If you were wondering, I discovered today that there's a 10,000 character limit to one post, so I've split this week's edition into two posts. Enjoy.
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On Broadway: The eval period, and what that means for defensive offers
There's been quite a bit of groaning as of late as it relates to the Texas Tech staff and offers on the defensive side of the ball, and I understand those complaints. While the offense was busy rolling off offers to receivers and offensive linemen left and right in February and March, it was fairly quiet on the other side of the ball overall. And I do understand folks getting antsy about that, I really do.
But, over the last week, quite a few defensive offers have begun to sprout up, especially on the defensive line. The reason for that is that we're now in the evaluation period on the recruiting calendar, meaning coaching staffs all over the country can walkabout to and fro from high school to high school, checking in on prospects they've circled but likely have held back from offering. Defensive coordinator David Gibbs has made it a point, a philosophy, in fact, that they aren't really going to offer any players on his side of the ball until they get a good look at that prospect in person. Sure, you might run the risk of missing out on a player, but at this point, after Tech football has been essentially run through a paper shredder on defense for half a decade, I think you have to trust the judgment of the newest man helming the D.
He has skins on the wall from Houston, Auburn, Minnesota, and several stops in the NFL. He's been successful everywhere he's been. That's not something that any DC in the last half decade in Lubbock can say. You just have to buy in and relax. Also, Gibbs has a full grasp on where his roster is right now and where he needs it to be in two years. To put it simply, he can't miss in the front seven. Tech football has been utterly plagued like a leper with defensive attrition in the front seven. Hell, if Michael Starts, Delvon Simmons, and others that never made it on campus were still sitting inside the Football Training Facility, how differently would things look? Very different.
But that's not the situation. Gibbs and his staff must hit on essentially all players they earn commitments from in the front seven for the next two classes. That would right the ship similarly to how things seem to be on track in the secondary, but there's just such a sliver-thin margin for error. It's why the coaching staff didn't panic and try to add warm bodies at the end of the 2015 class along the defensive line. Essentially, it comes down to this: If there's a question as to whether they can contribute, then they aren't an option. Tech has enough essentially empty scholarships on defense right now as it is.
This same philosophy applies to Colin Wilder and his decommitment, too. If Gibbs, who's arguably one of the best secondary coaches in football, doesn't feel he's a player that fits into his scheme, then you don't take him. Simple as that.
So, I say to you: Patience, and relax. You have to trust Gibbs at this point. If it doesn't work out, you all can burn me on the wooden funeral pyre as a sacrifice to the football gods for being an idiot.
The Wide World: The end of an era in Dallas?
When Mark Cuban conjured up the trade for Rajon Rondo earlier this season, I was absolutely thrilled as a Mavs fan, as were many others. An elite point guard with a proven track record in the playoffs and rings to boot? Sign me up, no questions asked. Add to that Amare Stoudemire - albeit aging and a shadow of himself - as a reserve to spell Tyson Chandler and the other bigs in the lineup, and I thought the Mavericks were definitely cooking with something.
*fart noise*
Welp. The team has never really seemed to mesh with Rondo on a regular basis, and talks of troubles behind closed doors within the locker-room seemed to confirm thoughts from the Northeast that he was a handful to deal with as a teammate. here just hasn't been as much cohesion as anyone thought there would be, especially myself. And here we are.
Dirk, Lord bless him and his majestic blonde lion's mane, seems to have finally squeezed almost all the magic out of his rickety seven-foot frame, and the shots that made us turn our heads for over a decade just don't seem to be falling like they once did. Now, both Chandler Parsons and Rondo are out, and that seems to be all she wrote for the 2014-15 Mark Cubans. So, is this the end of an era in Dallas?
It's hard not to think so. Whether Dirk decides to hang it up for good at the end of the season or not, he's clearly a ghost of himself at this point, and he'll just be another piece moving forward, not an all-star big man that can tour-de-force his team's way to the finals. On top of that, Rondo will likely roll on somewhere else to free agency, and you'll be hard pressed to find someone in the Metroplex who won't give him verbal directions to the nearest exit.
Sure Chandler Parsons, Monta Ellis, and Tyson Chandler is a nice core group of starters, but none of them are the superstar-type player the Mavs need in the lineup, as they thought He Who Shall Not Be Named From Boston could be.
So, where do you go from here, Senor Cuban? What's the direction of the franchise from this point on? It's about time to figure that out, because the clock will soon strike midnight.
