Better Keep Saul

BLAKE NISSEN

Ohio Mens Basketball Coach Saul Phillips looks up at the scoreboard during Ohio's game against Bowling Green State University on January 30, 2017. The Bobcats lost 66-50.

02.15.18

Column: The Saul Phillips outrage is unreasonable and unwarranted

Jimmy Watkins / For The Post

Fire Saul Phillips? Really?

The movement exists, somehow.

The reasoning is simple on the surface: After back-to-back promising 20-plus win seasons, Ohio is the worst team in the Mid-American Conference. Without context, those facts vindicate the Twitter storm calling for Phillips’ job.

But of course, context and nuance still exist (I think). Phillips has one year remaining on his contract after this season, and it makes no sense to prevent him from at least finishing it.

Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, six Ohio coaches have paced The Convo’s sidelines. Just one of them — John Groce — won more games in his first four seasons than Phillips.

And Phillips hasn’t even completed his fourth yet.

Two of those coaches led Ohio to the tournament within their first four years. Phillips appears unlikely to repeat that success, but John Groce’s 2009-10 team won the MAC Tournament after finishing 7-9 in conference play.

None of those coaches dealt with the avalanche of injuries Phillips is still trying to dig out from under this season.

Jason Carter has played three games, and Jordan Dartis’ hip and Mike Laster’s shoulder are both constant threats to give and pop out. Kevin Mickle is playing on a torn meniscus; Gavin Block deals with a bruised pelvis one day, and his wrist is taped the next.

Sure, every team deals with nicks and bruises this time of year — but not surgeries and casts or putting off surgeries and casts just so players can try to finish the season.

By the way, doesn’t the fact that so many of Phillips’ players are pushing through significant pain prove how strongly they believe in him? I get it: He’s a personable guy who tells great stories and keeps his players loose.

But the commitment his players have shown seems rooted in something much deeper. Maybe he’s earned their eternal trust after the way he handled the turmoil from last season.

Lest we forget, the 2016-17 season was the season until Antonio Campbell broke his foot; even then, the Bobcats were a coast-to-coast Jaylin Walker layup away from playing for a tournament berth.

That, of course, led to Jaaron Simmons transferring to Michigan during the offseason, one of four outgoing transfers from last year’s team.

Maybe Phillips should’ve been able to sway his all-conference guard from bolting. Maybe this column isn’t written if Phillips succeeds in doing so.

But he turned a disaster into a promising long-term future by swinging Teyvion Kirk after Drake fired its coach and Kirk de-committed. Kirk has his flaws — all freshmen do. But he leads his team in scoring in a league with a deep batch of point guards.

Kirk’s coach hasn’t been perfect this year, either. Phillips owns the worst home MAC loss in school history, a 91-57 drubbing by Toledo on Jan. 16. His team has struggled to transfer practice to games for extended stretches. He’s owned up to his share of blame on both fronts.

But Phillips shouldn’t be — and won’t be — fired. He responded well after a difficult first year, and he should be allowed to respond after a snakebitten one.

Stop and consider why those struggles have occurred. Phillips plays two freshmen point guards and employs several other ball handlers throughout each game. He changed the offense from a pick-and-roll-centric attack that involved one player dictating most of the action to a style that requires every perimeter player to make reads they weren’t asked to make before.

Those all sound like excuses. Phillips would never publicly acknowledge any of them as validation for a 3-9 conference record.

But considering the various unforeseen roadblocks he’s faced, don’t you think he deserves an excuse?

Twitter is dumb. Don’t fire Saul Phillips. Circle back next year if the team is healthy and these results persist.

Development by: Taylor Johnston / Digital Production Editor