|
|
Post by realitycheck on Apr 20, 2016 6:16:34 GMT -6
Based on the title of this journalistic masterpiece, I'm assuming it was written by Mr. Obvious. Gee, you suppose since we won 20 games after winning 12 combined the previous two years and have most of our players back there will be added pressure? AND, Whitford is actually aware of that? Man that is insightful, Star Press! Is there anyone left at Gannett-owned newspapers with more than a year of experience?
Back to the debate...in my mind it comes to down to this. Close the deal and the skeptics will shut up. Recruit a championship frontline, win the league, finish the job. You do that and all the voices of doubt will silence. Until then, defend, explain, justify, support all you want. That's what fans are supposed to do, but fans are also supposed to have the same expectations as the players and staff. Improving is one of the team's goals, I'm sure, but I promise you that is not the prize. Winning an outright title, winning the conference tournament, going to the NCAA and winning there is what every kid playing college ball dreams of and what coaches want too.
The short-term debate to come among the have and have-nots will be how long does it take to get there. I think we will know one way or the other is in two years when Sellers, Tyler, Kiapway & Persons are seniors. If you can't win this one-bid league in 5-6 years, with our facilities and Indiana driveways to recruit, it probably won't happen. |
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 7:20:17 GMT -6
I would count a 20 win season with a team that has 4 scholarships, a good record to sell to recruits next year, and so much returning as something different. Yeah we have seen a really successful test market of that theory this spring. Lost all our games so far this Spring. The sky is falling. Only have 4 starters back and two good players from red shirt years coming back, the sky is falling. Only have the opportunities we haven't had for a decade with a Fall recruiting period after a winning season with a program on the upswing. At best the second time in a decade. The sky is falling. Only have a coach high in the voting for coach of the year in the MAC, the sky is falling. My god, we aren't favorites to win the MAC after a decade of bad results and budget basement coaching hires. Woe is us. Only have reasonable expectations of another good season, probably the best in 10 years, two in a row, at worst the second best in 10 years. Probably top 4 team in the MAC. The sky is falling. Don't know who we will sign yet in an unusual Spring recruiting rush, and only one Indiana All Star in the recruiting class. So, looking at the last one, halftime, how much does that mean? The staff must be idiots they will not try to improve the team? The sky is falling? Well, Spring recruiting hasn't yet concluded on a really strong beat, so it has to be true. Yep. |
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 7:38:04 GMT -6
The short-term debate to come among the have and have-nots will be how long does it take to get there. I think we will know one way or the other is in two years when Sellers, Tyler, Kiapway & Persons are seniors. If you can't win this one-bid league in 5-6 years, with our facilities and Indiana driveways to recruit, it probably won't happen. Given the competition in the MAC, and the nature of tournament basketball, I don't know if any team right now is exactly sure of winning in the next 5 years. I'd set a little different standard of success than 5-6 years to get back to the NCAA. I want to see a Program that will be around the top every year. To me that is more important than winning a championship by any particular deadline. Given tournament basketball, if we are in the MAC Final 4 every year (or even 3 of 4 years) that's all you can do. That is a pretty tough order to fill. Look at how many MAC teams have done it over the last 5 or 6 years. Even then, the norm in the MAC for the best teams is NOT to be so dominant they are more than a 50-50 bet to go to the NCAA, even if they are the clearly best team all season. Akron a case in point. Let's get there to that top 4 status, get hot at the end of the season and see what happens. It's been a long time since being top 4 was true for us. We were not expected to be even close to that this last year. We should be there, maybe better, soon enough. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 7:52:36 GMT -6
Yeah we have seen a really successful test market of that theory this spring. Lost all our games so far this Spring. The sky is falling. Only have 4 starters back and two good players from red shirt years coming back, the sky is falling. Only have the opportunities we haven't had for a decade with a Fall recruiting period after a winning season with a program on the upswing. At best the second time in a decade. The sky is falling. Only have a coach high in the voting for coach of the year in the MAC, the sky is falling. My god, we aren't favorites to win the MAC after a decade of bad results and budget basement coaching hires. Woe is us. Only have reasonable expectations of another good season, probably the best in 10 years, two in a row, at worst the second best in 10 years. Probably top 4 team in the MAC. The sky is falling. Don't know who we will sign yet in an unusual Spring recruiting rush, and only one Indiana All Star in the recruiting class. So, looking at the last one, halftime, how much does that mean? The staff must be idiots they will not try to improve the team? The sky is falling? Well, Spring recruiting hasn't yet concluded on a really strong beat, so it has to be true. Yep. Not really surprising you completely missed the point, which is none of that "success" has led remaining 2016 recruits to even take an on campus visit at this point. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 8:00:53 GMT -6
"Let's get there to that top 4 status"
Yeah let's get to that 4 seed, with a 17-16 record, and an RPI of 157 just like Central Michigan. Wow what a goal.
