Friday, March 28, 2014

Building Something

Central to the decision regarding Mark Fox's future is the question of whether or not he is actually building something.  Deadspin has as interesting read on what Steve Fisher has done at San Diego State.

I would encourage you to read it when you have time, but I will hit some of the highlights.

You may remember Mark Fox asking for a long contract when he was hired, insisting a strong program could not be built quickly.  He and Fisher are on the same page there:
When he took the job at San Diego State University, in the fall of 1999, Steve Fisher didn't promise that he'd turn things around overnight. He signed a seven-year contract, as if to prove the point, and spent the first few months of that deal barnstorming dozens of San Diego businesses and social groups to sell tickets.
Well, mostly on the same page, I suppose.  Fox has not done much barnstorming, and he has only seemed to grasp the P.R. part of his job in the last few months.  Fisher's story does lend credence, though, to the idea that it takes time to right a struggling program at a school with little-to-no basketball history.

Fisher also coaches a similar style of basketball, focusing on defense and quality of shots, not quantity:
It starts with their defense, one of the stingiest units west of the Rockies—they're long and quick, switch ball screens freely, and press energetically without committing careless fouls.
That certainly doesn't describe Georgia's defense every night, but it sounds right on their best nights.

As for offense, SDSU ranks 196th (Georgia is 228th) in the country in points per game and 329th in assists per game (Georgia is 328th).

Why do I bring it up?  Well, it certainly strikes at the heart of some of the fire-Fox arguments being offered up - he has had enough time and the basketball isn't exciting enough, in particular.

We will see what McGarity does (if Fox is still here Monday, we can probably assume he is not going anywhere).  In the meantime, the Fisher study should be an interesting one to Georgia fans.

h/t Deadspin

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