As I have previously stated, I am a fan of Spoon, the personality and the player. I am not a fan of Spoon the coach. Many of her choices have been indefensible this past season, and the perception is that she has no handle on building team chemistry. When Spoon was a player, she led her teams with skill and personality, but she had a coach with experience to focus and motivate her. Spoon's obvious lack of direction and experience as a coach were in large part to blame for the complete breakdown and failure of the team this season. You can argue it all you want, but it doesn't change the facts.
Those who say it doesn't matter because she's coming back next season...well, they are correct, to a degree. She is coming back, and she gets another chance, whether or not I or anyone else agrees or disagrees. So to that point, yes, we need to move on to 2012-2013 and hope that something changes. On the flip side of that argument, the facts of the past few seasons remain in place, and to ignore what is staring back at you in the mirror is to ignore reality. The Techster program cannot afford to ignore the reality that the game and the national scene has passed them by. Spoon needs assistance, she is out of her league as a head coach...in my opinion. That said, with the proper support of more qualified coaches around her, (and being self-assured enough to hire coaches with credentials and not some star-struck former assistants from junior colleges or weak conferences who also lack skills and experience at this level of play), there is the potential for Spoon to develop.
In my opinion, the problem is Spoon the Celebrity Player vs. Spoon the CEO Celebrity. Spoon has always been a star. She is larger than life. But she was always the star of a team, and had a coach to keep her focused and in check. The transition from Player to CEO isn't always successful, and has proved challenging over the past couple of seasons at Tech.
From an article in Strategic Management Journal Strat. Mgmt. J., 25: 637–653 (2004) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/smj.405
The more a CEO interacts with others who also accept
celebrity, the more likely she will accept the celebrity attribution as true. In the context that is analyzed here, by deferring to the celebrity CEO, stakeholders may expect greater access to the resources and opportunities that the celebrity CEO can provide. By deferring to the celebrity CEO, however, stake- holders also increase her actual control over the firm, thereby generating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Spoon's only experience as CEO Celebrity is at Tech, and unfortunately for her and at no-fault of her own, the celebrity factor in Ruston is rather low, and that is a serious understatement. Someone of Spoon's celebrity stature rarely makes an appearance in Ruston, much less takes up residence and walks among the commoners. (sarcasm noted and intended)
Spoon's celebrity stature is not enough to land top recruits, build a team, reenergize the fan base, or return the program to relevance. Those are facts. To transition from Player Celebrity to Celebrity CEO of the Techsters, Spoon must embrace others around her whose personalities and credentials shine equally to her own. She does not need to be the star of this team, and the fans who keep thrusting her into that role need to let it go. Her days of being star player are long gone, and with each passing season, her name-ID also diminishes slightly. That is also a fact of this "what have you done for me lately" world. It is time to develop into the CEO of the program, and CEO's do not miss post-game interviews or act like they have something to prove. They prove it rather than acting it. Successful CEO's communicate clearly, stay on message, and share the responsibilities and kudos. For Spoon to transition from Celebrity Player to CEO, and for the program to go from "little school that could" mentality to a power-player deserving of top-40 ranking, it is going to take Spoon showing signs of greatness once again, but this time, as a coach, not a player. This time, she needs to demonstrate her leadership skills by surrounding herself with a strong supporting cast. Not being afraid to let others shine is a true testament to a great leader. We all know what Spoon was able to do on the court in her day. Now, it is time for her to show what she can do off the court. I will admit that I have little faith after watching the past few seasons that this can happen. I admit that and put it into print because I will be glad to eat my own words should she prove me and my opinion wrong. And I hope she does.
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Originally Posted by bulldogbacker2
