Life Update (if you care)
The tales of the wandering nomad continue. What a weekend. A quick update on the job front as I know some read to keep up with me. For those that read for semi-intelligent takes or bad jokes, skip ahead.
I had an amazing weekend in Connecticut. On Friday I had 5 meetings with ESPN. They were really more networking meetings than interviews as the powers that be there don't think I'm ready for that level yet (duh, I'm 22) but the meetings were very productive. Again, I can't thank all those that believe in me and have helped any way they can over the past month of my job hunt. I think we're getting close.
I then got to hang with my friend Caroline in Storrs. Wait. Caroline in Storrs? Like the basketball player? Yes. That Caroline. I mention this not to say "oh look at me, chillin with athletes" I could care less that she hoops past that a deep love of the game of basketball is something we have in common. If she wasn't a cool person, we wouldn't be friends. I bring it up to simply marvel at how ridiculously cool technology is. I have friends literally all over the country and I'm as close with people like Caroline as I am friends from school or home. That's pretty amazing since we had previously met in person once. Yet, because we can text/Skype/Facebook chat so easily that its easy to stay in touch. Nothing replaces face-to-face communication and quality time spent in person with friends and family, but being to maintain long distance relationships sure is, for lack of a better word, cool.
Down Goes #1
On Saturday, I got to see Caroline and her girls take on Notre Dame. It's I guess that at this point, I put the required disclaimer that I'm biased. I was there as a fan, rooting for my friend and her team in a UConn women's basketball shirt. Also this disclaimer: I would do it again this year and as long as she's involved with the team. Other than that, from any Cuse alum, this is completely against the rules. So, while I'm biased to Caroline and thus UConn, I think I'm capable of being biased and right. So some analysis from what was one hell of a game:
UConn lost by one as Skylar Diggins was money in the second half for the Irish. Early in the game Caroline got hurt and not long after Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis got bumped and bruised as well. Both continued to play, but if they're not hurt I think the game plays out differently.
For one, UConn's best stretch was the start of the second half when Caro was back in the game after sitting the entire first half post-ankle roll. She was running point which moved Bria Hartley off the ball and on a couple possessions she was able to take Diggins into the post. Stephanie Dolson was also able to get post touches. The offense was efficient and the defense was solid. If Geno had played Caroline more in the first half (she was good to go, but held out for precaution) and the offense functioned similarly, I don't think it's a game down the stretch. As for Mosqueda-Lewis, she had a wide open look for the win in the final seconds and the shot came out flat. If her legs had been 100%, perhaps that shot falls. Instead the Huskies did.
The biggest question following the game had to do with Connecticut's offense down the stretch. Breanna Stewart seemed to be taking way too many shots. I think she probably took a few too many but overall was getting good looks and just missed. Clearly the speed and strength of an elite opponent was too much for the freshman at times, but in the end Geno apparently thought that was his best option. Stefanie Dolson couldn't get post position all night - Notre Dame fronted her and
always had a help side defender in place to prevent the lob. Bria Hartley was covered by perhaps the nation's best perimeter defender in Diggins and Masqueda-Lewis wasn't at full strength. This left the ball in the hands of the ultra-talented frosh. She overall got make-able shots, but sometimes basketball is a simple game: Stewart missed shots while Diggins hit some ridiculous ones and the Irish emerged
victorious.
Instantaneous Random Rumble
I'm typing this on my iPad on a plane. I'm flying Jet Blue. I'm also listening to some music. Current song in the mix I'm playing "Racks"...yes this does mean I'm now singing "snacks on snacks on snacks" as I get my second bag of blue chips.
Marrone to the NFL
Bigger article on this topic is in a separate post and a Fizz post is coming on one of his possible replacements, but I need to re-iterate this: anyone who says Doug Marrone lied about Syracuse being his dream job is an idiot. Syracuse was his dream job, but he got it and he dreamed a new dream. It's called ambition. It's what makes successful people successful. It's the audacity to reach your dreams, dream new ones and chase them.
