What I want to see

[Spider17]

I thought I'd make a comprehensive list of what I would like to see from our basketball program and athletic department now that the season is over. A lot might be wishful thinking, but I think if we can see Mooney/athletic department do at least some of these things, it will lessen the sour taste in our mouths.

1a. Take accountability for how the season ended.
- I can't believe that this even needs to be said, but hearing some sort of accountability from Mooney and Hardt would definitely be appreciated. Somewhere the words "unacceptable" and/or "not meeting standards" should be used. Hopefully some level of self-reflection on what went wrong and how as the leader of the team or leader of athletic department, all measures are being looked at to meet our goals of A10 championships and NCAA appearances. The fact that nothing was said today from Hardt speaks from volumes. I don't understand why they wouldn't say something. Do they think it makes them look weak to admit any sort of fault? It is a terrible look to remain silent.

1b. Set the tone for next season, expressing actionable measures.
- I would be so happy to hear our admin say something along the lines of "Our University is fully committed to the success of men's basketball. In doing so, the University of Richmond is committed in help fund the men's basketball program to be top of the A10 and one of the best mid majors in the country". They don't even need to say specifically how much school funding. Even implying that it is going to be at the top is good enough. Talk about the efforts to bring the best student-athletes. Talk about ways to reinvigorate interest in the Robins Center again. Efforts to get more student attendance. Please, just show that you care!!

2. Bring in top-level recruits.
- Rumors seem to suggest we will be operating with a $4-5 million payroll. Bring back AA and go get transfers who are bona fide studs and out recruit other top mid majors and P4 teams for them. I don't want to hear how hard it is. Go out and get it done. Recruit like your job is on the line, which it is. There is no reason why we can't have AA and at least 2 other guaranteed impact level starters on this roster next year.

3. Bring in a fresh coaching perspective.
- The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. Bring in an assistant or associate head coach who can provide a different perspective and give this team a different dimension in the way we approach the game.

4. Change the offensive/defensive scheme.
- I get that we will always have the Princeton offense under Mooney and year 22 isn't going to be the time he changes, but at least some very modified Princeton offense. It should not take players more than a few months to learn out offensive system. Especially if we're going to bring in talented players. Have a scheme that plays to their strengths. Focusing on defense is important too. Change the match-up zone or man-to-man or whatever it is that we do that leads to so many mismatches and giving our opponent's open looks.

5. Have a strong non-conference schedule.
- I will make a promise right now. If we go out and actually put together a strong non-conference schedule, I will not hold losses to those good teams against the coaching staff. Winning those games can only be a net positive and losing those games won't hurt in my eyes. If we have a horrendous schedule again, I do not care how many wins we have, I will only judge improvement on this team based off of A10 play only.

I don't know if there are other things anyone can think of, but these are probably the main areas of what I want to see this offseason.

 

[Eight Legger]

6. Burn the 8-song playlist that the band has used for the past 21 years. And/or just get rid of the band entirely.

 

[Spiderguy]

6. Burn the 8-song playlist that the band has used for the past 21 years. And/or just get rid of the band entirely.

I dunno. The pumped in prerecorded music is really bad. Thank goodness not played in between every play like at our football games. So distracting.

 

[Arachnid]

17, nice pragmatic pipe dream in the la la land of the Robins Center.
Run it up the flagpole in a year and see if any fruition.

 

[Eight Legger]

17 is correct about all the things that need to happen. However, when the things we need to do include bringing in a fresh coaching perspective, changing our offense and defense and recruiting better, is so painfully obvious that a new coach is the only way forward.

Mooney will not change the way his teams play. He only knows one way to do things. His high school recruiting has mostly sucked for years. And now he can't expect to sign multi-year players as a rule, which he needs to do for his antiquated system to have any chance.

But while we are dreaming of things that will never happen as long as he's the coach:

-- Never say the word "compete" again. Ever. I'm serious. Stop. Saying. It.

-- Sign a big, bad rebounder and let him do his thing -- on both ends of the court.

-- Let your team RUN. For the love of God man. When we run, we are fun to watch and usually more effective.

 

[RichmondNative]

In summary, admit there is a problem and get a new coach.

 

[MrTbone]

If we don’t have at least one change in the coaching staff, we will know there’s no intent to change things, it’s just lip service.

