BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee @ Mississippi, 2PM, Saturday, December 14, 2019

[SpaceRaider]

The dnj MT beat reporter didn't cover the Ole Miss game for the men nor the women at Belmont. Noticed the dnj had game story from an ole miss guy and the belmont game covered by the Tennessean prep guy Organ from a Belmont POV. Joe Spears was retweeting tweets last night, that was the extent of it.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Podcast: MT MBB vs Ole Miss 12.14.19

 

[BlueAlpha]

Got to watch the game today. Have not seen them since the tournament. I saw improvement which really made me happy. The light finally came on for Sims in the second half. He started playing like he knew what his role was and where to be. If he keeps playing like that then we will be a better team in the second half. Green had a nuclear meltdown today. He needs to pray more instead of focusing his life on silly tattoos. Folks....Jackson is going to be a freaking stud if he keeps on improving. They need to feed him more inside. He scored almost everytime he was fed. Feed that dawg!!! I finally saw us coming together as a team some today. Team, team, team.....that is what has been wrong so far. Unselfishness....they should of fed Jackson more and Green should of started to feed others since he wasn't hitting anything. I saw some things that gave me hope. I am going to stick by my 500 or better prediction in conference play. I think come tourney time we can be a scary underdog. We will see.

I agree about Jackson. We went over for the first 2 games of the Myrtle Beach tourney and because our seats were right behind the bench, you get a different perspective being that close. For a center he has pretty soft hands and his footwork isn’t bad. More importantly, he seemed receptive to the one-on-one coaching he got during both games. To think him getting this many minutes as a true frosh will pay big dividends down the road. He came out of yesterday’s game under 2 minutes to go and was a little gimpy. Hopefully nothing serious.

 

[MT01]

I agree about Jackson. We went over for the first 2 games of the Myrtle Beach tourney and because our seats were right behind the bench, you get a different perspective being that close. For a center he has pretty soft hands and his footwork isn’t bad. More importantly, he seemed receptive to the one-on-one coaching he got during both games. To think him getting this many minutes as a true frosh will pay big dividends down the road. He came out of yesterday’s game under 2 minutes to go and was a little gimpy. Hopefully nothing serious.

He’s the one I’m most worried transferring out. CNM has a history of losing some of his better players to transfer and if Jackson feels like this team isn’t going to win in the future he’s going to be courted and have other options elsewhere. Everyone thinks things are going to get better from here. But just a note of caution. Things can still get worse.

 

[sWiley]

They can very much get worse with transfers and injuries. We need everything to go in our favor if we are to be competitive next year. And that rarely happens....

CNM has left himself zero room for error going into years 3 and 4. Probably not how he planned it, but roster management is so important at this level.

Wish we had more names on the radar for recruits to sign with the upcoming class. Having Fussell on board is great but we are going to need more talent. Lots more. Donte Houston Jr would be a god-send. Add in another young talented shooting guard and I might be a believer again.

Hopefully the only people transferring out in the off-season are the dead-weight. With the players we've signed over the last 2 years, I'm honestly OK with everyone except Jackson 0nd maybe Jayce leaving. Sad, but it's how I truly feel.

 

[crposton]

They can very much get worse with transfers and injuries. We need everything to go in our favor if we are to be competitive next year. And that rarely happens....

CNM has left himself zero room for error going into years 3 and 4. Probably not how he planned it, but roster management is so important at this level.

Wish we had more names on the radar for recruits to sign with the upcoming class. Having Fussell on board is great but we are going to need more talent. Lots more. Donte Houston Jr would be a god-send. Add in another young talented shooting guard and I might be a believer again.

Hopefully the only people transferring out in the off-season are the dead-weight. With the players we've signed over the last 2 years, I'm honestly OK with everyone except Jackson 0nd maybe Jayce leaving. Sad, but it's how I truly feel.

So you would be okay with Jordan Davis and Jalen Jordan leaving?

 

[sWiley]

So you would be okay with Jordan Davis and Jalen Jordan leaving?

Not talking about the transfers. And we have no idea what those 2 players can offer us since we havn't seen them on the court yet.

To answer your question, I wouldn't be heart broken if they left. What I would be concerned about is why are 2 players that just sat out a year transferring ? That would be a major red flag and make zero sense.

