The tech was aweful. He challanged a C-level ref who is just begging for a reputation and paid the price. It came in the middle of Bama run and served absolutely no purpose. Lutz doesn’t work the officials, he whines and annoys them. He is the coach who cries wolf. He bitches so much that it loses all effect. Gotta pick your spots Bobby, and that was not one of them.
Bringing Sager into the game, in a Bama foul situation, only to run an inbounds play to put Plavmiss on the line is insane. They were down 2 and had to foul and Lutz thought it was a good idea to put our statisitically worst free throw shooter on the line. Of course Plavich missed both.
He came into the game shooting 28% from the line and his 1-4 performance dropped that average. Marvelous. For those that feel I am mistaken, that baseline inbounds is a play we have run since Jobey was here. The original inbounder always receives the ball back. Bobby decided that Plavich should decide the game. Sager or Baldwin would have ended the game right there.
How about Lutz calling Plavich’s number twice on the final play of overtime periods? What the hell is he thinking? Especially down one in the 3rd OT…WTF would you ever run a play to shoot a baseline 3 pointer from the corner for? You have got to be kidding me.
Withers was finally fed the ball in the low post tonight. He got it there exactly 3 times and scored all three. During the last 5 minutes of regulation and the 3 OT periods, Withers got zero touches on the low block and had zero points.
Heres the deal, I don’t blame Plavmiss, It’s not his fault. Bobby is the one calling his number and letting him fire at will. Lutz is stubborn and that is why he will continue to cram Plavich down our throats.
In Bobby’s mind, Plav is a great free throw shooter and he is gonna prove it to us by purposely putting him on the line at an inappropriate time. He lets Plav shoot at will because he is certain that he didn’t make a mistake in evaluating talent. He gets out coached because he is too stubborn to make adjustments. I thought Rutgers taught us that but apparently not.
We have lost to one good team, one average team and have beat three losers. What next coach?
You’re all over it PI. If I may add one thing…
[b]During the last 5 minutes of regulation and the 3 OT periods, Withers got zero touches on the low block and had zero points.[/b]
Can you guess who was on Withers for most of that time with 4 fouls?
“Kennedy Winston scored six of his 33 points in the third overtime and blocked a shot down the stretch to give 22nd-ranked Alabama a 102-101 win over Charlotte at the Dale F. Halton Arena.”
I completely agree with you PI. Bobby has a ton of talent on this team and it’s hard to stomach the way we play. This was my first game this season but it could have been any game out of the past few seasons. Same old crap. Off balance 3s, ill advised 3s, no perimeter defense, getting boxed out on both ends of the court, and HORRIBLE FT SHOOTING. We had about 20 chances to win that game.
What kills me is his faith in Plavich. I work with a Vandy grad and he said that Plav and Stallings didn’t get along because Plav didn’t buy into Stallings’ system. Stallings told him to either play within the system or get packing. Lutz would never instill this type of discipline.
Even if we won this game last night, I would still say that we are the most undisciplined team in America night in and night out. Our program is at a crossroads and it’s clear because Lutz is a great recruiter but a poor X and O coach. I posted this summer that I was concerned about the future of our program and all of those concerns resurfaced tonight.
We cannot make it to the next level with Lutz as coach and I hope Judy Rose can see this. However, I think the administration is fine with just being a team built for a couple of upsets per year and perhaps making the 1st round of the NCAAs every year. The real concern comes next year when we’re in a crappy A-10 and there’s no Louisville or Cincy game.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that we are probably stuck with Lutz and as much as I like the guy personally, his style is flat out not designed to win basketball games fundamentally. I feel sorry for every kid who comes to one of our games and thinks that that is the way to play the game. I honestly hope to see a new regime in there next season, but unfortunately it will not happen.
And for Lefty and every other Lutz supporter out there, I just have to ask you to open your eyes and see how badly we get outcoached every game and it really sucks when we have some really good talent year in and year out.
I think I’ve said enough but Lutz’ style HAS TO GO, and I hope it happens…
ATL, I agree with most everything you have to say. This is what our program is. With good recruiting and poor coaching, we will beat teams that we simply out talent, but we wont ever overachieve. Get used to your underachieving Niners. 1st round exits a plenty. Is it the best we can do? Maybe. I guess I’m just expecting too much. I used to think we did the best with what we had, but lately, I’m convinced that even if we had Shaq on our team, we would see players shoot off balance 30 footers at an alarming place or run out to the 3 pt line on a 3 on 1 fast break. We just need to have tempered expectations, because no matter how much talent we have, we definitely have a handicap in every game when it comes to smart basketball and fundamentals. Sad.
