BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee(4-15, 0-6) vs LaTech(13-5, 4-2), 6:30PM, Thursday, January 23, 2020

[Raiderclyde]

St Bonnie 65-66
Marshall 75-79
FAU 94-97
3 losses by a combined 8 points. That is 1 possession a game. That is a few missed free throws, that is one bad turnover or honestly just one bad foul call! If the ball bounces our way a few times we’re looking at 7-13 with ~12-13 games to play.... brick by brick

The old saying “if and buts were candy and nuts, everyone would have a Merry Christmas” comes to mind. We haven’t won since Christmas—it’s 30 days and a few hours later as I write, and that doesn’t garner confidence of a “brick by brick” foundation.

Case in point: MT’s NET Ranking has dropped to #330 this morning: 2-3 years ago we condemned programs in C-USA with such a poor record and ruining our probabilities at NCAA at-large chances, should we have needed it (by losing in the Tournament). Our 54-57 loss to UTEP (after leading by 17 twice) in El Paso then was the poster example of losing a conference game to a sub 200 ranking at the time and dropping us down enough to where we basically had to win the tournament in the Bracketology forecasts. Today, we are that sub #300 team. Realistically, MT must win 4 games just to escape from the basement and make conference tournament. How does that inspire confidence and improvement no matter the margin of defeat? Are we banking on 2020-21? Optics are terrible by any metric.

What’s happening is we can play 15-20 minutes of mediocre “comeback” basketball, and the rest is bad basketball filled with turnovers, missed three point shots, and weak defenses. Also, the opponent gets a little too complacent after earning a 20+ point lead at halftime. C-USA is our peers and we are among the worst. That’s a sign attributable to coaching at this point is what I see.

 

[dukewayne]

Ifs and buts.... Reminds me of of one of my faves that I can't take credit for: and if grasshoppers had machine guns, birds wouldn't screw with 'em.

I have to agree about opponents getting complacent in 2nd half. It's a fairly common human reaction in competition to ease up on the throttle in the 2nd half after having so thoroughly dominated from the beginning of the game.

Unfortunately, it only seems to be reinforcing horrible play as the coaches can say after another loss that the players still played well for 20 minutes and just came up short. It's letting the team off the hook for the horrible performance for the rest of the game and ultimately the loss.

Unbelievable we're even having this discussion. It is entirely unacceptable to be this bad. Everything built over years has been brought to ruin while the coach seems to act like it is just another game, at least in my view.

It's not a virtue to tolerate or calmly accept horrible performances, lackadaisical effort, losing, and just plain being one of the worst teams in your sport.

 

[MT01]

If you don't like what I have to say then why does my name always end up in these posts.. I'm not bipolar like some folks I've seen play both sides of an argument on here.. when you get that frog out of your throat you should still keep my name out of your mouth..

It sounded like your writing so it was a fair question. My conscious is clear. I have - unfortunately- been on the right side of this debate since day one and have never wavered. The only one choking on frogs (and a bunch of other things) is your boy McDevitt.

 

[MT01]

I can’t wait for the day we actually win a game or two and people jump on this board with the oh my god look y’all. See we are improving just have to give it more time. And those of you will do it you know who you are.

What’s really going to finish off this program is when CNM stumbles onto a 10-20 season next year after only winning one or two D1 games this year and some of you are going to point to that as proof we are headed in the right direction. And then 7-Wood will give him another two years. Can’t wait.

All that once was has been completely eradicated from the culture inside the Murph. It will now be another two decades before we see the NCAA tourney again. This program is now officially dead again. The only chance to avoid that (and it's slim) is to make the move now and hope we get lucky on the next guy we hire. Because the list of people who are going to want this job now vs. who would have looked at it before is going to be drastically different.

 

[1985trueblue]

The ability to recruit talent year over year is one of the key factors of a successful coach and program. In game coaching, player development and injuries also are significant factors. UNC is having a down year because of a lack of talent and injuries. Doesn’t mean Roy lost his ability to coach, recruit or develop players. To be clear, CNM and the majority of coaches are no where near being in the same league as Roy. The point to introduce is the need to go through at least three recruiting cycles as the ability to recruit is such an significant impact to a coaches and programs success. Whether CNM gets that time is up to the administration. Although this year is painful, my preference is to see this through for another year rather than starting over.

 

[crposton]

I can’t wait for the day we actually win a game or two and people jump on this board with the oh my god look y’all. See we are improving just have to give it more time. And those of you will do it you know who you are.

What’s really going to finish off this program is when CNM stumbles onto a 10-20 season next year after only winning one or two D1 games this year and some of you are going to point to that as proof we are headed in the right direction. And then 7-Wood will give him another two years. Can’t wait.

