Are we ready to change?

[littleyote]

Hopefully we are moving forward from last nights disaster. Let's hope that Boots' quiet moments on the bench during the game were used to think deeply about his coaching technique. Boots is quietly becoming the side joke of the coaching community. After talking with several SDSU fans and USD alumni, and reading media tidbits, it is obvious that all (except for Boots) understand that playing a matchup zone is useless and ineffective most of the time in division 1 basketball.

Boots has stated that this team is not equipped to play man to man defense. These men are with Boots year 'round, coach them or teach how to play effective man defense in order to help propel their team into being competitive. Every successful coach known to man has stated that your offense is sparked by your defense.

Offensively, Nim and Bos need to be rotated in and out of the game to play designated point guard. Bos can shoot if the opportunity is there. Krogman needs to get open and shoot the 3, period. Westbrook should be encouraged to create and do his own thing. He needs lots of encouragement or he will shut down and become ineffective. Boots needs to use their individual strengths. The pick and roll at the top of the 3 point line is useless if you are not going to give the ball to Gruis if he is open.

All this accomplishes is putting Gruis out of position for the offensive rebound if you are not going to utilize him as an offensive threat. Along with this when Gruis breaks across the lane, throw the entry pass immediately, do not wait for the post player to catch up and start pushing Gruis so he has 2 things to worry about, catching the ball and maintaining his position. Once Gruis has the ball in his hand if the defender continues to push, it creates foul trouble for the opponents. We need to go back to the basics of an inside out game.

Steve, Ricardo and Allen will be available on the weak side for easy shots once Gruis starts drawing defenders to his side. He has excellent court vision and will find the open guy for easy shots.

All I heard from SDSU fans was "Wow you do not use your inside game" and "We shot many uncontested shots from the open holes in your defense." My only defense was, "USD fans have been saying this for several years now".

It seems Boots is willing to lose by 30 and blame his players and say they do not have the talent to compete rather than change his coaching techniques. I am sick of hearing the statement" we are not there yet in the transition, it takes time".

The only reason we are not there yet is the coach is not willing to adjust to the new level of play. Going into Saturdays game, after a 30 point loss we can only hope that Boots will implement some these changes and allow these players to succeed. It is my greatest fear that if these changes are not implemented soon, USD's recruiting chances will drop to below zero, along with maintaining his current recruits. :-

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

Little Yote, I had to modify your post and I put it in Paragraph form so it is a lot easier to read. Thanks for the post.

[#1CoyoteFan (Admin)]

I do have to say, if USD fans have been saying Boots has not used the inside game for years, then they missed the Tyler Cain years ...

[coyotega]

This is the next test for Saylor. State has a fair to good team but I am ready to move on. Hope that the effort to hire a new bb coach will produce someone on the upswing of their career.

[Coyote Fan]

For those interested go to the Jacks board and read some of the stuff they had to say about USD. I think many of the were genuine comments and that isn't always the easiest thing to get out of their fans.

I think Boots is burned out. Apparently he was sitting down for alot of the game with what seemed like little to no coaching being done. I think it is part burnout and maybe part frustration from having players that may not be as easily coached as was the case at the D2 level. I also think he knows he just simply doesn't have the horses to compete in this race. The players just are not showing much of an effort in comparison to the effort being shown against them by most teams.

This is how I am predicting things will play out from now over the next 15 months. I believe Boots will be retained after this season. I think he will coach Jordan through next year and when he graduates I think Dave will call it a career. I think for 3 reasons. First being that he will realise that it's simply the time for the Coyotes to go with some new blood. Second I think it will be because of simple burnout. Third I think from the struggle through the Summit League and from a bit of pressure from Sayler and or other boosters. It will basically be a joint decision between Dave and Sayler.

I believe Sayler will be much more carefull to tred more lightly with Boots than with Ed. Some people liked Ed some maybe not. I would say most liked him. With Dave it's nearly universal that people like and respect him. Whether he is the right direction for USD at this point is up to ones own perception. I think even Jackrabbit fans will admit that Boots was an admirable coach and that might even come from some of the most anti-USD Rabbit fans.

Whether it's 1 year, 5 years or 20 more years when Boots is done coaching at USD he is going to be one of the most appreciated coaches of all time. I mean when he comes to games or gets recognized people are going to applaud every time. I would have no problem if the new basketball arena has something major associated with it named after him. Boots has put basketball on the map at the U. I will never forget the teams he put on the court in the early to mid 90's. Those were truley the golden years of USD basketball under Boots.

[lynn]

I trust Boots to be able to coach players however what I am unsure at this point is what is the staff's abililty to recruit at a level that gives them a chance in the Summit. I have no problem giving Boots a couple more years after all his tenure at USD and winning performance. Right now they simply don't have the offensive fire power to compete but hopefully the level of recruits will rise in the next couple years. If that doesn't happen then a change gonna come.

[jman1985]

Boots has said privately that they just have to get through this year. Remember, the Coyotes have Juevol Myles redshirting this year....he could be an all-league type of guard. And Terrell Brown has a unique lefty jumper, he could be a nice slasher type. I dont believe USD is done recruiting for 2012, they could probably add 1-2 players in the spring.

But yes, in reading the previous posts, there's definitely a growing frustration right now. If the play continues like this for the next month and a half, it'll be a loooonnnnnng spring and summer in Coyote world.

[GoYotes]

I think we need to keep perspective. This is our 4th year of transition. They went 3-15 in the Summit in the 2007-2008 season, which was Year 4 for them in the transition process. I also think the Summit is a tougher league top to bottom than it was 4 years ago. I am not saying that SDSU should be our model for the transition as until the last couple of seasons, their transtion was brutal. But we do need to keep perspective.