[NU Sports] telling Carmody postgame quote

Thu Jan 27 14:22:50 CST 2011

I don't know what the relationship was between Coble and Carmody.

What I can comment on is the relationship between coaches and players, having been both.

The bottom line is that it is not a democracy or even a benevolent dictatorship.  I had coaches that I hated and coaches that I loved, but the best had a basic set of things in common.

As Paul said, the coach's job is to get the best out of his players and hopefully put them in a position where they can win.  Every player is different, so what motivates one doesn't work on another.  The coach has the challenge of building a team where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  IMHO that works best when the players trust each other and the coach.  

Coaches earn the respect of their players by treating the team in a consistent and predictable way even though individual treatment may vary.

So every coach worth their salt has rules that apply to everyone from scrub to star.  Those rules are not subject to a vote and are generally simple enough that everyone knows where the boundaries are.  Accepting these rules are the basic contract between the player, the coach, and the team.  That's why the consenquences for breaking team rules are generally swift and harsh.  

We saw that just this week when MSU dismissed starting guard Korie Lucious.  Is that going to affect MSU chances to make the dance?  Certainly.  Did Izzo have a choice?  Not really if he wanted to retain the respect of the rest of the team.

I suspect that same thing was in play with Coble and Carmody.

I also suspect that Carmody had no choice.  From what little we know, Coble appeared to be asking to be part of the team without making the same commitment that the rest of the players on the team had already made.  Carmody let him know that this wasn't an option.  Coble chose to leave the team and both he and Carmody have to live with the consequences.  I suspect, though, that Carmody is not losing any sleep over it.

Jeff

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From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com on behalf of Martinitis at aol.com
Sent: Thu 1/27/2011 2:35 PM
To: neonrye at aol.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] telling Carmody postgame quote

Well said Paul.

In a message dated 1/27/2011 9:43:51 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, 
neonrye at aol.com writes:

Roy has hit it right on the head.  Carmody's job  is to maximize the
potential of the team he has recruited.  While we  probably will never know the
true details of the dispute that ultimately led  to Coble's separation from
the team and the program, if healthy he is clearly  No. 1 or 1A in terms of
talent and experience on this year's squad.  What  has always plagued NU is
that we could not match up talent-wise with our  conference rivals.  Here we
had the opportunity, perhaps for the first  time in the long, dark history of
'Cat Hoops, to actually have more good  shooters and ball-handlers on the
floor than many of our opponents.  At  6-8, 220, Coble was a 5+ rebound/game
guy--not great, but at least he would  have grabbed a couple of balls.  It
really makes little sense to me that  a trip to Italy results in our having
one of our best players sitting out the  entire season.  I know it's
"team-building" and important to  cohesion--and if Coble simply wanted to go to
Hawaii with his family, then I  might reconsider this post--but come on, was it
necessary for Carmody to make  this a "deal-breaker" for the season?  We
would have been so much deeper,  and guys like Corletti would be in support
roles, rather than in front-line  positions.  Given the fact that this was our
best shot to make "the  Dance", and the final season for Juice and Coble,
didn't it make sense to find  some compromise that would allow NU to have ALL
of its best players  contributing to what we all hoped and expected would be
the break-through  season we have been waiting for?   Given all of the
obstacles we  have to overcome to get to this position--academic requirements,
the  inadequacy of Welsh-Ryan, the lack of any winning tradition--how can we
not go  forward with every "ace" in our Coach's hand?  I am sorry, but I
just  cannot understand this at all.   This is not like Coble not going to 
class, flunking his courses, breaking team rules, or gambling, or any of the 
other "sins" that would have led GB or RW or Fitz to throw a FB player off
the  team.  This seems to me to perhaps be a very collateral issue that was 
blown up into a test of wills by a Coach who maybe is unnecessarily insecure 
or otherwise needs to demonstrate who is boss, against a 21-year-old who
has  been through a lot (mother's cancer, broken foot, etc.).  Having a son 
the same age- I just think that the punishment does not fit the alleged 
"crime".  For Carmody didn't only "punish" Coble, as the rest of the  team, the
students, and we alums are all suffering as well.   

Paul Levinson

-----Original  Message-----
From: Roy S. Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>
To:  'Eric West' <e-west at northwestern.edu>; nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Thu,  Jan 27, 2011 11:48 am
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] telling Carmody postgame  quote

When the season is finally over, and whatever happens settles  in, the big
question is still going to be why BC didn't try harder to keep  Coble
around.

Coble, Shurna and Crawford would have been an outstanding  set of forwards
- when
one was having a bad night, the others could step  up. Now, if Shurna gets
hurt
or Crawford gets distracted, either Juice or  one of the guards off the
bench
have to step up. It's almost a no  win.

The other "hole" I see on the team this year is that the center  isn't
turning
around at the top of the key and draining a 3 pointer. Luka  could even
shoot it
from the foul line and it would help clean out the  middle against those
big guys
in the Big 10. Luka needs to make more of  his inside layups and putbacks,
but
the center shooting from the arc makes  it easier for the rest of the guys.

Finally, we did a good job breaking  down Minny's 2-3 zone in the first
half. It
took a while, but once they  were forced into man coverage, we went on the
run.

In the 2nd half,  Minny just went after the middle, and we were  stuck.

rsl

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Roy  S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
Computer Applications  & Support Associates
-------------------- Also  ----------------------
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-----Original  Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com  [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf
Of Eric West
Sent:  Thursday, January 27, 2011 11:37 AM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re:  [NU Sports] telling Carmody postgame quote

On 1/27/2011 10:13 AM,  Beamsley, Jeff wrote:
> My theory is that this team had a lot of  momentum at the start of the
year
because they saw the possibility that  they might be the group that gets NU
to
the NCAA tourney.
>
>  Shurna's nagging injury put that goal in jeopardy.  The failure of the 
rest of
the team to step up has since put that goal out of  reach.

I still think the jury is out on this season. Every Big Ten  loss has
been to a currently ranked team (do people realize that?), and  even St.
John's has been on the positive side of the tourney bubble. We  don't
have a quality win, and the chances to get one are running out, but  it's
still conceivable. All we really need is one (two would certainly  clinch
it).

If we ever actually lose to an unranked opponent, that  will be one
thing. There will certainly be no room for error in that  five-game
stretch. But people seem to forget that how we fare against Ohio  State
or Wisconsin has nothing to do with whether we eventually make the 
tournament. Nothing has been decided yet; let's hope the team doesn't 
give up the way the fans have seemed to.

Eric  West
e-west at northwestern.edu

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