ASU @ Samford - Game Thread

[hapapp]

No one is pretending that Capel is Shaka Smart. I don't think anyone has suggested he is the answer. There is no pie in the sky on this board. But most of us here are rooting for this bunch to find some success. The reality is he will be the coach at least thru this year and the notion that anybody has a clue about who will the next coach be seems misplaced with 6 weeks left in this season.

With the loss ASU drops into a 4th place tie with Chattanooga. Samford moves to 5-1 and Western is second at 5-2. Elon is 4-2 and has won three straight since they lost to us. Georgia Southern comes to town on Thursday after getting drilled at home by the Citadel. This GSU team has beaten Davidson, Charleston and Va Tech this year. They seem to be even more schizophrenic than us.

Our three loses have been by six, four, and three points. One wonders if we had a better ball handling club if we couldn't have won those three games. As bad as this team has played for most of this year, with the conference parity as it is, the conference tournament could be wide open. At this point, our season likely comes down to how we perform in Asheville. Very unlikely that we could win 4 games there but that is probably the only hope we really have at this point.

[MountainMan]

At least GSU at home is a winnable game.

GSU is probably the only team more unpredictable than ASU. Beat both Davidson and Charleston back-to-back and then lost badly to Citadel. Beat Va. Tech about a month ago, and then lost something like 3-4 in a row after that.

ASU vs GSU is the Battle of the Split Personality Teams.

[yosefederation]

Another tough loss. Had 21 assists in loss to Chatty, yet only 9 tonight. Anytime a team has more turnovers (14) than assists, more times than not they will end up on the losing end. 5 games in 11 days obviously has taken a toll on tthis team. Hopefully we can bounce back against G.South Thursday Planning on being there. There are still plenty of games left for us to turn this season around. GO APPS!!!!!

[yosefederation]

Samfords roster consists of 4 jrs. 4 sophs. and 5 freshman. They are definitely the surprise team in the SoCon this year imo.

[Kgfish]

Samfords roster consists of 4 jrs. 4 sophs. and 5 freshman. They are definitely the surprise team in the SoCon this year imo.

Going into game Samford's RPI was #278, ASU's #290. The Citadel #342 (out of 347) knock off #231 (and falling) Ga Southern, the Apps next opponent. Good thing we are in a really bad basketball conference, or we might not win another game all season. As a conference SoCon rolls in at #27 of 32 D-I conferences.

[asutrnr81]

One wonders if we had a better ball handling club if we couldn't have won those three games. As bad as this team has played for most of this year, with the conference parity as it is, the conference tournament could be wide open. At this point, our season likely comes down to how we perform in Asheville. Very unlikely that we could win 4 games there but that is probably the only hope we really have at this point.

My number one complaint is twice in a row our PG comes off a screen at the top of the key and "flips" the ball over his head (no look) to a non-guard....the first one Healy "gathers" in and hits the three. The next one Obacha does not even see and we turn it over....a freaking over the head, no look pass down 2 with under 2 to play.......I know what Bobby Cremins would have been doing when he was coaching at ASU....I know what Dean would have done when he was coaching Capel....He has got to know and he has got to get it through to the kids.....That is just plain unacceptable. That is never coached so when it happens it has to be addressed....plus you have to know who you are throwing the ball to. Obacha from three is not acceptable down 2 with under 2 to play!

[asu66]

I know what Dean would have done when he was coaching Capel...

Dean never coached Capel. He played for Bill Guthridge and Matt Doherty. Maybe that's the problem!

[Seattleapp]

Hapapp I respect your posts but I promise any winning we do this year in this bad conference is fools gold

[asumike83]

My number one complaint is twice in a row our PG comes off a screen at the top of the key and "flips" the ball over his head (no look) to a non-guard....the first one Healy "gathers" in and hits the three. The next one Obacha does not even see and we turn it over....a freaking over the head, no look pass down 2 with under 2 to play.......I know what Bobby Cremins would have been doing when he was coaching at ASU....I know what Dean would have done when he was coaching Capel....He has got to know and he has got to get it through to the kids.....That is just plain unacceptable. That is never coached so when it happens it has to be addressed....plus you have to know who you are throwing the ball to. Obacha from three is not acceptable down 2 with under 2 to play!

