BASKETBALL Secret Scrimmages
- Thread starter TrueBlue147
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ETSU made it to the conference championship last year while we sat in the gutter. They returned most of their team and we were without our top offensive threat… doesn’t sound terrible to me? I’m actually pretty optimistic going into this year. There are some new faces around the roster that should have an impact, but we have 2 proven dynamic guards in Westin and Porter.
I’m not convinced having two point guards on the floor at the same time will win us a championship. Guess we’ll see.
For what it's worth KenPom preseason rankings has ETSU at #152 & MT at #185. Also Mid-Major Madness preseason Top 25 did not have ETSU in its Top 25, but saw they did receive 10 votes. MT received zero.
For some more context I believe KP had Belmont around #170
For some more context I believe KP had Belmont around #170
Hope I'm wrong, but I don't see Weston having a good year this season. I've rarely seen someone come back and be just as explosive as they were before a knee injury like that. His quickness and jumping ability were his best attributes and both those rely on a strong knee.
I hope everyone's expectations are appropriately caveated at this point. If not, I don't know what to tell you. We thought our admin was bad on football accepting .500 well they've doubled down on that and decided they're good in the 30-40% range on winning Div 1 games in basketball.
Would/could Rick coach both teams for double his current salary???😉
Mostly the same players from last year thus we will get mostly the same results. We are kidding ourselves if we are expecting anything more than a 500ish kind of year. There's nothing to indicate that this team is improved or can challenge for a title. I'm expecting another year of anemic offense and poor road performances, a McDevitt staple. I'm sure we will have a few big home wins which will be nice, but those usually just make the losses sting even more because they end up feeling like such a let down.
Hate to be so negative but this is a team that won 14 games last year. Nick's overall win % at MT is 43% over 6 seasons, which is actually INSANE. Why should we expect anything different this year?
It’s much lower if you take out the Division II and III opponents he sticks on the schedule. At least a dozen of his wins come from those types of games.
Doesn't matter what he knows or thinks. Freshman or senior, the talent just isn't there.
The schedule has been considerably easier since he has been coach especially compared to the later Kermit years.
I don't think we have to worry about too many in the fan base expecting an above average year. With what has been experienced in the past I think most would be surprised with a winning year.
31 regular season games this year. For CNM to lock in an extension believe he needs 19-20 regular season wins + make it to the CUSA tournament championship. That would give him at least 21-22 victories. From administration perspective they would pprobably consider that good enough to give at least 1 or 2 year extension on contract.
31 regular season games this year. For CNM to lock in an extension believe he needs 19-20 regular season wins + make it to the CUSA tournament championship. That would give him at least 21-22 victories. From administration perspective they would pprobably consider that good enough to give at least 1 or 2 year extension on contract.
25+ wins and NCAA tournament wins or nothing. And I still may not even extend him. Look at the roster, this is the most obvious mercenary squad in the history of mercenary squads. Not a single true freshman on the roster and only 1 redshirt freshman and 2 sophomores. Absolutely loaded with upper classmen transfers.....
This guy is doing everything humanly possible to save his job with no regard for next year or the next (The argument will be that in the transfer portal era we can worry about next years roster next year, but that is bullshit. Development and culture is still important, at least for now).
You have to look at the totality of his results when considering an extension, not just the results of this season. I would not extend him without a herculean type of season. 25+ wins and NCAA tournament victories type of season.....Which we all know isn't happening. Team will struggle to stay above .500
7 of the 13 scholarship players are new to the team this year (including Alston). Over half of the team is new and 5 of the 7 are expected to see double-digit minutes on a nightly basis.
Considering your argument started off with that fallacy, you can't fault the team for literally trading in half the roster for Senior players with D1, starting experience. Much like you're entitled to your opinion, mine is that the staff did the necessary things to make this a deeper, more competitive roster in CUSA. Would I be upset with anything less than 20 wins this season, absolutely. Because I think this roster is talented enough to push for a CUSA title, especially if this team performs better on the road (we can all agree on that).
