Kenya Hunter

[hal9000]

10 hours ago, HuskerFever said:

 

I'm starting to think that Hunter's news at least had a part in Moos slow rolling this decision/announcement. They likely spent a good chunk of time and energy in figuring out how to manage this and have a plan going forward before solidifying any sort of contract with Miles.

With tomorrow being the last day of the recruiting dead period, Moos needs to get his arse in gear and finalize Miles' extension.  The longer it drags out the harder it will be to recruit anybody, be it players or coaches.  

[Dean Smith]

2 hours ago, Shower Cap Husker said:

 

None of your (ridiculous) non-questions will be answered, due to the bold - which is furthest from the truth.  

 

P.S.

One can attend practices without them being "open". Hilarious that you would even suggest such a thing.  Yep, sour grapes, while saying he's a loss to Nebraska. Your swings & misses will allow you to hit in the 5-hole for Erstad. 

I think you mistook my admitting to I really have no idea if he can coach a lick for sarcasm. And you mistook the “sour grapes” as well. It was my first reaction  reading your first post but after reading your reply I was saying you seemed  to be implying  that you know things that I do not.  

 

When I coached I was able to attend quite a few “closed” practices ranging from Nee to McDermott to Altman to Doc, etc. But I do know if I tried to show up to a practice now I wouldn’t be allowed in, therefore I also assume then you have more pull or connections than I do. I worked for a couple of guys that knew what they were doing and was a head coach for awhile as well. I know that  different coaches have different styles and some delegate more than otheres but the head coach has the final say and even if it’s not their call, the final responsibility for everything including in-game adjustments. So maybe we are splitting hairs here but no matter who has what designated job title and responsibilities or whose idea it was, ultimately the responsibility and blame or credit falls to the one with the biggest pay check. 

 

So I wasn’t trying to call you out and I had no sentences that ended in a question mark because I wasn’t asking any questions. Your response is written in such a vague way, I can’t really tell which thing I said that you find so hilarious. I really don’t like baseball and follow it not at all so your Erstad reference also went over my head. I take it the Huskers are not doing so well this year.  I can say that based on your over reaction, I’m glad I don’t work for you. I’m too old to have that kind of stress in my life. 

Edited April 12, 2018 by Dean Smith

[Huskerpapa]

9 hours ago, B-town hoopsfan said:

I’m w the shower capper on this one, Hunter was very good at building relationships but his actual “coachin” is questionable at best as is the staff as the whole. Probably the only recruit I can think of that improved is Webster and I don’t know if that’s to hunters credit or another coach or to Webster himself.

 

i didn’t realize hunter stayed here as long as he did, we should all be thankful of what he did for us while here. A lot better shape currently than we were five years ago 

I will throw in one or two curveballs...Fred Hoiberg had little to any coaching experience before the Iowa State job.  Penny Hardaway was a HS coach (I believe) before being handed the reins of the Memphis program.  Oftentimes, it is who you choose to surround yourself with, that will make or break a head coach. The great head coaches find assistants that will cover any perceived/real weaknesses.  For example, Danny Nee would never be confused as a great X & O guy.  He was at his best when he brought in assistants that covered that weakness (Gary Bargen).

 

So for Kenya, or any other assistant for that matter, to be a good head coach, he needs to hire assistants that compliment his skills. 

Edited April 12, 2018 by Huskerpapa

[HuskerFever]

32 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

For example, Danny Nee would never be confused as a great X & O guy.  He was at his best when he brought in assistants that covered that weakness (Gary Bargen).

 

So for Kenya, or any other assistant for that matter, to be a good head coach, he needs to hire assistants that compliment his skills. 

 

And to add to that. Aside from stability, this move for Kenya is an important one. It gets him under another coach's system, working with different players with different talents from different regions, and exposes him to new contacts whether that's players, high school/college coaches, parents, or ADs. He's doing what he needs to in order to build his head coaching resume for a time his name may get called up to an open position. I wish him all the best in achieving that goal.