I'm not saying Marrone ever had an eye on the NFL and I don't think he initially took the job thinking it would be a stepping stone. In fact, I think if you told him he would be at Syracuse for less than 5 years, he would've looked at you like you we're an alien. Five years ago, I was a 150 pound high school senior bound for MTSU to be a music producer. Now I'm a less scrawny (aka jacked...okay not really) unemployed Syracuse grad looking in the mix for a major national sports radio gig. Circumstances change. That's how the world works.
Kobe on Twitter
Kobe Bryant has joined Twitter and we already have gotten a peek into the Mamba's mind. He's a psychopath and I mean that flattering. Every game drives him, even 17 years in. The Lakers are struggling and Kobe's not happy. This is a man who's played with a multitude of injuries from bum knees to broken fingers so the fact that Dwight Howard's back is allegedly holding him back is quite frankly pissing him off. Pissing him off more though is unquestionably Dwight's attitude. This brings us back to twitter, where Kobe was psychopathically introspective after a recent game (keep in mind, we're in early January in a regular season that runs through April). Not caring and not worrying isn't in Kobe's nature and it is Dwight's. Add that to Mike D'Antoni's stubborn cluelessness on how to use Pau Gasol and the Lakers could be in real trouble.
Until next time, Mamba out.
Showing posts with label doug marrone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doug marrone. Show all posts
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Marrone Leaves SU
So this is what it's like to have a good football team? No matter what level or conference your team is in, there's a price to be paid for success. Oregon has been in the BCS every year since Chip Kelly's arrival and now, for the second time in as many years he looks gone to the NFL. A team like Alabama pays in a different way. While Nick Saban swears he's not going anywhere, many if his players are. Syracuse has started to feel that pain too with Chandler Jones and Justin Pugh leaving in back to back seasons.
The price of success is real and in sports this is no surprise. Athletes and coaches, many of whom including Doug Marrone are former players, are as competitive as any group of people on earth. Part of being a competitor is wanting to test yourself against the best and this, above all, is the reason Doug Marrone left for the NFL.
Yes the money is better, but if money was equal, he'd still be gone. Some coaches like the college lifestyle better, but we know Marrone's a grinder and that's what it takes to succeed in the NFL. I know, I know - "but Syracuse was his dream job!" Right. It was. Was is past tense.
When you achieve your goals in life, do you stop? Do you cease to exist? Of course not. You create new goals. Certainly Doug Marrone could have set his eyes on making Syracuse a national powerhouse and make that the long term goal, but Marrone played and coached in the NFL so it's not far fetched that that became his new goal.
Marrone was the ideal NFL coaching candidate because he has both NFL and head coaching experience. The counter argument is he was only 25-25 in his four seasons on the hill. The counter argument to that counter argument (have I lost you yet?) is that he saved and resuscitated a program from the Groobers dumpster fire. He also was relatively competitive or won his biggest games - 3 straight against ranked WVU games, 2-0 in bowl games and respectable losses considering the talent disparity versus USC. Yes there was the collapse last year, but we later found out that team was as injury riddled as any in recent memory.
NFL teams clearly were able to look past that as the Bills were far from the only team after HCDM's services. In fact, Marrone had more teams after him than any other coach on the market. He also beat out Lovie Smith for the Bills job who went 10-6 last season with the Bears and only missed the playoffs because Christian Ponder had the game of his life.
In the end, we should all be sad Doug Marrone is leaving but glad he was here. Was his job done? Depends on who you ask. Of course we would have loved to see what he could have done with Zach Allen in the ACC. We would have loved to see him land that big recruit he was oh so close to with Ebenezer Ogundeko. However our beloved program is no longer a flaming sack of $#*% and we have Doug Marrone to thank for that.
Or, as my friend and fellow SU alum Chris Velardi tweeted:
Thanks Doug, good luck and here's to hoping Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn't turn your NFL dream into an interception filled nightmare.
The price of success is real and in sports this is no surprise. Athletes and coaches, many of whom including Doug Marrone are former players, are as competitive as any group of people on earth. Part of being a competitor is wanting to test yourself against the best and this, above all, is the reason Doug Marrone left for the NFL.
