-We need middle aged guys alongside Mullin. The average age on the bench sans Mitch is probably 32-33. For a coach w no experience, you need men who have been through the wars. (cough, Jim Crews, cough).
-I don't want to hear about point differential, the spread coverage, category stats, etc. The only stat that matters is our record, and right now its a national embarrassment. We're amidst a 10 game losing streak about to face two top5 teams in the next 5 days.
-Yes, Marcus' departure is the immediate reason for our poor year. But its the roster mismanagement that allowed this to be the reason for failure. This years failure stems back to the first crack in the foundation as Sima left last December. Ever since then its been a downward spiral on the depth chart. We failed as a program this year bc of the 2017 class, point blank.
-There is no sugar coating this year, its deserves a F- grade, and heads should roll bc of it. No one, from fans to players to administration to donors expected or deserves 0-10 in Year3. There is no spinning this year to recruits, we've taken a step back and need to take three steps forward next year.
If you only care about the record, then why watch the game? You could spend your time doing a million other things if all that matters to you is the record especially during a rebuild. I agree there needs to be staff changes but this year certainly doesn't deserve an F-grade unless you were an irrational fan who legitimately expected an NCAA Tournament appearance this year and would've been disappointed by an NIT bid even with Lovett healthy for a full season. I would give this season a D+ with the potential for a C-. Win both against Marquette, beat DePaul and Seton Hall to finish 4-3 in the conference.
I also don't understand why people assume we are going to get spanked by Duke when we thought we'd be spanked by Villanova, Xavier, and Creighton and we played them extremely tough. I certainly wouldn't bet on us but I'm also not betting on Duke if the line is anything more than like 10
This is the 3rd season for the staff, and a staff who didn't have to concern themselves with any kind of banishments. So, why shouldn't he or anyone look or want wins in the 3rd season? If this was youth league, then I'd understand your sentiments. Yes, this team is still in the rebuilding stages, but you're seriously overplaying that card. Some "hoop heads" had this team anywhere between 5th-7th in the Big East, as a few thought we'd either make the NCAA Tournament or be on the "bubble."
This staff did drop the ball this season when it came to depth. That's clear as day to anyone who is even halfway paying attention. If you don't think there are fundamental flaws with how we play, then I feel you're either watching the game blindfolded or simply sticking your head in the sand.
As, far as getting blown out by Duke.... I don't think we'll get blown out, either. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I think we're gonna be on the short end of the stick once the final horn sounds. I don't care about the margin of losses at this stage because it's still an "L" when it's all said and done. I just wanna eventually get 3 or 4 wins before the season is over. Each passing game, it's looking less likely.
There are definitely flaws but we've also clearly made strides from last season. So what makes you think that we won't correct some of these flaws? Also, Owens, Simon, and Clark are playing almost double or triple the minutes played the last season that they actually played.
It's the 3rd season and we should expect wins. Yes we were predicted to finish 5-7 with Lovett. Predictions don't mean anything though. We could've finished 5th if everything broke right but the lack of experience would lead me to believe we probably would've finished closer to 7th and likely would've missed the tournament (but we might've snuck in) so NIT was the most reasonable expectation. Losing Lovett crippled us to no end.
Again, the staff deserves criticism, we should've been better. But it's not like we aren't competitive, it's not like we're getting smoked night in and night out, it's not like we aren't right there almost every night which is a drastic difference from last season. So to jump right to fire Mullin is irrational. Criticize all you want, you have valid reasons to. But people abandoning ship in year 3 is just crazy, especially when year 1 there was nothing. This team is better than last year's team. We are better defensively, we are smarter offensively (in terms of not turning the ball over). The record was better last year, partly, because the league wasn't as good as it is this year and we had our 2nd best player and two key role players that had experience in Ellison and Mussini.
Staff needs to teach kids not to leave their feet on defense, they need to work on defending the three pointer, and they need to find ways to get open looks at the 3 and make them. Personally, I think a lot of this will come from Shamorie being a better catch and shoot player. Most of his 3's come on hesi pull-ups or step backs. Simon also needs to develop a shot. This year's been a disappointment but the staff deserves a chance to keep moving forward.