That's 3 CUSA Tourney wins and 1 NCAAT win, so finish the regular season at least 21-10 (or 25-11 with a R32 exit in NCAAT = 70% win), and he still has to beg for his job back next year. You drive a tough athletic department Mr. Wiley.
Kermit won 70% of his games in six of his 16 season... and it took him 10 years to do it the first time... in the Sun Belt.
I can understand Kermit setting a standard for the MTSU program, and brand on his way out, but you're setting an unprecedented goal post for any mid-major not named Gonzaga. Mind you, in a significantly tougher CUSA than the Sun Belt that Kermit coached in his first 11 seasons.
In this same thread you say:
and
Do you want him to win 25+ this year or not? It's not gonna happen keeping "the same team as last year", as you say! It's not gonna happen picking up 2-3 HS freshman every year and waiting for him to develop them in 3 years when you want him fired one year removed from 19 and 26 win seasons.
Clearly I'm more optimistic than most, but this narrative of he needs to win 25+ to save his job is ridiculous. If he wins just 19 games this year he would be top 5 in CUSA in winning% in the last 4 years (assuming this entire league also wins 60% of their games), top 3 if you exclude SHSU and Liberty who played in the WAC in ASUN within the last 4 years.
I want to see this team succeed more than anyone, dare I say, more than you. But defending your rhetoric must be exhausting, but I get it -- You "hate to be so negative". At some point just say you don't like him because he doesn't win to your expectations. That is a far more reasonable take than the nonsense you're putting on this thread.
sWiley lives to hate on MTSU athletics. It’s hilarious how negative he is about everything. Get a life brother🤣
And if that is the case why in the world is he still here? His contract was up. No buyout. Terrible record. This is just a wasted year when we need to be demonstrating to other leagues we have value in something other than track and tennis.
I have the same question, better served for the president & his yes man
How many championships? Regular season? Tournament?
NIT appearances? NCAA appearances?
Should have already been fired. Now he wants to load up with a super senior type of roster in desperation for a contract extension, future be damned. Won't matter anyway. Pretty much all the same starters except at the 5 position. Hilarious if you think the players he brought in will actually come off the bench and do anything. You really think last years leader in turnovers, from one of the worst D1 programs in the country (that's saying something), is actually going to help this team? There are a few good players I like on this team who I think would contribute to a championship, but not enough of them. Tre Green is going to be a good player and taking a flyer on the Hall kid certainly seems worth it. J. Johnson plays so hard so it's hard not to like him but there's a clear ceiling there. Not much else excites me.
Anyway, you're right. I don't like him and I don't believe he deserves to be the head coach here. Why should I favor him after we went through the worst 3 year period in our programs history after he was hired and he's done nothing but tread water since then. He can't win on the road and he's never been able to recruit well enough to do anything meaningful here. What's our record vs. WKU since he arrived?? (Genuine question, I have no idea what it is, but I bet it's not good)
Kermit brought in transfer after transfer and turned them into CUSA/SBC POY superstars along with stalwart role-players to surround them. Kermit took players with little to no hype and turned them into champions. He elevated his recruits. He did it over a nearly 10 year period and did it with several recruiting classes to prove it wasn't a fluke. That's what we need. And I don't think Kermit was some superstar coach either. He was above average with a knack for recruiting overlooked players.
We've had nothing of the sort for the last 6 years with McDevitt. It is so very clearly time to move on. We pay our head basketball coach very well here at MT and it's a shame the results we've been getting for said pay. McDevitt's teams are routinely outplayed and outcoached by staffs and programs who receive 1/3rd of his pay and have a quarter of our athletic budget......That pretty much never happened under Kermit (Because it shouldn't....)