Other than that, I’d like at least one alternative to the halftime show beyond the dress like a spider player or youth basketball challenge.

And switch to coke products. That’s a bigger ask.

 

[*23*]

Most of these are things I was pitching about ten years ago. Problem is Mooney just gets more and more entrenched in his same ways. He is getting better at complaining and making excuses. Those have ratcheded up this season. But no accountability ever. Or if so just plainly lip service.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

all of these things are issues, none are ever addressed except for the very obvious OOC powder puff scheduling, which is addressed because it's so public, as "scheduling is hard."

Spider basketball. Lower your expectations.

***I agree on the band and think it is also another example of UR's lack of effort/commitment to being a real program. The school can afford however many scholarships for a real band that brings actual fun and excitement (and maybe interests more students overall.) But I don't expect this either. They don't care about any of this. So we end up with 35 year old VCU alums playing the exact same stuff over and over.

 

[PalmTreeSpidUR]

I have a lot of concerns about the Robins Center experience the past few years, both on and off the court. But the band playing the same songs is not high on my list (I recognize others' views may differ).

 

[Eight Legger]

The music/timeout entertainment situation in general needs a major refresh. Whether it's a band playing worn-out songs from 2005 or PA-system music that's the same thing, could we just get something more modern? That basically goes for the entire program top to bottom, actually -- the coaching, the philosophies, the approach, all of it. It's almost 2030 and we are acting like Y2K was just a year or two ago.

 

[Spide]

I thought I'd make a comprehensive list of what I would like to see from our basketball program and athletic department now that the season is over. A lot might be wishful thinking, but I think if we can see Mooney/athletic department do at least some of these things, it will lessen the sour taste in our mouths.

1a. Take accountability for how the season ended.
- I can't believe that this even needs to be said, but hearing some sort of accountability from Mooney and Hardt would definitely be appreciated. Somewhere the words "unacceptable" and/or "not meeting standards" should be used. Hopefully some level of self-reflection on what went wrong and how as the leader of the team or leader of athletic department, all measures are being looked at to meet our goals of A10 championships and NCAA appearances. The fact that nothing was said today from Hardt speaks from volumes. I don't understand why they wouldn't say something. Do they think it makes them look weak to admit any sort of fault? It is a terrible look to remain silent.

1b. Set the tone for next season, expressing actionable measures.
- I would be so happy to hear our admin say something along the lines of "Our University is fully committed to the success of men's basketball. In doing so, the University of Richmond is committed in help fund the men's basketball program to be top of the A10 and one of the best mid majors in the country". They don't even need to say specifically how much school funding. Even implying that it is going to be at the top is good enough. Talk about the efforts to bring the best student-athletes. Talk about ways to reinvigorate interest in the Robins Center again. Efforts to get more student attendance. Please, just show that you care!!

2. Bring in top-level recruits.
- Rumors seem to suggest we will be operating with a $4-5 million payroll. Bring back AA and go get transfers who are bona fide studs and out recruit other top mid majors and P4 teams for them. I don't want to hear how hard it is. Go out and get it done. Recruit like your job is on the line, which it is. There is no reason why we can't have AA and at least 2 other guaranteed impact level starters on this roster next year.

3. Bring in a fresh coaching perspective.
- The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. Bring in an assistant or associate head coach who can provide a different perspective and give this team a different dimension in the way we approach the game.

4. Change the offensive/defensive scheme.
- I get that we will always have the Princeton offense under Mooney and year 22 isn't going to be the time he changes, but at least some very modified Princeton offense. It should not take players more than a few months to learn out offensive system. Especially if we're going to bring in talented players. Have a scheme that plays to their strengths. Focusing on defense is important too. Change the match-up zone or man-to-man or whatever it is that we do that leads to so many mismatches and giving our opponent's open looks.

5. Have a strong non-conference schedule.
- I will make a promise right now. If we go out and actually put together a strong non-conference schedule, I will not hold losses to those good teams against the coaching staff. Winning those games can only be a net positive and losing those games won't hurt in my eyes. If we have a horrendous schedule again, I do not care how many wins we have, I will only judge improvement on this team based off of A10 play only.

I don't know if there are other things anyone can think of, but these are probably the main areas of what I want to see this offseason.

