Program's future

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270350]I remember almost everyone saying before the season began that they [U]just want to see improvement from the last two years[/U] REGARDLESS if we have a [B]loosing[/B] record.[/QUOTE]

The losses were expected to Clemson, SIU, Davidson, etc. Not Monmouth. And the precise reason I am angry is because yesterday was [U]not[/U] improvement from the last two years. It was the same old bull****. He benched his athletes and played Lee, Ian & Phaler, which is even more ridiculous now that I’ve had a night to sleep on it.

BTW, since I’m in such a crabby mood, would it kill people to learn how to spell L-O-S-I-N-G? Good lord, it’s rEdiculous.

This game reminded me of an alcoholic breaking their sobriety and going back to the bottle; our alcohol ill-advised three pointers.

[QUOTE=metro;270353]justifying a Monmouth loss because we did not “match up” is laughable. sorry

that is not why we lost[/QUOTE]

I am not justifying the loss, I am giving one reason for the loss. I was not at the game and didn’t see it on the internet feed…and you didn’t either.
If you don’t think basketball is all about match-ups then you are REALLY confused about the sport.
Do I think we should have lost…no. But, I can see some reasons that factored into the loss:

Fatigue…I know baseball players wouldn’t know what fatigue feels like since they don’t run, but it’s tough to play three games in four days. Read the quotes from your favorite coach Gregg Marshall.
First time playing against slow down half court style…Lutz does not coach well against this style.
Can’t shoot…the way Matt on the radio described it, we had MANY open looks that we didn’t knock down.
Young inexperienced team.

But, saying all that, I do still think we should have found a way to grind out a win.
But, it’s not as bad as you all are making it out to be.

Metro, you are right. I know why we lost: we didn’t expect to ever play
Monmouth and we didn’t have any film of their previous games and
the only way to get the films was to strap 'em to a dolphin and
hope it got to the Virgin Islands on time. lol Sorry, it’s not that funny,
but it is a “spin” you folks didn’t think of. Kinda like the “fish” (dolphin)
part of the spin.

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]I am not justifying the loss, I am giving one reason for the loss. I was not at the game and didn’t see it on the internet feed…and you didn’t either.
If you don’t think basketball is all about match-ups then you are REALLY confused about the sport.
Do I think we should have lost…no. But, I can see some reasons that factored into the loss:

Fatigue…I know baseball players wouldn’t know what fatigue feels like since they don’t run, but it’s tough to play three games in four days. Read the quotes from your favorite coach Gregg Marshall.
First time playing against slow down half court style…Lutz does not coach well against this style.
Can’t shoot…the way Matt on the radio described it, we had MANY open looks that we didn’t knock down.
Young inexperienced team.

But, saying all that, I do still think we should have found a way to grind out a win.
But, it’s not as bad as you all are making it out to be.[/QUOTE]

Well, the 3 games in 4 days arguement doesn’t hold any water. They played the same amount we did.

Also, I read in the paper that Lutz was preaching to his guys to NOT shoot three’s but drive and penetrate. I know one sure fire way to get them to stop jackinig it up- sit their asses down. If I’m gonna lose, I’ll do it with people that listen and do what I say. Can’t let the inmates run the asylum.

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]Lutz does not coach well against this style.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]Lutz does not coach well against this style.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]Lutz does not coach well against this style.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]Lutz does not coach well against this style.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]Lutz does not coach well against this style.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362]Lutz does not coach well against this style.[/QUOTE]

This is not acceptable.

fotee, bad spin of this loss. We won 4! games in 4! days in a CUSA tourney
not that long ago. We beat Cincy and Louisville in that time span. Nice try,
but no dice.

I am not justifying the loss, I am giving one reason for the loss. I was not at the game and didn't see it on the internet feed...and you didn't either. If you don't think basketball is all about match-ups then you are REALLY confused about the sport. Do I think we should have lost....no. But, I can see some reasons that factored into the loss:

Fatigue…I know baseball players wouldn’t know what fatigue feels like since they don’t run, but it’s tough to play three games in four days. Read the quotes from your favorite coach Gregg Marshall.
First time playing against slow down half court style…Lutz does not coach well against this style.
Can’t shoot…the way Matt on the radio described it, we had MANY open looks that we didn’t knock down.
Young inexperienced team.

