Re: Why to not throw in the towel

[richard l. kandell]

Jon - I'm not sure anyone on the forum is "giving up" on this year, and the
commentary on playing some of the other people is being made not only to get
them ready for next year, but to change what has happened recently this
year.  Candidly, we have beaten primarily a bunch of mediocre teams by small
margins - for example look at the difference in the scores versus DePaul at
our place, @ Marquette and @ Louisville.  While we were at least getting
wins with Johnson, Holman, et al, there was no big apparent reason to change
personnel policies.  However, that has ceased as we've moved to the
difficult part of the schedule, and a number of people are philosophizing
about whether/when/how to use other players.  In addition, it is helpful
that, assuming they are trying in practice, playing and giving the "younger"
players some experience has an additional benefit which might be seen next
year.  I doubt anyone on the forum is asking that Lenny Stokes be put on the
bench and forgotten about, nor are they saying to throw this season away.
Quite the contrary, I do believe that everyone is just venting their ideas
as to how the season can be saved.  Fortunately for all of us, Huggins and
staff are a lot smarter when it comes to basketball then we are.

Richard K.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Macomber" <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 2:40 PM
Subject: [UC Basketball] Why to not throw in the towel



A quick response to those who mentioned playing the young guys and get them
ready for next year:

It would be quite an injustice to not only tell players "we're giving up
this season", but to tell a senior like Taron Barker "thanks for coming, but
since you're a senior you're gonna sit more".  Or even worse, tell Leonard
Stokes "Thanks for 3 1/2 years of playing for the university, but we're
throwing your senior season away to get ready for next year".

Or tell the UCATS members, the alumni, and ticket holders that we've given
up on the team, but next year should be great.  Hey why doesn't every team
in div 1 with a losing record sit their seniors and play just next years
lineup?

If this was a professional franchise then I might agree that the long term
performance might improve by looking ahead now, but the university has an
obligation to compete to the standards of NCAA and student-athletes.
Integrity is the issue here, not the bottom line.

I definitely haven't given up on this good (not great) team.  Plus, Huggins
doesn't strike me as the type of guy who would give up at anything!


Jon M