Yes the money is better, but if money was equal, he'd still be gone. Some coaches like the college lifestyle better, but we know Marrone's a grinder and that's what it takes to succeed in the NFL. I know, I know - "but Syracuse was his dream job!" Right. It was. Was is past tense.
When you achieve your goals in life, do you stop? Do you cease to exist? Of course not. You create new goals. Certainly Doug Marrone could have set his eyes on making Syracuse a national powerhouse and make that the long term goal, but Marrone played and coached in the NFL so it's not far fetched that that became his new goal.
Marrone was the ideal NFL coaching candidate because he has both NFL and head coaching experience. The counter argument is he was only 25-25 in his four seasons on the hill. The counter argument to that counter argument (have I lost you yet?) is that he saved and resuscitated a program from the Groobers dumpster fire. He also was relatively competitive or won his biggest games - 3 straight against ranked WVU games, 2-0 in bowl games and respectable losses considering the talent disparity versus USC. Yes there was the collapse last year, but we later found out that team was as injury riddled as any in recent memory.
NFL teams clearly were able to look past that as the Bills were far from the only team after HCDM's services. In fact, Marrone had more teams after him than any other coach on the market. He also beat out Lovie Smith for the Bills job who went 10-6 last season with the Bears and only missed the playoffs because Christian Ponder had the game of his life.
In the end, we should all be sad Doug Marrone is leaving but glad he was here. Was his job done? Depends on who you ask. Of course we would have loved to see what he could have done with Zach Allen in the ACC. We would have loved to see him land that big recruit he was oh so close to with Ebenezer Ogundeko. However our beloved program is no longer a flaming sack of $#*% and we have Doug Marrone to thank for that.
Or, as my friend and fellow SU alum Chris Velardi tweeted:
Perspective on Marrone to Bills. Last time a #Syracuse coach left, he was fired. This time he goes to the NFL. Program in much better shape.
— Chris Velardi (@cvelardi) January 6, 2013
Thanks Doug, good luck and here's to hoping Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn't turn your NFL dream into an interception filled nightmare.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Random Rumblings
There's a ton of stuff going on right now and I haven't written in a while so it's time to empty the mind brain on a few things. I was going to write today on the somewhat complicated place of Jim Boeheim in history, which is actually a stupid argument over semantics, but I think I'm going to save those thoughts for an Orange Fizz post. Normally I write there on Fridays, but tomorrow is the day Ebenezer Ogundeko announces and that will likely take precedent. Stay tuned to Twitter for the Boeheim article. On to the other sports related thoughts floating around my otherwise empty head:
Amare says he's never been told how to play defense:
Amare Stoudemire told reporters yesterday he's never been taught how to play defense until now, with Mike Woodson as the Knicks head coach. Stoudemire spent most of his career playing under Mike D'Antoni who is known as an offensive genius, but his teams have often been less than stellar defensively.
Defense is about three things: effort, instincts and positioning. Fixing Amare's defensive effort (if that's deemed a problem) is pretty easy. So much of defense is making a commitment to engage and push that extra little bit to get into position and make the right plays. However within a defensive scheme, which many average fans might not notice during a game, positioning is everything. The first step to stopping a drive to the basket isn't cutting off the ballhandler as he starts to go, it's the helpside defender already being in position so the drive never happens in the first place.
I learned a lot about defense during my two years at MTSU going to both Kermit Davis's and Rick Insell's practices. Great defenses are a step ahead of the offense. Rick had his girls work nearly every day on cutting off the cross court pass so many players make when they drive baseline and run out of room. Kermit screamed endlessly when his guys didn't get to the mid-line (an imaginary line that cuts the court into a left and right half) as that discouraged drives and put you in a perfect position to take a charge if the offense did try to come into the lane. These things can be taught, and it's shocking that in a 10 year NBA career, Amare's allegedly never gotten that coaching.
That said, he can learn and even a decade in can become a much better defender within a team context. However, it's not going to be easy as Amare clearly lacks superior defensive instincts. Two blocks per game should come easy to him based on his athleticism, however he's only hit that mark once in his career. Specifically being called into question is Amare's pick-and-roll defense. Stoudemire is considered one of the best pick-and-roll finishers in the league when healthy, yet he's never been able to turn that knowledge of how he reads and exploits basketball's most basic play offensively into defending it on the other end.