(PART TWO IN NEXT POST)
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On Broadway: The eval period, and what that means for defensive offers
There's been quite a bit of groaning as of late as it relates to the Texas Tech staff and offers on the defensive side of the ball, and I understand those complaints. While the offense was busy rolling off offers to receivers and offensive linemen left and right in February and March, it was fairly quiet on the other side of the ball overall. And I do understand folks getting antsy about that, I really do.
But, over the last week, quite a few defensive offers have begun to sprout up, especially on the defensive line. The reason for that is that we're now in the evaluation period on the recruiting calendar, meaning coaching staffs all over the country can walkabout to and fro from high school to high school, checking in on prospects they've circled but likely have held back from offering. Defensive coordinator David Gibbs has made it a point, a philosophy, in fact, that they aren't really going to offer any players on his side of the ball until they get a good look at that prospect in person. Sure, you might run the risk of missing out on a player, but at this point, after Tech football has been essentially run through a paper shredder on defense for half a decade, I think you have to trust the judgment of the newest man helming the D.
He has skins on the wall from Houston, Auburn, Minnesota, and several stops in the NFL. He's been successful everywhere he's been. That's not something that any DC in the last half decade in Lubbock can say. You just have to buy in and relax. Also, Gibbs has a full grasp on where his roster is right now and where he needs it to be in two years. To put it simply, he can't miss in the front seven. Tech football has been utterly plagued like a leper with defensive attrition in the front seven. Hell, if Michael Starts, Delvon Simmons, and others that never made it on campus were still sitting inside the Football Training Facility, how differently would things look? Very different.
But that's not the situation. Gibbs and his staff must hit on essentially all players they earn commitments from in the front seven for the next two classes. That would right the ship similarly to how things seem to be on track in the secondary, but there's just such a sliver-thin margin for error. It's why the coaching staff didn't panic and try to add warm bodies at the end of the 2015 class along the defensive line. Essentially, it comes down to this: If there's a question as to whether they can contribute, then they aren't an option. Tech has enough essentially empty scholarships on defense right now as it is.
This same philosophy applies to Colin Wilder and his decommitment, too. If Gibbs, who's arguably one of the best secondary coaches in football, doesn't feel he's a player that fits into his scheme, then you don't take him. Simple as that.
So, I say to you: Patience, and relax. You have to trust Gibbs at this point. If it doesn't work out, you all can burn me on the wooden funeral pyre as a sacrifice to the football gods for being an idiot.
The Wide World: The end of an era in Dallas?
When Mark Cuban conjured up the trade for Rajon Rondo earlier this season, I was absolutely thrilled as a Mavs fan, as were many others. An elite point guard with a proven track record in the playoffs and rings to boot? Sign me up, no questions asked. Add to that Amare Stoudemire - albeit aging and a shadow of himself - as a reserve to spell Tyson Chandler and the other bigs in the lineup, and I thought the Mavericks were definitely cooking with something.
*fart noise*
Welp. The team has never really seemed to mesh with Rondo on a regular basis, and talks of troubles behind closed doors within the locker-room seemed to confirm thoughts from the Northeast that he was a handful to deal with as a teammate. here just hasn't been as much cohesion as anyone thought there would be, especially myself. And here we are.
Dirk, Lord bless him and his majestic blonde lion's mane, seems to have finally squeezed almost all the magic out of his rickety seven-foot frame, and the shots that made us turn our heads for over a decade just don't seem to be falling like they once did. Now, both Chandler Parsons and Rondo are out, and that seems to be all she wrote for the 2014-15 Mark Cubans. So, is this the end of an era in Dallas?
It's hard not to think so. Whether Dirk decides to hang it up for good at the end of the season or not, he's clearly a ghost of himself at this point, and he'll just be another piece moving forward, not an all-star big man that can tour-de-force his team's way to the finals. On top of that, Rondo will likely roll on somewhere else to free agency, and you'll be hard pressed to find someone in the Metroplex who won't give him verbal directions to the nearest exit.
Sure Chandler Parsons, Monta Ellis, and Tyson Chandler is a nice core group of starters, but none of them are the superstar-type player the Mavs need in the lineup, as they thought He Who Shall Not Be Named From Boston could be.
So, where do you go from here, Senor Cuban? What's the direction of the franchise from this point on? It's about time to figure that out, because the clock will soon strike midnight.
(PART TWO IN NEXT POST)
