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Post by Fastbreak on Feb 2, 2015 19:59:03 GMT -5
daybreak, just so I understand. are we building our championship team with walkons??? We have 3 guys on are team paying their own way this year. They are all scholarship quality athletes. Mark Alstork transferred from Ball State and is paying his own way this year because we didn't have any open spots. He was one of the top players in the Miami Valley 2 years ago and decided to go to Ball State over offers from South Carolina, Illinois State, Drake, Green Bay, Cleveland State, Detroit, Air Force, Bethune-Cookman, Canisius, Fairleigh Dickinson, Radford, Winthrop, and Wright State. I will bet any amount of money you want that he will be starting for us next year and will be in the running for the all newcomer team to the HL. Parker Ernsthausen decided to pay his own way at Wright State for a year over a scholarship to Nicholls State. Most schools wanted him to go to a prep school for a year and then accept a scholarship to their program next year. He didn't want to pay to go to a prep school for a year and waste that time taking classes that he wouldn't get college credit for just so he could attend a prep school and bulk up. He is paying his way to go to Wright State like he would have had to at a prep school but here he is paying for classes he gets college credits for and he had the benefit of learning our system this year too. Lett was in the same boat where schools wanted him to go to a prep school for a year.
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Post by hhgreen on Feb 4, 2015 10:22:26 GMT -5
Out of all the guards we have returning you would think we would have a point guard for next year. We should not be recruiting any sub 6 foot players unless they already have outstanding ball handling skills, vertical leap, quickness and passing ability. We suffer on defending the 3 point shot and making passes over the defense with shorter guards.
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Post by Black PantherU on Feb 4, 2015 14:17:50 GMT -5
Black PantherU, he is such a great coach because of his record against UWM? He's 87-72 in four years and change with two postseasons, one of which was a few points away from being an NCAA tournament. What did we win by in the title game, five? The people at this school hero worship Bruce Pearl, and he was one Brandon Cotton missed runner from not having a Sweet 16, not going to Tennessee, etc... Billy is a great basketball coach. Injuries aren't something he can control.
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Post by copeinc on Feb 4, 2015 15:34:11 GMT -5
Question: What has been the blueprint for mid-major basketball teams that get better? School Example: Gonzaga, Butler, Marquette, Dayton, Xavier, St. Louis, Santa Clara, Florida International, etc.....
Answer: 1. Quality education 2. Recruiting well in the local area 3. Fan support 4. Strong alumni base 5. Coach willing to stay for a while and not leave ship
Do we have these answers yet? I think we are starting to accomplish them however time will tell.
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Post by wsuraider09 on Feb 4, 2015 16:01:12 GMT -5
IMO, the progress of a successful mid-major program would be a program that: -Recruits competitively, especially against other top MM programs, but also "BCS" programs -Eliminates non-D1 games -Plays at least 50% of their OOC games at home -Protects their home court, doesn't lose at home in conference -Wins 20 games+ every season -Is predicted to compete in their league -Actually competes in their league -Consistently in conference championship games / NCAA tournament -Increases average attendance / atmosphere -Increases season ticket sales / funding / corporate sponsors -Therefore increases the marketing budget -Has more visibility with games on major networks like ESPN -Potentially moves to a bigger / better conference -Coaching staff that puts academics before athletics -A program without behavioral issues
So...we have, arguably two of those going for us.
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Post by raidergrad98 on Feb 4, 2015 17:55:11 GMT -5
IMO, the progress of a successful mid-major program would be a program that: -Recruits competitively, especially against other top MM programs, but also "BCS" programs -Eliminates non-D1 games -Plays at least 50% of their OOC games at home -Protects their home court, doesn't lose at home in conference -Wins 20 games+ every season -Is predicted to compete in their league -Actually competes in their league -Consistently in conference championship games / NCAA tournament -Increases average attendance / atmosphere -Increases season ticket sales / funding / corporate sponsors -Therefore increases the marketing budget -Has more visibility with games on major networks like ESPN -Potentially moves to a bigger / better conference -Coaching staff that puts academics before athletics -A program without behavioral issues So...we have, arguably two of those going for us. Does it ever rain in your world? :-)
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Post by raiders93 on Feb 5, 2015 10:24:36 GMT -5
IMO, the progress of a successful mid-major program would be a program that: -Recruits competitively, especially against other top MM programs, but also "BCS" programs -Eliminates non-D1 games -Plays at least 50% of their OOC games at home -Protects their home court, doesn't lose at home in conference -Wins 20 games+ every season -Is predicted to compete in their league -Actually competes in their league -Consistently in conference championship games / NCAA tournament -Increases average attendance / atmosphere -Increases season ticket sales / funding / corporate sponsors -Therefore increases the marketing budget -Has more visibility with games on major networks like ESPN -Potentially moves to a bigger / better conference -Coaching staff that puts academics before athletics -A program without behavioral issues So...we have, arguably two of those going for us. Does it ever rain in your world? :-) Trick Question??
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Post by wsuraider09 on Feb 5, 2015 11:29:42 GMT -5
Maybe in summer, but right now, I've got two feet of lake effect snow =]
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Post by wolf41 on Feb 5, 2015 18:14:46 GMT -5
raider09, That's a good list IMO. Not too many schools can claim that they do all of those, but it is something to aspire.