Marrone to the NFL
As a selfish Syracuse fan, I hope Doug Marrone stays in Orange. He said it's his dream job but as you achieve your dreams, you dream new ones and the reality is competitors want to compete at the highest level and no man is above a bigger paycheck. There's no doubt the NFL is the highest level of competition in football and Marrone has experienced that as a coach and as a player. We know he's interviewing for a number of jobs and it shouldn't surprise any of us if he takes one.
Marrone is a different kind of guy though and it wouldn't surprise me if he kicks the tires and decides to stay in Orange. He's got a new challenge ahead of him in moving to the ACC and while he's losing an NFL caliber quarterback in Ryan Nassib (I'm in still in disbelief that the previous statement is true, but it is even if he's a backup), he's gaining what many think is a future pro in Elite 11 QB Zach Allen and the chance to develop him could be one of the many reasons Marrone eventually winds up staying in Orange.
The bigger question is what does SU do if the two-time Pinstripe Bowl winner Dougies up to the NFL. Based off per speculation and minimal logic, here are SU's two best options in my mind:
1) Jim Tressel, former Ohio State Head Coach
We all know he left in a terrible manor from Ohio State, however how bad was it really? We all hate the NCAA's stupid rules, yet see a guy like Tressel as a horrible person for not following them? I can get over that. Tressel is an offensive minded guy who would be good for Allen and he's spent some time at SU as well as the QB Coach in 1981-82. He's an Ohio guy which is one of Syracuse's crucial recruiting areas and he might be willing to keep the defensive staff in place. This leads me to candidate number two.
2) Scott Shafer, SU Defensive Coordinator
I think we'd all agree we'd gladly take more of what Marrone is building, so why not just shift some pieces around and keep rolling? Shafer's a coaching lifer who's defensive resume is incredibly impressive. His players love playing for him and that's a key part of being a head coach. He preaches accountability (like Marrone) and that every man must simply do his job. I don't know if Shafer has head coaching chops because I'm not around him every day and he's never had to make clock management decisions, etc (some guys are meant to be coordinators) but I wouldn't be mad if he was given a shot.
Making the Jump
On top of Marrone, a ton of other college coaches could be making the jump to the pros including Oregon's Chip Kelly. The debate is endless on whether his uptempo system could work in the NFL, but I think the answer is clearly maybe. So decisive. I know.
There would have to be some changes and Kelly would absolutely have to have the right personnel to make it all work. The question is how realistic is getting that personnel (definitely possible) and will those small changes be enough to make the whole thing not work (maybe). I know if I was a GM/owner I'd be willing to find out and I wish the owner of my team would take that shot. Cam Newton cost Chip Kelly his best shot at a national title game in January of 2011 when Cam's Auburn team beat Kelly's Oregon Ducks on a last second field goal. To make his system work, Kelly needs a versatile and mobile quarterback and an army of running backs. No team fits that model better than the Panthers who have Newton to go with Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart (a pre-Kelly Oregon Duck) and Mike Tolbert in the backfield.
Both coaches in this year's national title game will also be on NFL radars. Brain Kelly is ahead of schedule at Notre Dame being in the national title game this year. If I'm him, I'd wait. Even though this team was carried by the defense, the experience it's younger players, especially freshman quarterback Everett Golson, have gotten is invaluable. Perhaps the Irish can be right back in the title game a few times in the next few seasons and Kelly can leave in a few years tens of millions of dollars richer and a Notre Dame legend.
If Alabama wins Monday night, Nick Saban would only be further cementing his status as a legend in Tuscaloosa. That would make 3 titles in four years and at that point, what's the point? The NFL is the one thing Saban never mastered and for as competitive as he is, that has to eat at him. He spent two years with the Dolphins and got screwed over by his own medical staff who didn't clear Drew Brees. That meant the Dolphins had to sign Daunte Culpepper who was mediocre in 2005, got hurt and was had to be benched in 2006 for Joey Harrington who was so bad he got benched for something named Cleo Lemon. With that (whatever that combination of awful is) at quarterback over two years, he went 15-17 which is far from the abject disaster that everyone seems to make Saban's time in the NFL out to be. If Saban wins, he should go. Why not, unless he's comfortable crushing it in college, having a lighter work load and making NFL money. While that sounds awesome to most of us, the 61 year old Saban is an uber-competitor and he doesn't have that much time left if he still has an NFL itch to scratch.
