Vanderbilt Recovers With Win Over Longwood; Taylor Scores 29 While Ezeli Sits

We either happen to have somehow collected the softest kids on earth, or our trainers blow, our strength training blows, or our coach just doesn’t know how to get it out of these kids.

I don’t believe we’ve just happened upon the world’s softest b-ball team, and especially seeing how Andre has been fine and had no problem playing at Gangsta U, we need to just really clean out our basketball strength and training staff.

I also am completely sick of Stallings calling out the players, both for their on-court play and for their injuries. And if he doesn’t turn this team around he should be gone. No two ways about it.

I don’t say this out of some impassioned heat of the moment feeling of frustration. I think it’s pretty much just the most logical way to proceed. When a guy has his most talented team ever, and can’t get them even in the same ballpark as last year, all while repeatedly calling them out for their play and their injuries, it just isn’t getting the job done. You can be a somewhat of a dick if you get the job done, but if you aren’t getting it done, it just doesn’t fly.

Add to that the fact that he was already questioned about his tournament coaching, that we were already blowing leads last season, that he’s not getting it done on what is likely a vital recruiting class, it just makes it the best time to make a change.

I haven’t really held it against him that he hasn’t succeeded in the tournament lately, because he has before. I haven’t blamed him for the recruiting because it is pretty mercurial business, and he has always done well. I realize Festus has been injured, but if the team was playing well in losses I don’t think anyone would hold it against him.

Instead, it doesn’t seem like CKS has even attempted to construct any form of offense that can work without him. We just keep losing winnable games. We almost blow the games we do win. And we do it the same damn way every time with no apparent changes. It’s not as if the problems aren’t coachable, but we still see no improvement.

I’m not totally given up on him, and I haven’t given up on this season, and if he does pull this team into the kind of team we’ve been waiting for, I’ll give him credit for figuring it out.

But if it doesn’t get better, it is a complete, programatic failure. Most of the players involved will be gone to graduation. We’ll have a good bit of work to do recruiting-wise to build the future of this team. It only makes sense to hold the coach (and training staff) responsible for the failures that are traceable to them. It makes even more sense at a time that we are likely to be faced with a bit of a rebuilding effort to start the whole thing with a clean slate.