BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee(5-17, 1-8) @ UTSA(10-12, 4-5), 3PM, Saturday, February 1, 2020
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
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The last two games have served as good examples of why the team's overall season performance has been so frustrating. Namely, it has been frustrating watching the team play so poorly despite having some reasonably talented athletes up and down the roster. Despite showing some signs of improvement the last few games, the team still goes through lengthy segments of each game of the poor play that has been the trademark of this season.
Don't get me wrong though, I am glad for the team that they got a win on the road. They are showing some signs of improvement as a team and individually as players. I hope the team can continue to improve and prove me wrong in my questioning of CNM's ability to get it done here. It will take a lot more than a couple of wins to win over any confidence after the last year or two of repeated embarrassing losses.
Don't get me wrong though, I am glad for the team that they got a win on the road. They are showing some signs of improvement as a team and individually as players. I hope the team can continue to improve and prove me wrong in my questioning of CNM's ability to get it done here. It will take a lot more than a couple of wins to win over any confidence after the last year or two of repeated embarrassing losses.
Can anyone tell me why Lawrence was on the bench for the last few minutes of the game when MT was struggling to score? He had only been on fire the entire time he was in the game.
The win was encouraging. We shot 45% from 3 so the shots are finally starting to drop. That is thanks in large part to Eli Lawrence having a good night. Still had only 11 assists to 13 turnovers. That ratio has got to get better.
We did a better job of shooting our FT's tonight and low and behold we won the game......Should have beaten UTEP as well but missed way too many FT's.
With regards to this season, we are what we are. A schizophrenic, identity-lacking squad that can occasionally outscore it's opponents. Need to get our young guys as experienced as possible going into next season. I'd start Eli Lawrence personally and let him grow. Trial by fire. Same goes for Tyson Jackson. I'm mentally checked out with regards to this season and already worried about next year so IMO we should be focusing on getting the youngin's ready to go. Let Millner, Jackson, and Lawrence start.
CUSA tournament would be good experience for the squad (and coaching staff), so that'd be a nice plus.
We did a better job of shooting our FT's tonight and low and behold we won the game......Should have beaten UTEP as well but missed way too many FT's.
With regards to this season, we are what we are. A schizophrenic, identity-lacking squad that can occasionally outscore it's opponents. Need to get our young guys as experienced as possible going into next season. I'd start Eli Lawrence personally and let him grow. Trial by fire. Same goes for Tyson Jackson. I'm mentally checked out with regards to this season and already worried about next year so IMO we should be focusing on getting the youngin's ready to go. Let Millner, Jackson, and Lawrence start.
CUSA tournament would be good experience for the squad (and coaching staff), so that'd be a nice plus.
Oh yea, next year must demonstrate sustained improvement. While a couple of wins late this season does little to convince me, there is likely a zero percent chance Beavis and Butt-Head make any moves this year. After a 3rd season, I think there might be more of a chance for Beavis and Butt-Head to finally make a move if the team is still performing horribly.
I'm not holding my breath, but I hope CNM can prove me wrong. I actually think the players have the potential, but I just don't know if CNM can get them to perform as a team at a high level consistently.
I'm not holding my breath, but I hope CNM can prove me wrong. I actually think the players have the potential, but I just don't know if CNM can get them to perform as a team at a high level consistently.
Basically, Rice is a must win and USM has to drop all 4 for us to get into the last seed spot. If USM wins any of those games, we won't catch them. I know we have 4 more unannounced games that could help us depending on who we get. If we don't beat Rice, it doesn't matter who we get. UNT and UAB are gonna be too tough I think.
If you honestly think that MTSU was moving in the same direction as Butler and Gonzaga then there's absolutely no reason to argue with you..
As for Utah State- their last 10 years is nothing like the previous 10 years since you brought up their last 2 decades- especially when you conveniently aren't looking at their conference record/results.. they've experienced varying losses of momentum..
Good question.. I'd think similarly to Wiley on that one in just going with more experience down the stretch..
I don't believe he is talking about Butler and Gonzaga from a current, 2020 perspective....
More about how Gonzaga and Butler came to be what they are.........We were following a similar path as they did to stardom.....and then got derailed.
VCU, and many other schools, have been in a similar boat as well but they've managed to at least stay respectable through several coaching transitions.
I honestly cannot remember a rising mid-major like MT was under Kermit that has fallen so fast and so hard throughout modern CBB history.....Very concerning.....
It's important that this be the last terrible season we have here at MT. Our fans desire the results of a "power" mid-major (VCU, SDSU, Saint Mary's, Wichita State, Houston, etc.) and we are paying our head coach a handsome salary to reflect that. Do you recall those schools I just listed ever having a 2 year spell such as the one we are having? I sure don't, and they all for the most part have had coaching changes too and major roster changes.
