levon1975 wrote:

Phildog wrote:

One thing about Ferry, he is consistent , remember how long it took him to bring a winner to his last team.

Now he had to come in to rebuild a program that the last coach only won 100 games in a strong conference that has a TV package and multiple NCAA teams. That is a real recruiting hurdle to over come by any measure.
Plus the players he brought in have forced him into playing zone and many fans want him fired.
Who would want to coach here for that kind of challenge or meager pay?

 Phil, I understand your sarcasm, but maybe a bit unfair in my opinion.  Ron certainly won some games, so I agree that his dismissal was surprising for a program that really struggled before he arrived,  but the cupboard was totally bare when Ferry took over.  There was nothing left.  Not blaming Ron, since he was fired during a recruiting period, but he was probably going to struggle pretty badly the following year, based upon the two players he had committed; neither of whom have done much in three years at their respective schools. 
Now I am not confusing Ferry with the great strategists of the game, but in contrast to tryting to build a team every year with incoming players, you will have a core of returning veterans next year, lead by two senior guards who are playing pretty well right now, a senior swingman who has become a good team player,and three developing forwards, who played their best basketball on Saturday, two unknowns in Castro and Markwell, that have at least benefitted by practicing all season with the team; and some depth coming off the bench.  I would suggest that we haven't seen anything like that heading into a season since Ron got shooting victims back for a one year run, with Reggie, Tuck and Achara.  This will be a team that should win, so Ferry has to produce; but let's give him that chance.

Good post Levon. Ron was in a tough spot even before TJ bailed (which I think the McConnells saw, and was a big reason TJ decided to leave). The team had a huge hole in the frontcourt, because the year before, Ron's three main recruits (Cheikh Fall, AJ West, and Shakore Grant) never got into school. This, combined with the departure of Joel Wright, and the failure of Andre Marhold to develop, really left Ron shorthanded. He had to scramble to fill those spots, and the kids he brought in were not nearly as good as what he expected to have. Ron had taken a bit of a gamble on those 3, which you sometimes have to do to get better players. Sometimes it blows up in your face, which is what happened here. It's a testament to Ron, BJ, and TJ, that they were able to squeeze a .500 record out of such a shorthanded team during Ron's last year, but without TJ, and BJ, that was not going to be a very good team. They just had nothing at all up front.
 

Last edited by duq81 (2/23/2015 5:27 pm)

NapaDuke wrote:

duq81 wrote:

levon1975 wrote:

 Phil, I understand your sarcasm, but maybe a bit unfair in my opinion.  Ron certainly won some games, so I agree that his dismissal was surprising for a program that really struggled before he arrived,  but the cupboard was totally bare when Ferry took over.  There was nothing left.  Not blaming Ron, since he was fired during a recruiting period, but he was probably going to struggle pretty badly the following year, based upon the two players he had committed; neither of whom have done much in three years at their respective schools. 
Now I am not confusing Ferry with the great strategists of the game, but in contrast to tryting to build a team every year with incoming players, you will have a core of returning veterans next year, lead by two senior guards who are playing pretty well right now, a senior swingman who has become a good team player,and three developing forwards, who played their best basketball on Saturday, two unknowns in Castro and Markwell, that have at least benefitted by practicing all season with the team; and some depth coming off the bench.  I would suggest that we haven't seen anything like that heading into a season since Ron got shooting victims back for a one year run, with Reggie, Tuck and Achara.  This will be a team that should win, so Ferry has to produce; but let's give him that chance.

Good post Levon. Ron was in a tough spot even before TJ bailed (which I think the McConnells saw, and was a big reason TJ decided to leave). The team had a huge hole in the frontcourt, because the year before, Ron's three main recruits (Cheikh Fall, AJ West, and Shakore Grant) never got into school. This, combined with the departure of Joel Wright, and the failure of Andre Marhold to develop, really left Ron shorthanded. He had to scramble to fill those spots, and the kids he brought in were not nearly as good as what he expected to have. Ron had taken a bit of a gamble on those 3, which you sometimes have to do to get better players. Sometimes it blows up in your face, which is what happened here. It's a testament to Ron, BJ, and TJ, that they were able to squeeze a .500 record out of such a shorthanded team during Ron's last year, but without TJ, and BJ, that was not going to be a very good team. They just had nothing at all up front.
 

You are right, they were gambles, like getting TJ as a soph. in HS. is a gamble, but that's what you do when you recruit at this level. Ron did have some big dissappointments once they got here, one was Marhold did not fill damien's shoes, but a lot of "Big" men prospect, never panned out, ( taking up space on the bench) That's why he mostly depended on faster, guard oriented teams with pressing defenses to get points away from the basket on forced turnovers.( His teams always won those stats) Those players were easier to recruit, they wanted to play his way and it work to a certain level.  The faster you keep the game moving the less important height is, but the slower the game gets, then height is almost the only factor. Look at the recent Dayton win. The Dukes kept them moving and the Dayton players not only couldn't keep up, but we out rebound them too.  Ferry's offense is fast enough to win every game, but his defense not. This zone depends on the opponents shootting accuracy, which is higher on ther home court and not so good at our court, thus our home-court record is GOOD and our away court record is not.  There are some poor perimeter shooting teams that a zone is perfect for, but most just are not.   Ferry needs to step up and coach some man to man defense, because, if these players are this fast on offense, then they are certainly fast enough to smother most team man to man on defense. I am beginning to wonder if Ferry really know enough to coach at this level? 

Oh, and let me add, that in the paper last week, before this game, Ferry said that the reason his zone wasn't working was that his perimeter players were NOT TALL ENOUGH to affect the perimeter shooters? REALLY?? How about blame yourself for sticking with a zone under all conditions, even though this season isn't going anywhere with this defense?? Maybe the coach isn't Big Enough?? But His Pay Is !!!  

Well, let's see who leaves after this year and how well the newcomers will be next year, I hope for the kids sake they can adjust and compete and be coached well.

We all want to see a winner at Duquesne and some fans return.