Any evaluation of HD needs to consider a number of things that are getting overlooked or downplayed… including that initially he inherited a roster that wasn’t setting the world on fire. Plus if I remember correctly, Kessler (now an NBA rotation player) was transferring even before Roy stepped down. A guy like Dawson Garcia who was only a sophomore (pretty sure?) had family issues. The Caleb Love roller coaster, which derailed the chemistry of a team with high expectations. There was every reason to expect Pete Nance was going to be more than he was. Other guys who were expected to be key players transferring out due to the relaxed portal/covid rules, or key recruits being lost in close recruiting battles…
So while there’s clearly room for improvement for HD and staff, it’s been a very challenging stretch for all programs (but especially for HD in the ways I just mentioned), and there’s no reason for me to believe anyone else would’ve done much better than a run to the title game with coach K’s scalp on the end of it (and without Bacot’s ankle there’s another banner up there), and then the very impressive season last season, despite the early exit.
So all the “see, I knew HD was a bad choice because he never coached before” whiners can eat a dick.
My take is that he’s probably been too proud and too slow to accept the realities of NIL and mastering how things work these days (and have always worked for some programs), and that has cost him new and portal recruits.
And also that he needs surround himself on his staff, and needs to target players who are total dogs — with fire in their eyes and a chip on their shoulders. More in the spirit of his early Knicks teams. I don’t give a shit how many stars they have next to their names. That kind of thing can only be coached so much, so it needs to be identified and more highly valued in the recruitment process.
But if there’s a tailspin the rest of this season and these things don’t come together in a hurry, then it may be a forgone conclusion anyway. But it won’t be because “he was never a head coach before” which is a load of bullshit. This was not some green assistant coach who started in the film room. He highly achieved at every level of basketball, including in the media and as Roy’s right hand man for a national title. He demonstrated a deep understanding of basketball at every level. His resume was unassailable and Roy clearly knew that too.
But the results are mixed, so I’m hoping he can push the right buttons to get things turned around in a hurry. For his sake and everyone’s.
