Hope Index
May 29th, 2014
“Don’t you dare talk to me about hope.”
One of Joe’s all-time favorite sports personalities is none other than “The General,” Robert Montgomery Knight. Bob Knight, the greatest basketball coach Joe has seen.
When he was coaching at Indiana, when Joe was growing up in the Midwest, Joe never, ever missed a game. Appointment television. At his height, Knight’s teams were what Joe called perfect basketball, not this schlap pro ball that BSPN assaults people with and uses to brainwash and indoctrinate innocent viewers’ senses. It was beautiful basketball.
Joe also revered Knight because Knight was always a frustrated comedian. Great one-liners. Years ago, before TV became such an intrusive presence on sports, the mid-court camera angle at Assembly Hall was like the camera angle at Madison Square Garden. It was as if TV viewers were sitting center-court 20 rows up from the floor.
Whenever the camera would pan the Indiana bench during a possession, Knight near always got out of his seat. What a drinking game that would have been!
Anyway, one of Joe’s favorite Knight quotes — there are many — is that hope is the worst kind of four-letter in the King’s English because it is rooted in nothing. Nothing more than a dream, a wish.
So Joe can only guess that good guy Mike Tanier’s NFL Hope Index, as seen on the underrated SportsOnEarth.com site, would elicit a few choice words from Knight. In ranking the Bucs’ hope index for the 2014 season, Tanier doesn’t find much, ranking the Bucs in the bottom half of the NFL.
18) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 10.5
I expected these guys to be higher. But Lovie Smith only gets one point for leading the Bears to a Super Bowl years ago, and there is only one regime-change point to be had, even if you are banishing Loki from Asgard forever. The Bucs had just three Pro Bowl selections last year, which seems low (one was Darrelle Revis), but never underestimate a terrible coach’s ability to suppress the quality of his own players.
Tanier makes a helluva point. Former Bucs commander Greg Schiano really didn’t get a whole lot out of good players. At least not wins. His defense did OK, if you ignore the revolting lack of pressure put on quarterbacks. Yes, his defense forced turnovers, but the offense, even with weapons for Mike Glennon to use, rarely took advantage. The offense was simply woeful.
Just on Lovie’s ability to get production out of players, the Bucs can only get better. Hell, last year was so miserable, the Bucs could double their win total from 2013, and still not have a winning record.
Almost every time a team doubles its win total from the previous season, that’s a nice job.
May 29th, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Here is the TBBF Six Pack…& Hope isn’t part of it.
1. Believe it can be done!
2. Believe you can do it!
3. Have the desire!
4. Create the Plan
5. Commitment to the Plan
6. Work Hard/Work Smart
The Bucs can do it….without hope, however it is the nature of Buc fans to be left year-in-year-out with nothing but hope!!!
May 29th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
“Any time a team doubles their win total from the previous season, that’s a nice job.”
I’m guessing Houston fans will disagree with that statement if the Texans end up 4-12 this year.
May 29th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
Pablo agrees with you TBBF , Pablo sees some head coaching potential in you.
May 29th, 2014 at 4:44 pm
@ Pablo
We all have potential on paper…..so do most players…
May 29th, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Pablo likes you because you have a high ceiling & high floor. At worst Pablo thinks you would make a great motivational speaker.
May 29th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Gracias Amigo!!!
May 29th, 2014 at 4:59 pm
E + R= O
Event plus response equals outcome…..
Event….draft
Response….players selected
Outcome….winning
The flip side is poor players selected/losing….that is exactly what has happened to us over the last 5-10 years along with some poor coaching last 5.
May 29th, 2014 at 5:01 pm
JOE said,
His defense did OK, if you ignore the revolting lack of pressure put on quarterbacks. Yes, his defense forced turnovers, but the offense, even with weapons for Mike Glennon to use, rarely took advantage. The offense was simply woeful.
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Really? the defense was ranked 22nd last year. That’s hardly OK, plus go back and count how many games we lost in the final possession because of our defense. They were woeful on both sides of the ball.
May 29th, 2014 at 5:03 pm
“Yes, his defense forced turnovers, but the offense, even with weapons for Mike Glennon to use,”
Err. What weapons were those?
May 29th, 2014 at 5:13 pm
@BoJim
Weapons were:
Carl Nicks’s Toe
Mike William’s Hamstring
Doug Martin’s Shoulder
Mike James’ Ankle
Josh Freeman’s Mentorship
Greg Schiano & Sully’s Coaching
May 29th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
“Bob Knight, the greatest basketball coach Joe has seen.”
I guess Joe never seen John Wooden.
May 29th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
and…I forgot.
Luke Stocker, calfs, knees, shoulders, toes, feet, legs, ribs,ankles, kidneys, cajones, wrists, fingers….and buttocks…
May 29th, 2014 at 5:19 pm
Lets throw in Coach K & Dean Smith…..for the Duke & Tarheel Fans…..
