Wakesbetterthanyou wrote:Having a player on ur team their whole career is nice, but when u think about it it does do more harm to the team if that player cant be as good in year 3 as they are in year 10. Kinda like the ohlund sit with the canucks. he's gonna want 5 mill/season and 4-5 years, and thats just not a very good idea for someone who is already slowing down. with a 94,000 roster bonus, plus 180,000 salary claremont was taking up too much cash for his effectiveness.
Defenses were dictating to us, especially in the playoffs. Take away the deep ball from Simon with safety help, crowd the underneath stuff, and we were in trouble with out passing attack. Here is what Wally had to say, regarding how teams were playing us and why we had to change:
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We don't want to give defences the ability to dictate to us. And they have been. I'm going to change that," Buono said.
"And defensively, we've always been about the big play. If you're not getting it, it's a concern. And eventually, you [need] to look at age. You can't age all at the same time. We were doing that. I kept them together for 2008 to win a Cup. I know now it's time to move on, because the pendulum is swinging the wrong way."
Opposing teams were dropping all the hints Buono, or any head coach or GM, could possibly need.
"This is why I said to the [coaches] all season: pay attention, guys, to who they're going after, who they don't show a lot of respect for. Because what they're telling you is what you should be concerned with. The same way we attack teams in areas where we see weaknesses. If you're perceptive, and you notice that, then you have to start there. Because if you don't react, if you put your head in the sand, they're going to continue to beat you."
Clearly, the Clermont release has been his thorniest, and least popular, decision. And it has stung Buono, because he has often been criticized for being too loyal to older players.
"Look, I don't want to be derogatory towards anybody. But if I'm going to say to you that the safety is always favouring Geroy [Simon, in the slot on the opposite side from Clermont], what does that tell you?" Buono said. "Am I telling you something you don't know? Well, if the safety is going weak side, and they're playing man coverage and rushing four guys, and we can't capitalize on it . . . .
"So that's my fault, because I've created that scenario. And now I'm going to change it."
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
