WSU (10-14, 2-9), at ECU ((12-12, 5-6) GAME THREAD

[shocker43]

IB had a McDonald All-American, two guys getting real minutes in the NBA, another occasionally getting minutes, a player that is averaging double digits in the G-League, a kid starting at (a collapsing) Memphis, Mo Udeze and played in ONE post-season game. I feel pretty confident that if you give Mills the rosters that IB had, we would have been in the tournament and won a couple games in the same time span.

[Stickboy46]

I agree, hanging my hat on hope. Had IB stayed, we’d still have better talent and mediocre results. Keeping him was not an option. If we can Baylor level talent, we’ll be ok, otherwise we might just be a Memphis JV team. I have a hunch Mills can’t recruit though and doesn’t have the right people in place to pull it off.

Agreed. IB's floor was higher than Mills obviously .. but also his ceiling was lower too. Moving on from him was the right move.

[Stickboy46]

IB had a McDonald All-American, two guys getting real minutes in the NBA, another occasionally getting minutes, a player that is averaging double digits in the G-League, a kid starting at (a collapsing) Memphis, Mo Udeze and played in ONE post-season game. I feel pretty confident that if you give Mills the rosters that IB had, we would have been in the tournament and won a couple games in the same time span.

Most don't disagree with that. But can Mills actually create a roster similar to that? That's where the doubt comes in. His flat out failure to recruit a single player that was AAC starter level when he had a TON of playing time to offer is a bit worrisome.

[shocker43]

Most don't disagree with that. But can Mills actually create a roster similar to that? That's where the doubt comes in. His flat out failure to recruit a single player that was AAC starter level when he had a TON of playing time to offer is a bit worrisome.

I don't disagree with you, I think we just disagree on how much time he gets to prove it. I think he gets next year.

[Stickboy46]

I don't disagree with you, I think we just disagree on how much time he gets to prove it. I think he gets next year.

We don't disagree either.. He has 3 years. But if he fails next year, the results for year 3 are going to have to be REALLY good to get a year 4.

[WuDrWu]

We should honestly leave the discussion about IB on the vine. I believe he gave it his all, and you cannot question his intentions.

That being said.....

You HAVE to understand that he wasn't ready to run the program OFF the floor. He just wasn't, period. HCPM is already an immeasurable amount ahead in behind the scenes progress. And I fully understand the product on the floor has to improve and that improvement must come quickly. But the other stuff was completely unsustainable under the previous regime. It had to change.

It may have to change again, time will tell, but it's not going to be due to poor management off the court.

[asiseeit]

You may like the offense we run. But this offense requires the team to create and take advantage of mismatches. Problem is every player we have is worse vs our opponents worst player. The dribble penetration is a joke because none of our guys can keep their head up to find the open teammates. We consistently draw 3-4 defenders when we drive the lane, only to throw up slop shots or give the ball away.
Way too much dribbling to suit my fancy

Goodness, we are on the same page again. WAY to much dribbling and dribbling with the purpose of creating their own shots instead of others. KP is about the only player that has any court vision and WILL find an open cutter when one is actually made. Maybe, BC, as well, but he makes as many or more bad passes than good ones. We have to many players standing around watching the ball handler do his OWN thing and we have to many players lose their man on defense - one of the reasons we need to zone more and more. QB is a great shot blocker but often strays to far away from the basket leaving it unprotected.

[shock-it-to-me]

One play really stood out to me last night when they had an unguarded player drive from the elbow straight in for an uncontested dunk while QB and a couple others just backed off. DR doesn't know where his man is half the time. 10 assists and fourteen turnovers..........they were 18-11.

For me it was a play on a Cortes turnover in the paint that they got out quickly on and our players just sort of half turned and jogged back while they went down for the easy score. Compared to when Rignal made the steel and their player got back and stuffed him at the rim. That's why I'm done watching this team until the tourney as well. If they don't care, I certainly don't.

[ShockTalk]

We should honestly leave the discussion about IB on the vine. I believe he gave it his all, and you cannot question his intentions.

That being said.....

You HAVE to understand that he wasn't ready to run the program OFF the floor. He just wasn't, period. HCPM is already an immeasurable amount ahead in behind the scenes progress. And I fully understand the product on the floor has to improve and that improvement must come quickly. But the other stuff was completely unsustainable under the previous regime. It had to change.

It may have to change again, time will tell, but it's not going to be due to poor management off the court.

I believe the discussion regarding Brown has little to do with his coaching skills and more with "Was WSU in a position financially to make a solid hire to follow up fHCGM". One thing that Brown had going for him was his assistants and their recruiting chops. Of course, had Brown been retained for another year, would those assistants still have been with him? Who and how many may they had already a good chance to get? Would Pipkin and Williams have come? Most is all speculation with the exception of our financial situation. I have a feeling that by not retaining 3G, an awful lot of money disappeared. Would it have been better to bite the bullet with Brown or possibly dig ourselves a deeper, longer hole with a "hopefully good hire".

I hope I'm wrong, but after digging deeper into Mills' "experience" at Baylor and ORU, I was left with more questions than a positive outlook.

[BostonWu]

We should honestly leave the discussion about IB on the vine. I believe he gave it his all, and you cannot question his intentions.

That being said.....

You HAVE to understand that he wasn't ready to run the program OFF the floor. He just wasn't, period. HCPM is already an immeasurable amount ahead in behind the scenes progress. And I fully understand the product on the floor has to improve and that improvement must come quickly. But the other stuff was completely unsustainable under the previous regime. It had to change.

It may have to change again, time will tell, but it's not going to be due to poor management off the court.

Again sort of sounds like Scott Thompson. I'm sure he wasn't a slouch off the court. They both seem to have a lot in common by first glance.

[shock]

“I don’t know what it was, maybe just bad energy,”

https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...285556442.html

Book smart team, but no common sense.

Gotta hope that Mills will turn to BBall IQ instead of GPA when looking for players.

[ShockTalk]

Book smart team, but no common sense.

Gotta hope that Mills will turn to BBall IQ instead of GPA when looking for players.

I believe you have to try to have a good balance.

[Mr. Pickle]

Nothing suggests Mills will be a successful coach in this league unless he has the more talented team. He is going to have to immediately start hitting triples and Homers on the recruiting trail to have a chance. I'm not at all convinced he will have consistent defense or energy with his teams.

What is quite concerning for the long term outlook are comments from multiple games this year about having low energy, having trouble doing the little things/being fundamentally sound, and not being focused. Multiple games of hearing that from staff/players is a big red flag.

[1972Shocker]

Book smart team, but no common sense.

Gotta hope that Mills will turn to BBall IQ instead of GPA when looking for players.

Are you implying those traits are mutually exclusive? High BBIQ very frequently, but not always, goes hand-in-hand with good general intelligence. And good work ethic in the classroom often goes hand-in-hand with good work ethic on the court or field.

[1972Shocker]

Moved.