RSS
Dempsey on Rider's struggles
Tommy Dempsey opened up yesterday about Rider's season, which has reached lows few thought possible in September.
Here's his take on what has gone wrong and how the Broncs are approaching the season going forward:
We're just trying to keep it together, hoping we'll start to put it together and say 'OK, I remember.' ... It's not a secret. We're getting drilled. It's not like we had a couple of heartbreakers where we didn't get a bounce or someone hit a tough 3 against us. It's not that. We're getting dominated."
... Has the ship sailed on us and Siena? Of course it has. We're not in that place. That's a long time ago. We're a different team now. I can't take back things that I said. I can't take back the vote. So you can keep throwing it in my face, but there's nothing I can do about it. It's over. I'm trying to focus on where we are today and trying to get ourselves in a position where I feel like we're in a position to make a run.
If the MAAC tournament was this weekend, we'd be a first-round exit. But it's not. If we can play better, whatever our record's going to be it's going to be, and it's not going to be good. But if we can stay together and fight and win some games, if we start to win some games, I feel like on Feb. 23, I don't think we're going to be in this place. If we are, we're not going to be able to compete.
... At the same time, if we don't start playing better, it's going to be a devastating, awful, disappointing year. It will keep coming back to things I said months ago and the vote I cast in September. That's something you will focus on. But that's so far gone. What we focus on amongst ourselves, internally, those things are so far gone. We live in there here and now. We can't really worry about how we played against Mississippi State or that I voted us first. ... We don't talk about that now. I hope to be talking about it at some point, but you have to be realistic with where we are. We have to get some sort of momentum, some sort of confidence, so we can make a push.
We're embarrassed. I'm embarrassed. We're disappointed. But I don't yet think we're defeated. I don't sense that from the kids yet. They're struggling. They're looking for answers. We're feeling the same way, which is 'holy cow, how did we get in this place?' But at the same time, we are. We communicate pretty well. We're on the same page.
Here's his take on what has gone wrong and how the Broncs are approaching the season going forward:
We're just trying to keep it together, hoping we'll start to put it together and say 'OK, I remember.' ... It's not a secret. We're getting drilled. It's not like we had a couple of heartbreakers where we didn't get a bounce or someone hit a tough 3 against us. It's not that. We're getting dominated."
... Has the ship sailed on us and Siena? Of course it has. We're not in that place. That's a long time ago. We're a different team now. I can't take back things that I said. I can't take back the vote. So you can keep throwing it in my face, but there's nothing I can do about it. It's over. I'm trying to focus on where we are today and trying to get ourselves in a position where I feel like we're in a position to make a run.
If the MAAC tournament was this weekend, we'd be a first-round exit. But it's not. If we can play better, whatever our record's going to be it's going to be, and it's not going to be good. But if we can stay together and fight and win some games, if we start to win some games, I feel like on Feb. 23, I don't think we're going to be in this place. If we are, we're not going to be able to compete.
... At the same time, if we don't start playing better, it's going to be a devastating, awful, disappointing year. It will keep coming back to things I said months ago and the vote I cast in September. That's something you will focus on. But that's so far gone. What we focus on amongst ourselves, internally, those things are so far gone. We live in there here and now. We can't really worry about how we played against Mississippi State or that I voted us first. ... We don't talk about that now. I hope to be talking about it at some point, but you have to be realistic with where we are. We have to get some sort of momentum, some sort of confidence, so we can make a push.
We're embarrassed. I'm embarrassed. We're disappointed. But I don't yet think we're defeated. I don't sense that from the kids yet. They're struggling. They're looking for answers. We're feeling the same way, which is 'holy cow, how did we get in this place?' But at the same time, we are. We communicate pretty well. We're on the same page.
posted by Kyle Franko at
2:37 PM
11 Comments:
It is always fashionable to bury the coach when things don't go well. But fact is, kill his system, say he can't coach etc., this is the same core that went 12-6 in league play and was a Ty Lewis prayer away from back to back finals. They traded Matt Griffin and Harris Mansell for Jonathon Thompson and Jhamar Youngblood and now stink.