That was the back-breaker right there. Healy knocked down a clutch 3 to pull us to within 2, which we follow up with a stop. If we'd scored on that possession, it would have been a different ball game.

I have no idea what he was thinking throwing that behind the head pass to a post player who was no more than 2 feet away from him. I know we need better PG play but to be fair, that was Hamilton and not Neal. I thought Mike handled the ball pretty well yesterday with just 2 turnovers in 36 minutes.

Either way, we have got to take better care of the ball down the stretch. We have enough talent to beat anyone in this conference. The games are going to be close and we've got to learn how to close.

[hapapp]

I'm not going to make the case that we are a good team, however, we aren't that far from having a winning record at the moment. If you discount the High Point and Campbell disasters, we have been in every game we lost with the exception of the Missouri game. Of our other 8 losses (again discounting the HPU and CU games), five were decided by 6 points or less. The losses to ECU (10) and VT (11) were actually close games where we faded down the stretch. I would agree good teams win the majority of the close games and we have failed to do that. On the other hand, it does say that this team is not that far from finding some success against mediocre competition at best. We are all frustrated and if things don't improve, most fans hope to see some changes at season's end. However, we have been competitive lately and that certainly beats the performance at the beginning of the season.

[asutrnr81]

I know we need better PG play but to be fair, that was Hamilton and not Neal.

My bad....I had Neal on my mind.

[Kgfish]

Hapapp I respect your posts but I promise any winning we do this year in this bad conference is fools gold

The conference is so bad Capel could wind up with a winning record and some would be ready to let him hang around another year. That puts Cobb in a sticky situation. If he doesn't extend the contract it will kill us in recruiting. If he does extend it we are saddled with several more years of bad basketball. Catch 22.

[asumike83]

Hapapp I respect your posts but I promise any winning we do this year in this bad conference is fools gold

The conference is so bad Capel could wind up with a winning record and some would be ready to let him hang around another year. That puts Cobb in a sticky situation. If he doesn't extend the contract it will kill us in recruiting. If he does extend it we are saddled with several more years of bad basketball. Catch 22.

Capel is already under contract through 2014. Unless we buy him out in the off season, he will be back next season.

[Kgfish]

Hapapp I respect your posts but I promise any winning we do this year in this bad conference is fools gold

The conference is so bad Capel could wind up with a winning record and some would be ready to let him hang around another year. That puts Cobb in a sticky situation. If he doesn't extend the contract it will kill us in recruiting. If he does extend it we are saddled with several more years of bad basketball. Catch 22.

Capel is already under contract through 2014. Unless we buy him out in the off season, he will be back next season.

Realize that. Point is the last year of a contract is a sticky situation. You either extend and keep your fingers crossed or you bite the bullet and make a change. Doing nothing is the worst possible move. If Cobb had a backbone he would demand Mark Harrell stroke a check to pay that last year off. After all, he is the guy who is responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.

[asumike83]

The conference is so bad Capel could wind up with a winning record and some would be ready to let him hang around another year. That puts Cobb in a sticky situation. If he doesn't extend the contract it will kill us in recruiting. If he does extend it we are saddled with several more years of bad basketball. Catch 22.

Capel is already under contract through 2014. Unless we buy him out in the off season, he will be back next season.

Realize that. Point is the last year of a contract is a sticky situation. You either extend and keep your fingers crossed or you bite the bullet and make a change. Doing nothing is the worst possible move. If Cobb had a backbone he would demand Mark Harrell stroke a check to pay that last year off. After all, he is the guy who is responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.

My fault, misunderstood the 'let him hang around another year' statement.

