I 've seen posts that it's the coaching staff, certain players, it's a game of streaks, we're in a slump, etc.
SO WHAT IS IT?
Should we have seen the end of last season as a preview of this season? That is what it seems to be, we aren't that good!
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Who's to Blame?
I 've seen posts that it's the coaching staff, certain players, it's a game of streaks, we're in a slump, etc.
SO WHAT IS IT?
Should we have seen the end of last season as a preview of this season? That is what it seems to be, we aren't that good!
It is lack of execution by the players. You can't blame the coach for the following pitiful execution. Now if the coach doesn't get rid of some of these slackers in the off season then we have a coaching problem.
1. Batting- How many times have we STRUCK OUT LOOKING on a full count? We have to be leading the conference. Umpires are not going to place us on base, the players have to SWING THE BAT to get there and stop looking for an "easy on base". This is even happening when we have 2 or 3 base runners and two out! Everyone knows that if the ball is anywhere close to the plate with a full count you "protect the plate". We have the second lowest batting % in the WAC. We lead the league in grounding into double plays, 2nd worst in hits, worst in the league in doubles, worst in the league in triples. Yes, our batting coach should share responsibility in this.
2. Errors- Only New Mexico St has committed more errors than Louisiana Tech. What a coincidence- these are the teams with the worst conference record. Errors in baseball are like interceptions in football; commit one and the other team will likely get freebie points from it.
3. Fielding- Second worst fielding % in the WAC.
We all know that these things inter-relate. Fix one or two and the others tend to also improve. But the players have to first stop blaming "coaching", "travel", PMS,... Man up and end this damned pitty party or leave the team!
Re: Who's to Blame?
You're right....I think we lead the universe in "taking" strike three.When the home plate umpire is consistantly calling strikes outside the zone, you can't take a close pitch with two strikes on you.The errors have killed us....routine groundballs booted & wild throws have extended countless innings,resulting in many runs scored against us (that wouldn't have scored otherwise).It also caused our pitchers' pitch counts to go up which makes us go to our bullpen sooner (which has been a disaster most of the time). Although we had our best defensive unit out there in the second game of the doubleheader and played excellent defense for 8 innings, we cracked under the pressure in the bottom of the 9th. In the first game of the doubleheader San Jose starts off the game with two harmless groundballs to 2nd base that get booted.That should've been a no runs on no hits,and no errors inning....but instead opened the floodgates for 6 unearned runs. Every mistake like this has cost us dearly this season.....like a broken record,deja-vue.If we feel this ticked -off and frustrated....just imagine the state of mind of the players & coaches. Our hits & runs totals have dropped off considerably.A few of the guys that had hot bats earlier in the season have not made the necessary adjustments at the plate to stay successful (not an easy thing to do when you're not getting good pitches to hit anymore)Originally Posted by DogsWin
and think of the corporate sponsors, parents, students, city sponsors, and anyone else who is involved...people give alot of money to show their support and it is going down the toilet...and now they are trying to get sponsors for the WAC tournament which right now we aren't even in!!!
Smallballs, do you ever post any suggestions for improvement or do you just bitch for the sake of bitching?
I don't understand why everyone is so concerned with who is to blame. If you ask me, the people that are to blame are the idiots that want to continue putting their two cents in with who's to blame and the people who CONTINUE to bash the baseball team. Just like Hachiman said in a previous thread, you win as a team, you lose as a team. This includes both the players and the coaching staff. They just aren't meshing well right now, but last night showed a hint of the Louisiana baseball Tech team that was suppose to lead the conference this year. Hopefully they can turn it around.
And smallballs, you and your smallballs need to go else where with your bs. Most of the things you say don't even make sense...
Well said Sally, and to you bunch of damn cry babies why don't you shut up and support the team and coaches. You are supposed to be fans. These young men and their coaches are trying to win as bad as we all want them to. You don't think that lost last night didn't make them sick. They have to pull it together today and take care of business. This is not the end of the world it is just a damn game. Stay off their backs.
Last edited by pickoff; 04-20-2008 at 11:29 AM.
True, it is a game but don't forget the coaches are being paid pretty well and a good many of the players are having their school paid for. Not to mention all the people and the institution they represent. They aren't in little league anymore and just playing for fun. I'd be surprised and dissappointed if each player didn't have the aspiration to play in the major league and play at that level you have to overcome adversity. This group needs to do the same no matter what it takes.
So if you want to go there with the amount of scholarship money these kids have and what the coaches are being paid...they have 12 full scholarships to divide amoungest the WHOLE team. Yes, there are a few guys, not many, that might be on almost full, but there are more than half that are on nothing or maybe just books, or have a meal plan or something. Look at Brian Rike, he was on absolutely nothing last year and look how well he did. At Tech, the coaches get paid next to nothing esp. considering the hours they put in. You don't get into coaching for the money, at least not at Tech. These guys aren't playing and these coaches aren't coaching for the money, they're doing it because they love the sport. They are not intentionally losing for the 100th time. Like pickoff said, I can guarantee this 12 day road trip has been hell for the guys and they are trying to win!