#TallPeopleProblems
Tweet of the day (which I've never done before, but might do again) comes from former Syracuse center Fab Melo. Ol' Fabricio got called up from the D-League yesterday! Is it because he's averaging 10.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 3.8 bpg? Is it because on Dec. 26th he had 32 points, 9 boards and 9 blocks? Nope! It's because he ran into a door at a hotel and got a concussion. In order to be treated by the Celtics team doctors, he has to be on the active roster and thus he got called up. As for Melo:
I don't even break 6 feet, so I won't ask. The world isn't designed for people his size so I'll cut him some slack. Hell, I hit my head on a car door last week. It happens. As long as he's okay, we can laugh about it and knowing Fab's light-hearted personality, he'll laugh right along with us.
Amare says he's never been told how to play defense:
Amare Stoudemire told reporters yesterday he's never been taught how to play defense until now, with Mike Woodson as the Knicks head coach. Stoudemire spent most of his career playing under Mike D'Antoni who is known as an offensive genius, but his teams have often been less than stellar defensively.
Defense is about three things: effort, instincts and positioning. Fixing Amare's defensive effort (if that's deemed a problem) is pretty easy. So much of defense is making a commitment to engage and push that extra little bit to get into position and make the right plays. However within a defensive scheme, which many average fans might not notice during a game, positioning is everything. The first step to stopping a drive to the basket isn't cutting off the ballhandler as he starts to go, it's the helpside defender already being in position so the drive never happens in the first place.
I learned a lot about defense during my two years at MTSU going to both Kermit Davis's and Rick Insell's practices. Great defenses are a step ahead of the offense. Rick had his girls work nearly every day on cutting off the cross court pass so many players make when they drive baseline and run out of room. Kermit screamed endlessly when his guys didn't get to the mid-line (an imaginary line that cuts the court into a left and right half) as that discouraged drives and put you in a perfect position to take a charge if the offense did try to come into the lane. These things can be taught, and it's shocking that in a 10 year NBA career, Amare's allegedly never gotten that coaching.
That said, he can learn and even a decade in can become a much better defender within a team context. However, it's not going to be easy as Amare clearly lacks superior defensive instincts. Two blocks per game should come easy to him based on his athleticism, however he's only hit that mark once in his career. Specifically being called into question is Amare's pick-and-roll defense. Stoudemire is considered one of the best pick-and-roll finishers in the league when healthy, yet he's never been able to turn that knowledge of how he reads and exploits basketball's most basic play offensively into defending it on the other end.
Marrone to the NFL
As a selfish Syracuse fan, I hope Doug Marrone stays in Orange. He said it's his dream job but as you achieve your dreams, you dream new ones and the reality is competitors want to compete at the highest level and no man is above a bigger paycheck. There's no doubt the NFL is the highest level of competition in football and Marrone has experienced that as a coach and as a player. We know he's interviewing for a number of jobs and it shouldn't surprise any of us if he takes one.
Marrone is a different kind of guy though and it wouldn't surprise me if he kicks the tires and decides to stay in Orange. He's got a new challenge ahead of him in moving to the ACC and while he's losing an NFL caliber quarterback in Ryan Nassib (I'm in still in disbelief that the previous statement is true, but it is even if he's a backup), he's gaining what many think is a future pro in Elite 11 QB Zach Allen and the chance to develop him could be one of the many reasons Marrone eventually winds up staying in Orange.