 

[kingaling42]

There is no reason to think that good players would transfer away from MT at this point.. sure it could it happen as it there are an ever- increasing number of transfers that move from all levels of D1 from all programs and there are plenty of coaches out there that are continuously courting guys- regardless of team success.. I imagine that MT01 would be one of the first people here to be offended if I said UNCA and MT were similar- stop comparing apples to oranges and just acknowledge that getting to a healthy number of 3-4 year players in this system will simply take some time..

 

[dukewayne]

Effort, fight, and heart have become the preeminent issue on a team currently rife with issues. If this team can work through effort, it would seem to follow that improvements on defense and rebounding would eventually come around.

At Ole Miss, there were signs of the team putting forth better effort. After the horrendous showing at Murray St, that isn't saying much. Look no further than yet another game where MT gave up almost 50 points again in the 1st half. 50 pt 1st halfs is such a glaring problem that it has almost become a bellwether of just how the team is really performing. While it may be more of a symptom, giving up less than 35 points in the first half will likely be a sign that there is some good improvement with the team.

Overall and with certain players, MT did appear to put forth better effort vs Ole Miss, in my opinion. As I mentioned in another thread, it would likely take weeks for the team to really manifest improved effort & fight after the players flipped the effort switch on. While at least it appears they are trying with better effort, the team has a long way to go. At least their effort vs Ole Miss did not leave us fans hopping mad and disgusted as the effort vs Murray St.

Despite my beef with the team's effort, I still do think that this can be a good team with some reasonable success if they work and grow through effort & heart. Even with the effort, it is going to take some time for the young players to continue to learn and develop into a consistent performer.

 

[dukewayne]

In this era, sure, anyone could transfer in any given season. Generally in recent years for MT, transfers have mostly been for players who were not really significantly contributing anyways. Of all of MT's concerns right now, it would seem outbound transfers would be pretty far down the list of worries.

 

[dukewayne]

It seems most are observing the impressive growth and development of Tyson Jackson. Indeed, his improvement has been impressive. Just hearing one radio interview with him, it is abundantly clear that he is highly intelligent. It seems having a good head on his shoulders is a huge part of his continued rapid growth and improvement.

One example of Jackson's smart play and development has been how fast he has been learning and improving regarding fouls. Most young big men seem to take a better part of their first season to learn how to stay out of foul trouble. Jackson seemed to learn that in his first two weeks playing. All this also at a time when the guards are putting him in horrible defensive situations by their lack of defense. Jackson has been learning to try to limit fouls even though the porous guards are allowing anybody and everybody to drive the lane.

It was especially impressive that Jackson had an outstanding game despite being a freshman singlehandedly taking on a couple of $EC Kermit coached big men while having to play the bulk of the minutes due to lack of depth. Going 7 of 7 from the field while fighting fatigue and $EC big men shows an incredible amount of heart.

 

[MT01]

There is no reason to think that good players would transfer away from MT at this point.. sure it could it happen as it there are an ever- increasing number of transfers that move from all levels of D1 from all programs and there are plenty of coaches out there that are continuously courting guys- regardless of team success.. I imagine that MT01 would be one of the first people here to be offended if I said UNCA and MT were similar- stop comparing apples to oranges and just acknowledge that getting to a healthy number of 3-4 year players in this system will simply take some time..

Kermit never lost a single player that wasn't told he wasn't going to get enough playing time and that he would help him find a place where he could land and make an impact.

So, no we are not similar. Because we hired away your coach in 2018. Hell, we even hired away your coach over 20 years ago when we weren't very good.

So, we are not similar. Just like we are not an SEC caliber program (although we did beat the hell out of them a lot over the past decade).

To insinuate otherwise is ignorant.

 

[RaiderDawg78]

Kermit never lost a single player that wasn't told he wasn't going to get enough playing time and that he would help him find a place where he could land and make an impact.

So, no we are not similar. Because we hired away your coach in 2018. Hell, we even hired away your coach over 20 years ago when we weren't very good.

So, we are not similar. Just like we are not an SEC caliber program (although we did beat the hell out of them a lot over the past decade).

To insinuate otherwise is ignorant.

I think most people outside of our fan base consider MT closer to UNCA than P5 schools.

 

[MT01]

I think most people outside of our fan base consider MT closer to UNCA than P5 schools.

They might now.

 

[kingaling42]

Kermit never lost a single player that wasn't told he wasn't going to get enough playing time and that he would help him find a place where he could land and make an impact.

So, no we are not similar. Because we hired away your coach in 2018. Hell, we even hired away your coach over 20 years ago when we weren't very good.

