and... i like them? I think I like them.
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Addressing a couple of comments
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I thought I'd respond to a couple comments in a non-confrontational way. (Seriously, I appreciate any and all comments you guys post.)
An anonymous poster said, to paraphrase, that Lloyd should open up with the media more and that many of the questions he posed are exactly the kind of things Michigan fans would like to know. And that much is true. I do take issue with the idea (more Carty's and not the commenter's) that Lloyd is somehow unusual amongst coaches with his vague, meandering, meaningless answers. He's a bit chippier than most, but he's by no means unique with the "to win the ball game we have to play 60 minutes, protect the ball, and don't beat ourselves" blah blah blah. Every coach in America does that. And Carty's asking for specifics about why the defense failed that no coach in America would talk to the media about. I mean, seriously, should Carr detail his master plan to stop Stanton this year months and months before the game?
The whole thing smacks of sour grapes because Carr has better things to do than talk to Carty.
"Maize" posted something on the Jerret Smith thread about me being a little harsh on him. I know he wasn't brought in to be a shooter. I was hoping to see (well, hear about) an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio, hard nosed defense, and a great mind for the game. This doesn't appear to be going on. Smith plays well occasionally, all right frequently, and poorly too often. He's been wildly inconsistent. He hasn't been playing defense. He made a number of apparently Horton-esque turnovers in his most recent game. I just don't feel confident in any way that he'll become an above-average Big Ten player. I'm rooting for it, of course, but my expectations are low.
It sounds like Sheperd was a find, though. I'm excited about him and Price. I'm putting together a State of the Program post on basketball. I'll talk more about these things in that.
March 17th, 2005 at 1:00 AM
#2
I know you were upset with
I know you were upset with Carty, and that's fine, but I think his point is still valid that we'd like a little more than what he gives the media and fans at his press conferences. I'm not asking for a full disclosure of the gameplans for next year. Sure Carty, shouldn't have been as confrontational and took out that whole column to complain about Lloyd, but it wouldn't kill him to explain the thought processes that go through his and the coaches' brains. I know he would never place the blame on anyone directly, and that is an admirable trait, but I'd wish he'd say something a little less invasive but still informative like along the lines of..."Our tackling hurt us today, we need to go back to the basics and make sure that next time we have someone wrapped up, they go down before we let go, or we don't need to make highlight reel hits with our shoulders, sometimes a tackle is still a tackle." Or "we need to reexamine some of our schemes and philosphy so that we can pressure the qb more and work on containing him within the pocket." I don't think those types of comments would make anyone look too bad. Anyway, as a Michigan fan, I'll always root for us and for lloyd, I just want him to throw us a bone from time to time.
