Going into this week, all you wanted was a split with Florida and UCF got it. Granted, the lopsided score tonight is not what you wanted but you figured UCF might be running out of arms when you have to play two midweek games against an excellent team.
Rumors were floating around that Friday night/No. 1 starter Zach Rodgers was being considered for the start. An intriguing option because that would also set him up to pitch next midweek at FSU. But you're basically sitting your No. 1 pitcher for a minimum of two weekends and you have Columbia - a pretty good team - coming in this weekend. They won the Ivy League last year and just won 2 of 4 at Houston. This isn't Siena.
Not sure how close Rooney was to pulling the trigger on Rodgers, but I think the fact UCF got a win on Tuesday may have made the decision for him. The goal was to get one and you did. Getting greedy by messing with your rotation could have severely backfired. Rodgers has yet to be as dominant as Skolgund was last year, so it's not like he was guaranteed to go out there and shut UF down. And seeing how UCF's bats were unable to do much tonight, it may have been a loss anyway and now you're down a pitcher for the weekend.
UCF deserves all the accolades they've received this year, but it's very tough for any team to have a solid option for a No. 5 starter. We'll see how the staff develops in this next stretch before conference play. You'd like to see all three (Rodgers, Finfrock, Howell) become more efficient by logging a consistent six-plus innings. It'll be interesting to see how Kyle Marsh develops as a starter. I think you keep him in that midweek role for the next few weeks, but if he's outperforming any of the weekend guys do you move him to the weekend by the time conference play begins in late March?
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Basketball was brutal to watch. I was following both games simultaneously - basketball on TV and listening to baseball (I don't get SEC Network Plus on Bright House). It seems like basketball was losing by 20 just a few minutes into the game, so I turned down that volume and turned baseball up. Kept on eye on it, but that margin never really moved. UCF would end up losing by 29.
Seems that it was a repeat of last Saturday vs. ECU. Just no energy, going through the motions. Rivalry game, but it seemed like USF was the only team fired up to play. It's one thing to get rolled by good teams, but USF is arguably the worst team in the league.
With 11 teams in the league, there's always one team that has a bye and UCF's falls on the last weekend of the regular season. They now have eight days to rest up for the conference tournament.
Lots of talk here and I see on Twitter about Donnie Jones. As I've stated before, I don't believe he's on any sort of "hot seat." He's essentially been given a pass for these past few years with sanctions. It would have been difficult for Hall of Fame coaches to have much success with the limitations that were in place as UCF also made the step up in competition.
If UCF was a P5 school with money to burn and had an AD itching to make changes, maybe it would be a different story. Stansbury has not shown to be an AD big on making coaching moves. Case in point: He could have easily dismissed Joi Williams after last season, but instead gave her a contract extension. She did remove all her assistant coaches in an effort to turn things around. Stansbury also didn't have to give Donnie a contract extension in the summer of 2013. He'll be judged beginning next season.
Next year should hopefully be a different story when you infuse the roster with the four high school signees (Tacko Fall, Chad Brown, Chance McSpadden, Tanksley Efianayi), Tennessee transfer A.J. Davis and Matt Williams returning from injury. One player will have to be removed from the curent roster (Shaheed Davis?) and it's possible another player could leave to make room for another addition. You could always use more size, if you can find it.
Still, losing to USF by nearly 30 is shocking. The future is bright for guys like BJ Taylor and Adonys Henriquez, but they did seem to hit a wall these past few weeks. Taylor was 2-10 (five points) and Henriquez was 0-6 (two points) tonight.
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Spring football practice begins two weeks from today.
Rumors were floating around that Friday night/No. 1 starter Zach Rodgers was being considered for the start. An intriguing option because that would also set him up to pitch next midweek at FSU. But you're basically sitting your No. 1 pitcher for a minimum of two weekends and you have Columbia - a pretty good team - coming in this weekend. They won the Ivy League last year and just won 2 of 4 at Houston. This isn't Siena.
Not sure how close Rooney was to pulling the trigger on Rodgers, but I think the fact UCF got a win on Tuesday may have made the decision for him. The goal was to get one and you did. Getting greedy by messing with your rotation could have severely backfired. Rodgers has yet to be as dominant as Skolgund was last year, so it's not like he was guaranteed to go out there and shut UF down. And seeing how UCF's bats were unable to do much tonight, it may have been a loss anyway and now you're down a pitcher for the weekend.
UCF deserves all the accolades they've received this year, but it's very tough for any team to have a solid option for a No. 5 starter. We'll see how the staff develops in this next stretch before conference play. You'd like to see all three (Rodgers, Finfrock, Howell) become more efficient by logging a consistent six-plus innings. It'll be interesting to see how Kyle Marsh develops as a starter. I think you keep him in that midweek role for the next few weeks, but if he's outperforming any of the weekend guys do you move him to the weekend by the time conference play begins in late March?
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Basketball was brutal to watch. I was following both games simultaneously - basketball on TV and listening to baseball (I don't get SEC Network Plus on Bright House). It seems like basketball was losing by 20 just a few minutes into the game, so I turned down that volume and turned baseball up. Kept on eye on it, but that margin never really moved. UCF would end up losing by 29.
Seems that it was a repeat of last Saturday vs. ECU. Just no energy, going through the motions. Rivalry game, but it seemed like USF was the only team fired up to play. It's one thing to get rolled by good teams, but USF is arguably the worst team in the league.
With 11 teams in the league, there's always one team that has a bye and UCF's falls on the last weekend of the regular season. They now have eight days to rest up for the conference tournament.
Lots of talk here and I see on Twitter about Donnie Jones. As I've stated before, I don't believe he's on any sort of "hot seat." He's essentially been given a pass for these past few years with sanctions. It would have been difficult for Hall of Fame coaches to have much success with the limitations that were in place as UCF also made the step up in competition.
If UCF was a P5 school with money to burn and had an AD itching to make changes, maybe it would be a different story. Stansbury has not shown to be an AD big on making coaching moves. Case in point: He could have easily dismissed Joi Williams after last season, but instead gave her a contract extension. She did remove all her assistant coaches in an effort to turn things around. Stansbury also didn't have to give Donnie a contract extension in the summer of 2013. He'll be judged beginning next season.
Next year should hopefully be a different story when you infuse the roster with the four high school signees (Tacko Fall, Chad Brown, Chance McSpadden, Tanksley Efianayi), Tennessee transfer A.J. Davis and Matt Williams returning from injury. One player will have to be removed from the curent roster (Shaheed Davis?) and it's possible another player could leave to make room for another addition. You could always use more size, if you can find it.
Still, losing to USF by nearly 30 is shocking. The future is bright for guys like BJ Taylor and Adonys Henriquez, but they did seem to hit a wall these past few weeks. Taylor was 2-10 (five points) and Henriquez was 0-6 (two points) tonight.
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Spring football practice begins two weeks from today.
