OT: Gary Williams on the radio

[JimZipCode]

Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams was on the radio last week. Most of it was about conference realignment etc.
But this comment jumped out at me, made me think of Our Harbs:

On blaming players for losses

"You never blame the players for losses … I always felt that, you know, the players made the effort. That's all you can do. You know, if it works, it works. If it doesn't work, then, you know, you can have a bad shooting night or you can have a game where you're just not on your game and you don't play up to your level, and when you're playing against a good team in a competitive game. You can lose but it certainly wasn't from lack of effort."

I'm 100% with Gary on that. Yell at who you want to in the locker room or in your office. But when you're up on the podium, part of what you're getting paid to do is take the blame. So take it.

[DrUnk]

Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams was on the radio last week. Most of it was about conference realignment etc.
But this comment jumped out at me, made me think of Our Harbs:

On blaming players for losses

I'm 100% with Gary on that. Yell at who you want to in the locker room or in your office. But when you're up on the podium, part of what you're getting paid to do is take the blame. So take it.

That's why I never liked Turgeon. He did that a lot.

[cleaver]

"Have you taken a look at that pile of crap out there? If you can't play here, where can you play?”
Charlie Weis

[Forgettable1]

That's why I never liked Turgeon. He did that a lot.

When Turgeon arrived, I listened to about three of his weekly radio shows. I was stunned by his playing the blame game. The first time I heard it I thought he was trying to A) Play the role of Tough Guy New Boss Who Needs to Set a Standard and Prove He's In Charge; or B) Not so subtly tell his young men that they were men, capable of shouldering responsibility, including the responsibility of hardship.

When I kept hearing it --- it made him seem small and somewhat weasely.

As I mentioned another time, with Gary I felt that the team was getting better as the season progressed, and that if Gary just had two more weeks or three more practices with the guys he could have coached them up to be in the Elite 8 or Final Four every year. Gary's team gained ground. But with Turgeon, it was just the opposite: peak in January and watch the rest of the teams catch and surpass you.

As a fan, I could sense myself giving up on Turgeon. One only wonders if the some of players felt the same.

[Davo]

When Turgeon arrived, I listened to about three of his weekly radio shows. I was stunned by his playing the blame game. The first time I heard it I thought he was trying to A) Play the role of Tough Guy New Boss Who Needs to Set a Standard and Prove He's In Charge; or B) Not so subtly tell his young men that they were men, capable of shouldering responsibility, including the responsibility of hardship.

When I kept hearing it --- it made him seem small and somewhat weasely.

As I mentioned another time, with Gary I felt that the team was getting better as the season progressed, and that if Gary just had two more weeks or three more practices with the guys he could have coached them up to be in the Elite 8 or Final Four every year. Gary's team gained ground. But with Turgeon, it was just the opposite: peak in January and watch the rest of the teams catch and surpass you.

As a fan, I could sense myself giving up on Turgeon. One only wonders if the some of players felt the same.

I felt the same way about Turgeon. With Gary, I didn't always feel that individual players progressed tremendously, but that the team almost always did.

[Shas]

I'm 100% with Gary on that. Yell at who you want to in the locker room or in your office. But when you're up on the podium, part of what you're getting paid to do is take the blame. So take it.

Actually, that's not what Gary said. He never said in this quote that the coach should take the blame. He simply said you don't blame the players for a loss.

Rather than a message to Harbs, I read this as a message to a large portion of fans who twist the narrative into an anti-Harbs / anti-Roman agenda.

Sometimes a loss is just a loss. Sometimes coaches are highly qualified and players are highly skilled, but the other team is paid to win, too, and so why must we assign blame? I've never understood fans who must identify a scapegoat rather than dealing with the emotions after a loss, like an adult.

Do players make errors on the field? Sure. Do coaches make questionable decisions? Yes. But by and large our lust to assign blame is unhealthy and sometimes a loss is just a loss, which was Gary's actual point.

That said, the comment about Turgeon is true. He tended to call out his players and that's worth criticizing.

[mmi16]

Actually, that's not what Gary said. He never said in this quote that the coach should take the blame. He simply said you don't blame the players for a loss.

Rather than a message to Harbs, I read this as a message to a large portion of fans who twist the narrative into an anti-Harbs / anti-Roman agenda.

Sometimes a loss is just a loss. Sometimes coaches are highly qualified and players are highly skilled, but the other team is paid to win, too, and so why must we assign blame? I've never understood fans who must identify a scapegoat rather than dealing with the emotions after a loss, like an adult.

Do players make errors on the field? Sure. Do coaches make questionable decisions? Yes. But by and large our lust to assign blame is unhealthy and sometimes a loss is just a loss, which was Gary's actual point.

That said, the comment about Turgeon is true. He tended to call out his players and that's worth criticizing.

WELL SAID