East Carolina (9-9) at Wichita State (11-6) Game Discussion: Jan 18 (Sat)

[rjl]

I understand its hindsight .. but a full search and hiring someone other than Brown also would have almost guaranteed a better situation for both WSU AND Brown than what ended up happening.

While there's not really any debate this is true, this is something that can only be seen with the benefit of hindsight.

[rjl]

There were reports of high level interest in the job before Brown was named the HC. The last month or so of that season you could see a lot of red flags about Brown and what he was doing and how the team had essentially lucked into more wins than would be normal and there was no doubt we/he benefited from Covid and games not played against the upper tier of the conference.

Would we have received some bad press for not hiring him? Sure, but if that's how decisions are made and not made based on what's best for the program than the wrong people are in charge; and we know the wrong people were in charge.

Also, Brown was never really talked about as a potential HC like others were. I think he may have interviewed, or declined an interview, from a SWAC/Southland program once, but that was about it. He was never seen as being on the level of Jans, Heier, or Forbes. Also, if it weren't for Boatright, Jans would have absolutely taken the job.

There's also a reason that some of us were never really keen on IB being handed the job. Kinda like some of us weren't all that keen on Mills being given the job.

In the last month of Brown's interim year regular season, the last loss was January 21 at Memphis. After that game, WSU beat UCF, Tulane, Temple, UCF again, #5 Houston, Tulane again, and South Florida. There were also 6 cancellations.

In the AAC tournament, WSU beat South Florida and then lost by 1 point to Cincinnati.

In the NCAA Tournament, WSU lost by 1 point to Drake.

Yeah, sure, I'll definitely buy (and have strongly advocated as such in the past) that WSU probably got lucky with the cancelled games, but for an audition, Brown did pretty damn good.

[SubGod22]

There were still plenty of red flags in the wins and there were a number of us that talked about them even at the time. You could see the team had issues but some were blinded strictly by the wins and not what was actually happening. That's why people were against hiring him without a search. We saw it as fools gold. Sadly, we had a fool running the athletic department.

[ShockBand]

Of course this is easy to say in retrospect, but IMHO his interim season should have earned him a spot as a finalist for the permanent job, not the job straight up. Apparently Boatdork didn't want to expend the effort of an actual search process.

[rjl]

Of course this is easy to say in retrospect, but IMHO his interim season should have earned him a spot as a finalist for the permanent job, not the job straight up. Apparently Boatdork didn't want to expend the effort of an actual search process.

Certainly agree with that. But, then again, we'd still be relying on Boatright to make the final decision.

[Stickboy46]

Certainly agree with that. But, then again, we'd still be relying on Boatright to make the final decision.

Boatright doing a coaching search would be entertaining ... in not a good way.

[SubGod22]

Of course this is easy to say in retrospect, but IMHO his interim season should have earned him a spot as a finalist for the permanent job, not the job straight up. Apparently Boatdork didn't want to expend the effort of an actual search process.

And I was okay with this line of thinking when it all happened. If he was truly the best after a search was conducted, then fine. We could have done better though if any effort was put forth by the lazy ass DB.

[C0|dB|00ded]

I had an epiphany about a year ago. I was disappointed in myself that my "happiness" seems to be dependent upon other people being good at something. I told myself that I needed to get serious about a skill development for myself (perhaps bowling, personal fitness, or grilling/cooking). I really am not into TV shows or movies as much, but listening to music and reading both sound good. It just means that I need to force myself to actually sit down and do it. I have always liked this band anyway, but after watching the Bon Jovi documentary, my wife has also really gotten into that music, so we both have done a deep-dive of his music, more than just the usual hits. I got a book for Christmas about the 1998 Yankees. Good book so far, but again, I kinda have to force myself to sit and read it.

I still root hard for my teams, but I hope my life has more depth and meaning than just living vicariously through other people being good at sports.

Good for you brother!

Relying too much on exogenous factors for happiness, is a great way to become unhappy.

Lower that baseline dopamine level. Shoot for contentment.

"If you do what is easy, your life will be hard; if you do what is hard, your life... will be easy.

[C0|dB|00ded]

3G effectiveness was waning, I think a lot had to do with the loss of Jans and then Heier. IB was elevated to #2 by default but he was not on the same level as the other 2 guys. He was a pretty good recruiter, but not sure abut his scouting/game planning and coaching strengths. He got the job be default and you can't argue against giving him a shot, especially since he had just won the league as an interim...

Right on Dan!

[molly jabali]

In the last month of Brown's interim year regular season, the last loss was January 21 at Memphis. After that game, WSU beat UCF, Tulane, Temple, UCF again, #5 Houston, Tulane again, and South Florida. There were also 6 cancellations.

In the AAC tournament, WSU beat South Florida and then lost by 1 point to Cincinnati.

