MBB Final: LA 76, UTA. 64

[zephyr]

Who? Us or them? Cause they were jacking shots up left and right when they weren't making anything and continued to do so instead of running their deliberate offense. I don't care what their scouting report said

Them. Their coach has stated he has wanted to slow things down. They are the second best defensive team in the league. I do agree with you though that they likely want to slow it down as they are not a very good shooting team. In fact, percentage wise they are the worst shooting team in the league and more importantly, the lowest scoring team. I believe they've only scored over 80 only 4 times all year. I think many of the fast shots you saw last night were in large part due to us having a large lead. We put them in a position to have to put up more shots quicker in order to try to stage a comeback.

[Jacob81]

The only person I've seen bashing in this thread is you.

Bashing the haters!!!

[zephyr]

Bashing the haters!!!

Fight the good fight!

[VObserver]

Bashing the haters!!!

There are no haters who are regulars on this board. Some of us are just tired of mediocre basketball. Others are happy with beating up on the dregs of D1 basketball and calling it success.

We all love the program; just have a difference of opinion on coaching and scheduling.

[Jacob81]

There are no haters who are regulars on this board. Some of us are just tired of mediocre basketball. Others are happy with beating up on the dregs of D1 basketball and calling it success.

We all love the program; just have a difference of opinion on coaching and scheduling.

I’m with you. I fall in the middle currently. I want a more prestigious basketball program. Marlin should have gotten more accomplished to this point. Home Scheduling does suck.

But after hitting what looked like rock bottom, and personally feeling that marlin lost the team. They came out and played their best half on national TV against GSU and haven’t really let up since. I give credit to marlin, he could have easily lost this team and let them pack it in, credit the players for fighting through adversity. Credit the kid that washes the jock straps!!! Everyone involved has stepped up their game recently. I’m happy for this team, especially miller. You can see he loves the game and wants to win.

I started understanding miller at one of the games. At halftime they had Russell interviewing players on the team up on the video board. Russell was asking them, who on the team has the most swag. They all answer with who dressed the best, nicest jewelry, shoes, style.... miller was at the end. He said whoever makes a free throw to win a game or pulls a big rebound,” I just want to win games” and he was all business, didn’t crack a smile. It’s like he was upset they pulled him off the court to ask him a stupid question. He became one of my guys after that.

[Cajunsmike]

Mike, defensively you may have something. On offense, I don't think we did anything different last night but make shots. We were on fire in the first half, particularly from 3 where our percentage was actually better than from 2. That won't happen often as you've seen with this team as we have guys that go hot and cold. Last year we had Bartley who we could always rely upon to hit shots, especially from the outside as he was so consistent. This year even our "shooters" have been hot and cold to say the least.

Agree that our shooters are hot and cold which is why we have been inconsistent. Defensively, we are much better because we have turned the ball over much less.

[Cajunsmike]

There are no haters who are regulars on this board. Some of us are just tired of mediocre basketball. Others are happy with beating up on the dregs of D1 basketball and calling it success.

We all love the program; just have a difference of opinion on coaching and scheduling.

There are also some of us who think focusing on the coaching staff is pointless. We all know the shortcomings and strengths. However what we think, either positive or negative, is meaningless as it is obvious the administration thinks highly of them. That remains the case despite what 20 people post on a message board. I do understand that negative posts after disappointing losses is a form of venting which is a benefit these boards provide and that will never change. When I say administration it means a lot more than the AD office. It goes all the way to the President and there are several people in between. I understand that when enough people stop paying attention things can change. We are not nearly at that stage yet. In fact, we have had roughly 5000 with good energy at the last two games which is a rarity for mid major teams these days.

[Hatch]

I’m with you. I fall in the middle currently. I want a more prestigious basketball program. Marlin should have gotten more accomplished to this point. Home Scheduling does suck.

But after hitting what looked like rock bottom, and personally feeling that marlin lost the team. They came out and played their best half on national TV against GSU and haven’t really let up since. I give credit to marlin, he could have easily lost this team and let them pack it in, credit the players for fighting through adversity. Credit the kid that washes the jock straps!!! Everyone involved has stepped up their game recently. I’m happy for this team, especially miller. You can see he loves the game and wants to win.

I started understanding miller at one of the games. At halftime they had Russell interviewing players on the team up on the video board. Russell was asking them, who on the team has the most swag. They all answer with who dressed the best, nicest jewelry, shoes, style.... miller was at the end. He said whoever makes a free throw to win a game or pulls a big rebound,” I just want to win games” and he was all business, didn’t crack a smile. It’s like he was upset they pulled him off the court to ask him a stupid question. He became one of my guys after that.