[avfan2121]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Kenya was always the coach who had the scout whenever we had a big win. So he must know something besides recruiting.

[HB]

1 minute ago, avfan2121 said:

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Kenya was always the coach who had the scout whenever we had a big win. So he must know something besides recruiting.

 

He had a lot of them.  Good first post, and welcome.  

[hhcmatt]

On 4/11/2018 at 8:10 AM, hhcdimes said:

 

Let say that Miles had bolted 2 weeks ago. Would Hunter have had a snow ball's chance in hell of being the coach here?

 

This post wasn't about calling into question Hunter's coaching ability...it was more to determine if sticking around here would one day result in him being the head coach at Nebraska. Seems like a no.

[Shower Cap Husker]

58 minutes ago, avfan2121 said:

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Kenya was always the coach who had the scout whenever we had a big win. So he must know something besides recruiting.

 

Nobody hears about the *defensive* scout when we lose; see St. John's (Kenya), Sparty (Kenya), Illinois (Kenya), Michigan part 2 (Kenya) as 4 examples off the top of my head. UM part 2 is a prime example of my previous comment regarding lack of in-game adjustment. He came with the exact same gameplan, and couldn't adjust in-game. That was brutal to watch.  

 

We had 1 "big win" this season, congrats on that (defensive) scout. 

 

Kenya is a loss for Nebraska, from a recruiting and player relations standpoint.  Guys weren't hanging out at Lewis' or Molinari's crib, they spent their time at KH's without other coaches around much.  Because of Kenya & what he means to them. 

Edited April 12, 2018 by Shower Cap Husker

[Norm Peterson]

9 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

I think you mistook my admitting to I really have no idea if he can coach a lick for sarcasm. And you mistook the “sour grapes” as well. It was my first reaction  reading your first post but after reading your reply I was saying you seemed  to be implying  that you know things that I do not.  

 

When I coached I was able to attend quite a few “closed” practices ranging from Nee to McDermott to Altman to Doc, etc. But I do know if I tried to show up to a practice now I wouldn’t be allowed in, therefore I also assume then you have more pull or connections than I do. I worked for a couple of guys that knew what they were doing and was a head coach for awhile as well. I know that  different coaches have different styles and some delegate more than otheres but the head coach has the final say and even if it’s not their call, the final responsibility for everything including in-game adjustments. So maybe we are splitting hairs here but no matter who has what designated job title and responsibilities or whose idea it was, ultimately the responsibility and blame or credit falls to the one with the biggest pay check. 

 

So I wasn’t trying to call you out and I had no sentences that ended in a question mark because I wasn’t asking any questions. Your response is written in such a vague way, I can’t really tell which thing I said that you find so hilarious. I really don’t like baseball and follow it not at all so your Erstad reference also went over my head. I take it the Huskers are not doing so well this year.  I can say that based on your over reaction, I’m glad I don’t work for you. I’m too old to have that kind of stress in my life. 

 

Ignoring the acerbic response of your inquisitee ...

 

I haven't seen practices (dang it) and I'm not an insider.  What I would base that same conclusion on is:

 

a.  It's my understanding Kenya was in charge of the bigs;

b.  On defense, our bigs while Kenya was here have managed to make the other team's bigs routinely look like all-Americans; and

c.  On offense, our bigs have yet to demonstrate the development of good post offensive skills.

 

As to "b" above, you can almost completely blame the losses to Incarnate Word, Samford and Gardner-Webb on our horrid post defense by the position players.

 

For example, against Incarnate Word, Traylin Farris, a 6'8" true freshman, scored 12 points on us in 16 minutes on 5-7 shooting in the paint.

 

See, also, this discussion:  

 

[avfan2121]

27 minutes ago, Shower Cap Husker said:

UM part 2 is a prime example of my previous comment regarding lack of in-game adjustment. He came with the exact same gameplan, and couldn't adjust in-game. That was brutal to watch.  