My Favorite….Jimmy V…
May 29th, 2014 at 5:21 pm
For the MGM out there. You all believe he is the Jesus Christ of football. If that is the case he would make those around him instantly better. Do I believe be the kid has potential? Yes. Do I feel he is a tom Brady like qb. fUK No!! Tom can win with even the most under rated weapons at his disposal. Yet they still have a winning record year in and year out. Yea Brady had his time behind Bledsoe but when he was called to win he did so in the highest stake game of the season…. the Super Bowl. So those that cry about glennon not having weapons can shove it. He had vjax WR, had a crazy good running back stable, and wright emerged as a really good pass catching tight end. What did Brady have? Both his pass catching TE’s were gone for the season. One is being ass raped and front can’t stay healthy. His WR group is iffy at best and he had Blount as his RB for short yardage situation. Tell me how that offense was better than ours last year. Yup you guessed it. Mike glennon is not the next tom Brady!!!!!!!!
May 29th, 2014 at 5:37 pm
Little bit before Joe’s time. Barely remember Bill Walton playing against Kentucky.
May 29th, 2014 at 5:48 pm
If Glennon had all these great weapons why did l&l just bring in a boat load?
Plus need to change the line. After all, the line is also part of that weapon.
May 29th, 2014 at 5:51 pm
Tyrone thinks The Bucs will end up 9-7
May 29th, 2014 at 5:58 pm
Tampabaybuc called it… there was nothing Shiano could have done with what he had after the injury bug bite like a tick on a bear tit.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:02 pm
I’m with BoJim.. What weapons did Glennon have? And I’m not a Glennon fan at all but he had one weapon maybe 2. Thanks Joe.. Everytime I think I’m going to get thru a good day I come to your site and I find another negative article about the Bucs. I guess we all just need to sit back and not go to any games or root for our team cause if we go by all the crap we aren’t going to be good at all. Jeesh.,
May 29th, 2014 at 6:03 pm
An ENTIRE draft dedicated to the offensive side of the ball! I guess most of these weapons were shoting blanks. Not sure if I have ever seen a team do that, but if you are into reading between the lines I would say the new regime thinks there were few if any weapons on this team.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Guess some people weren’t watching Bucs games last year.
Vincent Jackson springs to mind. So does Tim Wright (go look up his numbers, haters). Joe also seems to remember Doug Martin being on the roster. Mike James did well when called upon. So too did Bobby Rainey.
Several teams would have loved to have had the Bucs weapons. The Jets among them.
Funny, the MGM screams that he didn’t have weapons and is why the offense was last in the NFL. Yet Geno Hayes had worse weapons and put up better numbers. Imagine.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:08 pm
Bob:
If all you want is cheerleading stories about how the Bucs are the second coming of the Steel Curtain, you should stick with Buccaneers.com. You will never be disappointed.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:10 pm
@ARealBucsFan
Shows you how much you know. Ask Belichick what he thinks of Glennon? I can guarantee they were one of the teams that acquired about a possible Glennon trade. Put Glennon in a Belichick offense and you would probably get an above average amount of production. Not to mention Bradee has been there a long time and there is continuity and familiarity between HC and QB. Unlike Glennon who was thrown into a pathetic situation as a rookie. You even said it yourself, that Bradee was given time to acclimate himself but Glennon wasn’t afforded the same luxury. A 13 game sample with everything crashing around him, and he did alright. Atleast he tried to protect the football while it seemed our defense did everything in their power to lose every game on the last possession.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:24 pm
@ andres……bear tit or bare tit?
May 29th, 2014 at 6:33 pm
@ Samcro im obviously in support of Mike Glennon, but the defense can’t be blamed. Whenever the second half rolled around and we had a lead the play calling switched to some pansy a $$ conservative defense that let the QB have TONS of time to get someone open. So much of the woes of last year came from the coaching. The players were actually not awful, with the exception of our pass rush and the first quarterback I ever loved, Josh Freeman.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:41 pm
I think the problem for Glennon was primarily the coaching…not the weapons….that coupled with not really being ready to start.
Recall how Schiano was about fumbles/turnovers….I believe he absolutely throttled Glennon to the point that Glennon took no chances….he went to his checkdowns too early, threw the ball away and took sacks. That coupled with very predictable playcalling was a prescription for failure.
You can add that many times he didn’t throw downfield to recievers that appeared to be open.
Lets see what better coaching, some mentoring and more experience brings to Glennon’s game.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:45 pm
It would be fun to see Bob Knight take on today’s media.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:46 pm
I would argue we had more pro bowlers, but do to fan popularity some players who didn’t deserve it got it from other teams knocking out our Bucs. Just goes to show that you should vote and vote often.
May 29th, 2014 at 6:58 pm
Glennon showed promise as a rookie, that was clearly evident, and yes, the surrounding cast was not adequate enough, for whatever reason’s, to expect better results. Dream on naysayers and doubters.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:01 pm
And YES, pro basketball sucks. Raise the rim a foot, it will still suck.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:05 pm
@TBBF
exactly, …nicely articulated.
thank you!
He was coached to be conservative so he played conservatively.