|
|
|
|
Post by williamtsherman on Apr 20, 2016 8:06:57 GMT -6
A headline for a better article might read "Avoiding another 17-game losing streak allows Whitford to keep his job"
|
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 8:37:47 GMT -6
"Let's get there to that top 4 status" Yeah let's get to that 4 seed, with a 17-16 record, and an RPI of 157 just like Central Michigan. Wow what a goal. Perhaps you missed the part where I said get there on a regular basis. You want to go over the rest of the post and make a response to the whole thing, not nit pick... |
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 8:58:04 GMT -6
Not really surprising you completely missed the point, which is none of that "success" has led remaining 2016 recruits to even take an on campus visit at this point. No, I think you miss the point that campus visits this Spring is not a very good measure of the progress made and you are ignoring a lot. I suggested several other things that might mean we are not any longer locked in the decade of decline that led to Sherman's depression. There is good reason to think his walking around under a dark cloud muttering about seasons past should be coming to an end. And, after all the recruiting is not over yet. Besides, if the recruits had all visited and committed you would be complaining about something else. Come out from under that cloud. There is at a least a little ray of sunshine. |
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 9:01:29 GMT -6
A headline for a better article might read "Avoiding another 17-game losing streak allows Whitford to keep his job" So you think that is a fair statement of what Whitford has done? Pfui. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 9:02:12 GMT -6
"Let's get there to that top 4 status" Yeah let's get to that 4 seed, with a 17-16 record, and an RPI of 157 just like Central Michigan. Wow what a goal. Perhaps you missed the part where I said get there on a regular basis. You want to go over the rest of the post and make a response to the whole thing, not nit pick... Oh gosh a 157 RPI on a regular basis, oh I don't think that is possible. Wow if that ever happened we would all just have to eat crow. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 9:11:16 GMT -6
Not really surprising you completely missed the point, which is none of that "success" has led remaining 2016 recruits to even take an on campus visit at this point. No, I think you miss the point that campus visits this Spring is not a very good measure of the progress made and you are ignoring a lot. Sorry, but when April hits and you still have almost an entire current class to recruit I would say on campus visits are a necessity and a solid measure of your programs relative voguishness. I think you are the one who is ignoring a lot. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 9:12:34 GMT -6
A headline for a better article might read "Avoiding another 17-game losing streak allows Whitford to keep his job" So you think that is a fair statement of what Whitford has done? Pfui. Yeah I think it's extremely fair to say his job was on the line this year. |
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 9:44:59 GMT -6
Oh gosh a 157 RPI on a regular basis, oh I don't think that is possible. Wow if that ever happened we would all just have to eat crow. C'mon. The top 4 teams in the MAC are a 157 on a regular basis? More like 60-120. The Final four in the MAC tourney may in fact have a single team upsetting somebody, but why read my post as that being a goal? |
|
|
|
Post by 00hmh on Apr 20, 2016 9:47:36 GMT -6
So you think that is a fair statement of what Whitford has done? Pfui. Yeah I think it's extremely fair to say his job was on the line this year. But, not at all fair to say the season was best described by ending a losing streak. We did far more than that. |
|
|
|
Post by realitycheck on Apr 20, 2016 13:02:47 GMT -6
The short-term debate to come among the have and have-nots will be how long does it take to get there. I think we will know one way or the other is in two years when Sellers, Tyler, Kiapway & Persons are seniors. If you can't win this one-bid league in 5-6 years, with our facilities and Indiana driveways to recruit, it probably won't happen. Given the competition in the MAC, and the nature of tournament basketball, I don't know if any team right now is exactly sure of winning in the next 5 years. I'd set a little different standard of success than 5-6 years to get back to the NCAA. I want to see a Program that will be around the top every year. To me that is more important than winning a championship by any particular deadline. Given tournament basketball, if we are in the MAC Final 4 every year (or even 3 of 4 years) that's all you can do. That is a pretty tough order to fill. Look at how many MAC teams have done it over the last 5 or 6 years. Even then, the norm in the MAC for the best teams is NOT to be so dominant they are more than a 50-50 bet to go to the NCAA, even if they are the clearly best team all season. Akron a case in point. Let's get there to that top 4 status, get hot at the end of the season and see what happens. It's been a long time since being top 4 was true for us. We were not expected to be even close to that this last year. We should be there, maybe better, soon enough.
Soooo you would rather see us be a perennial top four contender versus us having a deadline for winning a championship? I'm glad my company doesn't subscribe to that kind of philosophy in sales. Hey guys, don't worry about that goal, there literally is NO deadline to reach it, just be a top four producer and all is well. By your logic, we could be five, ten years or more into a coaches tenure with zero titles and that should be enough?
|
|