But, saying all that, I do still think we should have found a way to grind out a win.
But, it’s not as bad as you all are making it out to be.

  1. I am not confused about anything. We have superior athleticism than Monmouth and more than match up vs an NEC team, LOL. The only “matchup” that might of been a problem was coaching and gameplanning.

  2. I call BS on fatigue. Monmouth played the same amount of games at the Jam, PLUS we had a day off Sunday.

  3. It is as bad as we are making it. Yes sir it is. How many f’n years we gotta watch 6-26 three point shooting? Monmuth was 256 RPI last year for pete’s sake!! Its not like we lost to a respected small program.

No matter what team we have, we always perform the same in early season tournaments… sure we won the “Cable Car Classic” but a few midgets with serious jumping ability could win that.

We just suck at tournaments. Which is unfortunate because the national championship is decided by a tournament.

Happy, ask yourself why we suck at tournaments. It’s not something mystic. It’s coaching.

The thing that some of you are forgetting is, we should have lost 3 games in this tournament. We didn’t just hit a game winner against UIC. We had the ball, took a 3, missed, got our own rebound, took another shot, ball went out of bounds off UIC, bobby lutz comes back to take another 3, makes it.

[QUOTE=metro;270375]1. I am not confused about anything. We have superior athleticism than Monmouth and more than match up vs an NEC team, LOL. The only “matchup” that might of been a problem was coaching and gameplanning.

  1. I call BS on fatigue. Monmouth played the same amount of games at the Jam, PLUS we had a day off Sunday.

  2. [U]It is as bad as we are making it. Yes sir it is.[/U] How many f’n years we gotta watch 6-26 three point shooting? Monmuth was 256 RPI last year for pete’s sake!! Its not like we lost to a respected small program.[/QUOTE]

DOBA- Lutz for AD

[QUOTE=ninerID;270382]The thing that some of you are forgetting is, we should have lost 3 games in this tournament. We didn’t just hit a game winner against UIC. We had the ball, took a 3, missed, got our own rebound, took another shot, ball went out of bounds off UIC, bobby lutz comes back to take another 3, makes it.[/QUOTE]

NinerID, why did you have to go an remind us of that! After a few drinks last night, I recalled we won the game with a beautiful pass to Phil under the basket where he immediately did an in your face, power dunk just as the clock was about to go off! Oh well!

[QUOTE=ninerID;270382]The thing that some of you are forgetting is, we should have lost 3 games in this tournament. We didn’t just hit a game winner against UIC. We had the ball, took a 3, missed, got our own rebound, took another shot, ball went out of bounds off UIC, bobby lutz comes back to take another 3, makes it.[/QUOTE]

You know the more I hear this stuff the madder I get. This is ridiculous. What is he thinking?

[QUOTE=fotee9er;270362] I was not at the game and didn’t see it on the internet feed…and you didn’t either.[/QUOTE]

I watched it on the internet and it was about as ugly as described. With the exception of Dewhurst and Winderness we made no effort to drive (Harris probably would have if he was on the floor). We played shooters instead of athletes and we don’t really have shooters anymore. Yes, a lot of 3’s were open or somewhat open looks but that doesn’t mean it’s a good shot. They left Ian open most of the game and why not (not picking on Ian, it wasn’t just him). If you aren’t hitting 3’s you don’t keep shooting them, you try something else. We didn’t try anything else, we literally died by the 3. Heck, 25 out of 51 of our shots were 3’s and we only hit SIX of them! NA was dead on when he said we regressed back to last years team.

