What letter grade do you give the 2017-18 Coaches this year?

[WuShock Reaper]

[WuShock Reaper]

I gave them a B, but could certainly see others grading lower.

[Guest]

Marshall B+
Assistant Coaches D

[JJClamdip]

I disagree splitting the coach grading, Marshall is in charge of the program and gets the glory, and rightly so when they win, and should shoulder the responsibility when they fail.

I voted a C for coaching.

I voted C as well

[SHOCKvalue]

Marshall needs to call reality show years Trump and get advice on how best to convey what needs to be done with some of his assistants. Just two words; three if you are too cool for contractions.

[ShockerFever]

I gave them a B, but could certainly see others grading lower.

Can you explain your grade please?

[proshox]

I couldn’t coach the details of basketball to save my life, but i will go to my grave believe the coaching staff implemented a poor strategy throughout the season.

This team had certain limitations, but you must maximize the strengths. We didn’t do that. There was a chance in the second half to stomp on Marshall’s throat today and we went ultra defensive and the offense came to a grinding mess.

I shared a bunch of quotes from the Marshall Coaches last week before i knew we were matched up. I loved their approach to basketball. It sucks that they proved it out vs. the team i cheer for.

[CBB_Fan]

I think it is a season to early to evaluate the assistant coaches. Of course, they appeared to fail in preparation and planning, but supposedly the main thing several of them brought was recruiting. It is possible that the guys coming in next year will prove the assistant coaches worth.

But I do think we need another body that is better than what we currently have in game planning and making sure we play up to our potential and not down to our opponent.

[proshox]

Marshall needs to call reality show years Trump and get advice on how best to convey what needs to be done with some of his assistants. Just two words; three if you are too cool for contractions.

The assistants were not a problem today. Playing three on five against a coach who will match up accordingly was a problem... being ultra afraid of fouling players out was a problem. Players making some boneheaded plays was a problem.

[WuShock Reaper]

Can you explain your grade please?

Pluses
Non-conference was 10-2 with an upgrade in competition
AAC Conference finished 14-4 and tied for 2^nd
Made the NCAA as a 4-seed
Finished in the top 25 AP and Coaches poll
Finished in the top 25 RPI

Areas to Work On
End-game coaching decisions and execution

Summary
Lots of positive things on the assets side of the ledger. Overall grade is lowered as a result of failing to meet expectations and close out the season on a positive trend.

[ArtVandalay]

From the insistence on starting Kelly (love his energy and toughness, but teams refused to guard him and then put his guy in the middle of the lane), inability to defend a pick and roll, quick trigger to yank guys, poor game planning and in game adjustments, it was a frustrating year from a senior laden team and our coaching staff. I'll give a slight break due to both coaching changes and conference change (need to adjust to more athletic teams).

C-

[CBB_Fan]

Lots of positive things on the assets side of the ledger. Overall grade is lowered as a result of failing to meet expectations and close out the season on a positive trend.

I don't think you are really taking into account our initial estimations. We banned a guy over suggesting we wouldn't finish top 15, and you list finishing in the top 25 of the polls and RPI as an accomplishment. That isn't an accomplishment, its a regression. Similarly, you list a 4 seed as an accomplishment while at the start of the season we would have been a top 2 seed.

Our end of game coaching decisions were a problem, but that fact that we needed end of game decisions versus a bad 13 seed shows that we failed in the early, middle, and near-late stages of the game as well. Something was wrong between our rotations, our defensive schemes, our offensive sets, our scouting. To be frank, having 9 single digit games in a row against mostly mediocre competition is a sign that we played down to our competition.

We shouldn't reward the coaches for regressing. We know we have players that could do well in the non-conference, compete in the AAC, and finish ranked highly. It is on the coaches that they didn't improve their standing in any way, and went backwards on several fronts. We know what we had the potential to do, and it is the coaches job to reach that potential.

[WuShock Reaper]

I don't think you are really taking into account our initial estimations. We banned a guy over suggesting we wouldn't finish top 15, and you list finishing in the top 25 of the polls and RPI as an accomplishment. That isn't an accomplishment, its a regression. Similarly, you list a 4 seed as an accomplishment while at the start of the season we would have been a top 2 seed.

Our end of game coaching decisions were a problem, but that fact that we needed end of game decisions versus a bad 13 seed shows that we failed in the early, middle, and near-late stages of the game as well. Something was wrong between our rotations, our defensive schemes, our offensive sets, our scouting. To be frank, having 9 single digit games in a row against mostly mediocre competition is a sign that we played down to our competition.

We shouldn't reward the coaches for regressing. We know we have players that could do well in the non-conference, compete in the AAC, and finish ranked highly. It is on the coaches that they didn't improve their standing in any way, and went backwards on several fronts. We know what we had the potential to do, and it is the coaches job to reach that potential.

Off the top of my head and as a comparison, these are coach's who belong in a non-passing grade category this season:

Connecticut - Kevin Ollie
Georgia – Mark Fox
Pittsburgh – Kevin Stallings.
Louisville – Rick Pitino
Mississippi – Andy Kennedy
Colorado State – Larry Eustachy.
East Carolina – Jeff Lebo
Missouri State – Paul Lusk

If you think our current Coaching Team belong in the same category as these men, state your arguments?.

