way or another.
When you judge Willard and the staff in the moment vs. overall, it obviously skews the thinking one way or another.
@shu09 my point was that he is doing an outstanding job. It's very difficult to win in a league like the big east without top tier talent. Now that he has acquired that talent I think we are seeing his true coaching skill.
How was last year (im assuming you mean Singh/Carter/Soffer) and this year (assuming you mean Powell) poor?
How do you know Singh and Carter can't become good 4 year players? Singh has done more this year than Ismael did last year and that seems to be working.
Also, aside from the 2014 super class Powell looks like one of the better recruits we have gotten in a while. We had 1 scholarship and filled it with a consensus top 150 player from NJ. That seems pretty good for me.
We will never get top 20 classes year in and year out he just has to make his living getting solid 3-4 star players consistently and let them grow together. I dont know if he can do it but its not as impossible as you make it seem.
I was very skeptical after the Creighton debacle with our past history/pattern of collapsing, and in my opinion with good reason. I wanted him and team to succeed and saw very talented players, however, had serious doubts. Williard and players proved me wrong and I am extremely happy to be incorrect. Great job by Williard this year. Also give credit to assistants and Gordon for being the leader this team desperately needed. Keep it up and this could be a memorable couple of months.
That's my point. We've seen enough of Willard to know that if he doesn't have elite players he can't win. It's not like he's in year 3 at Seton Hall. He would need to replicate last years class every 2-3 years to build a consistent winner. I don't think Willard will be around long enough to have to worry about that.
Batts, I was all in with the pessimism, but man, nothing on the board is like last year. Almost everyone has moved substantially back towards the positive. And, it's not a binary function, where people who are MORE optimistic than they previously were should still be tarred with the pessimist brush. That regularly bothers me, that posters of all stripes group others into two buckets. It's just not that way, it's a spectrum.
For myself, I've got to see sustainment of this journey, but in the main, I'm having such a wonderful time watching this team and seeing that our coach really is NOT the deer in headlights this year. It's refreshing - *and* - it must be sustained. That's generally optimistic. I think it's reasonable and I think you would generally agree, right?
Some posters have an agenda. Both positive and negative.
Like pointing out every negative post, for example.
Like pointing out every negative post, for example.
He's done a good job with the team this year so I'm enjoying the ride, but that doesn't make me blind to everything that's happened. Also, I really don't think you can say recruiting has turned the corner. The classes he has brought in since the big one are the bare minimum for a Big East team, if that. Some of you may classify that as pessimist. I'd say it is the ability to read a numbered list where our number was much higher than our peer group. Anyway, good job with the team this year, which I believe was the point of the thread rather than yet another witchhunt by the overly sensitive retiree community on here.
Is Willard a better coach then he was last year? Yes.
Does he have better control of his locker room this year then in the past? Absolutely.
Are the players on the same page as the coaches this year ? Yes.
Have those freshman players from last year matured and developed where they're performing much better giving Willard the ability to ask more of them. Without a doubt .
Does Kevin have a deeper bench then at any other time during his tenure? Yes.
Is his recruiting where we need it to be? No .
Kevin is making solid progress as a coach and has improved a number of the weaknesses he's had in the past and he's done a really solid job this year. Yet he's still a work in progress and he's got to upgrade his recruiting and to be a consistent winner you have to have players ready to step in of equal or better talent when players leave either to turn pro or graduate or transfer .
Does he have better control of his locker room this year then in the past? Absolutely.
Are the players on the same page as the coaches this year ? Yes.
Have those freshman players from last year matured and developed where they're performing much better giving Willard the ability to ask more of them. Without a doubt .
Does Kevin have a deeper bench then at any other time during his tenure? Yes.
Is his recruiting where we need it to be? No .
Kevin is making solid progress as a coach and has improved a number of the weaknesses he's had in the past and he's done a really solid job this year. Yet he's still a work in progress and he's got to upgrade his recruiting and to be a consistent winner you have to have players ready to step in of equal or better talent when players leave either to turn pro or graduate or transfer .
Count me with shuttle on this one -- minus the unnecessary smarmy remark about age. I'm about 10 years your senior, and you will see how fast 40 rolls around, my friend.
Willard has done a good job this year, and that is commendable. What he needs is to have the team finish strong, rather than the annual swoon. Really, then, to be considered the coach we're all comfortable with, he needs to do it again next year, and refill the positions as they become available.
All good signs, in season, thus far: some early drama with Desi and benching his stars seems to have worked out well. They come out and beat Georgetown in the wake of some knucklehead's really stupid actions, they're winning on the road. Anyone who wanted Willard gone, even as recently as the Creighton game, shouldn't have to apologize for feeling that way. If we somehow lose the next 4 in a row, we'll have the subjects of the original poster's scorn ruling the day, here.
Randy Bennett, Fran Dunphy, Gregg Marshall, Chris Mooney, Leon Rice, Bob McKillop, Tim Cluess, Michael White to name a few.
Rankings are not a big deal if you are a coach that is good at developing players and recruit guys that fit your system.
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