So, we are not similar. Just like we are not an SEC caliber program (although we did beat the hell out of them a lot over the past decade).

To insinuate otherwise is ignorant.

That's my point- which is why I said to stop comparing apples to oranges... UNCA and MT are NOT similar so you should stop insinuating that players might leave MT just because they did leave UNCA...

As you stated clearly "To insinuate otherwise is ignorant"- perhaps you should take your own advice..

 

[MT01]

In the basketball world that's not the case. Basketball consists of three tiers. High Major, Mid Major, and Low Major.

High is obvious (power conf + Big East): In some circles, C-USA is still looped into this group (they we haven't performed at this level recently). For example, with College Insider's Mid-Major top 25 we are not eligible as C-USA is not considered a mid-major by CI.

Mid-Major: This is where most are going to see C-USA. Millions poured into basketball. Potential to receive multiple bids (though with how the NCAA does business now this is being taken away from conference like ours as well).

Low-Major: This is were everyone else like the Big South and UNCA are although this group is also sometimes just looped into the mid category out of laziness. Low budget basketball programs (budget is six figures) and play in leagues that are ubiquitously one-bid.

 

[MT01]

That's my point- which is why I said to stop comparing apples to oranges... UNCA and MT are NOT similar so you should stop insinuating that players might leave MT just because they did leave UNCA...

As you stated clearly "To insinuate otherwise is ignorant"- perhaps you should take your own advice..

Players don't leave because of the school. They leave because of the coach.

Get it now?

 

[kingaling42]

Players don't leave because of the school. They leave because of the coach.

Get it now?

Two of those stud players did in fact also leave because of the academics at UNCA- it may have been secondary to their talent but it would've been a factor.. there are no GPA requirements for freshmen and they would've needed to really change some things off the court in order to continue to be eligible in their later academic years... but working in the AD you know that..

Each of the UNCA transfers jumped 2 tiers from your breakdown, also another factor that is not similar.. it would also be one thing if the any of those transfers weren't impact players at their new programs- ALL of them have been starters after sitting out their transfer year- all of them have been key contributors.. we're not talking about guys who were good/great at UNCA and then transferred only to be relegated to the benches on P5 teams.. you can' say they didn't stay for CNM as that's true but he landed them at UNCA and they were clearly higher level guys- that means something..

 

[MTFNBY5]

He’s the one I’m most worried transferring out. CNM has a history of losing some of his better players to transfer and if Jackson feels like this team isn’t going to win in the future he’s going to be courted and have other options elsewhere. Everyone thinks things are going to get better from here. But just a note of caution. Things can still get worse.

I wish to hell this subject had never been brought up - My only and last comment on the possibility of a MT BkB player transferring up unless and until it does.

 

[dukewayne]

Shoot, for a good part of the first half of Kermit's tenure, he couldn't hardly hold a roster together on pretty much most seasons. I could be wrong, but it seemed a bunch of those players couldn't or wouldn't adhere to the strict demanding nature of Kermit's program.

Once his team started to breakthrough to big success, then departures were minimal and of those not significantly contributing. His rosters started to stabilize with the big success. I guess it could be argued which came first. I suspected that Kermit and his asst coaches were finally recruiting players that were more suited and willing to withstand the rigors and discipline of life on Kermit's team.

During those years of big success under Kermit, I can recall only one player that left that was likely capable to being a contributor under Kermit. I think that was the guy that ended up playing for UAB.

All in all during the 2nd half of Kermit's tenure, Kermit wasn't losing players due to their transferring to a "bigger program."

 

[dukewayne]

That's my point- which is why I said to stop comparing apples to oranges... UNCA and MT are NOT similar so you should stop insinuating that players might leave MT just because they did leave UNCA...

As you stated clearly "To insinuate otherwise is ignorant"- perhaps you should take your own advice..

I think I got what you were saying. There seems to be a (natural?) tendency to attribute any and all unflattering elements of CNM's narrative at UNC-A to CNM's new and yet to unfold narrative as a Blue Raider. Just because CNM lost some outstanding talent at UNC-A does not necessarily mean that CNM will lose outstanding talent at MT. Likewise just because CNM won conf titles at UNC-A does not necessarily mean that CNM will win conf titles at MT. If one were to strongly adhere to this approach, then future predictions would indicate that CNM would lose outstanding talent and still win conference championships and achieve postseason play. The pessimistic or negative predictions are suggesting CNM will likely lose talent, but the part of winning conf championships is being left out when transferring the narrative.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the tendency to look at past performance to try and inform one's prediction of future performance. Understandably, past performance is all you have to evaluate to form future projections. Obviously though, all of it is still predictions or projections that are not locked in as destiny. Ultimately, some time is required to unfold to see just how someone will perform in a given position.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

I wanted Greg Grensing for continuity but we know that isn't a given for a program. See Mags and the baseball program.

That being said, at the end of year three...it is time for evaluation and make the tough decisions. Year four is the year where I would change direction or stay the course. Given that Massaro likes to stay the course, I envision Nick locked up for 15 years if he wins .4% of conference games and goes to the bathroom 3 times a day.

 

[dukewayne]

I wanted Greg Grensing for continuity but we know that isn't a given for a program. See Mags and the baseball program.

That being said, at the end of year three...it is time for evaluation and make the tough decisions. Year four is the year where I would change direction or stay the course. Given that Massaro likes to stay the course, I envision Nick locked up for 15 years if he wins .4% of conference games and goes to the bathroom 3 times a day.

There is what most of us would do, allow, and expect for the program, and then there is AD Massaro.

Most of us would like to see signs of improvement and development of a team with at least above average results by the end of year three heading into year four. If not, time for a change. Massaro? I think he is on the 15-20 year plan. Mediocre .500 results for 15 years is just swell.

 

[crposton]

Players don't leave because of the school. They leave because of the coach.

Get it now?

Players do not leave because of the school? Overlooked in HS and end up at UNCA play well and have a chance to move up to A high major. Pretty sure the school would have a lot to do with that decision. Also considering one of those high major transfers wanted to follow CNM here. Either you are going to be right or wrong about CNM. Only time will tell.

 

[MT01]

Players do not leave because of the school? Overlooked in HS and end up at UNCA play well and have a chance to move up to A high major. Pretty sure the school would have a lot to do with that decision. Also considering one of those high major transfers wanted to follow CNM here. Either you are going to be right or wrong about CNM. Only time will tell.

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[crposton]

I think you will be wrong. I am not happy at all about where we are and I put most the blame on McDevitt. I do think he did not expect this to be happening. I also think if we had Dishman and Millner healthy you would see a different basketball team. Jayce could play his more natural position and you would not need to rely on Millin and Crump as much. Out record may not be much different, but would definitely see a more competitive team on the court.

 

[MT01]

I think you will be wrong. I am not happy at all about where we are and I put most the blame on McDevitt. I do think he did not expect this to be happening. I also think if we had Dishman and Millner healthy you would see a different basketball team. Jayce could play his more natural position and you would not need to rely on Millin and Crump as much. Out record may not be much different, but would definitely see a more competitive team on the court.

If the record wouldn't be much different then the point is moot.

This is where we diverge. While I hope I'm wrong, I'm quite convinced I won't be based on the evidence that has been presented. CNM didn't inherit a dumpster fire. And you don't need elite talent to defend and rebound. Things I pointed out that could be problematic for CNM's style at a slightly higher level are absolutely proving to be true. Could things have been a lot more peachy for him? Sure. I'm not suggesting he walked into an easy job. But right now - if you look at schools that hired a coach last year most of them are not struggling to win just one D1 game. We're on par with Maine, Tennessee Tech, Detroit, etc. among schools that hired coaches when we did. He's going to have to have mid-level SEC talent to play this style at the higher end of the mid-major level if he wants to compete for a conference title and get us back in the NCAA Tournament. And I just believe that's extremely difficult for us to recruit at that level regardless of who the coach is.

If I've said it once I've said it a dozen times. It works at low major levels where teams don't play tough defense. And it works at the Duke/Kentucky level where the blue chips play elite level of offense because they are grade A athletes who also have great basketball skills. We have athletes with no basketball skills. And guess what. That's exactly what Weil recruited and what Kermit recruited the first few years he was here. And now we are doing it again. So, if you believe that CNM can recruit consistently across the board at Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Alabama's level then he will win here. If he can't get those types of players he's going to struggle to produce above .500 seasons (unless he just puts together grossly easy non-conference schedules only to get eviscerated in conference). The style he wants to play requires his offense to be more athletic while also have better basketball skills than the defenses faced. This is overly simplistic to say, but in essence outscore the opponent. But we are going to face conference opponents that can both score, defend, and rebound.

 

[kingaling42]

If the record wouldn't be much different then the point is moot.

