curious detail from the nlu-osu game last night:
"Up 41-20, the Buckeyes opened the second half the same way they did the first — on a run.
Amazingly, ULM coach Keith Richard benched his starters at halftime and did not play them at all in the final 20 minutes.
“The only way to make things happen is by playing hard. I’m about tired of it. It’s been going on at certain times during different games,” Richard, who didn’t attend a postgame news conference, said in a statement issued by the sports information office. “Those guys just aren’t going to play. We’re not in a good place right now obviously after the last two ball games, mentally or physically.”"
I guess we left them disoriented last Sunday.
Caught the OhioState broadcast on XM last night. Just prior to tipoff the OSU PxP guy gives a rundown on "exactly who is Louisiana-Monroe" dropping names like Calvin Natt, Stan Humphries, Chuck Finley, etc.
Then . . . . he say, "They're requested we call them Uniyersity of Louisiana at Monroe or U-L-M, but for simplicity sake I'm gonna call them Louisiana-Monroe."
And, he did throughout the broadcast.
Louisiana Tech University
Flagship of the University of Louisiana System
"play hard" has been his trade mark for years. I noticed he's still muttering it after the Ohio State game. He also likes to talk about "length" and "skill." I've never seen him develop players (either they have it or they don't). You have to be tough to play for Keith.
I will NEVER forget what White accomplished with Souza in his first season as our coach. That guy went from incompetent to unstoppable in a matter of months.
Have you considered those Dogs?
His jucos, so heralded a week ago, are now a source of great disappointment. WHUT happened?
Good old Memorial Gym
He probably decided they can't play defense to his standards, so he set them all down.
That was the kind of stuff he would do when he was here. If he was not satisfied with a player's defensive performance, he rode the pine.
Sure, defense is very important, probably the most important skill, but most kids are not going to be complete players the day they step on campus. Keith never seemed to get that. That is why he sat Freshman Kyle Gibson down after 8 or so games and played him very sparingly for the rest of the season, even though Kyle was averaging double digits in scoring and was obviously the purest shooter on the team. He did the same thing with the lefty shooting guard, McDowell?, on one of his last teams when the kid was one of the only consistent offensive threats on the squad.
Probably Mike White's greatest strength as a coach is identifying player roles based upon the player's skill set and then blending those skills into a game plan. He then goes about improving the areas where the individual players are not as strong. When signed, Kyser was a natural shot blocker, Speedy was a distributor and Heem was a gifted scorer. They had other skills, but those were there calling cards. They have all gotten stronger in other areas as they have developed as players, but I am not sure they would have had as much opportunity to do so with Keith as their coach.
Keith is a capable coach, but he was very dogmatic on some issues when he was here; it sound like he hasn't changed much.
Can't complain about a coach demanding effort. At some point though he will have to convince them to play hard without sitting half the season.