Posted by SlimShorty on April 03, 08 at 16:12:53:
In Reply to: Re: Recruiting a better bench posted by SandDevil on April 03, 08 at 12:31:11:
Not really making excuses, just showing the difference between recruiting at ASU v. UCONN and Tennessee. I really think it does take a long time to develop that type of program
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: (SD) I have to disagree very strongly with both of you regarding the fans having short memories and being extremely impatient.
: CTT herself created all that buzz about going to the FF this season, maybe she was trying to motivate her team but on numerous occasions she was touting this team as a FF team, she raised the
: bar and fans bought into it, of course there was disappointment regarding how the team played.
: Nobody is saying CTT has not done great things at ASU but to say that it takes time to develop a winner,she took over in 1996, she's been here 12 yrs that argument doesn't fly! I'm not criticizing
: CTT tenure at ASU, she's a great coach and has done great things at ASU but I disagree with the excuses you both make regarding this issue, it is what it is, if you build up high expectations regarding your team and you fail to live up to those expectations, fans are going to be disappointed that's just the way it is, nobody is saying CTT is a bad coach and doing a bad job just that they were disappointed in how the season turned out.
: I agree with your other points about bench players, of course you recruit bench players, there's 15 scholarships to give out only 5 can start so the others will have to sit on the bench, when you are recruiting you don't know if any particular player is going to be a starter or a bench player but she's going to be one of the two!
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: : I totally agree with that point Slim. Fans really have very short memories and are extremely impatient. We taste a little success, and all of a sudden an extremely good season is criticized and the coach's style is harped on all year because it wasn't a GREAT season or AS good as LAST season.
: : I'm afraid that this will happen with our men's team too. We'll taste a little success and then become unhappy again very quickly when we don't win championships in the next few years...but that's a story for another message board.
: : As for David's point -- I think ASU actually has an advantage in the long term over the programs where top players sacrifice themselves just to be part of the program. In the long run, some of those top athletes will realize that they can sit on the bench somewhere else or be one of the "better bench" players I was talking about and actually PLAY 20 minutes a game for ASU even if they don't start. Sybil realized it and now she actually PLAYS the game. If they'd rather sit on the bench for 38+ minutes a game, maybe that's not the type of player we want anyway.
: : As to your last point -- women's basketball is still growing in popularity (see viewership rates of NCAA women's games vs. men's games this year -- double digit rise for women, 9% drop for men). As the sport becomes more popular, more young girls will start playing and keep playing through high school and college. Eventually there will be more players overall, and therefore also more top players, and they'll have to go to other schools because the top 6-8 teams will be full. I'm looking forward to this trend over my lifetime.