This is where we diverge. While I hope I'm wrong, I'm quite convinced I won't be based on the evidence that has been presented. CNM didn't inherit a dumpster fire. And you don't need elite talent to defend and rebound. Things I pointed out that could be problematic for CNM's style at a slightly higher level are absolutely proving to be true. Could things have been a lot more peachy for him? Sure. I'm not suggesting he walked into an easy job. But right now - if you look at schools that hired a coach last year most of them are not struggling to win just one D1 game. We're on par with Maine, Tennessee Tech, Detroit, etc. among schools that hired coaches when we did. He's going to have to have mid-level SEC talent to play this style at the higher end of the mid-major level if he wants to compete for a conference title and get us back in the NCAA Tournament. And I just believe that's extremely difficult for us to recruit at that level regardless of who the coach is.

If I've said it once I've said it a dozen times. It works at low major levels where teams don't play tough defense. And it works at the Duke/Kentucky level where the blue chips play elite level of offense because they are grade A athletes who also have great basketball skills. We have athletes with no basketball skills. And guess what. That's exactly what Weil recruited and what Kermit recruited the first few years he was here. And now we are doing it again. So, if you believe that CNM can recruit consistently across the board at Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Alabama's level then he will win here. If he can't get those types of players he's going to struggle to produce above .500 seasons (unless he just puts together grossly easy non-conference schedules only to get eviscerated in conference). The style he wants to play requires his offense to be more athletic while also have better basketball skills than the defenses faced. This is overly simplistic to say, but in essence outscore the opponent. But we are going to face conference opponents that can both score, defend, and rebound.

Honestly don't get the impression that you hope to be wrong.. perhaps that's just me.. Not one of your posts mentions a single positive thing about anything- you only harp on the negative and you're MIA when things have been good..

 

[sWiley]

I wanted Greg Grensing for continuity but we know that isn't a given for a program. See Mags and the baseball program.

That being said, at the end of year three...it is time for evaluation and make the tough decisions. Year four is the year where I would change direction or stay the course. Given that Massaro likes to stay the course, I envision Nick locked up for 15 years if he wins .4% of conference games and goes to the bathroom 3 times a day.

If Ronnie Hamilton would have stayed then hiring Grensing might have worked, but Kermit took Hamilton with him to Ole Miss and effectively the new recruits along with them. All 3 recruits would have likely still left even if we retained Grensing. All 3 were recruited by Ronnie and he wasn't gonna let them stay here. I'm convinced he was already plotting their departure while still on staff here at MT. Grensing and Kermit worked together but clearly weren't the most fond of each other. Grensing is a great basketball coach but not even an average recruiter. Quite bad actually. Hamilton was the star recruiter and it's the reason he was taken to Ole Miss. I suspect he will continue to be very successful there.

The smart, out-of-the-box hire would have been giving the head job to Ronnie Hamilton. Wouldn't have made much sense from a "has he earned it" standpoint, but we would have retained all 3 recruits and a top recruiter in Hamilton. Hamilton could have kept Grensing around for a great ball coach in practice and for more continuity, and then he could have hired some other coaches to fill in whatever weaknesses needed shored up. Big risk, big reward type of hire.....but that's my style. That's what I would have done. You think Penny Hardaway is some brilliant basketball coach? No. He's a great recruiter and he has great X and O coaches on his staff. We could have done the same.

But Massaro did differently and wanted to open a search, and the rest is history. Now we have to start over from ground zero and we lost everything we had built up.

With regards to Kermit going to Ole Miss, Kermit and Ronnie's exit from MT/Murfreesboro was calculated and a lot more nefarious than people realize IMO. I've come to this conclusion based on various things that I've learned that I do not care to share on this board. They planned to bring those recruits with them the second they decided to leave MT. Only reason Fagan didn't land there is because they didn't want him there.

 

[crposton]

If the record wouldn't be much different then the point is moot.

This is where we diverge. While I hope I'm wrong, I'm quite convinced I won't be based on the evidence that has been presented. CNM didn't inherit a dumpster fire. And you don't need elite talent to defend and rebound. Things I pointed out that could be problematic for CNM's style at a slightly higher level are absolutely proving to be true. Could things have been a lot more peachy for him? Sure. I'm not suggesting he walked into an easy job. But right now - if you look at schools that hired a coach last year most of them are not struggling to win just one D1 game. We're on par with Maine, Tennessee Tech, Detroit, etc. among schools that hired coaches when we did. He's going to have to have mid-level SEC talent to play this style at the higher end of the mid-major level if he wants to compete for a conference title and get us back in the NCAA Tournament. And I just believe that's extremely difficult for us to recruit at that level regardless of who the coach is.