So here are the choices:
a) Harris Mansell was really the best player in the league, should be in the NBA, and was worth 6 to 7 wins.
or
b) This team, lead by the POY, is a bunch of dogs who have played with zero pride or intensity.
If Coach Dempsey is guilty of anything, it is making excuses for these kids.
Don't underestimate the loss of a real pro like Harris. Also, Rider has one offensive style - they have nothing to fall back on when they really need a basket or need to get to the line. There are no offensive sets to get the ball into the paint. Rider keeps flailing away from 3 game after game.
Hey anon #1, or should I say, Tommy Dempsey's mom, if a team's players play "with zero pride or intensity" THAT'S THE COACH'S FAULT!! How hard is that to understand? Dempsey recruited these players, he coaches them, and somehow it's not his fault that they don't play hard? How much is he paying you to be his pr person?
Tommy Boy is guilty of being a terrible bench coach, of not developing his front court players, of arrainging the roster with too many similar players, and of allowing the offense to rely on the 3 pt. shot, even if they can't spit in the ocean from a boat. Other than that, he's a great head coach.
brianY: have some freakin class and keep people's mothers out of this.
TMD: what are your basketball credentials that allow you to evaluate him as a bench coach? I'm sure you thought he was pretty good the last 2 years.
I said this to you in a comment last week....why do you keep harping on the preseason vote or the Miss st comments? who cares what the coach said 3 months ago...write ago why they are playing like crap now. you need to focus on the things that are important.
Faz: I coached, not on the D-1 level, but I coached. And I did not think he was a good bench coach in any of the years he has been here. As I've always said, he's a very good recruiter and a below average bench coach.
What do you mean by "Bench Coach?" That is the most overrated statement in basketball. Was Roy Williams a good bench coach last year when he won a national championship? Is he not a good bench coach this year?
Other than the last couple of minutes of a game where you play possession for possession, the coach is basically putting the players on the floor, having them run his system, and hoping they hit shots.
Give me a coach with great players who care, and I will show you a good bench coach.
TMD39, good comment that he doesn't develop front court players. He has a 4/5 in the NBA nearly averaging a double double and he has only been coaching 4 years. How many other coaches in the league have a front court player in the NBA averaging a double/double. I guess Jason Thompson was ready for the NBA after high school and got no coaching during his time at Rider.
What do you want, an NBA 4/5 every year from him?
Bryan Y., I hope you don't go to Rider. Because if your best comeback is "Tommy Dempsey's Mom" the university has bigger problems than a struggling Men's Basketball Program. If you read my post, I said "If Coach Dempsey is guilty of anything, it is making excuses for these kids." Think I placed accountability on him for the lack pride/intensity with the comment.
But to stoop down to your level and give you something you may understand, "Do You Go to Rider? Who works in Admissions, Your MOM."
Anon: If you think Tommy Boy had anything to do with the development of JT, you're nuts. He recruited him, I'l give him that. He will make a fine Big East assistant coach/recruiting coordinator some day. But, JT was a Harnum recruit and Donnie had a hell of lot more to do with his development.
Let's look at who he's recruited as a head coach: Mike Ringgold - a very useful player, but a player with offensive limitations; Brandon Penn and Jermaine Jackson - both can fairly be labeled as total busts; Robbie Myers - has played 314 minutes in 4 seasons; and Dera Nd-Ezuma - a project who may or may not pan out. Doesn't look to impressive, does it?
TMD39, I can't take you seriously if you are giving Harnum credit for JT. Dempsey had him three years. After his first year with Harnum, was he a lottery pick????
Are you killing Ringold's game or that he recruited him? I think Dempsey has maximized Ringold's potential.
I am not going to grade sophomore and freshman players. Agree Jackson to this point has been a disappointment.
If you don't like Dempsey style that is fair. He plays with combo guards and athletic fowards. He doesn't run traditional offense. However, the system does work. He has had two good years followed by a brutal non-conference schedule where he held his own followed by an awful month. Everyone needs to relax.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home