Penndemonium
Postdoc
Posts: 2028
Reg: 11-29-04
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06-06-23 03:18 PM - Post#356691
In response to AsiaSunset
It was a really nice season for these guys.
Maybe this is obvious but the Penn baseball team has a real online personality. Compare this with the Penn basketball team of which I can only describe as devoid of an interesting online presence.
NYCHoops mentioned a lot of things in his recent post. One of several was that he senses that our staff doesn’t really understand the importance of some modern day means of creating awareness and interest among potential hs basketball players. I’m not saying our staff are duds, but in terms of a social media footprint, they are not very impressive, at least from my perspective.
Congrats to Penn baseball. They’ve peaked a lot of interest for many. I have become a fan and a lot has to do with the Twitter footprint they’ve created.
My sense of things is that Donahue is good at some things and not as much at others. He runs a better and cleaner program structure than either of his 2 predecessors. He is missing something in recruiting. His player development seems decent. His game coaching is a mixed story. His innovation appears so-so.
Steve's winning Cornell teams were a perfect confluence of some lucky recruiting, player development, and players whose abilities highlighted Steve's strongest game strategies. The problem is that nothing stays the same in sports. The league is recruiting better overall, the whole NCAA is changing (NIL, transfers, etc.), and his strategies are well-known and more broadly practiced. We also have not had good timing of players who fit his approach well.
The part that is more difficult to puzzle out is that for his first few years, I actually thought his game coaching was good. Our teams always seemed purposeful and focused, and never gave up playing hard. He was slowly improving as a defensive coach. His progress seems to have stalled. Our defense is terrible, and our offense doesn't seem to fit our personnel (or vice-versa).
The coach has to own all of this, and never rest on their laurels in even a single category. The coaches need to be a continuously learning and quickly adapting. In the old days, coaches like Boeheim, Knight, and Smith could just run teams the way they liked. Every year looked like the last decade. Now, even Duke, Kentucky, and other power teams have had to adapt quickly to the new landscape. I do question whether he is up to that task and succeeding in the Gen Z player era.
Either way, I respect Donahue a lot and our program overall. I am not shouting for his head. If he is leading our team, we need a few lucky strikes in recruiting very talented Donahue-type players. I don't think he will hit every cylinder in meeting the new world of college basketball without a bit of luck. As NYCHoops said, some others are working harder and smarter. I'm OK with that as long as our team stays motivated and they represent us as well as have.
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