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I'm all for moving CNM along. Bottom line as much as many people like him as a person he just doesn't have the coaching chops for a top 10-13 basketball league. The one thing I will disagree on is I don't believe this administration has the "chops" to put a 25 game victory quota on him, plus a CUSA tourney championship, + an NCAA victory to come back as coach next year. When I stated 19-20 victories will probably save his job, that was looking from an administration perspective not my own personal feelings. However if you think the administration has put that high a quota on CNM this year to save his job I salute you. Personally I'm a bit pessimistic that degree of success will be needed for McPhee & Massaro to bring him back at season's end.
Whatever the outcome we'll likely know by next April.
Ha, no. Those morons have probably already extended him before the season even started. I was simply stating my beliefs. We are entering year 7 after 6 years of nothing burgers. "If you ain't first, you're last"......Well, we've never been first with McDevitt.
It's time to be first or get the F out of dodge.
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Say what you want about Wiley’s points, but understand he has a great Blue Raider passion for the athletics programs. Don’t question his motivations. Frankly it’s not how I handle things, but I think we could use a few more like him. MT fans/alumni that truly hold people accountable for their choices. I think WKU has that, and that’s why they touch the gutter then get out of it.
I appreciate it. I know I'm harsh and rub many the wrong way....but there's a reason. So many throughout our fan base, in my opinion, are non-vocal or just flat out too soft on these coaches/administrators. And that's fine if that's how people want to approach it. I understand for many this is just casual whatever, and it is for me too, but it's hard because of the incompetence that has festered for so long. Hard to believe it's been two decades (or more). I should just throw in the towel and walk away like so many others have....but I really do want to see MTSU succeed.
Definitely feels futile though. No support from the city or county, terrible leadership in Cope, incompetent board, and on and on. Did you see the Murfreesboro mayor, Shane McFarland, giving the "keys to the city" recently and welcoming UTK's baseball coach to Murfreesboro? Utterly despicable. MTSU is totally taken for granted, by every single person associated with it, from the local town to the president to the AD to the coaches.....does anyone truly care about it? Or is it all self-serving interests and taking care of your own skin?
I want to get back to the type of crowds we had like the NIT Minnesota game. That was as loud as I’ve ever heard Murphy Center. What a night. 10,500+
I remember a pack the house night vs. WKU a long time ago. Probably 15 years or so. Can't remember the specific occasion but I believe it had something to do with Dr. Walker. Just a crazy crowd and night, whole place was basically full.
Can we ever get back to that ?
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Most recent big crowd I remember was one of Kermit's last games. Winning the championship & beating WKU at home. Another great night.
I disagree with Wiley on a lot of things but I wouldn’t question his fandom. I also will agree with his stance on a contract extension.
CNM had a breakout year in 21-22 and has regressed in the following seasons. He has loaded this team to win now and I think it is reasonable for an AD to call it how it is.
CNM is doing what he needs to in order to win. I don’t blame him for it, but to say 20 wins and no postseason success is enough for an extension is terrible management. In business, if you take a huge risk, it better pay off. Coaching is no different. CNM took a chance and if doesn’t work he needs to go.
CNM had a breakout year in 21-22 and has regressed in the following seasons. He has loaded this team to win now and I think it is reasonable for an AD to call it how it is.
CNM is doing what he needs to in order to win. I don’t blame him for it, but to say 20 wins and no postseason success is enough for an extension is terrible management. In business, if you take a huge risk, it better pay off. Coaching is no different. CNM took a chance and if doesn’t work he needs to go.
I personally think in this lame duck year there shouldn't be a minimum for any extension. The year (and his previous years) should be measured in totality. Did he beat WKU? What was our RPI? Road wins? Attendance? Etc.
Granted I would've moved on already, but setting a minimum for a single year is asking for trouble and gives zero incentive for future.
I'd have minimums in a contract over rolling 3yr periods, such as minimum avg of 20-22 wins and no more than one losing season during the period.
But CM doesn't work that way.
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