[QUOTE=forDniner;270504]I watched it on the internet and it was about as ugly as described. With the exception of Dewhurst and Winderness we made no effort to drive (Harris probably would have if he was on the floor). We played shooters instead of athletes and we don’t really have shooters anymore. Yes, a lot of 3’s were open or somewhat open looks but that doesn’t mean it’s a good shot. They left Ian open most of the game and why not (not picking on Ian, it wasn’t just him). If you aren’t hitting 3’s you don’t keep shooting them, you try something else. We didn’t try anything else, we literally died by the 3. Heck, 25 out of 51 of our shots were 3’s and we only hit SIX of them! NA was dead on when he said we regressed back to last years team.[/QUOTE]

Thanks forD. This is one game that I really, really wish I could have seen. But between yours and Utter’s analyses, I think it’s starting to come into focus. (as an aside…Utter’s shoutbox comments made me wonder if playing Phil and Harris more would have created an unhealthy team situation. No idea if I’m reading too much into it or not.)

This game sounds to me like an epic failure. Out of all the teams to have an epic failure - why did it have to be Monmouth? Still dunno if it will turn out to be the future trend some people are paranoid about (some people=anyone who’s followed niner basketball under Lutz before this year).

I’d worry a lot if it was an NC State-type game (please god, tell me they weren’t heaving shots as soon as they crossed mid-court) or if something like this happened against a team that actively defended the perimeter. I’m leaning more toward the game being an exception and not the rule this year. Perhaps, i’m delusional. :doh: We’ll find out.

But this was still a game where I was hoping that our shooters would just look proficient. NOT a new philosophy-changing offense or a new strategy-altering offense…just proficiency. ‘Oh look, we can shoot a ball 20 feet against a bad team that leaves shooting guards wide open. Cool.’ Add it to a bag of tricks under the category of ‘ways charlotte can beat you’ and then move on. Play the same basketball we enjoyed in the first 4 games… against less boring opponents.

But it sounds like the team can’t hit wide open shots. That’s not good. It will be very tough to beat the next 3 teams with athleticism alone.

Boys and girls- I thought I would feel better this morning. I don't, I'm still pissed.

Honestly, I wish I could say I’m pissed. That would at least mean I care. The coaching I’ve witnessed the last few years pretty much just has me not giving a crap at this point. I’m sure some element of excitement will be rekindled should we win a few big games. But what little that was generated after the first two wins went down the tubes with this tournament.

And the excuses I have read in this thread are comical. Some rather hilarious.

It’s getting redundant to say it but just look back in the time line to when Bobby began showing interest in the UT. From that moment on, we began a backslide that we’ve yet to recover from. Leaving CUSA shortly after that was the icing on the cake. Deny it if you want but stats don’t lie. And if you’re sick of the UT card being played, contradict it with some proof before you label it as BS.

(as an aside....Utter's shoutbox comments made me wonder if playing Phil and Harris more would have created an unhealthy team situation. No idea if I'm reading too much into it or not.)
What do you mean by that? The team hates Dijuan and Phil? I'm confused.

Just a random thought, but how does Memphis, which is in a lousy “basketball” conference, continually bring in top recruits, and stay in the top 10 year after year…I mean I feel like we’re in the same predicament as far as being in a bad conference, one that doesnt generate much excitement, even though I like the A10 over CUSA, basketball wise, yet we struggle with bringing in top talent and dont even sniff the top 25. I mean is it football or coaching or the AD, what is Memphis doing that we’re not?

Just a random thought, but how does Memphis, which is in a lousy "basketball" conference, continually bring in top recruits, and stay in the top 10 year after year...I mean I feel like we're in the same predicament as far as being in a bad conference, one that doesnt generate much excitement, even though I like the A10 over CUSA, basketball wise, yet we struggle with bringing in top talent and dont even sniff the top 25. I mean is it football or coaching or the AD, what is Memphis doing that we're not?

ever seen a Memphis basketball game? They have a rabid fan base, and big donor foundation, attendance, etc. Memphis is a big time athletic program, we are not. We pay our coach about 350k, they pay Calapari about 1m.

You might find this very interesting: http://www2.indystar.com/NCAA_financial_reports/expense_stat/show?school_id=154

their annual budget is 24m, ours is 10m

our annual hoops tickets generate 600k, Memphis sells 3.4 mil :lmao:
our contributions rec are 687k, Memphis is 6.8m :tumble: