The Lion King
Senior
Posts: 394
Reg: 11-21-04
|
03-29-07 06:07 PM - Post#34156
The headlines at the top of this page include a Time story asserting that questions about whether JTIII would succeed at Georgetown were motivated by racism. Lenn Robbins makes much the same charges in today's New York Post:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03292007/spo...enn_robbins.htm
and I'm sure that many other sportswriters are saying the same thing.
Now, it's very common to wonder about a new coach's prospects, especially when he's bringing in something as unusual as the Princeton offense. Is there any actual evidence that people who speculated about Georgetown actually had race in mind--especially since Thompson is black himself? Or is it just the usual circular argument where you assume the existence of racism in order to prove the existence of racism?
|
sparman
PhD Student
Posts: 1347
Reg: 12-08-04
|
Re: who are you calling a racist?
04-02-07 01:40 AM - Post#34157
In response to The Lion King
Probably some people who said that were making race asumptions. I also bet some of the people who said it were questioning whether players used to a more wide open offense would have the discipline, regardless of race.
A side note is that, IMO, unfortunately JTIII's father tries to turn most issues into race issues, and he does it in a medium (radio) that keeps him front and center. At times it's sad to listen to him pursue this riff into silly arguments. Not that there aren't issues to be addressed, but it seems to be all he sees. I think some of the reaction you may hear about Georgetown now isn't to the son, who is not into Hoya Paranoia, but to the father, whose shadow lingers.
|
Brian Martin
Masters Student
Posts: 963
Loc: Washington, DC
Reg: 11-21-04
|
Re: who are you calling a racist?
04-09-07 04:34 PM - Post#34158
In response to sparman
I don't think racial stereotypes were invented by the media or imagined by John Thompson Jr. You can be sure that JT has received much more racial animosity than he has given. Read the message boards. The Sportsline forums had an especially Klanish thread about Georgetown two weeks ago. Now that Georgetown is back, every opponent's message board has a "thug" thread.
I note even on this board that the players who are described as not suited to the Princeton offense tend to be black, or, excuse me, "athletic" players.
The idea that at a jump shooter is suited to the offense while a dribble penetrator is not suited to it is just nonsense. The ability to dribble to draw a defender and then pass off the dribble to a cutter or shooter is a hell of a lot more important to the offense than being able to shoot a three. Unathletic guys who can only shoot are too easy to guard to be very useful in the Princeton offense or any other offense. The good Princeton teams always had a couple of guys who could beat people off the dribble and guys like Mason Rocca who set mean dribble screens, drive when they get a mismatch, rebound, and defend.
In my opinion, JTIII had much more trouble getting Princeton players to play the offense than he had with Georgetown players, even though the former were recruited to play it. Quite a few Princeton players over the years have thought they were complete players when they arrived and resisted critical instruction, or thought that they knew better than the coach what their roles should be.
I have watched the Georgetown team evolve over the past three years, and have concluded that the Hoya players are much more "coachable" than recent Princeton teams.
|
SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4914
Reg: 02-04-06
|
Re: who are you calling a racist?
04-09-07 11:23 PM - Post#34159
In response to Brian Martin
With the floor spread, driving ability is indeed hugely valuable. The Air Force guys this year drove like maniacs. In the NIT they had many more layups from drives than from backdoors. Of course, they were mostly good outside shooters, too, so the floor tended to stay spread. (BTW, some of the players there made comments hinting that Bezdelik might regret leaving AFA for Colorado because he would find the players' attitude different.)
Your comparison of the coachability of Princeton vs. Georgetown players is intriguing. I thought JTIII did a pretty good job of getting players to improve over his tenure. Whom did you have in mind as being resistant to instruction?
And since you mentioned him: Mason Rocca consistently made the toughest, most timely plays on rebounds and loose balls of any Princeton player I've seen. I think he may be underrated in lists of greatest players for the program. There was an article around here a while ago about how well he's been doing in Italian basketball, which confirmed my impression.
|
Brian Martin
Masters Student
Posts: 963
Loc: Washington, DC
Reg: 11-21-04
|
Re: who are you calling a racist?
04-10-07 01:04 PM - Post#34160
In response to SRP
I don't want to name names, but there were players who left the team even though they were getting playing time, and others who threatened to leave or who resisted the coaches' expectations that they work on improving the weaker points of their games. In particular, there were a few players who could shoot, but did not work to become better rebounders, defenders, or passers, and then did not understand why they did not start.
|
|
