Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Observations from Temple

Observations from Charlotte's 79-57 loss against Temple at Halton Arena:

The 49ers (10-9, 2-4 Atlantic 10) appear to be in a perilous spot in their season: A four-game conference losing streak, their starting point guard (Pierria Henry) out for two weeks with a knee injury and another big-time team (Xavier) coming up on Saturday.

Add to that disciplinary problems, with junior forward K.J. Sherrill suspended for the game and seniors Derrio Green and Javarris Barnett benched for breaking undisclosed team rules.

Coach Alan Major said the team will meet the problems head on and play through them. Center Chris Braswell said the team will stick together. All that's hard enough when three of your most experienced players -- including its only two seniors -- let the team down by breaking rules. Not much of way to show leadership.

-- That said, that was a heck of a position to put freshmen E. Victor Nickerson (four points on 1 of 6 shooting) and Terrence Williams (no points, missing all three shots) in, against one of the Atlantic 10's top teams. But it can only help them in the long run.

-- With Sherrill out, even little-used backup center Ilija Ivankovic got in the game. He’d only played eight minutes this season. Walk-on guards Colby Lewis and Lamar Bradbury also played and both made a 3-pointer. The only 49er who didn't play was freshman center Mike Thorne.

-- The 49ers honored their national runner-up men’s soccer team during a timeout in the first half.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is getting ridiculous. I missed this game but after watching the GW game I doubt Major did any coaching or play calling from the sidelines. Also, I understand a coach wanting his players to be respectful and obey rules or whatever, but these past two seasons I haven't seen so many players being suspended on a single team other than of course Xavier and Cincy, or the Chapel Hill football team. Great job Judy, you have yourself a keeper.

Anonymous said...

If the kids don't want to toe the line then they should just say goodbye. Doubt they will as they don't have the talent to get another scholorship. The kids that have been suspended were brought on by the former coach who apparently just looked the other way. I don't like the way the team is playing but I will respect the coach and the decisions he makes.

Anonymous said...

what an embarrassment. great job judy!

Anonymous said...

Same old rig many take. Pad the preseason with a bunch of twinks and cupcakes to look good up front with a few wins.
When the season starts the real deals beat the hell out of your ass and your cover is blown.
Thats why real teams with real coaches play the tough pre season games only.

The gig's up for Major and to think Rose fired Lutz although the bully local mafia media rag who runs everything in the QC had called for his head for years. And people wonder why college and pro sports in this town SUCK so badly?

Anonymous said...

Soccer honor was the highlight of the game followed by the bike show at halftime.

That is all.

Anonymous said...

Hitler - Pine away for Lutz all you want, but it is a FACT that the people Major has suspended were already on the team when he got here. Lutz did a fantastic job the first 7-8 years he was coach. The last 4-5 were awful - marginal players and his game-day coaching went from brilliant to incredibly average. It was time for a change. No one is blaming Lutz for the current team struggles, just pointing out that the guys getting suspended were Lutz recruits.

7:14 - the gig's up? You are really jumping the gun. How about giving the coach 4 years to stock the roster with his own players before making a final judgment? Show a little patience.

Yes, this is painful to watch. But isn't this a hell of a lot better than when the team was losing home games to Wofford and Eckard? I say it is.

Anonymous said...

Blind faith in Judy . . . or don't bother

Just keep telling yourself that Coach Major is as good as Dean Smith or Coach K and that he just needs time.

mdhenshaw said...

Charlotte is roadkill in the BCS age. When we left Con. USA so did any hope we had left for the basketball program.

The team has struggled ever since and it doesn't look like it's getting any better.

Anonymous said...

Someone please tell Major about bounce passes and picks. This really reminds me of Wisselball. 4 players standing around the 3-pt line looking to shoot. Lutz got fired on a 19-13 season. We'd be happy to be that good again.

Anonymous said...

If NCSU continues to improve don't be surprised to wake up in about a year and find Lutz coaching at Wake or South Carolina. I would be happy for him. BUT WOULD STINK!

Anonymous said...

why is judy still the head of your program? enough is enough.

Anonymous said...

In all the years Judy has been employed by the school, I'd say that her last fresh idea probably came between the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese and the fall of the Berin Wall.

But give her time.

Anonymous said...

49er program, are you serious? The fans are sick and tired of losing! The program is going backwards and
more often than not they play like they've never seen a basketball. Major made $250,000 per conference win last year, and he'll make about the same this year considering they can't compete with anyone in the league. Players are mediocre and apparently don't care, so why should the fans? Keep raising those fees on the students so Major can make $300,000 per win next year. The program has become IRRELEVANT. Fans , do not attend the games or there will be no change.

Anonymous said...

I am not sure about Major. Did Judy even ATTEMPT to get anyone else? Did she try to interview one of the Duke assistants? Or Matt Dougherty? Seriously - who did she interview? Major does need more time - and I am ok giving him another year. But Judy will likely give him 6 - and that is why she needs to be fired. She will give him six years just because she can't admit she F-ked up! If it were up to Judy we would have never gotten football - she never pushed for it. Seriously - she has to go - and go now. Major can sty for another year or maybe two but if the team doesn't get better he can't be here more than four.

Anonymous said...

I'm being completely serious - has Judy Rose ever hired anyone who was a former head coach?