McDevitt and his friends might not like the expectations the fans here at MT have (Wish I could say the same about our administration.....). You might feel like the expectations are unfair. But, when you are a Top 5 paid G5 coach with excellent assistant coaching salaries, we expect Top 5 G5 results in the Win/Loss column.... I'm sure you are familiar with the saying "You get what you pay for"....Well...we are expecting to get what we are paying for. Seems pretty fair to me.
Year 3 is crucial for McDevitt and our program. We have got to get back to being respected in the G5 world and do something meaningful in the post-season. Even if it's just a few NIT wins. A 20 win season, respectable showing in CUSA tournament, and a couple of NIT wins would be a great building block going into Year 4.
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Not everything I post is in defense of CNM- sometimes, just sometimes these posts stand on their own merits without any other affiliations..
Gonzaga hasn't missed the tourney since 1998.. MTSU was never getting that type of momentum- don't fool yourselves.. Mark Few was an assistant and then the associate coach totalling 9-10 years of history with the program before being named the HC.. MTSU and CKD never named an associate head coach right? Hence no real succession plan like Gonzaga...
Butler is a storied program that has 50+ more years of history on the hardwood- they play in a hoop mecca.. MTSU is not that..
San Diego State- Steve Fisher first year they went 5-23..
I get what you're expecting and I understand the expectations and reasons why- but honestly when I post MT01 and some others are jumping down rabbit holes just because of my friendship with CNM and instead of reading at face value what I'm actually posting.. all I ever said was that momentum is fickle.. no one said sh!t about that though..
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The timing of Kermit leaving, graduating a really good group of seniors, current signees not sticking with us and a couple of other defections totally decimated any momentum we had. I don't care who we hired, it was going to be a huge uphill battle (if not impossible) to remain relevant on the national stage.
Agreed that it would be difficult to maintain momentum while having to rebuild almost the entire roster.
3 D1 wins is not merely a loss of momentum though.
When a program establishes 22+ wins a season, a loss of momentum would be 13 or 14 wins during a rebuild season. At least in my opinion.
Ideally that would include progressing and improving as the season moves along. Last year, the team did win a few games later in the season that at least suggested some improvement. That momentum seemed lost as the embarrassing losses racked up this season. Who knows, maybe the team finishes this season with a streak of wins? Whatever the case, next year can't be a repeat of years 1 & 2.
It's not expecting too much to look for at least close to .500 level ball while rebuilding the roster. This is especially the case when MT had clearly established a good level of quality and success for a number of years. It's also not expecting too much when 3 of those games are vs non-D1 teams.
3 D1 wins is not merely a loss of momentum though.
When a program establishes 22+ wins a season, a loss of momentum would be 13 or 14 wins during a rebuild season. At least in my opinion.
Ideally that would include progressing and improving as the season moves along. Last year, the team did win a few games later in the season that at least suggested some improvement. That momentum seemed lost as the embarrassing losses racked up this season. Who knows, maybe the team finishes this season with a streak of wins? Whatever the case, next year can't be a repeat of years 1 & 2.
It's not expecting too much to look for at least close to .500 level ball while rebuilding the roster. This is especially the case when MT had clearly established a good level of quality and success for a number of years. It's also not expecting too much when 3 of those games are vs non-D1 teams.
Yea. Really don't want to revisit this conversation after every game about the rebuild job. Sure, it wasn't the best situation, but we didn't do ourselves any favors in the process. I've said my peace. I wouldn't have let the 3 freshmen leave so quickly. I would have at least asked them to give the staff a chance, maybe a month or two of practices/workouts/meetings...and then maybe let them go if they still feel that way. I feel like they didn't even give McDevitt a chance, and if they would have gotten to know him, I feel like a few of them might have stayed. My approach if I'm Chris Massaro....
"Hey Tye, Look....I understand you probably have other ideas now with a new coaching staff here at MT. Let's do this....come spend 8 weeks around the new staff during the off-season doing *insert here whatever players do doing the off-season* and if you still want to be released from your LOI, we'll gladly do it"......
This would have been a fair, reasonable offer to them and it would have given McDevitt 2 months to sell them on his style and the future plans for the program.
What's the worst that would have happened if they all walked anyway? We wouldn't have had a scholarship to sign Crump? LOL.
And I wouldn't have kicked Dixon and Tae Tae off the team unless I literally had no choice. And the fact that they both signed with other teams and faced no legal discipline tells me whatever they did was not un-redeemable.
It was a challenging rebuild job but in typical Little Middle fashion, we made it much more difficult than it needed to be. Sadly, we are getting what we deserve over the last 2 years in terms of results. You cannot let your best freshman signing class in history all just walk away and then turn around and kick your best player + important role player off the team......
