Date Posted:19:16:37 03/11/04 Thu Author: Clifford Fan Subject: Re: Coach W at Fleet Center In reply to:
Pressing and other issues
's message, "Coach W at NJ Catholic Playoffs" on 10:11:43 03/11/04 Thu
Coach Willard was also at Fleet Center at Walpole game to watch Tim Clifford play.
Said he thought Tim had a big "upside",was a fine young man and was well coached.
I asked him if he would ever consider suggestions made on this board. His respnse was "fans are like passengers in a jet plane flying through a thunderstorm. They all have great suggestions for the pilot flying the plane because they can look out the window and see the clouds. The problem is they can't see the radar the pilot is watching so if I'm on that plane I want the pilot to fly based on the radar he has available not on any suggestions coming from the passengers. Coaches make decisions based on their knowledge of the players and their injuries,personal crises,family crisis, exam stress, ability to follow game plans etc. that fans can't see.He said asst. coaches not fans are the people he listens to because they are watching the radar but sometimes from a different angle.
At a minimum Coach Willard has been playing or coaching basketball at every level for about 45 years...and you asked him if he'd pay attention to fans?
He always definitively tells this board what is wrong.Maybe Willard should listen to someone who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. He is an EX-COACH.
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Re: What about MHMD? -- Clifford Fan, 20:18:51 03/11/04 Thu
He always definitively tells this board what is wrong.Maybe Willard should listen to someone who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. He is an EX-COACH.
I could never even make a decent paper airplane, so I have no aviation expertise, but let's face it, Coach Willard himself indicated in various interviews in previous years that he was looking to bring in more athletic players and increase the tempo...why not continue to bring in Szatko types if you weren't going to change?
I think it's not unreasonable to wonder why...I don't think anyone was expecting Loyola Marymount a la Westhead...in the meantime, I'll let him do the flying.
Anyone else with some names of hs juniors they are interested in?
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Re: Coach W at Fleet Center -- Non Alum Dave, 21:09:30 03/11/04 Thu
no.NTK....I should have said "why bring in players like Thomas and Simmons if the style of play wasn't going to change dramatically from the half-court style we have seen". I would have wanted a Tim Szatko or two this year had I'd known how the season was going to play out. IMO this team was put together to play one style much better than any other, mainly get up and down the floor. Course I am excluding Neil from this, which wasn't the plan, either.
At least with Clifford coming in there will be a little more balance, so perhaps next years team will be better able to adapt to different styles of play. It just seems that you look at this years team on the floor and you say "run run run!"
First, even if you're the target of RW's disdain (perhaps too strong a word), it's refreshing that he tells it like it is. That is, we all see the team and the game from a very superficial perspective.
But let's take Ralph's airline pilot metaphor one step further. I submit that all the talk here about how Holy Cross should upgrade its athletic program is just another case of folks sitting back in the coach section while McFarland, Regan and company are the ones who see the radar screen and at the controls.
And just like Ralph isn't going to listen to the passengers, neither is the administration. I'll also submit to you that running the entire institution of Holy Cross is a lot more complicated than one basketball team.