I can here Schiano and Sullivan now, “Whatever you do Mike, protect the football. If you feel it’s not there then don’t force it. Throw it away or take the sack if you have to, but don’t turn it over. I would much rather punt and allow our defense get it back for us than give them a pick six or a short field.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:27 pm
I love Bobby Knight. I have several of his coaching tapes. Man, I have never seen a college coach who could cuss half as much as Knight did.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:48 pm
Let’s see what our only weapon did with this below par QB:
Vincent Jackson 2013-
Most Receptions in his career with 78
2nd longest reception 60yards
3rd in 40+yard passes 5
2nd in 20+yard passes 21
Most yards in his CAREER 1225
Doesn’t look like Jackson had much of a problem with Glennon as QB! Especially since he was double teamed on the majority of plays.
May 29th, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Let’s see what our 2nd and basically only other weapon through the air did:
Tim Wright 2013-Obviously career year.
5 TD passes
54 Receptions
5 passes of 20+yards
571 yards through 13 games
All stats with Glennon as QB
Do not think Tim Wright had a problem with Glennon either.
May 29th, 2014 at 8:00 pm
WHAT FREAKIN WEAPONS JOE??? GEEEEESH YOU SO TWIST THINGS YOUR WAY.
IM NOT EVEN IN THE MIKE GLENNON MOB BUT YOU ARE PUSHING ME THERE.
KID DIDNT HAVE A NO.2WR AND NOT A CLEAR 3, THIRD AND FOURTH STRING RBS, AN UNDRAFTED ROOKIE TE SWITCHING FROM WR, A PUTRID OL, AND HORRIBLE FREAKING COACHING. GLENNON DID WELL WHILE HE STILL HAD MARTIN AND MW AND A DECENT OL AND YOU FREAKING WELL KNOW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANT STAND SOMEONE WHO KNOCKS SOMEONE WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE WHOLE PICTURE JUST CAUSE THEY DAM WELL CAN
-Gatrbuc
May 29th, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Joe Says:
May 29th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
……..
Several teams would have loved to have had the Bucs weapons. The Jets among them.
Funny, the MGM screams that he didn’t have weapons and is why the offense was last in the NFL. Yet Geno Hayes had worse weapons and put up better numbers. Imagine.
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For once, I agree with Joe about something, though not about the spelling of Geno Smith……….. he had better numbers as a runner and a receiver both!!!
I am sure that Joe is also impressed with his 12 TDs and his 21 INTs for the year, not to mention his 190 yds/game, and his QB rating of 66.5 for the year.
And the NYJets offense was ranked 29th in scoring for the year at 18.1 ppg.
That was MUCH better than MG8’s 18.5 ppg against the toughtest schedule in the NFL last year. How does lightningBuc put it?? Oh yeah, Joe knows QBs!!
tickrdr
May 29th, 2014 at 8:58 pm
Joe, you don’t have to agree about MG but stop with your weak argument about his weapons. You dilute your argument by saying the skilled positions on the Bucs last year were anywhere close to any one in the division. As you are fond of saying we had the worst QB in the division, but we also had the worst supporting cast in the division. Obviously since you want to be proven right about MG and maintain your credibility you have to hope he fails which means the Bucs will fail.
Joe roots for every Buccaneer when the whistle blows is not in the business of worrying about what you believe equals credibility. Joe’s a fan. Don’t tell Joe how to want what’s best for the Bucs. –Joe
May 29th, 2014 at 9:56 pm
Get real you MGM’ers, you can’t have it both ways. You claim he is the 2nd coming because of his low turnover to touchdown ratio and in the same sentence blame his lack of production on coaches making him take sacks or throw the ball away. Which one is it???
May 30th, 2014 at 12:07 am
Im Not an MGMr Brit. Im not against the kid but Im not saying he is our Franchise QB. Just that he did good things for the lack of weapons he had. Geno Smith Geno Shiiiit. They had better coaching and a better OL. I just hate the way Joe lays it ALL on Glennon for last yr. Not fair in any universe and Joe never has been to the kid. Dont care if you are listening Joe you know its true.
May 30th, 2014 at 12:53 am
Guess some people weren’t watching Bucs games last year.
Vincent Jackson springs to mind. So does Tim Wright (go look up his numbers, haters). Joe also seems to remember Doug Martin being on the roster. Mike James did well when called upon. So too did Bobby Rainey.
Several teams would have loved to have had the Bucs weapons. The Jets among them.
…………………………………………………..
LOL
VJ Yes…………….and ONLY VJ
Tim Wright……Yeah an Undrafted Rookie that just switched from TE
MG did Great his first eight games when DM was there
After that you refer to third and fourth string RBs
IS that REALLY what you would call an AVERAGE SUPPORTING CAST ? Much less a Good ONE?
DUDE keep getting your clicks but stop pretending that you show both sides of an argument because if you claim that we need to call you LudaJoe
May 31st, 2014 at 10:40 am
Joe, I’m an Iowa Hawkeye fan, but I have to agree with you about Bob Knight being the greatest coach. I not only enjoyed watching him on the sideline, but also his colorful post game press conferences! Yes, he had many quotes, my favorite is “everyone wants to win, but not everyone wants to prepare to win.”