In the NCAA Tournament, WSU lost by 1 point to Drake.

Yeah, sure, I'll definitely buy (and have strongly advocated as such in the past) that WSU probably got lucky with the cancelled games, but for an audition, Brown did pretty damn good.

There is DEEP dislike for this man who was cast into a position he did not ask for, did better than expected but then was not given a chance to grow on the job...and has since been vilified...
I take IB a million times over Mills...
Was he Chris Jans ? No...is that IB's fault? no....if Jans was the answer, then Boatright erred in not going after him.
A point of comparison....when Fred Hoiberg took over at Nebraska in 2019, fresh off a stint at ISU and the Bulls, his first season he was,,,7-25...the next 7-20...the next 10-22...the next....16-16....last year...23-11.....
He got FIVES YEARS to get a winning season....I'm by no means saying that IB is that guy, but he got little chance to prove it...

[BostonWu]

I remember laughing at how horrible ECU was. Now look, 4 straight losses. If this isn't basketball hell, I don't know what is.

I still can't believe there are some on social media (maybe you know who I'm referring to) who STILL think everything is ok. They are the true fans though.

You are referring to TSF.

[ShockerFever]

In the last month of Brown's interim year regular season, the last loss was January 21 at Memphis. After that game, WSU beat UCF, Tulane, Temple, UCF again, #5 Houston, Tulane again, and South Florida. There were also 6 cancellations.

In the AAC tournament, WSU beat South Florida and then lost by 1 point to Cincinnati.

In the NCAA Tournament, WSU lost by 1 point to Drake.

Yeah, sure, I'll definitely buy (and have strongly advocated as such in the past) that WSU probably got lucky with the cancelled games, but for an audition, Brown did pretty damn good.

Where was WSU ranked nationally in luck factor that year?

As Sub pointed out, there were red flags with what was going on in games. Ricky Council anybody? Joe Pleasant anybody? That's just for starters.

There's also more than just the wins and losses. IB did not engage with the donor base at all. Or even really the fan base. Now, if he fielded a Top 25 team every year, you could probably turn your head away from certain red flags. But this wasn't the case. His trajectory was downward. He absolutely rode off of Marshall's coattails as long as he could, starting from day 1.

There absolutely should have been a national search after the interim year. This program deserved it and warranted it. All parties involved would have been a lot better off.

[ShockingButTrue]

In the last month of Brown's interim year regular season, the last loss was January 21 at Memphis. After that game, WSU beat UCF, Tulane, Temple, UCF again, #5 Houston, Tulane again, and South Florida. There were also 6 cancellations.

In the AAC tournament, WSU beat South Florida and then lost by 1 point to Cincinnati.

In the NCAA Tournament, WSU lost by 1 point to Drake.

Yeah, sure, I'll definitely buy (and have strongly advocated as such in the past) that WSU probably got lucky with the cancelled games, but for an audition, Brown did pretty damn good.

Of greater significance is WSU beat Tulsa at Tulsa, which is something neither Memphis or Houston could accomplish that year, and they played. That's why they (WSU) won the title. Everyone seems to forget that fact...

[ShockingButTrue]

Where was WSU ranked nationally in luck factor that year?

As Sub pointed out, there were red flags with what was going on in games. Ricky Council anybody? Joe Pleasant anybody? That's just for starters.

There's also more than just the wins and losses. IB did not engage with the donor base at all. Or even really the fan base. Now, if he fielded a Top 25 team every year, you could probably turn your head away from certain red flags. But this wasn't the case. His trajectory was downward. He absolutely rode off of Marshall's coattails as long as he could, starting from day 1.

There absolutely should have been a national search after the interim year. This program deserved it and warranted it. All parties involved would have been a lot better off.

Red flags? His sideline attire? His manner of speaking on his Coaches show? And to think ADKS listened to d*****s like you. Are you happy now? It's not like we could tell anyway with your constant line of deprecating bull**it. The least you could do for the rest of us is post a mama joke that's funny, because who thinks I bagged your mama last night (before I bang** her) is funny? Oh, wait...

[ShockTalk]

In the last month of Brown's interim year regular season, the last loss was January 21 at Memphis. After that game, WSU beat UCF, Tulane, Temple, UCF again, #5 Houston, Tulane again, and South Florida. There were also 6 cancellations.

In the AAC tournament, WSU beat South Florida and then lost by 1 point to Cincinnati.

In the NCAA Tournament, WSU lost by 1 point to Drake.

Yeah, sure, I'll definitely buy (and have strongly advocated as such in the past) that WSU probably got lucky with the cancelled games, but for an audition, Brown did pretty damn good.

Let's not discount the experienced coaching staff and experienced players he inherited. He was dealt a pretty darn good hand in both.