Last edited by Sally76; 04-20-2008 at 02:09 PM.
I second that emotion....!
All your comments are supported by factual statistics.I don't know the answers, but it is in all phases of team and not just one. Therefore, I couldn't point the finger at just one person unless it all eventually has to roll up to the Head Coach in each respective sport. Hope they can turn it around as team appears really down and not motivated across the board regardless of what may be said.
- Fielding % is way below what everyone was expecting for this season. People may not know how hard it would be to move up to 97% and above as many WAC teams sit at. We might have to go errorless the rest of season. This is not counting the players communication on balls that dropped early in the season as no glove was laid on the ball and the missed calls on throws to bases. This has really been the confusing part to me as it eventually impacts pitching and offense you have to play.
- Hitting - I did not expect it to be quite as good overall, but sufficient and hopefully go back to prior years of moving runners, lots of sacrifice bunting and balls hit to right side to move runners etc. We stood and just hit a lot last year. This year's team is skilled more like the 2006 team offensively, but our sacrifices are very low this year and we had many opportunities early in year and earlier in games close. A lot, but not all, these WAC teams do all the little things well that helps them win with maybe only 2-3 top players in field. Now we have been starting to adjust lineups a lot this late in season like we don't know where players fit best.
- Pitching - disappointed. I noticed are walks allowed, not intentional, are signifcantly down this year. However, extra base hits allowed is way up as we obviously are throwing more strikes, but meat up in zone. Appears they over correct. After getting drilled, pitchers start nibbling and when few errors follow, it gets worse. I can't help but recall Gravy Patterson. They knew their talent well at start of season. When some of top pitchers struggled, he did not over react with wholesale changes. Maybe tweaked a #2 with a #1 or a #3 with a #2 and many times ended back with main group by season half way point. I guess he kept showing confidence and encouragement as I don't know why it works for some and not for others. I was hoping Bradshaw could get more mid week and some weekend innings this season as progress, but not thrown into #1 spot week and buried the next. Lassere similar, not a #1, but happened. Same with Richard. Pretty drastic changes and none did well outside their roles of past. Managing a pitching staff and having some patience, but not always, is toughest part of coaching in my opinion and gradually developing young arms and experience for future years.
Go Dawgs!
Excellent comments, DH
i'll be the first to admit i don't follow college baseball very closely, so i am speaking out of ignorance here. but i do know tech had an ok year last year and returned several key players from that team. the players and coaches all talked about winning the wac (or at least competing for it). no one envisioned this team wouldn't even qualify for the conference tournament being held in its own ball park. how do you think the wac likes this? hosting a tournament a million miles away from every other school in the conference and the host school won't even be in it? but that is likely exactly what will happen. i know we lost all three games at the a&m tounament early in the year in very close fashion to good programs (arkansas, ohio state, and a&m). since then this team gets routinely beaten by 10 runs. and there is no excuse for that. if the team fell apart after the a&m tournament before ever playing a conference game, that is squarely on the coach.
i know this board is a friend of and financial supporter of the baseball program and it seems severe criticism of the coaching staff has been minimal, perhaps for that reason. if dooley or rupp get three or four years into their programs and are getting hammered this way in conference in their respective sports, this board would erupt with "fire the coach" propoganda. simoneaux seems to be getting a pass from that so far.
i know teams go through rough patches and its not too late for them to turn this around, but this is astoundingly bad, i mean "jerry loyd" bad, for those old enough to know who that is in tech lore. i know the basketball team was bad this year, but they were supposed to be bad, plus they showed great improvement at the end of the year. this team was supposed to be good and is tanking at the end of the year. i don't mind when my team gets beat by the better team or even has a bad day or stretch; that can particularly happen in baseball, where you play so many games. but when a team quits, just appears to lay down and die - that is inexcusable.
At this level, sports are played for the fans. This is an entertainment business. Part of that means accepting that you'll be criticized and questioned when you aren't winning. If they don't want the fans to care, they can still play out love for the game with their intramural team. If it's only about love of the game, intramural should satisfy that need.
If I were wrong and if it weren't about the fans, then the players would pay to play. It isn't just the scholarships that go to the team. Additionally, their field (including water and electricity), travel, uniforms, among others are all expenses covered. In essence, if it weren't about the players, it would be like club sports. Until the players are paying for their own way, they'll have to accept that the fans will question them when they are losing.
When you call out people who are donating money to the program, you're only going to alienate people. I encourage you to be more encouraging when you are looking to get people to keep their chin up.
That said, c'mon Dawgs, pull out of it.
Its 11.7 scholarships to divide up among all of the players. I would bet no one has a full ride. Nobody gets a full ride in college baseball. They have to spread the money out to 25 or so players.
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