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Post by Raider3G on Feb 5, 2015 23:29:39 GMT -5
IMO, the progress of a successful mid-major program would be a program that: -Recruits competitively, especially against other top MM programs, but also "BCS" programs -Eliminates non-D1 games -Plays at least 50% of their OOC games at home -Protects their home court, doesn't lose at home in conference -Wins 20 games+ every season -Is predicted to compete in their league -Actually competes in their league -Consistently in conference championship games / NCAA tournament -Increases average attendance / atmosphere -Increases season ticket sales / funding / corporate sponsors -Therefore increases the marketing budget -Has more visibility with games on major networks like ESPN -Potentially moves to a bigger / better conference -Coaching staff that puts academics before athletics -A program without behavioral issues So...we have, arguably two of those going for us. Two? Really? Try more like 4 or 5. "-Plays at least 50% of their OOC games at home"...this is a poor choice unless you factor in the competitiveness of the schedule. BB did this and we played garbage D-I schools at home. This is ideal, but not something that tells me anything about the quality of a program at the mid-major level unless it includes games largely consisting of teams with quality RPIs. So, while I agree that quality OOC wins are important, for a mid-major they really don't matter as much where they occur so long as they occur. -"Protects their home court, doesn't lose at home in conference". So are winning road games important, or just winning at home? I know BD has gone 5-3 etc. at home, but his teams have also played well on the road. If you go 8-0 at home but 2-6 on the road, what difference does it make? You're still 10-6 in league play "-Recruits competitively, especially against other top MM programs, but also "BCS" programs". First part checked, not the second. You can't serious look at the number of guys that we have that are playing in different leagues in Europe and say that we aren't recruiting competitively against other MM. Donlon, for sure, whiffed on his second class. But Darling, Pacher, Vest, Jerran, Miles, Joe T., JT, KG, were all good recruits. Reggie has had a nice D-I career in a quality program, and nobody was looking at him. JT is going to have a nice living playing overseas, and so would KG if he hadn't gotten hurt---he shut down MULTIPLE players that could be playing in tier 1 leagues in Europe. Karena is a steal, and Benzinger and R. Davis are going to be good players. Jerran, Joe T., and S. Davis all had BCS offers, and for different reasons came here. Regardless, Donlon got them to commit here. This is a check on the first part. He recruits well compared to peer programs. I don't expect him to compete will BCS programs for recruits, but he has shown he can get BCS quality players here. "-Eliminates non-D1 games" No disagreement. This should stop. "-Wins 20 games+ every season" Donlon has averaged, counting the HL tourney games, 19 wins his first four years. If you lump the last 8 years together, then this is checked. "-Is predicted to compete in their league." Who gives a s%*@ about predictions? We were predicted to finish last the year we lost to Valpo in the HL final. We lost last year (after being predicted to finish second in the league) to the team predicted to finish last. "-Actually competes in their league"--Check. "-Consistently in conference championship games / NCAA tournament" First part is checked. 4 final games the last 8 years. Not the second. "-Coaching staff that puts academics before athletics" Check. I saw 10 players this past home game get noticed for academics. The BB/BD era has done an excellent job with academics. I know a fellow football coach of mine that had several players in a 400-level class. They were all model students. "-A program without behavioral issues" Darkwa and Duggins were both Brownell recruits. Lett, Howell, JT, and Sledge are on Donlon's watch. He addressed it by canceling a once in a lifetime trip abroad for these guys. Sledge was his own worst enemy, but I think the other issues are overblown. Underage drinking in college as a behavioral problem? That's normal, not anamolous. One guy under Donlon's watch as his own recruit was a total knucklehead in 4 years. Not indicative of "behavioral problems." Nothing violent for the rest of the guys. Just stupid-ass decisions by college kids. Not excusing it, but not going to call it a "behavioral" problem. "-Increases season ticket sales / funding / corporate sponsors" Big D, what are season tickets looking like over a four year trend? I know they increased the last two years.
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Post by keithfromxenia on Feb 17, 2015 8:24:00 GMT -5
four thoughts big d. first, just to clarify the math confusion lol, i went to the rpi site on rr. they showed us with a record of 19-15. that got me thinking (a very dangerous thing to be sure), and i realized that if we had been under consideration for an at large bid to the dance the selection committee would have had us down as a 19 win team. if we had won that game against milwaukee the selection committee would have considered us to have 19 wins for seeding purposes. now if it enhances your program self esteem to say we had another 20 win season by all means do so. just realize that to those that matter us beating the mighty manchester muffins by 40 is nothing more than an exhibition game.
second, instead of you bitching and moaning about my bitching and moaning just point out the error of my views. when I b and m about us scheduling games in conflict with the osu vs Michigan football game, about us scheduling games with div ii or iii teams, I b and m about us scheduling home and homes with really low tier div i programs like nc a&t. I b and m about those things because they hurt the program I care about. if you think I am wrong just say so. I am always willing to learn.
third, I do not cite consecutive championship losses for a very simple reason. both seasons, with our schedule and our record, finishing second was no different than finishing third, fifth or eighth. no matter where we finished we were psbs'ers unless we wrote a check to the poc tournament.
lastly, you make several really valid and significant observations that I would not have thought of. bd's coaching hires were certainly raw rookies. I wonder if a rookie coach might tend to do that until he is more confident in himself as a head coach. that said, i have a recollection of him hiring a coach who had been a head coach before, maybe at western Michigan.
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