 

 

The game where we shot 33% from 2 and 30% overall? That was tough to watch. Especially against a team that about 12 other coaching staffs struggled to make adjustments against at the end of the year.

[colhusker]

11 hours ago, hal9000 said:

With tomorrow being the last day of the recruiting dead period, Moos needs to get his arse in gear and finalize Miles' extension.  The longer it drags out the harder it will be to recruit anybody, be it players or coaches.  

Agree as the old saying goes, time to poop or get off pot.  At the point something either way NEEDS to happen.

[Shower Cap Husker]

17 minutes ago, avfan2121 said:

The game where we shot 33% from 2 and 30% overall? That was tough to watch. Especially against a team that about 12 other coaching staffs struggled to make adjustments against at the end of the year.

 

Same game he scouted, as the defensive coach, where we gave up 42% inside the arc, 48% from deep, 13 offensive rebounds and zero in-game defensive adjustments.  

 

"12 other coaches struggled" against Michigan's defense while not looking lost, minus aTm, against their offense like Nebraska did.  

[dustystehl]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

a.  It's my understanding Kenya was in charge of the bigs;

 

Molinari coaches the post players.

[Shower Cap Husker]

5 minutes ago, dustystehl said:

 

Molinari coaches the post players.

 

So did Hunter, as well as wings.  

Edited April 12, 2018 by Shower Cap Husker

[dustystehl]

1 minute ago, Shower Cap Husker said:

 

So did Hunter.

 

Okay. I just see Molinari lead the post players through pre-game warmups and huskers.com indicates Molinari " works with the post players and assists in opponent scouting and game-planning." So I don't know who is/was "in charge" of the post players, but it would be my guess that Molinari is/was in charge of more of those responsibilities. I could be wrong, though.

 

Regardless, I think we'll mostly miss Hunter from a recruiting and player relations standpoint.

[Norm Peterson]

I'll be honest, I've watched the drills they do with the big men before games (which is about as much practice as the average fan is going to be able to see) and I haven't really liked it.

 

If you haven't seen it, one of the things they'll do is a big will pop out to the high post, receive an entry pass (in the high post, not the low post), they'll kick it back out as though they weren't able to get a shot (legit purpose -- it gets them used to repositioning), then they flash to the opposite post and make a move from there.  Which is fine for teaching them to freelance, but they don't develop good footwork, which they need to know by rote.

 

I'm no expert, but I'd like to see them practice diagonal entries to the low post and have them alternately practice pivoting toward the middle of the lane for a shot or toward the baseline for a shot, and then go "live" against their teammates doing the same thing. First live would be token defense just to get a body in the way; second live would be full out, try to score against me while I try to stop you.

 

Can you post up?  And can you defend the post?  Only one way to find out.

 

 

[Shower Cap Husker]

4 minutes ago, dustystehl said:

 

Okay. I just see Molinari lead the post players through pre-game warmups and huskers.com indicates Molinari " works with the post players and assists in opponent scouting and game-planning." So I don't know who is/was "in charge" of the post players, but it would be my guess that Molinari is/was in charge of more of those responsibilities. I could be wrong, though.

 

Regardless, I think we'll mostly miss Hunter from a recruiting and player relations standpoint.

 

Kenya was always down there with the wings & bigs as well during pregame with Mo.  After checking his bio, it says, "In his role, Hunter coaches the Husker wing players and also assists in player development and opponent scouting. He had previously worked with the Husker post players".

 

+1

[royalfan]

Player development has one of the biggest flaws of this staff IMO.  Not laying the blame on anyone in particular, but in general, not enough guys get better.  Certainly, not enough guys get better at shooting.  Yes, I know some guys have improved.  During your college years, you should improve on your own.  There have not been near enough guys get significantly better in their time here under Miles IMO.  When we aren't getting elite recruits, we need to be able to develop them.  If that is done, every so often when we have a veteran bunch, we should have a sweet 16 type of team.