According to her bio, she graduated college at Winthrop/Tennessee and was immediately named head coach here. Not assistant. Head coach. She never had another job anywhere else. Maybe that has something to do with it? It would explain Minter

Sometimes I wonder if the AD cheats the school out of the best candidate in favor of an unknown. Like, if Alan Major had an identical twin who was a proven head coaching success at a bracket buster school, that twin would be frowned upon.

Better to hire someone behind the learning curve to give the school that competitive advantage it needs!

And when the coach gets tired of her bullshit, they leave to the bcs. I'm sure Major will become as sick of her as the guys who coached before him.......

Anonymous said...

Coach Clyde Drexler would have gotten 4-6 years of opportunities to prove himself here.

How long did Houston give Drexler, again?

Anonymous said...

Drexler would never be given an opportunity here. As said, Judy wants to keep a mickey mouse program with no big names to draw attention and have leverage over her!

And Lutz getting any head coaching job would be great since WE ARE STILL PAYING HIM TO BE AN ASSISTANT SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Anonymous said...

Niner faithful, stop blaming the conference for our pitiful perfomances. The A-10 is a great league. We make it worse by being in it as we have been one of the weaker teams in the league. Also, stop reminiscing about Lutz, he had the program on the downturn. In fact, if it were not for Sean Colson and DeMarco Johnson, et al, he wouldn't have won much here. Bottom line is our players share most of the burden, they just don't get it done. Barnett has talent but he doesn't perform consistently and that's what it takes. Major has taken Derrio, a talented player, and made him inconsequential. Briscoe should be starting along with Green and both should have green lights to shoot and score. Our shooting % is awful, has been awful for years now.
We can't shoot or rebound, oh well, at least we lead the nation n tattoos.

Anonymous said...

well said, anon 1:53. And I agree with everyone on here who puts the blame on Rose.

But I'm not reminiscing about Lutz. With Major, I'm reminiscing about Mike Pratt!

Anonymous said...

I am a proud graduate of UNC Charlotte, but as long as Judy and the majority of her athletic administrative staff are in place, I will not contribute one dollar towards the athletic programs. I will continue to make contributions towards the university. I am so very disappointed by the manner in which the athletic department continues to fail us.

Anonymous said...

Was Lutz really that bad? The last NC State article I read gave Lutz credit for being a major piece in turning States program around to being once again competitive. Charlotte basketball is a joke. We went from having one of the best home court environments (this coming from D Vitale) to having a joke of a program. Major is a Major joke. My question is who hires and fires for Judy’s job? Please someone do something. We have pleaded for years about her running our athletic program into the dirt. I guess soccer saved her job another year. Oh wait we lost our coach. Someone please rescue our University……..

Anonymous said...

Completely unrelated, but me and a buddy were just discussing how D Vitale was a college athletic director in the year we went to the Final Four. Funny that his name was brought up.

Anonymous said...

Heeeeelp! We've fallen and we can't get up.

Watching Charlotte play this year has been a hurling experience.

Anonymous said...

Dear A10:

Please forgive us for tarnishing a proud conference. It's not our fault. It is our location, we are not in the center of the conference like St. Louis, Xavier, and Dayton.

And we don't have a good recruiting area in NC. In fact there has never been a great player to come out of the state.

And we don't have a great facility to play in either, you ought to see Halton Arena. We are in a rural area and we don't have shoes or a basketball. And we do not feel it helps our players to grow up shooting through a bicycle rim either. Again, please forgive us.

Sincerely,

JR

Tim Collie said...

all these comments are music to my ears...Judy Rose is in decade 3 and excitement about the Niners is at all time low. If she had any decency, she would resign.

Anonymous said...

There are several people responsible for the state of our basketball program at Charlotte. Bobby Lutz had some blame in that and has been fired. Judy Rose had a role in that and still has a job.

Time to clean house and start over.

Nevermind, I forgot about the $4.5 million TENNIS FACILITY we are building. How about we take that $$ and hire a real AD and a real men's basketball coach!!!!

Anonymous said...

She wasn't qualified when we hired her 30 years ago, and she's still way in over her head. Pull the plug on this broad.

Anonymous said...

Fire Judy now! She's overpaid for a job that is obviously easy to do. In fact, there are several candidates right here in this comment section who are obviously well qualified to run an athletic department. Now if they would just reveal their names, we'd be all set!

Anonymous said...

This sucks...Somethings got to change with the athletic dept, specifically mens basketball. I don't want to repeat everyone else, but Judy is partially to blame. Why do we have so much success with every sport at our school except mens bball?? Somethings not right. Jeremy Gunn was here for how many years? and he lead our mens soccer team to the national championship. I'm still being patient with Major and want to see him succeed with our next few recruiting classes, but right now we are not winning and that's unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

anon 1:41 -

If Judy Rose is any indication, then the only qualifications to become athletic director is to have a college degree and be willing to stay employed at the school.

There's a lot of kids who graduated recently that would take that deal.

Anonymous said...

OMG. It's the lack of coaching during the games that is telling. If you can't coach the players you have then you can't coach the ones you recruit. Judy needs to admit the mistake and get another coach. The A-10 was another mistake but what Conference is going to want us now? I guess we'll have to become a Division II team to win anymore BB games.

Anonymous said...

Hard to believe there are as many dumb people on here as there are. I'm amazed that some of you even know how to use your computer. 4:29for example, what league should Charlotte have gone in to when the last big shake-up occurred?