The following was dreamed up by Andrew Todres, but he would like this to be officially published by an editor for administrative purposes. Hence my byline and photo at the top. -Z.K.
Dear Readers,
It’s your turn to write.
I’ve never really tried this directly before, but here it goes. I would like this post — specifically the comments section of it — to serve the sole purpose of providing you with an open discussion board to leave and respond to one another’s thoughts, questions, and concerns over the state of the basketball program. Think of it as an extension of the town hall meeting, minus the athletic director and the basketball coach. I know many of you are very opinionated about Glen Miller and now Steve Bilsky in particular, as demonstrated by the comments left for my colleagues and me on the DP’s main website. It would be more productive to get an actual discussion going on The Buzz comments section — it’s more interactive and allows me to share my thoughts and respond to you directly as well. Also keep in mind that while the people you want to talk about will likely not be contributing to this discussion board, there’s a chance they will read it.
Please, try to keep your comments on point and constructive — there is no need to smear anyone or bash people simply because you can hide behind the cloak of anonymity. I encourage you all to leave your actual names and emails instead of impersonating people. The goal here is for this to serve as a forum for meaningful and respectful discussion and debate. A civilized, thought-provoking discussion on this blog might be useful both to Penn fans and the basketball program that they support. If this works out well, we can also use this discussion format for other topics. I (and hopefully my colleagues, as well) will try to moderate and offer opinions or clear up confusion as I see fit, but the ball is really in your court.
Thanks,
Andrew Todres
Tags: basketball, glen miller, open forum
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April 29th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
This is Zach Klitzman. I’m testing something out for the site. Looks like it worked. So discuss away!
April 29th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
The ugly comments that have been aimed at the coach and the players is unfortunate. It was a bad year, no doubt, and they know that better than anyone else. Anyone who gives honest thought to the situation facing the team this past year can certainly understand the difficulty presented by the injuries that they suffered. Certainly there were other problems as well. These “other problems” have been hammered home thoroughly in the DP and other forums. None of them are news to the AD, the coaching staff or the players.
Hopefully they will be solved next year, and the team will have more success.
Continuing to pile abuse on the coach and team is not going to help that process along.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:24 am
B Dario -
I’d like to thank Todres/Klitzman for providing a venue like this for airing the sentiments and frustrations many Penn sports fans feel. I agree with you you that simple piling on is unhelpful. As you also point out much has been written and said on the past BB season - some of it uncalled for ugly about Coach Miller. Many of us feel the issues go beyond BB, and I’m not confident that those who got Penn into this state of affairs are the ones with solutions.
Four years ago I was a big fan of the hiring of Coach Miller, and he’s certainly proved he can recruit. But explaining the past season as “…the difficulty presented by the injuries that they suffered. Certainly there were other problems as well” is a bit too easy. If that’s the official view as well, then I’m really concerned.
I’m not very knowledgeable about BB, but to my eyes there is little fundamental talent gap with the other Ivies. But is it too simplistic to wonder why the poor foul shooting or the failure to hit open 2s and 3s? Is that a talent gap? These and the failure of overall improvement from the previous season can’t be laid on injuries. And if Todres is correct, per his front page article, that Coach Miller failed to grasp and embrace the critical factors of this storied program AT THE FOUR YEAR MARK, what a colossal failure! And who is responsible for this failure?
Whether in politics, business, or parenting, it’s the responsibility of those in charge to see and head off developing issues, and protect those they are responsible for from themselves. Who more than AD Bilsky should have perceived early on the disconnect, and advised Coach Miller on the need to connect and embrace the fundamental elements of Penn BB Todres described? That’s where to place responsibility, and Dario, I don’t believe that’s been discussed nearly enough!
I continue to believe Miller is a talented coach who will succeed (hopefully at Penn), and will turn things around next season. However, I lament the outlook for Penn sports overall, and look forward to input from you, JL, FOJL, Alums, Whitewash, Noah, Steve Becker, et al, as well as the DP moderators. And I hope the DP will continue to provide a forum for this discussion.
EN
April 30th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Soft Pretzel Logic has an interesting interview w/ Glen Miller this morning (http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pretzel/One-on-one_with_Glen_Miller.html). Why is the Inquirer/Philly.com providing better coverage of Penn basketball than the DP???
April 30th, 2009 at 11:52 am
EN
You’re suggesting a different topic area than the defined subject of this discussion forum. Your suggesting, I believe, a discussion of the future of the AD. If so, I say have at that.
My concern is the futility of continuing to heap on the basketball program at a time when it is already down.
The decision re who will coach next year is a done deal. Further negative comments on that can only hurt the program in its attempts to improve next year.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
A post made this morning on the Penn board at Basketball U states:
“Garvin Hunt informed Coach Miller that he will not be playing basketball for him next year.”
Does anyone know if the statement made in this post is true?
April 30th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
If the “news” of Hunts departure is true, this program has sunk to a level that not even Tom Schneider could have managed to bring it to.
For those of you who still prescribe to the “everything will be ok” theory, just think about how this is all playing out on the recruiting trail. Ignore it if you wish.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
B Dario & Jronn -
Agree!…EN
April 30th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Ernie nailed it. The issue is the AD.
I still challenge the reporters from the school paper (Klitzo, Moses Scurry, and the underrated and talented Hutz) to put the AD on the spot.
Lets see how he replies to some heavy hitting journalism…
I also read the Tannenwald piece. Pretty soft questions, but give young Tannenwald credit for getting more out of Miller than the real journalists from the Philadelphia papers.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:28 am
more passion ,http://www.ok-jordan.com