Poll Vote of Confidence: Paul Hewitt (1/11)

[mkaufman1]

I would be more inclined to give him a chance if I hadn't ever had the chance to read on the GT forums what his program was like during his decline in Atlanta, and that we are getting very similar results here. I just don't think he can break out of this funk he's been in since the National Championship.

If he can, I will totally support him. I just don't think it's gonna happen.

Well well said. The problem is what we are seeing is more of the same from his teams, and not something new. If this was a new found struggle for him, itd be one thing, but its not.

 

[GSII]

That a fair point, GS, but it's tough to run any system when you get little to no points out of your PGs and big men and you only have one guard who can consistently knock down 3s.

You've suggested the inside-out we used to run under Coach L, but what frontcourt player other than maybe Jenkins has the talent to post up and score in that system? Copes is probably our most obvious option since Jenkins is more of a face-up player, but that would entail Copes actually being able to catch the ball.

I liked what we saw with more dribble penetration by Allen, Moore, Jenkins, Holloway and even Corey last night, so maybe that's the key to overshadowing our inability to score consistently in the post or on the perimeter.

We don't even look to give our bigs a touch. Just one touch. Mentally, they have been checked out in regards to post play b/c everything revolves around guard play. Give them some touches and i'll bet you get something in return. Gotta use all 5 players in basketball. F this 4 out 1 in bullshit. Hewitt doesn't have a stud PG, yet he continues to force his offensive system, which is literally offensive.

 

[expendable smurf]

Sherrod was benched for one of the games in Hawaii and he only played 16 minutes last night. I wouldn't be surprised to see Halloway take his spot tomorrow night.

Ah, I saw none of the Hawaii games so didn't realize that.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Hewitt inherited a team that was built on back to the basket post players, but that's not his style. Coach L used to try and take face up players and make them back to the basket guys (Mickens, Vlad) and sometimes failed miserably. Hewitt wants big guys that can face the basket and drive, but what he has is guys like J2 and Copes that can't do that. Until he fills the roster with his type of face the basket players, we will struggle. You can't blame him for J2, but he knew what he was getting with Copes. Copes when he was healthy was a nice complement to his type of forward, but he's damaged goods at this point.

Jenkins is a very good example of the type of player Hewitt likes. He can drive, he can dribble, he's a very good all around player. AO is another guy that fits Hewitts style, the problem is that AO just isn't very good. The inside-out game that worked well for us during the Coach L days is not the type of offense you'll see in the future. If you want a coach like Coach L who likes forwards to post up, then we should have never hired Hewitt - TO'C must have known that, and he must have know it would take time to get those type of players in our program.

 

[Walter]

TO'C must have known that, and he must have known it would take time to get those type of players in our program.

I would hope he did some research but it apparently didn't include watching the last five years of Hewitt's GTech teams or talking with people who did.

 

[dr. gunnie]

TO'C is a former DI basketball coach. He knows who he hired. He had to know that it would take time to get Hewitt's type of players into the program. If he knew all of this and still hired him, I have to think he is willing to give Hewitt the time it takes to get his system in place and be judged on it, rather than a system that is run with Coach L leftovers.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Walter]

You choose to give TOC the benefit of the doubt. I do not think he has earned it. How many women's basketball coaches have we gone through?

 

[GMUSSTN]

TO'C is a former DI basketball coach. He knows who he hired. He had to know that it would take time to get Hewitt's type of players into the program. If he knew all of this and still hired him, I have to think he is willing to give Hewitt the time it takes to get his system in place and be judged on it, rather than a system that is run with Coach L leftovers.

Just my thoughts.

I still don't have a lot of faith. Hewitt had plenty of time at GT to recruit the kind of players he liked but still wound up playing the same inconsistent, head-scratching brand of ball we're seeing at Mason today. Also his propensity for bone-headed in game decisions, teams looking lost on in-bounds plays, and an offensive style that hardly ever gets going is something we're seeing a lot of too.

It's the same stuff they complained about at GT--I don't think Hewitt can turn it around here, even if he gets "his" kind of players in here. Give him the talent and he still won't be a good enough in-game coach to stay competitive at this level.

 

[dr. gunnie]

How many women's basketball coaches have we gone through?

Women's basketball is not my strength. Maybe 4? Lewis was the coach forever, then Tanneyhill had a decent run, right? Porter obviously didn't work out - the new coach is TBD.

 

[dr. gunnie]

I still don't have a lot of faith. Hewitt had plenty of time at GT to recruit the kind of players he liked but still wound up playing the same inconsistent, head-scratching brand of ball we're seeing at Mason today. Also his propensity for bone-headed in game decisions, teams looking lost on in-bounds plays, and an offensive style that hardly ever gets going is something we're seeing a lot of too.