"Hey Tye, Look....I understand you probably have other ideas now with a new coaching staff here at MT. Let's do this....come spend 8 weeks around the new staff during the off-season doing *insert here whatever players do doing the off-season* and if you still want to be released from your LOI, we'll gladly do it"......
This would have been a fair, reasonable offer to them and it would have given McDevitt 2 months to sell them on his style and the future plans for the program.
What's the worst that would have happened if they all walked anyway? We wouldn't have had a scholarship to sign Crump? LOL.
And I wouldn't have kicked Dixon and Tae Tae off the team unless I literally had no choice. And the fact that they both signed with other teams and faced no legal discipline tells me whatever they did was not un-redeemable.
It was a challenging rebuild job but in typical Little Middle fashion, we made it much more difficult than it needed to be. Sadly, we are getting what we deserve over the last 2 years in terms of results. You cannot let your best freshman signing class in history all just walk away and then turn around and kick your best player + important role player off the team......
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Problem with that 8 week summer plan for the incoming recruits is that most kids enroll in summer classes to lessen their academic load.. once they enroll they're stuck- most kids aren't going for that pitch.
.. and we know all about your moral compass Wiley.. you wouldn't dismiss Carlton Dotson from Baylor if he could help you win..
.. and we know all about your moral compass Wiley.. you wouldn't dismiss Carlton Dotson from Baylor if he could help you win..
8 weeks actually would have been perfect. Nick was hired in March. Ask recruits to stick around for April/May. If they still want to be a Blue Raider at the end of May, enroll in summer classes starting in June and live happily ever after.
If they want to leave, release them from their LOI at the end of May and they can go kick rocks. Would have been a fair, reasonable middle ground instead of just caving into their immediate demands.....
I bet at least 1 of them would have stayed. I believe Nick has a good vision to sell here and is very personable with the players. He seems like a hard guy to not like. I have a good friend who has hung out with him in a "non-professional" setting and he had nothing but good things to say about him and was very excited about hiring him. He still thinks he is the man for the job.
With regards to a "moral compass." - I'll repeat what I said. All of the players that were released went on to sign with quality D1 programs AND never faced criminal charges. I find it hard to believe all of them would have done something so unredeemable yet still be able to sign with other quality programs without a sniff of legal troubles....(I'm getting a strong vibe of a he said she said with regards to their departures.....)
If they want to leave, release them from their LOI at the end of May and they can go kick rocks. Would have been a fair, reasonable middle ground instead of just caving into their immediate demands.....
I bet at least 1 of them would have stayed. I believe Nick has a good vision to sell here and is very personable with the players. He seems like a hard guy to not like. I have a good friend who has hung out with him in a "non-professional" setting and he had nothing but good things to say about him and was very excited about hiring him. He still thinks he is the man for the job.
With regards to a "moral compass." - I'll repeat what I said. All of the players that were released went on to sign with quality D1 programs AND never faced criminal charges. I find it hard to believe all of them would have done something so unredeemable yet still be able to sign with other quality programs without a sniff of legal troubles....(I'm getting a strong vibe of a he said she said with regards to their departures.....)
Last day of high school in Georgia (for many public schools) was approx. May 22nd.. how is a HS kid supposed to qualify for college if they don't graduate HS in your little scenario? Tough to miss that much HS class time, with no place to live (MTSU funding doesn't happen until they enroll), etc, etc.. let's try the real world.
They can stay there then. If they've got time to be released from their LOI and get recruited by other schools then they've got time to consider our new staff.
The knee-jerk "I want out" BS from them and our subsequent immediate appeasement of their demands is sickening. It is everything that is wrong with today's microwave society. They signed an LOI to play for Middle Tennessee and pledged to play for Middle Tennessee, not Kermit Davis. Their own twitter accounts reflect that. They could have at least given the staff an honest chance which they clearly did not.
I agree with you in those terms- they certainly didn't give MTSU a second look.. just pointing out that they couldn't realistically stick around campus.. clearly the previous staff had already recruited them to Ole Miss..
That we can agree on. No doubt in my mind Ronnie Hamilton was already recruiting them to Ole Miss while still an active member of our coaching staff.
The debate on releasing players is moot now with the NCAA rule change. I still think it would have been terrible PR for MT to hold those kids at the time to the LOI giving the rule to prevent schools from doing that was introduced in January, was going to pass with little resistance & Kermit left in March. “Hey guys, I know a rule that says if your coach leaves before you start classes in the Fall is in the process and will probably official in January, but it’s March now, so we aren’t going to release you.” That would be kind of a bad look IMO.
As for kicking players off the team - I take no issue with a coach getting rid of any players he did not recruit/want for whatever reason. But with any action, there are consequences.
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