The bigger question is what does SU do if the two-time Pinstripe Bowl winner Dougies up to the NFL. Based off per speculation and minimal logic, here are SU's two best options in my mind:
1) Jim Tressel, former Ohio State Head Coach
We all know he left in a terrible manor from Ohio State, however how bad was it really? We all hate the NCAA's stupid rules, yet see a guy like Tressel as a horrible person for not following them? I can get over that. Tressel is an offensive minded guy who would be good for Allen and he's spent some time at SU as well as the QB Coach in 1981-82. He's an Ohio guy which is one of Syracuse's crucial recruiting areas and he might be willing to keep the defensive staff in place. This leads me to candidate number two.
2) Scott Shafer, SU Defensive Coordinator
I think we'd all agree we'd gladly take more of what Marrone is building, so why not just shift some pieces around and keep rolling? Shafer's a coaching lifer who's defensive resume is incredibly impressive. His players love playing for him and that's a key part of being a head coach. He preaches accountability (like Marrone) and that every man must simply do his job. I don't know if Shafer has head coaching chops because I'm not around him every day and he's never had to make clock management decisions, etc (some guys are meant to be coordinators) but I wouldn't be mad if he was given a shot.
Making the Jump
On top of Marrone, a ton of other college coaches could be making the jump to the pros including Oregon's Chip Kelly. The debate is endless on whether his uptempo system could work in the NFL, but I think the answer is clearly maybe. So decisive. I know.
There would have to be some changes and Kelly would absolutely have to have the right personnel to make it all work. The question is how realistic is getting that personnel (definitely possible) and will those small changes be enough to make the whole thing not work (maybe). I know if I was a GM/owner I'd be willing to find out and I wish the owner of my team would take that shot. Cam Newton cost Chip Kelly his best shot at a national title game in January of 2011 when Cam's Auburn team beat Kelly's Oregon Ducks on a last second field goal. To make his system work, Kelly needs a versatile and mobile quarterback and an army of running backs. No team fits that model better than the Panthers who have Newton to go with Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart (a pre-Kelly Oregon Duck) and Mike Tolbert in the backfield.
Both coaches in this year's national title game will also be on NFL radars. Brain Kelly is ahead of schedule at Notre Dame being in the national title game this year. If I'm him, I'd wait. Even though this team was carried by the defense, the experience it's younger players, especially freshman quarterback Everett Golson, have gotten is invaluable. Perhaps the Irish can be right back in the title game a few times in the next few seasons and Kelly can leave in a few years tens of millions of dollars richer and a Notre Dame legend.
If Alabama wins Monday night, Nick Saban would only be further cementing his status as a legend in Tuscaloosa. That would make 3 titles in four years and at that point, what's the point? The NFL is the one thing Saban never mastered and for as competitive as he is, that has to eat at him. He spent two years with the Dolphins and got screwed over by his own medical staff who didn't clear Drew Brees. That meant the Dolphins had to sign Daunte Culpepper who was mediocre in 2005, got hurt and was had to be benched in 2006 for Joey Harrington who was so bad he got benched for something named Cleo Lemon. With that (whatever that combination of awful is) at quarterback over two years, he went 15-17 which is far from the abject disaster that everyone seems to make Saban's time in the NFL out to be. If Saban wins, he should go. Why not, unless he's comfortable crushing it in college, having a lighter work load and making NFL money. While that sounds awesome to most of us, the 61 year old Saban is an uber-competitor and he doesn't have that much time left if he still has an NFL itch to scratch.
#TallPeopleProblems
Tweet of the day (which I've never done before, but might do again) comes from former Syracuse center Fab Melo. Ol' Fabricio got called up from the D-League yesterday! Is it because he's averaging 10.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 3.8 bpg? Is it because on Dec. 26th he had 32 points, 9 boards and 9 blocks? Nope! It's because he ran into a door at a hotel and got a concussion. In order to be treated by the Celtics team doctors, he has to be on the active roster and thus he got called up. As for Melo:
If you stand under 7feet don't ask me how I did it.
— Fab Melo (@Fabpmelo) January 3, 2013
I don't even break 6 feet, so I won't ask. The world isn't designed for people his size so I'll cut him some slack. Hell, I hit my head on a car door last week. It happens. As long as he's okay, we can laugh about it and knowing Fab's light-hearted personality, he'll laugh right along with us.
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