[CBB_Fan]

Off the top of my head and as a comparison, these are coach's who belong in a non-passing grade category this season:

Connecticut - Kevin Ollie
Georgia – Mark Fox
Pittsburgh – Kevin Stallings.
Louisville – Rick Pitino
Mississippi – Andy Kennedy
Colorado State – Larry Eustachy.
East Carolina – Jeff Lebo
Missouri State – Paul Lusk

If you think our current Coaching Team belong in the same category as these men, state your arguments?.

There are 100 points you can earn on a test. A 0 is a failure. A 10 is a failure. A 30 is a failure. And yes, a 59 is a failure. There is a lot more room to fail than to succeed, and yes I do put our current results on the same metric. Whereas losing every game versus power conference foes is a 0-10% level failure, regressing on every major front and failing to achieve a single major goal other than making the tournament and keeping a number besides our name is also a failure, but closer to the 55-59% range. It is the type of failure where a good result on the final could get you back up to passing, but it still isn't a success without that result.

None of the above coaches met the expectations of their fans and administrations, but they did have expectations. Failing to meet those meager expectations is what earned them a failing grade. Let me ask you a question:

Did we meet the expectations of our fans and administration? Of our players?

That should answer your question.

[WuShock Reaper]

There are 100 points you can earn on a test. A 0 is a failure. A 10 is a failure. A 30 is a failure. And yes, a 59 is a failure. There is a lot more room to fail than to succeed, and yes I do put our current results on the same metric. Whereas losing every game versus power conference foes is a 0-10% level failure, regressing on every major front and failing to achieve a single major goal other than making the tournament and keeping a number besides our name is also a failure, but closer to the 55-59% range. It is the type of failure where a good result on the final could get you back up to passing, but it still isn't a success without that result.

None of the above coaches met the expectations of their fans and administrations, but they did have expectations. Failing to meet those meager expectations is what earned them a failing grade. Let me ask you a question:

Did we meet the expectations of our fans and administration? Of our players?

That should answer your question.

Expectations of Players meet - no
Expectations of Coaches meet - no
Expectations of Administration meet - no
Expectations of fans meet - no

However,

Examples of what most reasonable and prudent evaluator's would consider as “A” ratings:
#16 AP Poll of /351 = top 5% of teams
#16 Coaches Poll of /351 = top 5% of teams
#14 S-Curve for NCAA Tournament of /351= top 5% of teams
#15 Massey Composite Ratings of /351 = top 5% of teams

Getting your team, in my opinion, to the NCAA tournament gets you a baseline "C". Then go back and look at the non-conference, the conference, and post season.

As a final note, what do you call a medical student who graduates with a "C" average? Answer: Doctor.

[Topshock]

Probably an incompetent “doctor “

[CBB_Fan]

Expectations of Players meet - no
Expectations of Coaches meet - no
Expectations of Administration meet - no
Expectations of fans meet - no

However,

Examples of what most reasonable and prudent evaluator's would consider as “A” ratings:
#16 AP Poll of /351 = top 5% of teams
#16 Coaches Poll of /351 = top 5% of teams
#14 S-Curve for NCAA Tournament of /351= top 5% of teams
#15 Massey Composite Ratings of /351 = top 5% of teams

Getting your team, in my opinion, to the NCAA tournament gets you a baseline "C". Then go back and look at the non-conference, the conference, and post season.

As a final note, what do you call a medical student who graduates with a "C" average? Answer: Doctor.

If KU lost to Penn, would they consider making the NCAA tournament a "C" year? We aren't and shouldn't be comparing ourselves to Illinois State. We compare and grade ourselves based on how well we did as a Wichita State team returning every starter and 6 seniors with a cumulative ~50ish games of NCAA tournament experience. We had our worst result in the postseason over the past 5 years with the team with the highest expectations, so of our course the grade is going to be grim.

If we met no ones expectations, indeed most people's worst case scenario, how can we justify anything but an extremely negative grade? Again, we banned a person for suggested we would fail badly enough to get what you are lauding as achievements. You don't get a reward for starting at 5 and sliding to 15. You don't get a reward for returning a group that could beat Dayton and compete vs Kentucky and losing to a far worse Marshall program.

Illinois State gets points for getting ranked. Illinois State gets points for making the tournament. Those aren't objectives on our test, with what we knew we had. They are givens. Our expectations, our points, are based about achieving goals.

One point for each win. 10 points for winning Maui. 10 points for winning the AAC. 10 points for winning the AAC tournament. 10 points for seeding. 10 points for final rank. The rest is based on the NCAA tournament.

So let's count. 25 points from wins. 6 points from coming 2nd in Maui. 6 points for coming in second in the AAC. 2 points for winning a game in the AAC tournament. 7 points for seeding. 6 points for a final rank of 14. 0 points from the NCAA tournament.

That's a 52% on my test, and yes that is a failing grade. Maybe you grade differently.