If I've said it once I've said it a dozen times. It works at low major levels where teams don't play tough defense. And it works at the Duke/Kentucky level where the blue chips play elite level of offense because they are grade A athletes who also have great basketball skills. We have athletes with no basketball skills. And guess what. That's exactly what Weil recruited and what Kermit recruited the first few years he was here. And now we are doing it again. So, if you believe that CNM can recruit consistently across the board at Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Alabama's level then he will win here. If he can't get those types of players he's going to struggle to produce above .500 seasons (unless he just puts together grossly easy non-conference schedules only to get eviscerated in conference). The style he wants to play requires his offense to be more athletic while also have better basketball skills than the defenses faced. This is overly simplistic to say, but in essence outscore the opponent. But we are going to face conference opponents that can both score, defend, and rebound.

By record not being much different I meant we may still be hovering around .500, but I think we win 2-3 more games. To me that would make a difference and show we can beat teams in our conference. Losing to teams by less than 10 points instead of being dominated would be nice. Winning the games against the likes of Belmont, Tulane, and Ohio would show that we can compete in CUSA. Winning those games would put us at 7-4 (4-4 D1) and I think with a healthy Dishman and Millner we could win those games. Throw in Scurry and the majority of our problems at the forward position are solved. Dishman is out for the year and I thought Millner was supposed to be back already unless I missed something. Not having those two forced a lot more on Millin, Crump, and Jayce.

 

[MT01]

Honestly don't get the impression that you hope to be wrong.. perhaps that's just me.. Not one of your posts mentions a single positive thing about anything- you only harp on the negative and you're MIA when things have been good..

When have things been good?

 

[abarnett]

How could anyone think that McDevitt didn’t inherit a dumpster fire. We currently are playing 4freshmen ones a redshirt ,1sophomore 2juniors and 1 senior. A real recipe for successs He is trying to build I hope he can fast enough but he did inherit a dumpster fire. I just hope he can turn it around fast enough.

 

[MT01]

How could anyone think that McDevitt didn’t inherit a dumpster fire. We currently are playing 4freshmen ones a redshirt ,1sophomore 2juniors and 1 senior. A real recipe for successs He is trying to build I hope he can fast enough but he did inherit a dumpster fire. I just hope he can turn it around fast enough.

That's nonsense. You must not have been around in the early 2000's to know what a real dumpster fire looked like.

He had some roster challenges. Every new coach goes through that. Hell, Ohio had to sign six new players in their coaches first class from a program that had not had a winning season in three years. He got hired about the same time as CNM. He then signed the two highest rated players in Ohio's history this year and then proceeded to whoop our ass.

To suggest that this program was in a state of disrepair when he arrived is some degree of enabling I haven't seen since the Andy McCollum era. I guess I'm going to have to take on the slappy reigns for the absurd state the the program is now in under CNM. But it most certainly wasn't when he signed on. He inherited a program that was in the top 25 in the AP poll just a couple of months before he was hired. The dumpster fire is what the program is now. Not when he arrived. So, let's be clear about that.

 

[MT01]

And I don't think anyone expected him to win a conference title in his first two years.

But holy we suck Batman. We are freaking 1-9 against the real teams. And most of those games haven't even been competitive with outcomes decided in the first 10 minutes. This is the part where I very much diverge from some of you.

Which is the part I want to make very, very clear. McDevitt wasn't hired to build a program. He was hired to keep the program at a stature that it had already achieved. That's why he more than quadrupled his salary. That's why he's the highest paid basketball coach in C-USA. He wasn't hired to build something. He was hired to keep it going.

 

[crposton]

And I don't think anyone expected him to win a conference title in his first two years.

But holy we suck Batman. We are freaking 1-9 against the real teams. And most of those games haven't even been competitive with outcomes decided in the first 10 minutes. This is the part where I very much diverge from some of you.

Which is the part I want to make very, very clear. McDevitt wasn't hired to build a program. He was hired to keep the program at a stature that it had already achieved. That's why he more than quadrupled his salary. That's why he's the highest paid basketball coach in C-USA. He wasn't hired to build something. He was hired to keep it going.