I saw that same clip at halftime of one of the games on ESPN+ and really liked Millers answer. I’ve kind of always had that impression of him. When he first signed I started looking for video on him and found this interview from when he won the Kentucky State Championship as a senior, he was named MVP of that tournament.

https://youtu.be/4O74H3vO-BQ

[zephyr]

Agree that our shooters are hot and cold which is why we have been inconsistent. Defensively, we are much better because we have turned the ball over much less.

Mike, turnovers affect your transition defense but our problems were in the half court during our dark stretch. I don't see a huge correlation in less turnovers and our ability to stay in front of our man and contest shots.

[zephyr]

There are also some of us who think focusing on the coaching staff is pointless. We all know the shortcomings and strengths. However what we think, either positive or negative, is meaningless as it is obvious the administration thinks highly of them. That remains the case despite what 20 people post on a message board. I do understand that negative posts after disappointing losses is a form of venting which is a benefit these boards provide and that will never change. When I say administration it means a lot more than the AD office. It goes all the way to the President and there are several people in between. I understand that when enough people stop paying attention things can change. We are not nearly at that stage yet. In fact, we have had roughly 5000 with good energy at the last two games which is a rarity for mid major teams these days.

Mike, the fact you countlessly say the same thing is worrisome. You are saying "look, since the administration keeps giving Marlin a pass and extensions that just extends his lengthy contract, there is no bother complaining about the underperformance of the program. Just sit back and accept it."

I mean, that is worrisome to the people who are being asked to pay for season tickets with increasing prices each year and more and more RCAF donation requirements. You finish better than 3rd more than twice in nine years and maybe we wouldn't have as many people complaining.

Regardless of what you think, there are reasons for concern and frustration that people have in regards to coach Marlin's situation. You may not agree with it as well as others here. Those people have given you and other supporters valid reasons why they feel the way they do. The bottomline is both sides have varying thoughts and opinions on what "success" is. Some think that because he's a good man and runs a clean program, the resulting mediocre success during his tenure is acceptable. Others obviously don't feel that way.

[Cajunsmike]

Mike, the fact you countlessly say the same thing is worrisome. You are saying "look, since the administration keeps giving Marlin a pass and extensions that just extends his lengthy contract, there is no bother complaining about the underperformance of the program. Just sit back and accept it."

I mean, that is worrisome to the peopleu who are being asked to pay for season tickets with increasing prices each year and more and more RCAF donation requirements. You finish better than 3rd more than twice in nine years and maybe we wouldn't have as many people complaining.

Regardless of what you think, there are reasons for concern and frustration that people have in regards to coach Marlin's situation. You may not agree with it as well as others here. Those people have given you and other supporters valid reasons why they feel the way they do. The bottomline is both sides have varying thoughts and opinions on what "success" is. Some think that because he's a good man and runs a clean program, the resulting mediocre success during his tenure is acceptable. Others obviously don't feel that way.

I understand why people have varying opinions about the state of the basketball program. You don’t have to accept the situation. It’s that posting concerns here have little impact. You can stop going to games, reduce donations, or voice your issues directly to the administration. Some have done that but not enough yet for them to pay attention Reason some get tired of me reminding folks that the administration is happy with him is because I get tired of people bringing up staff shortcomings so frequently. We all know there are positives and negatives Makes it tough to enjoy whatever success does come. You are probably right in that I do remind folks too frequently that there are not nearly enough folks concerned about this for the administration to spend any time thinking about it. By now most probably have gotten the message.

[zephyr]

I understand why people have varying opinions about the state of the basketball program. You don’t have to accept the situation. It’s that posting concerns here have little impact. You can stop going to games, reduce donations, or voice your issues directly to the administration. Some have done that but not enough yet for them to pay attention Reason some get tired of me reminding folks that the administration is happy with him is because I get tired of people bringing up staff shortcomings so frequently. We all know there are positives and negatives Makes it tough to enjoy whatever success does come. You are probably right in that I do remind folks too frequently that there are not nearly enough folks concerned about this for the administration to spend any time thinking about it. By now most probably have gotten the message.

And Mike, therein lies the question. What does each fan consider "success" as you say? Running a clean program and being a good person? Finishing inside the top 3 twice in 9 years with the highest salary and best facilities in the conference?