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Date Posted: 15:32:49 01/17/03 Fri
Author: Ramfan
Subject: This guy thinks he's some kind of tactical guru..
In reply to: Tony 's message, "Link to Buff news story Siena proving "Bonnies made wrong choice "" on 11:44:11 01/17/03 Fri

"Van Breda Kolff's system is wide-open, but flawed".. has this guy ever coached a game a day in his life? Has he ever played organized ball? Not that he isn't entitled to an opinion, but who is he to be questioning Van Breda Kolff, a guy who had already had success at three college programs prior to Bonaventure's, including Cornell of all places?

I disagree with this column, for a couple of reasons. First off, you don't turn down a candidate with Van Breda Kolff's credentials if you have a chance to hire him. Ordinarily, he NEVER would have considered St. Bonaventure's. This was a guy who was the former SEC Coach of the Year at Vanderbilt and had brought Pepperdine to the NCAA Tournament more than once and had good success out there. They even won a game in the tournament, knocking off Indiana, if you don't remember. The natural move for VBK would have been back up, to the Pac 10, or Mountain West, or similar conference, not a lateral move. However, since his wife had family in upstate New York, and I believe his mother-in-law was having health problems, he went to Bonaventure's. This was a bit of a coup for them. Otherwise, he would have never wound up at their program.

I also think this columnist is being a bit presumptuous here. Sure, St. Bonaventure's is only 6-9, but they've had a difficult schedule. I thought VBK got water from a stone last year considering what he did with that team. They don't have all that much talent. Up front they basically have nobody. There are a couple of MAAC teams with better frontcourts. They have a dynamite point guard, a talented shooting guard, and then some bits and pieces. They're very small up front, and not all that talented.

Van Breda Kolff is taking on an A-10 schedule and teams like Kent State, Alabama, and others with this glaring weakness. Their style is "too wide open"? What is he supposed to do when he's got nobody up front to work with? They'd get killed in the halfcourt by bigger teams. Doesn't this columnist realize this?

I think Lanier inherited a comparatively easy job. Siena is an attractive program, with the facility, fan base, and recent success. Not that Bonaventure wasn't successful under Baron, but Baron's successes were a great achievement. I don't think Van Breda Kolff has done a bad job so far; in fact, I think he's done quite well. I'd like to see Lanier coach his team and face teams with more talent and more size on a nightly basis. That's something he hasn't had to do all that often. VBK does it all the time.

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