How can we be 1-9 against the real teams when we only have 7 losses? I know you probably meant 7. I really do think we would have seen a lot of improvement this year, but we did have two big and untimely injuries. If we lost Dishman but still had Millner and Scurry could play I think we would be okay. However Scurry has not been playing (expected) and neither has Millner (unexpected). 3 experienced forwards not here and that caused us to rely on a true freshman, a guard playing the 4 spot, and two guys not quite ready to fill in. This is not an excuse to be losing like we are, but it does have an impact. Take the 3 best forwards off any team on our level for the first 11 games and see what their record would be.

 

[kingaling42]

That's nonsense. You must not have been around in the early 2000's to know what a real dumpster fire looked like.

He had some roster challenges. Every new coach goes through that. Hell, Ohio had to sign six new players in their coaches first class from a program that had not had a winning season in three years. He got hired about the same time as CNM. He then signed the two highest rated players in Ohio's history this year and then proceeded to whoop our ass.

To suggest that this program was in a state of disrepair when he arrived is some degree of enabling I haven't seen since the Andy McCollum era. I guess I'm going to have to take on the slappy reigns for the absurd state the the program is now in under CNM. But it most certainly wasn't when he signed on. He inherited a program that was in the top 25 in the AP poll just a couple of months before he was hired. The dumpster fire is what the program is now. Not when he arrived. So, let's be clear about that.

You just love to bring up Ohio but you fail to provide context as usual- when MT played the Bobcats this year the following 4 guys were the top 4 impact performers:
Dartis- 5 year guy; redshirt senior- 32 points/4 assists/3 steals
Ogbanda- grad student; 5th year guy 12 points/4 boards
Pras- redshirt sophomore; 3rd year player 5 pts/11 boards
Preston- true sophomore; 15 pts/9 assists

I'm sorry you were talking about some freshmen?

 

[MT01]

You just love to bring up Ohio but you fail to provide context as usual- when MT played the Bobcats this year the following 4 guys were the top 4 impact performers:
Dartis- 5 year guy; redshirt senior- 32 points/4 assists/3 steals
Ogbanda- grad student; 5th year guy 12 points/4 boards
Pras- redshirt sophomore; 3rd year player 5 pts/11 boards
Preston- true sophomore; 15 pts/9 assists

I'm sorry you were talking about some freshmen?

Yeah. Everyone wants to find every single reason to give a pass they can come up with including depth - which has been a big one. See the post above yours. I can do the same thing with our team that you just did with theirs with that game. What you did is irrelevant to the point about how bad this team is and how non-competitive they are and the fact I made in the following post which is CNM wasn't hired to build a program.

MT leading scorer #1 (5th year senior)
MT leading scorer #2 (redshirt junior)
MT leading scorer #3 (junior)
Leading rebounder (sophomore)

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

And I don't think anyone expected him to win a conference title in his first two years.

But holy we suck Batman. We are freaking 1-9 against the real teams. And most of those games haven't even been competitive with outcomes decided in the first 10 minutes. This is the part where I very much diverge from some of you.

Which is the part I want to make very, very clear. McDevitt wasn't hired to build a program. He was hired to keep the program at a stature that it had already achieved. That's why he more than quadrupled his salary. That's why he's the highest paid basketball coach in C-USA. He wasn't hired to build something. He was hired to keep it going.

There was no program left - I can't understand why you keep going on this track. The programs recruiting class GONE, the programs key payers had to be dismissed, GONE. The best players, graduated. Kermit was a risky recruiter and it paid off with grad transfers, he rolled the dice - but there was no systematic program for development.

You act if everything was set up perfect for CMN to come in and win championships.

 

[MT01]

There was no program left - I can't understand why you keep going on this track. The programs recruiting class GONE, the programs key payers had to be dismissed, GONE. The best players, graduated. Kermit was a risky recruiter and it paid off with grad transfers, he rolled the dice - but there was no systematic program for development.

You act if everything was set up perfect for CMN to come in and win championships.

That is about as inaccurate as can be and a gross misrepresentation of anything I have said. I most certainly have not said things were set up perfect. Nor have I implied anything of the sort.

 

[abarnett]

Trust me I’ve been around a long time before the 2000s Don’t even try to question my tenure as a blue raider fan I’ve seen it all for 49 years. We are awful I agree. But no can question the situation nick has come into. I don’t want to wait 25 more years for another ncaa tournament like I did one time. Nick may not be the right guy u or I either know this.