Ya know?

[altshauf]

I have been a defender of Davis over the years. I love the fact that he stresses toughness and team over the open court and selfishness. Since MT is not the easiest brand to sell it is not as easy to recruit those high caliber kids out of high school. Their heads have been filled with how good they are, and they deserve to play at Kentucky or Duke, and should never consider a school like ours. So we go find those tough kids who play with chip on their shoulder (usually JUCO).
We have taken chances on Sain and Richmond that haven't panned out. Also transfers like Steve Thomas, Torin Walker, Jonathan Loe and Jalen Steele never proved to be anything helpful to the program. I am sick and tired of this argument from the casual ignorant observer. Success has happened under Davis's tenure. You want solid recruits out of JUCO if we go there? I give you Cuffee, Neiko, Cintron, Marcos Knight, Bruce Massey, and now Perrin Buford. Want really good players out of high school? Shawn Jones, Reggie Upshaw, Giddy Potts, and the jury is still out on Gamble. Good transfers? Mike Dean, LaRon Dendy, and possibly Jacorey Williams.
We can talk wins... Blown opportunities... We have both. If you want me to expound I would be happy to.
If you want to complain about Murray and Belmont only to use it to justify getting rid of CKD then you need to give him credit for the conference titles, and yes, the Great Alaskan Shooutout. He did an outstanding job in this tournament. Maybe it is because I am a basketball coach myself, but I don't think so.
Just Sayin.....

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

All coaches love Davis. You love him because is a smart hard working coach. You can tell he wants to win. He cares, he shows emotion. But to your non coach crowd sees things differently.

But we still should be better than Murray and Belmont. And I like CKD. There is no need to defend him right now. We are 4-1, lets see how it plays out.

 

[MTFNBY5]

altshauf: I do understand where you are coming from and respect your views. But I do have one thought.

Why can't Davis (or possibly the problem is the school, not the coach) build upon success? It would look like MT should have been able to get "in on" a somewhat better recruit after the magical three year run and the move "up" to C-USA. Yet we lost three players before the season for who knows what reason and we give a 2nd chance to a Sr. transfer facing possibly felony charges. We have players who come in with hype from Davis yet they become a bust or take a long time to show anything (Gamble - I expected early contributions - Why did I get my hopes up?). Our only signee for next year only other offer was Stetson (seriously?)

Yet UAB, ODU, and UTEP are able to get the occasional 3 and 4 star recruit. Our offer list appears to an outsider to be a real crap shoot with a shotgun approach where we offer all over the place and take the first who commit to us. Why can't Davis do somewhat better on the recruiting trail?

 

[MTsumner92]

You would have to be a fool to not get that we are so much better at this point in time this year vs. last year. We have a very tough stretch of games coming up that are all winnable and losable. I'll be happy if we win one and elated if we win two.

by the way altshauf. What are your evaluations of Gamble and Phillips at this point in time?

 

[altshauf]

Phillips has been a disappointment in my opinion. Came in as a solid recruit, but plays too jumpy on offense. He is not confident, and is hesitant in all offensive aspects.
Gamble I really can't give you a whole bunch on. You can tell he is still learning situational-type stuff. Overall it does look like Gamble has a world of upside. I agree that he could be as good as Jones though. You can see flashes.
It really is between these two as to who backs up Harris and Upshaw.
Remember guys, we are still a point guard down. It isn't Davis's fault that Ivory has concussion issues. It is unfortunate he is in the situation, but we must deal.
I REALLY REALLY like Upshaw, Buford, and Potts. Each night they are going to go out and compete. It is likely by the end of the season we will see more Gamble relieving Harris, and Raymond is not a true starter, but he will see minutes. In a perfect world here is my rotation. 5-Harris, 4-Upshaw, 3-Buford, 2- Potts, 1-Ivory. Backups Post-Gamble, Wings- Raymond and Simpson (playing really well right now), Point- Copeland (by default, he has flashes, but isn't above 10 minutes a night).
Needless to say this all can change. We are still looking at Phillips, Foote, and Habersham. This means we have options, but I think we are starting to settle.

 

[MTsumner92]

Ok. Thx! I noticed Phillips and Gamvle did not get into the game yesterday which meant Kermit really wanted that victory this morning. Simpson surprised me. If he, Copeland, and eithr Phillips or Gamble can come on as the season progresses then we will be dangeroud by half way through the season. I think Belmont and VCU are winnable but I do not like the matchup the big guys at Auburn present. Harris and Upshaw will be more prepared though.