McKenna was robbed

[HockeyShock]

Jacobsen, of course, wins Valley COY.

:clap: :wsu_posters: :yahoo: :clap:

[ShockTalk]

Re: McKenna was robbed

Jacobsen, of course, wins Valley COY.

:clap: :wsu_posters: :yahoo: :clap:

Not unexpected. He did exactly what he was expected to do. Nevertheless,...

what a JOKE.

[ISASO]

We'll see how this philosophy plays out after baseball season.

[shock-it-to-me]

We'll see how this philosophy plays out after baseball season.

no kidding

[Rosewood]

We'll see how this philosophy plays out after baseball season.

Word up

[Shocker Rocker]

Obviously, a number of ISU players got hurt, so McKenna did a great job with what he had to work with. On the other hand, recruiting so that you actually have something to work with is also a part of coaching, no? That's much of what it means to be a coach at the college level, and Jacobsen has done the best job of recruiting players to fit his winning system (low-scoring as it may be at times) at a place that doesn't quite have the resources of a Wichita State or Creighton, for example. So if the whole package is considered, Jacobsen wins in my book. Even if everyone on ISU blue had stayed healthy, I doubt they would have had the success that UNI did.

[The Mad Hatter]

Obviously, a number of ISU players got hurt, so McKenna did a great job with what he had to work with. On the other hand, recruiting so that you actually have something to work with is also a part of coaching, no? That's much of what it means to be a coach at the college level, and Jacobsen has done the best job of recruiting players to fit his winning system (low-scoring as it may be at times) at a place that doesn't quite have the resources of a Wichita State or Creighton, for example. So if the whole package is considered, Jacobsen wins in my book. Even if everyone on ISU blue had stayed healthy, I doubt they would have had the success that UNI did.

The problems with this theory are threefold.

1. McKenna has been the head coach for ISU shorter than Jacobsen has been at UNI, and he inherited a program with a lot less talent in it than Jacobsen did, so the recruiting is an apples to oranges comparison.

2. How do we know that UNI recruited better depth? Have they shown they can win without their top 3 guards in the lineup?

3. This is an award given out every year, so how do you evaluate recruiting in the equation? Do you say someone did a great coaching job because he recruited well three years ago and those guys are upperclassmen? That recruiting has nothing to do with what the coach has done this year. UNI doesn't have a whole lot of freshman making big contributions, so it isn't like what he did in recruiting this year had much impact.

[Shocker Rocker]

Obviously, a number of ISU players got hurt, so McKenna did a great job with what he had to work with. On the other hand, recruiting so that you actually have something to work with is also a part of coaching, no? That's much of what it means to be a coach at the college level, and Jacobsen has done the best job of recruiting players to fit his winning system (low-scoring as it may be at times) at a place that doesn't quite have the resources of a Wichita State or Creighton, for example. So if the whole package is considered, Jacobsen wins in my book. Even if everyone on ISU blue had stayed healthy, I doubt they would have had the success that UNI did.

The problems with this theory are threefold.

1. McKenna has been the head coach for ISU shorter than Jacobsen has been at UNI, and he inherited a program with a lot less talent in it than Jacobsen did, so the recruiting is an apples to oranges comparison.

2. How do we know that UNI recruited better depth? Have they shown they can win without their top 3 guards in the lineup?

3. This is an award given out every year, so how do you evaluate recruiting in the equation? Do you say someone did a great coaching job because he recruited well three years ago and those guys are upperclassmen? That recruiting has nothing to do with what the coach has done this year. UNI doesn't have a whole lot of freshman making big contributions, so it isn't like what he did in recruiting this year had much impact.

Fair enough on all counts. I was just expressing my sentiments that the award can become just an "overcoming adversity" or "exceeding expectations" award (i.e. doing a lot with what everyone thinks is a little). Obviously, that is good coaching, but it seems like that approach never takes the responsibility that coaches have to get good players into their program into the equation (and almost requires you to have a sucky team to "work miracles with").