All that once was has been completely eradicated from the culture inside the Murph. It will now be another two decades before we see the NCAA tourney again. This program is now officially dead again. The only chance to avoid that (and it's slim) is to make the move now and hope we get lucky on the next guy we hire. Because the list of people who are going to want this job now vs. who would have looked at it before is going to be drastically different.

You are so dramatic. All it will take is one good coach to come in and we will be competing for the tournament in a couple years. I really think we will have the talent next year to do it as long as we get another good signee and everyone is relatively healthy. I also don't think you think it is unfortunate you have been right so far. I honestly think you prefer being right over us winning. At least that is the vibe I get from you on here.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Call me a masochist but, I have nothing better to do today. So, before being judgmental in here again, I’m gonna spend $15 this afternoon and drive over to see CNM in action for myself.

Hopefully, his Blue Raiders won’t disappoint and let USM get another conference win.

 

[MTLynn]

I really think we will have the talent next year to do it as long as we get another good signee and everyone is relatively healthy.

Playing a bunch of young players is good for their development but it hasn't translated into winning games.

All of the guys have been inconsistant. You expect that from freshmen - not juniors and seniors.

Green, Sims, Scurry and Jones have to do more if this team is going to make a run this year.

We will find out soon enough if they can put it together.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

I may do this with my family of 6. Do they sale pretzels?

 

[MT01]

You are so dramatic. All it will take is one good coach to come in and we will be competing for the tournament in a couple years. I really think we will have the talent next year to do it as long as we get another good signee and everyone is relatively healthy. I also don't think you think it is unfortunate you have been right so far. I honestly think you prefer being right over us winning. At least that is the vibe I get from you on here.

Yeah. I’m so dramatic except every damn thing I have said has either proven to be true in advance or is already a fact as you have noted. It isn’t dramatic if it’s true. And no I would rather us be successful and win than be right about any of this. What happened in the last seven years under Kermit is something I always believed was possible. He fought back against the culture. He demanded more of MT. He wanted our school to become that National Brand which was a deviation of the mindset of the rest of the little middle culture that I despise. And it’s a shame Ole Miss came open when it did. Because I believe he would have kept it going.

There are two problems I see. 1) we are not going to fire CNM after this season in spite of the fact that the program is now as bad or worse than when Randy Weil was here. As a result the degradation of the program will commence into the 2022 season - at least. 2) You state a new coach will come in and have us competing in two years. What gives you that indication? You can destroy a program in two years as we have seen in the last two but it is much much harder to rebuild one in two years from ashes which is where we now are. The more likely probability is that we end up with a coach who either also fails to recover the program or we end up plodding along with a Rick Stockstill type where we endure a decade of 15 to 18 wins thereafter.

The primary reason I believe this to be true is that we have a culture at MT that accepts this. I had hoped the new board would break this cycle at MT but turns out they are just a rubber stamp for this same acceptance of a mediocre culture. So not much is going to change.

Like I caveated myself with CNM I hope I’m wrong but I’ve seen enough over the years with MT to know the best case scenario almost never plays out here and when it does it’s short lived.

 

[blueraiderJT]

Yeah. I’m so dramatic except every damn thing I have said has either proven to be true in advance or is already a fact as you have noted. It isn’t dramatic if it’s true. And no I would rather us be successful and win than be right about any of this. What happened in the last seven years under Kermit is something I always believed was possible. He fought back against the culture. He demanded more of MT. He wanted our school to become that National Brand which was a deviation of the mindset of the rest of the little middle culture that I despise. And it’s a shame Ole Miss came open when it did. Because I believe he would have kept it going.

There are two problems I see. 1) we are not going to fire CNM after this season in spite of the fact that the program is now as bad or worse than when Randy Weil was here. As a result the degradation of the program will commence into the 2022 season - at least. 2) You state a new coach will come in and have us competing in two years. What gives you that indication? You can destroy a program in two years as we have seen in the last two but it is much much harder to rebuild one in two years from ashes which is where we now are. The more likely probability is that we end up with a coach who either also fails to recover the program or we end up plodding along with a Rick Stockstill type where we endure a decade of 15 to 18 wins thereafter.

The primary reason I believe this to be true is that we have a culture at MT that accepts this. I had hoped the new board would break this cycle at MT but turns out they are just a rubber stamp for this same acceptance of a mediocre culture. So not much is going to change.

Like I caveated myself with CNM I hope I’m wrong but I’ve seen enough over the years with MT to know the best case scenario almost never plays out here and when it does it’s short lived.

MT01 is spot on. We have nothing to lose by firing this coach. Single digit win season and not making your own conference tourney in year 2 is a fail. Any other conference with any other team would do it. If we were a P5, he'd be ran out on a rail. However, we are gonna keep him for 5 more years so supporters of CNM can rejoice. Our admin never does the right thing anymore. They won't now.