[i]Originally posted by ATL_Niner[/i]@Dec 5 2004, 08:12 AM
[b] I completely agree with you PI. Bobby has a ton of talent on this team and it's hard to stomach the way we play. This was my first game this season but it could have been any game out of the past few seasons. Same old crap. Off balance 3s, ill advised 3s, no perimeter defense, getting boxed out on both ends of the court, and HORRIBLE FT SHOOTING. We had about 20 chances to win that game.
What kills me is his faith in Plavich. I work with a Vandy grad and he said that Plav and Stallings didn’t get along because Plav didn’t buy into Stallings’ system. Stallings told him to either play within the system or get packing. Lutz would never instill this type of discipline.
Even if we won this game last night, I would still say that we are the most undisciplined team in America night in and night out. Our program is at a crossroads and it’s clear because Lutz is a great recruiter but a poor X and O coach. I posted this summer that I was concerned about the future of our program and all of those concerns resurfaced tonight.
We cannot make it to the next level with Lutz as coach and I hope Judy Rose can see this. However, I think the administration is fine with just being a team built for a couple of upsets per year and perhaps making the 1st round of the NCAAs every year. The real concern comes next year when we’re in a crappy A-10 and there’s no Louisville or Cincy game.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that we are probably stuck with Lutz and as much as I like the guy personally, his style is flat out not designed to win basketball games fundamentally. I feel sorry for every kid who comes to one of our games and thinks that that is the way to play the game. I honestly hope to see a new regime in there next season, but unfortunately it will not happen.
And for Lefty and every other Lutz supporter out there, I just have to ask you to open your eyes and see how badly we get outcoached every game and it really sucks when we have some really good talent year in and year out.
I think I’ve said enough but Lutz’ style HAS TO GO, and I hope it happens… [/b]
[b]I think I've said enough but Lutz' style HAS TO GO, and I hope it happens...[/b]
Well, I don’t think Lutz will change his ways. He will continue to force feed us this junk.
For those who want him out, you should know that he is under contract for I think 3 more years after this. We mortgaged the house to come up with the money for his contract extension and cannot afford to pay him and another head coach so unless he quits, we are coached by him.
Post of the year! Hallelujah ATL and PI…you have crystallized my (and many others) thoughts perfectly - making a point that I guess I’ve been completely ineffective at getting across. “Fire Lutz” apparently rubs too many Lutz toadies the wrong way…did I mention Steve Lavin and Jim Harrick are available?
[b]or run out to the 3 pt line on a 3 on 1 fast break.[/b]
That fast break where Plavich was 2 on one with Basden was on of the most selfish and stupidest plays I have ever seen. Instead of going to the basket, making the defender commit and dishing to Basden, Plavich gave it up early to Basden so he could draw the lone defender while Plavich set up for a 3 pointer, which he missed.
What kind of team takes a 2 on 1 fast break and turns it into a 3 point attempt? What is Lutz doing allowing this to take place? It makes me sick to my stomach to watch.
Some quick thoughts (keep in mind I couldn’t watch the game, only listen).
Plavich helped put the game in overtime with a big 3. Missed FTs or not, he gets credit for that.
I asked the guys in the chat room last night if they could come up with one example where a coach pulls his senior captain/co-captain that handles the ball at the end of a game. The only one we came up with is Shaq and that’s not really the same. If you can think of one, please post it.
As for Plav’s missed FTs, that sucked. But so did Iti and Withers bonking some at the end. The guy is shooting horribly, but I honestly think you’ve got to rely on him to make one at some point.
As for the end of the 3rd OT, the final play was run for Basden. He had the ball, it got knocked out of bounds (again, I didn’t see the game), then on the next inbounds (which didn’t come after a timeout) Plavich got the shot.
As for Withers, he disappeared in OT. According to the 3 radio announcers (swierad, williams and Lane Odom, who provided some good insight, btw), they put it on Withers. They said his first touch in OT, where he tried to pass to Iti and turned it over, he looked like he didn’t want the ball. Take that for what it’s worth.
