Brands post B1G Tourney thoughts
- Thread starter BrianLafevre
- Start date
Poor guy, can't help but feel sorry for him.
I really like Tom but wtf was with all the non verbal hand signaling stuff? We don't know sign language, use your words!
I think if I hear "We got work to do," one more time I'm going to permanently ban Tom Brands from my ears.
Hope and pray at this point fellas
He seems like he is about to loose his mind. This year has really been a hugh stress for him. Just as a human being, I hope he can find a way to end the season with some positives and figure out a way to right this ship to his satisfaction.
I also have to give props to Ayala. He does not pout when he loses and he did not throw a big "look at me " celebration when he beat Byrd. He is a real classy kid.
The non interview, word salad tell me something I don’t know. One thing I really hate about the Bigten tournament is the medical forfeits that occur.
Brands did an awesome job rallying the troops on Day 2. Iowa finished super strong when they could have just crashed and burned after Day 1.
TL;DW: Not where we want to be, got work to do, credit to battle tested Ayala, *not even Brands knows how to beat Mesenbrink*, Cleveland
"We want to be on the championship side."
"We've got work to do."
"We're going to Cleveland."
"We've got work to do."
"We're going to Cleveland."
Correct! 9 of them anyway, still waiting on Vic.
If you listen to Messenbrink's interview after the Big 10s you can see the mindset he has and it is totally different from TnT's. Really refreshing to listen to him.
Can you paraphrase so we don't have to listen to the cult speach?
"I was the most unhappy I've ever been after winning last year. It doesn't matter what happens on that mat. I am a Catholic, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ that matters."
Tom has to communicate better than this to his wrestlers, right?
Wow shots fired at Cael!
He spoke of continually trying to get better and that he does not prepare for any particular wrestler (Caliendo). He just tries to improve in all positions at the same time. He also said that winning the Hodge, while it would be n ice, it will just sit on a shelf and collect dust and medals are not what makes a person happy.
He says he wrestles all year around and that each tournament and each match is a chance to get better and if you make a certain match or championship a goal, then it puts pressure on you and stops you from improving.takes the fun out of it. So no one match looms large or puts pressure on him.
It is easy to think this way when you are on the top. No paralysis by analysis. Is it this way of thinking that got him there or his innate ability? Maybe both. Would the thinking be different if he was having an 18-4 season with a possible generational talent in front of him?
From what is said, Tom and Terry are very tight with their wrestlers with a mutual strong commitment. The team is not only battling for themselves but I believe for the TnT as well. Frustrating as it is trying to read between the lines on public statements, I have a feeling he is quite candid with the guys.
Along with being candid with his guys, I would sure hope he would be more coherent than he appeared in that video. Sheesh
It is 100% an intentional word salad. He doesn't like most questions and does not want to answer them. So, he uses 100% coach speak to give an answer that really doesn't say anything.
Public speaking is a skill that can be learned. Few people are good at it when they start out. The university should have worked with him.
Maybe. That didn’t come off as coach speak to me. That came off as someone who closes the door to his hotel room and screams into a pillow to avoid everyone hearing him lose his mind. He seems stressed beyond belief.
Which honestly I get it because it’s got to be hard for a personality like his to deal with the state of the program.
I remember watching somewhat awkward interviews with the GOAT Muhammad Ali during his last couple bouts. The drive was still there but you knew that he knew he couldn’t perform or compete at a champion level any longer. This TBrands interview felt like that.
Agreed. Maybe it’s the oldster in me, but in Cleveland, I’m pulling for classy vets like Ayala and Byrd over all the freshmen phenoms but one.
I really think it comes down to asst coaches. PSU wrestlers do drop matches however I don't think there are any better tacticians than Cody and Casey. When rematches occur, there is definitely a change in strategy. On Iowa's side you saw it with Caliendo and him keeping a couple of the matches to just decisions. That came with the expense of him taking way fewer shots and becoming much more defensive.
If your guy is 0-8, there better be some f*cking game planning.
This is not just a Caliendo problem, same thing as having our guys take bottom when they just got ridden like a pony.
There is no doubt he is super stressed. You could see it on his face from the very beginning. However, what is even more clear is his facial responses to the questions. You can see an involuntary cringe right before he goes into the nearly unintelligible answers. He doesn't believe anyone should be entitled to the clear answer, so he is trying to come up with words on the fly to sound like he is answering without saying what he doesn't want to say.
By the way he answered, even when he was on top, it is clear he doesn't want to give the public more than the bare minimum possible. It just gets even more convoluted now, when every part of his being doesn't even want to be answering ANY questions in the first place...
I am genuinely curious. How do you gameplan for a guy that NEVER relents and is simply better than you in every position? The ONLY thing you can really do is try to force your best positions and HOPE he makes a mistake. It's not like there are visible weaknesses to exploit. The guy has a 100% bonus point season for a reason...
Yeah.. he hates to speak to the media. It’s unfortunate because the wrestling media is probably the politest bunch of any sports media I am aware of. They pretty much defer to the coaches in every aspect. It’s not like they are going to hold his feet to the fire over a particular answer.
Another weird part is that last week in the DM Register article he talked about communicating better with the fans. Guess not.
Wrestling coaches are generally very paranoid people and most seem convinced that any real answer is going to somehow give their opponents an edge or something.
The problem with wrestling is MOST of the interviews are done at times where it is completely unrealistic to get composed, well thought out answers. Interviewing wrestlers right after coming off the mat is beyond stupid. No matter how well conditioned, they are exhausted in nearly every way. Give them 10-15 minutes and they would be way better. The same can be said for coaches. Especially the Brands. I swear they come off the mat more drained after a match than their wrestlers.
I don't think you will ever get a clear answer on much with Brands, but you sure as hell weren't going to get one there...
I don't know. He said somewhat similar things after losing to Carr in the finals. He said it would have been nice to win but in a few weeks the world teams trials are coming up and then after that there will be another tournament. I just want to keep improving.
What Carr did is the blueprint. But only Carr could pull it off in folkstyle.
Different abilities and skillset and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, age/experience. This version of Mesenbrink is considerably better. Fully experienced and exudes confidence in every position.
Even then, wasn't there a rare score communication snafu where Mesenbrink didn't realize he needed to score again?
I honestly think Tom wants his wrestlers to win worse than the wrestler sometimes. Crushing defeats and disappointing wrestling by his guys really takes a toll on him I think. He is extremely vested in his guys.
Yes. He didn’t realize that Carr had riding time locked up (a lot of it). He thought he was tied. If he knew he was down, I feel he’s going for his 3rd title this year