[MountainMan]

I'll go out on a limb and say we should keep Capel around for at least one more year after this one.

I think he is improving as a coach. I think he has shown promise as a recruiter. He has not had the luxury of having a stable group of players -- we have had nothing but player turnover in the last couple of seasons -- don't know if that should be blamed on him (I tend to think not). He currently has a relatively young team that is getting better, even if they take a few unexplained breaks along the way. I think he works hard, represents the university well, and could become a really good basketball coach. Given the history of ASU basketball success (?), I see little downside and much more upside as a possibility.

JMO, but I'd hate to pull the "fire him" trigger too quickly and start over with another experiment that may or may not be any better.

[Kgfish]

The conference is so bad Capel could wind up with a winning record and some would be ready to let him hang around another year. That puts Cobb in a sticky situation. If he doesn't extend the contract it will kill us in recruiting. If he does extend it we are saddled with several more years of bad basketball. Catch 22.

Capel is already under contract through 2014. Unless we buy him out in the off season, he will be back next season.

Realize that. Point is the last year of a contract is a sticky situation. You either extend and keep your fingers crossed or you bite the bullet and make a change. Doing nothing is the worst possible move. If Cobb had a backbone he would demand Mark Harrell stroke a check to pay that last year off. After all, he is the guy who is responsible for the mess we find ourselves in.

My fault, misunderstood the 'let him hang around another year' statement.

That's OK. I probably wasn't clear enough in my previous explanation.

[Kgfish]

I'll go out on a limb and say we should keep Capel around for at least one more year after this one.

I think he is improving as a coach. I think he has shown promise as a recruiter. He has not had the luxury of having a stable group of players -- we have had nothing but player turnover in the last couple of seasons -- don't know if that should be blamed on him (I tend to think not). He currently has a relatively young team that is getting better, even if they take a few unexplained breaks along the way. I think he works hard, represents the university well, and could become a really good basketball coach. Given the history of ASU basketball success (?), I see little downside and much more upside as a possibility.

JMO, but I'd hate to pull the "fire him" trigger too quickly and start over with another experiment that may or may not be any better.

I'm sure Jason is a nice guy and although he didn't work very hard as the third guy on Buzz's staff (according to some players and support staff) I'm sure he puts in a good effort now. He was put into a bad situation by whoever made the call. Be assured he was the reason for the turnover. His lack of experience is costing us games. Contrary to popular belief Jason had a lot of talent given to him. He had the best talent in the SoCon a year ago and did nothing with it. He started the last two seasons with the preseason Player of the Year and neither got the award post season. Now his best player is a former HF walk on. I'm don't agree he has progressed much as a coach. The Mocs baited us time and time again into putting the ball into the corner to trap us. He had no answer for their pressure and now everyone realizes that. Middle school coaches know how to eliminate that stuff. I'm tired of being a part of an experiment. ASU fans deserve better. If the PTB want more people in the Holmes Center they better get a coach who knows how to win.

[asumike83]

The 'wait and see' approach is tough on the fans but I'm not sure what other options we have at this point. I think we can all agree that Capel has not earned an extension but if the moves within the football staff are any indication, we are not in a position to be buying coaches out. An uncertain future will likely handcuff Capel in terms of recruiting for 2014 but assuming he at least works out his contract, the 2013 class should remain intact and it is a promising one.

There have been several good points made in this thread and this is a difficult situation for all parties. Capel was hired with nearly no coaching experience. Can't blame him for taking the job but his inexperience has certainly shown, particularly in close games. He has also had a lot of turnover, some of which was self-inflicted and some that just comes with being the third head coach in three years.

In a perfect world, the kids continue to build some chemistry, finish the season strong, end up with a winning record in 2013 and get off to a good start in 2014. I've been following ASU basketball long enough to know that things don't often work out how we'd like but I'm not sure that we have any options aside from cheering on the team and hoping that they improve. A buyout seems unlikely and an extension even less likely.