This loss was extremely frustrating. But I don’t see how you can put it on one player/coach, especially with all the opportunities we had to win. A number of players could have sealed the deal and didn’t. If you want to blame the refs, though, that’s another matter.
[i]Originally posted by Florida49er[/i]@Dec 5 2004, 10:39 AM
[b] Some quick thoughts (keep in mind I couldn't watch the game, only listen).
Plavich helped put the game in overtime with a big 3. Missed FTs or not, he gets credit for that.
I asked the guys in the chat room last night if they could come up with one example where a coach pulls his senior captain/co-captain that handles the ball at the end of a game. The only one we came up with is Shaq and that’s not really the same. If you can think of one, please post it.
As for Plav’s missed FTs, that sucked. But so did Iti and Withers bonking some at the end. The guy is shooting horribly, but I honestly think you’ve got to rely on him to make one at some point.
As for the end of the 3rd OT, the final play was run for Basden. He had the ball, it got knocked out of bounds (again, I didn’t see the game), then on the next inbounds (which didn’t come after a timeout) Plavich got the shot.
As for Withers, he disappeared in OT. According to the 3 radio announcers (swierad, williams and Lane Odom, who provided some good insight, btw), they put it on Withers. They said his first touch in OT, where he tried to pass to Iti and turned it over, he looked like he didn’t want the ball. Take that for what it’s worth.
This loss was extremely frustrating. But I don’t see how you can put it on one player/coach, especially with all the opportunities we had to win. A number of players could have sealed the deal and didn’t. If you want to blame the refs, though, that’s another matter. [/b]
[b]Plavich helped put the game in overtime with a big 3. Missed FTs or not, he gets credit for that.[/b]
He took 14 three pointers. Eventually a couple will go in. He took a bunch of bad shots and missed 2 huge free throws but again I will say it is not Plavich’s fault. This is a Lutz problem because he is the allowing all of it to take place.
Bobby should have also called a timeout before Withers got that 5 second call. Bobby saw that the ref was counting and was yelling at Withers, but apparently Withers didn’t hear him. Lutz should have seen that coming and called a timeout first. That was a huge turnover late in the game… if we hang on to the ball and score on that posession we could have won in regulation.
Let’s not tear players apart on the team. Attack Lutz. I dont’ believe in trashing a player on our team when he is doing what he is told. Take it out on the coach. I am not sure this loss is 100% on Lutz but the last play was TERRIBLE and I blame it on Lutz.
PI…don’t forget the fact that Lutz was still having Withers run around the court like a madman in that ridiculous trapping defense into the third overtime. I mean, what was that? THREE OVERTIMES and you’ve still got your guys trapping all over the court?? Not only is it just stupid b/c the guys are tired as hell, but it created many open shots for Bama when we didn’t recover. Absolutely terrible.
How about Davis fouling out and so we immediately have mismatches down low but not only do we not go to Withers, but we don’t even put Iti back into the game. Pitiful.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi[/i]@Dec 5 2004, 11:08 AM
[b] For those who want him out, you should know that he is under contract for I think 3 more years after this. We mortgaged the house to come up with the money for his contract extension and cannot afford to pay him and another head coach so unless he quits, we are coached by him. [/b]
Although we need to, we cant get rid of Lutz right now. But it is time to start thinking about getting another coach and not renewing Lutz's contract after 2008. What do we need to do? We dont have the salary available to afford a better coach, how do we raise that? We need to start taking resumes and scouting other schools assistant coaches. Start letting Judy know that we dont want Bobby back if he cant improve this team.
[i]Originally posted by bobblinlutz[/i]@Dec 5 2004, 01:57 PM
[b] PI...don't forget the fact that Lutz was still having Withers run around the court like a madman in that ridiculous trapping defense into the third overtime. I mean, what was that? THREE OVERTIMES and you've still got your guys trapping all over the court?? Not only is it just stupid b/c the guys are tired as hell, but it created many open shots for Bama when we didn't recover. Absolutely terrible.
[/b]
Perhaps you noticed that Ronald STeele had fouled out and they had to play Albert Weber, a frosh 2G, at the point?
Nevermind. It’s a waste of time. Either every move he makes has to be good or they all have to be bad, there’s no in bewteen with the peanut gallery.
That was a risk, but it was one I liked taking. Turns out Weber was too fresh.
[/b]