Post by Cactus Panther on Jan 4, 2019 14:03:25 GMT -6
At first I also speculated that CWN's issue was academics. Now, my retrospective analysis causes me to think it is something else. Let's look at his minutes this season:
* Scrimmage - did not suit up. No explanation given.
* Concordia (exb) - DNP. No explanation given.
* Games 1-8 - averaged 29 minutes/game, including 35 in a 26 point game vs Buffalo (Game 7) and 34 vs SFA (Game 8).
* Drake - 11 minutes, all in the first half. 2 points. His -19 +/- was by far the worst on the team. DNP in second half.
* 2nd North Dakota - 13 minutes, 0 points.
* Games 11-14 - DNP. No explanation given.
* CSU - 13 minutes (10 in 1st half and 3 in 2nd half). The 9th and final Panther player to enter the game - Madge entered before CWN. Shorthanded bench because of Barnes' injury. The only remaining healthy player was walk-on Berendt, who has not played meaningful minutes all season.
The initial unexplained lack of playing time in the scrimmage and exhibition game suggests the issue may have started before the season began. That in itself is not very revealing. It could have been because of injury, illness, academics, poor performance in practice, disciplinary action for (an) off-court issue(s), etc.
However, the Drake game strongly suggests to me this is a performance issue, perhaps in combination with basketball-related disciplinary action. I was at the Drake game and occasionally looked at CWN on the bench and in huddles in the second half. I did not observe any sign of injury or illness. If this were an academic or off-court disciplinary issue, it would be very unusual for a coach to give someone key minutes in the first half and sit him for the entire second half. It is not like news of academic problems or off-court antics would have been reported to the coaching staff in the locker room at half time (though conspiracy theorists may believe AB called PB in the locker room at halftime
). I have seen disciplinary cases were a player sits the first half, but then plays the second half. The -19 +/- in the first half can be a key indicator of poor performance.
The second North Dakota game further points to CWN's benching being performance related. The box score shows he was relatively non-productive in his 13 minutes of playing time. He did not play key minutes toward the end of the game.
Usually, when a player sits due to injury, the information is disclosed. What happened with Jeremy Johnson last year suggests that illness is not necessarily disclosed (I have no confirmation if illness was the issue - just observation by many of noticable weight loss and relegation to garbage-time play toward the end of the season). Based on his insertion in the CSU game, could Coach Baldwin have acted out of desperation in hopes that CWN would play up to Coach Baldwin's standards?
In summary, this has D-O-G-H-O-U-S-E spelled all over it.
Admittedly, box scores should not be totally relied upon to understand why a previously productive player has been benched by the coach. However, it is the only set of facts that we outsiders have. It is best for the program and player if the program gives us an honest and understandable explanation. Failure to do so leads to speculation that could be more detrimental to the player than the truth.
After the Wisconsin Lutheran home game, Coach Baldwin was asked for an explanation. He said "Just a coach's decision...He's fine. Just what we decided to do." This was probably true. Just a little more information would be nice. Without more detail, the player is at risk of having the worst speculated about him.
* Scrimmage - did not suit up. No explanation given.
* Concordia (exb) - DNP. No explanation given.
* Games 1-8 - averaged 29 minutes/game, including 35 in a 26 point game vs Buffalo (Game 7) and 34 vs SFA (Game 8).
* Drake - 11 minutes, all in the first half. 2 points. His -19 +/- was by far the worst on the team. DNP in second half.
* 2nd North Dakota - 13 minutes, 0 points.
* Games 11-14 - DNP. No explanation given.
* CSU - 13 minutes (10 in 1st half and 3 in 2nd half). The 9th and final Panther player to enter the game - Madge entered before CWN. Shorthanded bench because of Barnes' injury. The only remaining healthy player was walk-on Berendt, who has not played meaningful minutes all season.
The initial unexplained lack of playing time in the scrimmage and exhibition game suggests the issue may have started before the season began. That in itself is not very revealing. It could have been because of injury, illness, academics, poor performance in practice, disciplinary action for (an) off-court issue(s), etc.
However, the Drake game strongly suggests to me this is a performance issue, perhaps in combination with basketball-related disciplinary action. I was at the Drake game and occasionally looked at CWN on the bench and in huddles in the second half. I did not observe any sign of injury or illness. If this were an academic or off-court disciplinary issue, it would be very unusual for a coach to give someone key minutes in the first half and sit him for the entire second half. It is not like news of academic problems or off-court antics would have been reported to the coaching staff in the locker room at half time (though conspiracy theorists may believe AB called PB in the locker room at halftime
). I have seen disciplinary cases were a player sits the first half, but then plays the second half. The -19 +/- in the first half can be a key indicator of poor performance. The second North Dakota game further points to CWN's benching being performance related. The box score shows he was relatively non-productive in his 13 minutes of playing time. He did not play key minutes toward the end of the game.
Usually, when a player sits due to injury, the information is disclosed. What happened with Jeremy Johnson last year suggests that illness is not necessarily disclosed (I have no confirmation if illness was the issue - just observation by many of noticable weight loss and relegation to garbage-time play toward the end of the season). Based on his insertion in the CSU game, could Coach Baldwin have acted out of desperation in hopes that CWN would play up to Coach Baldwin's standards?
In summary, this has D-O-G-H-O-U-S-E spelled all over it.
Admittedly, box scores should not be totally relied upon to understand why a previously productive player has been benched by the coach. However, it is the only set of facts that we outsiders have. It is best for the program and player if the program gives us an honest and understandable explanation. Failure to do so leads to speculation that could be more detrimental to the player than the truth.
After the Wisconsin Lutheran home game, Coach Baldwin was asked for an explanation. He said "Just a coach's decision...He's fine. Just what we decided to do." This was probably true. Just a little more information would be nice. Without more detail, the player is at risk of having the worst speculated about him.