Thanks for the list “17”. All of your points are valid. As far as I know, all of your points are being addressed by university leadership, including the AD and coaching staff.

 

[Spider17]

Thanks for the list “17”. All of your points are valid. As far as I know, all of your points are being addressed by university leadership, including the AD and coaching staff.

Thanks Spide, but what confidence do you have in this? It’s day 2 post A10 tournament and we still haven’t heard anything from leadership. I have little hope that any of the other points will get addressed if they can’t even take accountability for these results.

 

[Spide]

Thanks Spide, but what confidence do you have in this? It’s day 2 post A10 tournament and we still haven’t heard anything from leadership. I have little hope that any of the other points will get addressed if they can’t even take accountability for these results.

“17”, we all have different ways of accomplishing the same goals. Personally always thought it was best not to air things out in public. A number of changes are being made in our program to improve our results. I am going to be patient and see how all these things play out. While I support the changes that are being implemented, it’s not my responsibility to make them. Go Spiders!

 

[Spider17]

“17”, we all have different ways of accomplishing the same goals. Personally always thought it was best not to air things out in public. A number of changes are being made in our program to improve our results. I am going to be patient and see how all these things play out. While I support the changes that are being implemented, it’s not my responsibility to make them. Go Spiders!

I appreciate the response and certainly would not ask you to air things publicly you do not want to.

I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but we’ve seen this song and dance from them before. Keeping everything secret, not addressing anything publicly, having no explicit goals that fans would hold them accountable or they keep themselves accountable to. None of this instills confidence to me that they are working on this in systematic ways to build a successful program and do what is necessary to achieve those goals. “Just trust me” is not a viable response from our admin.

 

[Spiderguy]

In my opinion, if they only address things around the edges, then it doesn't go far enough. Marginal changes are easy, but the more impactful changes require admitting problems at the highest level which are Hardt & Mooney. The more impactful changes I believe UR will not deal with until later years. New music = easy. New coach = Moon is our man.

 

[*23*]

Exactly 17. "Those in charge" are telling us, we got this we are doing everything in our power to fix this, trust us. But everything we have seen from Hardt is that he will not do anything. Or as noted by spiderguy, they are just making marginal "window dressing" changes. So more of the same. Unbelievable how we have gone from a hoops school and program, to LaSalle or Fordham. Just wild.

 

[Spiderguy]

Exactly 17. "Those in charge" are telling us, we got this we are doing everything in our power to fix this, trust us. But everything we have seen from Hardt is that he will not do anything. Or as noted by spiderguy, they are just making marginal "window dressing" changes. So more of the same. Unbelievable how we have gone from a hoops school and program, to LaSalle or Fordham. Just wild.

Except we are on par right now with La Salle and looking up at Fordham. Think about that...looking up at Fordham.

 

[Spider17]

Exactly 17. "Those in charge" are telling us, we got this we are doing everything in our power to fix this, trust us. But everything we have seen from Hardt is that he will not do anything. Or as noted by spiderguy, they are just making marginal "window dressing" changes. So more of the same. Unbelievable how we have gone from a hoops school and program, to LaSalle or Fordham. Just wild.

There are so many issues I have with our admin and the way they go about this, but my biggest one by far is the lack of transparency. I will keep beating this drum as long as necessary but we have heard absolutely nothing from any of our leaders about this season where we finished with arguably the two most embarrassing losses in program history after finishing with 8 D1 wins the season before.

I also don’t want to undermine what Spide says and am appreciative of any insight to our program since he seems like someone in the know, but his comment of “I am going to be patient and see how all these things play out.” How much more patient can someone be? Especially if someone is a big donor to the program. Unless it’s a head coaching change, what could Hardt possibly say to convince one to see how things play out. He must be the best salesman of all time because if I was a big time donor, you wouldn’t see a penny from me until Mooney is gone.

Only thing from the rumors is a substantial increase in payroll. That by itself is not enough for me to see how things plays out. This extra money is trying to put lipstick, make up, and expensive plastic surgery on a pig.

 

[*23*]

what could Hardt possibly say to convince one to see how things play out. He must be the best salesman of all time because if I was a big time donor, you wouldn’t see a penny from me until Mooney is gone.

WIth the opt in, schools can pay up to 20.5 Million dollars. So maybe they are getting mostly from the school?