Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thoughts on Spears suspension

Saturday's news that Shamari Spears has been suspended for the third time in his short Charlotte 49ers career wasn't totally surprising.

Spears had let the world know through his Twitter account that he was close to quitting the team after Wednesday's loss at Oregon State (a game in which he played just two minutes in the second half despite not being in foul trouble). He indicated in a tweet in the preseason that he wished former coach Bobby Lutz were still around.

There was at least one other incident in the preseason when Spears missed a practice when his father was visiting from out of town. New coach Alan Major said at the time that it was a misunderstanding and appeared willing -- at least publicly -- to cut Spears some slack.

But this isn't exactly the kind of vibe that a new coach like Major wants from a player -- whether he's the team's star (as Spears supposedly is) or the last guy on the bench.

So it's not surprising that Major suspended Spears. He's the new guy and it's his program. Agree or not with how Major has coached the team on its way to a pretty shaky 3-4 start, but understand that there's no way he can let a player continue to undermine him, especially in such a public way.

Spears wasn't on the bench Saturday against Radford (as he was when he sat out the first game of the season against Gardner-Webb). Major also wouldn't say if Spears will be back Wednesday against East Carolina.

But don't bet on him making the trip to Greenville. And beyond that, who knows?

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, well. Shamari shows his immaturity again. He is not a team player and his spats with Dijuan Harris doomed us last season when we dropped 7 of 9 or whatever abomonation that was. He's the kind of guy who was happy scoring 30 in a loss.

See you later Shamari. Enjoy being a second-guessed all your life until you thinl we and not me.

Anonymous said...

We looked really good without him today. I know it was only Radford but we played as a team. There was good ball movement on offense and good team defense.
I hope Spears can act with more respect and remain on the team, but if he doesn't I would prefer that Major cuts him and we give KJ more playing time when he gets back.

Anonymous said...

I've seen this kid play and he is a drama queen. He shoved his own teammate in the back (#35) when his teammate tried to move him away from arguing with an official. If he is not willing to change his attitude, then let him go play at the Y.

There is no "i" in Team, but there certainly is one in Shamari.

Anonymous said...

Shamari is 24 years old. Grow up big man. Major is here for a while, hopefully much longer than you, and deserves a break.

Anonymous said...

he's a punk ass BITCH

Anonymous said...

It's obvious this team and staff has some issues but the problems come with this bad hiring in the off season.

Anonymous said...

The team looked decent against a horrible Radford team but what happens in conference play.We most likely go into conference play with a .500 avg or below.This is a team that lacks leadership on the bench and court not enough credentials.

Anonymous said...

like him or not.... major is running this program into the ground fast, now he will have an "excuse" for the bad season, buying himself more time. i hope judy rose is not hiring the football coach!

Anonymous said...

Some of these comments are comical.

How can a new coach put a program into the ground that was already put there by the previous coach?

It is called rebuilding. The 19 wins from last season were a reflection of a cake schedule. The best offensive player doesn't want to play the new coach's way and is unwilling to change.

Coach Major is going to struggle with the cards he was dealt, but it is way too early to pass judgment. Now that one of the problems seems to have been taken care of we can really see what Coach can do.

Anonymous said...

Shamari is such a drama queen. Get over yourself. Listen to the coach, he knows how to work with big men and make them good. Shamari can be a great player if he would just be a team player.

Coach Major was a great hire. He already has a great recruiting class (by UNCC standards) for next year. Lutz had nothing. This will be a rebuilding year obviously, but im excited to see Major take this program in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

Good Bye Shamuie! Im not gonna miss you.
We see why Boston College didnt think you were worth the trouble. Enjoy playing the rest of your life at the Y.

Its a good thing Major has a recruiting class signed early cuz a sub .500 season wont get you many recruits! Tyler Lewis - HA HA !

Anonymous said...

You may be right about the "cake" schedule last year. The schedule has been really tough this year with the likes of Gardner Webb, Coastal Carolina, SC State, Radford and ECU. We are lucky to have our 3 wins right now with that gauntlet of a schedule.