It's the same stuff they complained about at GT--I don't think Hewitt can turn it around here, even if he gets "his" kind of players in here. Give him the talent and he still won't be a good enough in-game coach to stay competitive at this level.

I'm not saying Hewitt is the right man for the job, my point is that TO'C is probably willing to stick with Hewitt a bit longer than most on here would like, because he had to know that it would take a few years for Hewitt to get his type of players in our system.

To me, it's like a 4-3 defense switching to a 3-4... it's going to take a couple years to get those linemen and linebackers into your system to be successful. If you want a quicker result, hire a coach that runs a 4-3.

 

[GMUSSTN]

I'm not saying Hewitt is the right man for the job, my point is that TO'C is probably willing to stick with Hewitt a bit longer than most on here would like, because he had to know that it would take a few years for Hewitt to get his type of players in our system.

To me, it's like a 4-3 defense switching to a 3-4... it's going to take a couple years to get those linemen and linebackers into your system to be successful. If you want a quicker result, hire a coach that runs a 4-3.

Oh I have no doubt that this is the justification TOC will use to pay Hewitt at least 4/5 of his contract. This is also what we, as fans, will tell ourselves since we'll be stuck watching at least 1.5 more years of PaulBaul.

I'm just saying I don't think Hewitt can do better, even once "his players" get here, based on his past performance. I wish/hope/pray that he does great, gets us to the tournament, owns the A-10, National Championship, Dynasty, All-Time Greats, but that's just wishful thinking.

 

[Pablo]

Just to reiterate, the question is do you have confidence in Paul Hewitt as Head Coach of the Patriots at this time? So, for me, this is a question about how well he's currently coaching the players that he has. And, what I'm seeing is a team that does not consistently play fundamentally sound basketball. And, for this reason, I responded "No" to the question.

 

[gmubrian]

I too (along with 75% of others on here currently) voted no. I only have irrational hope for the future.

 

[GSII]

Get his guys in? You mean like larrry brown did at smu bc if not then he made a descison to keep leftovers and believed he could win with his system and those players. Now we can see it was a poor choice.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Hewitt preached "playing 40 minutes of basketball" all offseason. We've done that maybe once all season. Zero confidence in him at this time. Excited about our young players and incoming recruits though.

 

[KAOriginal]

And, what I'm seeing is a team that does not consistently play fundamentally sound basketball. And, for this reason, I responded "No" to the question.

Ah the key words to this whole mess.

See the GT history. He had plenty of talent, but couldnt really get them to play good solid basketball as a team....and why he was "average" at best in the ACC. Sometimes his talent would win, most times good coaching from the other side would beat him.

Its that simple.

 

[PoorManProfit]

Ah the key words to this whole mess.

See the GT history. He had plenty of talent, but couldnt really get them to play good solid basketball as a team....and why he was "average" at best in the ACC. Sometimes his talent would win, most times good coaching from the other side would beat him.

Its that simple.

To be fair though, being average in the ACC isn't necessarily so bad. It is important to remember that the ACC is, basically, Duke and UNC. Period. The ACC is tilted heavily towards Durham and Chapel Hill then it is a fight for 3rd Place. Hewitt did OK there considering what he was up against. 40 minutes for a National Championship back in what '04? You can't discount that.

 

[gmutom]

While schemes and rotations play a big role in Hewitt's mediocre results thus far, it's obvious that a big part of our problem is the lackluster results of the players he inherited. While I firmly believe Coach L might have gotten better production out of his own guys in his system, it would be a understatement to say the players Hewitt inherited have been a huge disappointment. Some of that is on him, most of it is not.

Going on the assumption he is here for the duration of his contract, I am actually looking forward to the next two seasons with a bunch of new faces. We most likely won't get back to the NCAAT next year, but I love a young starting lineup that potentially includes Moore, Holloway, Lockett, Jenkins and Royal and a bench with Marko, Gray, Copes, Mayimba, Porter and Edwards. That doesn't even factor in one and possibly two open scholarships (depending on what happens with Okoloji).

I get that things are going to be mind-numbingly frustrating this season, but I don't think the light at the end of the tunnel is as far away as some folks here.

 

[polepino]

I will have to agree that most of tge players that Hewitt brought in look like they have awesome potential, so im caught in the middle between being frustrated with current play and somewhat hopeful that it looks like when he gets all his players then we will start looking a little different.

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[GSII]

To be fair though, being average in the ACC isn't necessarily so bad. It is important to remember that the ACC is, basically, Duke and UNC. Period. The ACC is tilted heavily towards Durham and Chapel Hill then it is a fight for 3rd Place. Hewitt did OK there considering what he was up against. 40 minutes for a National Championship back in what '04? You can't discount that.

Check what was going on at UNC in 2004 and prior years. One could argue Hewitt benefited from the down years at UNC. And still couldn't gain ground.