Thoughts?

ugh

4 replies in the entire game thread and now 3 in the postgame thread sums it up nicely.

Lots of ACC basketball on TV tonight that is much more entertaining and people care more about, esp since we are consistent at blowing games.

We suck... what else is there to say???

The usually reliable Nate Healy had a terrible game from the floor, 2-13.

Another former App player got a measure of satisfaction against his former teammates. Anthony Thomas had 14 points and 7 rebounds for Charleston.

I think the weather in boone says it all...

around 3500 attendance

Another frustrating performance. Competing very well for 30-35 minutes and giving up a big run that decides the game is becoming a disturbing trend. I'm not sure if it is conditioning, lack of composure or both but we can't seem to put it together for a full 40 minutes. There are games where we start strong and fade (Western, UTC, GSU, CofC) and those where we get down early and play well late (UNCG, Elon, Duquesne).

Sometimes that will get you a win but more times than not, it won't. I will continue to watch the games, support the team and go to as many games as I can but the unrealized potential on this team is infuriating. I'd feel better about where our program is if we played sound basketball but didn't have the horses.

We have the talent and athletic ability to play with anyone in this conference but just cannot get it together. Saturday's game with Western will determine whether we remain middle of the pack and hover around .500 in conference or really start to slide.

I don't know where we should go but either way, it will be a tough decision. Stick with Capel and risk a repeat performance in 2014 or buy him out, likely lose at least a few players of a very nice recruiting class and start all over.

JTApps1 wrote:We suck... what else is there to say???

There is no discussion. Buy him out. Do you see any evidence we are getting better as a program?

Capel will be the coach next year, I don't see us buying out his contract.

How would I describe ASU basketball. Predictably unpredictable from game to game and even half to half.

After the way this season has played out so far, losing to the WorstinCarolina Can'tamounts on Saturday would be an all-time low point for the App State Basketball program. As much as I do not respect nor recognize the faux "rivalry" we hold with the kitties, I would very much like to win.

It's become clear that an eight-man rotation is wearing those eight players down. Capel professes to want an up-tempo, rebounding and defensive style which is very physical and taxing. And the conditioning of this team has been called into question the last three years so those are recipies for late-game collapses.

As bad as this is to stay, this is the reason I believe a Capel ASU team will never will a SoCon Tourney. We don't have the conditioning to do aneight-man rotation for one game, let alone three in three days (even much less four).

Saint3333 wrote:Capel will be the coach next year, I don't see us buying out his contract.

How would I describe ASU basketball. Predictably unpredictable from game to game and even half to half.

No one saw the buy out of Houston coming except the people that did it.
Houston still had a winning record when he left.

If financing the basketball program were not an issue then Capel would likely be bought out, but we have budget constraints to worry about. What would be the point in buying him out if that meant we had to roll the dice on another inexperienced coach?

As much as it might suck, I think we'd be better off in the long run to let him work out the final year, hang on to the 2013 class and if 2014 is more of the same, cut ties. That would leave us with a talented roster and hopefully the money to make a run at a coach with more experience who could bring it all together. If the ship gets turned around in the meantime then great, but I'm not holding my breath.

Mike you are a very intelligent poster. But I wonder why you have such an investment in Capel.

Western Carolina has a clearly better basketball team and coach at this point and should be the favorite to win in the Holmes Dome Saturday. ASU needs to buy out Capel. If we took a tiny bit of the huge amounts of money we spend on football, we could easily do it. It in turn would help football because it enhances the move-up profile of the entire athletic department.

Seattleapp wrote:Mike you are a very intelligent poster. But I wonder why you have such an investment in Capel.

I really don't, although I can see why it may seem that way. I've been disappointed in his tenure given the talent on this team and watching us lose to teams with equal or lesser talent is getting old.

I just want this program to get turned around for good and there is only so much money to go around. The worst-case would be that we buy him out, lose the incoming recruits and only have enough money to gamble on another unproven commodity that gives us another few years of sub-par basketball.

If somebody in our athletic department has a good candidate in line that has interest in job then by all means, buy him out and make the hire if we can afford to do both. I'm just not sure we can swing it.

Very good insight, Mike