At least we won the "cake" games last year. I'm trying to be patient, but this is embarrassing.

Nugget said...

Major was hired to change the direction of the program. Shamari wants to keep it the same. This is a battle the player can't win. Get a clue Shamari.

Anonymous said...

lutz had nothing??? what team are you watching lutz always had some of the top classes in the nation top 50 anyways. Major has changed the direction, straight into the ground!
what makes you believe that major's class is so great? compare it to lutz's classes.

Anonymous said...

Well for one, Lutz had no commitments coming into this season. Two other than Braswell we have not had a highly recruited 4 year player in a while under his control. We were a mishmosh of transfers and jucos in a lax offense that heavily relied on the 3 ball. That is not a winning recipe.

Anonymous said...

goldwire, curt withers, wilderness was pretty highly recruited, so was jones, braswell, before that demon brown, and basden, of course rodney white(nba after 1 year) i know that was a while ago, but he did get some great transfers like plavich.

i just don't see any highly recruited players in majors class that equal these guys.

Bonnies grandson said...

Major is getting the same level player Lutz did - 3 star. Fans who think they are ACC and SEC talent are just flat wrong. If Major had Phil Jones and Javaris inked, I can't imagine what Ninernation would say about them: the next Shaq and Pippen.

Anonymous said...

You can bash Shamari Spears all you want but if you take him out of the line up, you guarantee the next team that will play the 49ers will beat them by double digits. 49ers won easy game without him with Radford, but they didn't play well against Garner-Webb or Oregon State with him not in the line up. If I was Alan Major, I would work with him as much as I could instead of suspending him for ticky-tacky things. Charlotte's is a mess at 3-4 and Lutz is 6-0 at Iowa State. Charlotte basketball can ill afford another set back. So, work with Sharami Spears and salvage the season or release him and Charlotte go 9-21 for the season.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know Lutz was the head coach at Iowa State.

Anonymous said...

You guys are hilarious. What makes you guys think that a new coach is going to take you to the sweet sixteen in the first year. Lutz was a good coach for Charlotte. We'll see about Major. Major is doing what he thinks is right with this team which is why he was hired. If a player isn't on board then he has to go no matter the talent. Even coach K struggled in his first few years. Give the new coach a chance.

Anonymous said...

If you don't know that Lutz is the "real" head coach at Iowa State you don't know much.

Anonymous said...

If yall dnt kno the guy personally dnt bash him he is a good guy he wants 2 lead his 2 NCAA he hve so much emotion 4 da gme he will die 4 it I tell u wht if u dnt hve Shamari by da Tenneessee gme Charlotte gonna get killed by 30 smh trust afta dis situation he will watch wht he say NOW!!! But other than tht Spears should be n da lineup ASAP!!!

Anonymous said...

Shamari has quit the team.

Fred "The Mayor" Hoiberg said...

Right, because we brought in Bobby Lutz to play the man behind the curtain. This isn't the Wizard of Oz, this is Ames Iowa and I am the Mayor, I run the show. Lutz isn't even my associate head coach.

Anonymous said...

So now we are 0-for-2 with players whose first 2 syllables sound like: Shamar.
Oh well. This season is in the toilet already. Shamari is an excuse to be pulled out of the shame closet when we finsih 11-18 and that will make sure the terd sinks.

Anonymous said...

No Coach who is building a new program can let a player who undermines him get away with this. It will be a tough season because no matter who you have to replace Bobby there is a changing process from the last regime. Shamari Spears has behaved in this manner since I and many others watched him behave disfunctionally in his high school days at Salisbury. There is a reason he isn't at Boston College anymore.

Let him go and be at peace with it, since it is reported he quit anyway; and continue on with the rebuilding process. It is always difficult to be patient but the real results of our new Coach won't be seen for another 2 or 3 years. Whether Shamari was a good player or not doesn't underly the fact he would be gone next year anyway. This kind of behavior isn't acceptable for our program.