i know lutz is not popular here...

[trufan]

I guess to summarize my thoughts, I could turn Bill Parcells' cooking and shopping analogy around a bit. Schaus has asked Jane Albright to cook a great meal here. She has gone out and done all the shopping, with the senior class being more sought after than their predecessors, the junior class being more sought after than the seniors, and the freshmen more sought after than even the juniors. Then with the new assistant coaches, new offenses, and new defense, she has chopped and tenderized all of the ingredients. Now, it is simmering. Whoever coaches this team next year gets the credit for all of the hard work....I just think the credit should go to the ones who DID this hard work. I think we should be patient and see how this "meal" tastes when it comes out. That could occur later this year, or it could occur next year, but it WILL occur soon. I think that everyone who has seen this freshman class will agree.

[shockerfanmas]

I have to agree with trufan. Although this year has been a bust, I definitely see improvement in this team. I believe Jane should be given just one more year to see what she can do with the last 2 recruiting classes she has gotten, which could lead to some terrific seasons down the road. Let's just let it play out.

[rrshock]

Unfortunately, even if there is improvement (which I don't see), people don't like losers. And when you have a losing team, people don't come, which makes the program not make money. Losing money is something that happens, but also should not be let to go too far.

The VB program wasn't in a good state and look what Lambo did. So there should be no excuses there. MT turned around a bad thing in less time than Jane has gotten as well.

Everyone says that she is a good coach, but a good coach doesn't have a 15-13 record as their best record after 5 years.

And she shouldn't be given a chance with her next recruiting class. She hasn't done anything with any of her other ones yet, so why should we let her try one more time?

[molly jabali]

wow...the last long post defending jane was a head scratcher.i must admit, it was an intertesting read.but to say that you can actually see improvement is based on...what?that our last loss was only by 20 and not 40?
5 years in basketball is an eternity.even being asked to recruit THE RIGHT WAY, jane has barely made a dent with the area kids.i feel for the girls...NO ONE likes to lose multiple games by big margins. but to say that progress is evident is just plain not there.

[trufan]

Can you admit that the defense is improving? Can you admit that she came in to an abysmal program? Do you remember all the comments on Valleytalk about WSU being a bunch of thugs who did not understand that this is a team game? Can you admit that this is the first coach to bring us talent with any "all-american" honors? Can you admit that the level of talent she has brought in is PROGRESSIVELY better? If you cannot at least admit these things, I think it simply proves that your eyes and your mind are both regrettably CLOSED.
This coach has PROVEN that she can turn things around at two other schools. If you look at how it happened at Northern Illinois and Wisconsin, she got the TALENT recruited first, and the wins followed in short order. She has recruited the talent, with even more on the way (Val Siemens and the 2 incoming freshman guards.) She has consulted with some of the best minds in the game (Pat Summitt and Dick Bennett) and carefully selected offensive and defensive schemes for the talent she has. The next thing to happen is winning.
Chris Lamb did not get the volleyball program wher it is without talent. Mark Turgeon did not get to the Sweet 16 without talent. Geno Auriemma stated after one of his NCAA Championships that: The difference is that I have Taurassi. John Wooden is quoted as saying something like: Coaches always look smart when they have great players.
That being said, I hope i am clear about saying that this current group may just get the job done with a turnaround for the 2nd half of Valley play. Regardless, with the additional talent coming in next year, things could get really exciting.
I am not sure how much of the talent stays here if she is forced out. Maybe all of it, or maybe several key players for the future leave. I simply don't know. Quite frankly, I hope that we do not have to find that out.

[Fatguy]

To Little To Late!

[SpanglerFan316]

trufan: Assuming the WBB team does not improve much (let us say a finish of 6-10 each year), at what point would you agree that Jane has to go?

After her sixth year?
After her seventh year?
After her eighth year?
After her ninth year?
After her tenth year?


When? Never?

[trufan]

Spanglerfan--
I don't think we go so much by strictly the number of years, but by what is going on in the program. If there was not so much evidence that the pieces of the puzzle are now in place for a winning program, I would certainly say she should go after this season.
The fact is, the pieces are almost there, with next years' additions completing it. It seems only reasonable to give her 2008-09 to see what she can do with these new players, especially once the new systems (offenses and defense) are firmly in place. It seems that WSU has a program "on the verge" of Valley-leading play, and that it would simply be taking a chance at setting things back a bit if we let this coach go. Letting her go would mean installing new systems for these players to learn (again) and possibly losing a key player or two. In particular, I am thinking we might lose the one who talked with Schaus about Jane's future here before making her verbal commitment.

[SpanglerFan316]

Spanglerfan--
I don't think we go so much by strictly the number of years, but by what is going on in the program. If there was not so much evidence that the pieces of the puzzle are now in place for a winning program, I would certainly say she should go after this season.
The fact is, the pieces are almost there, with next years' additions completing it. It seems only reasonable to give her 2008-09 to see what she can do with these new players, especially once the new systems (offenses and defense) are firmly in place. It seems that WSU has a program "on the verge" of Valley-leading play, and that it would simply be taking a chance at setting things back a bit if we let this coach go. Letting her go would mean installing new systems for these players to learn (again) and possibly losing a key player or two. In particular, I am thinking we might lose the one who talked with Schaus about Jane's future here before making her verbal commitment.

Let's say 2008-9 is like this year and WSU finishes 8th, 9th or 10th in the Valley. Would you say she needs to go in this case?

[trufan]

SpanglerFan--If Jane can't do better with the players she'll have at her disposal in 08-09 than 8th in the Valley, then I think it would be time to let her go. We would have then allowed her to both build the foundation and to see what she could do with it.

[SpanglerFan316]

And possibly have made the job one year tougher for the next coach.

I don't really care that much because I will always prefer women's volleyball over women's basketball. However I want all WSU teams to do well. I don't like Jane's coaching style and I don't like the way her teams play. Just my own opinion.

[ballerfan]

I agree with some of what trufan has said...but the future is not what she is putting on the floor...it is what she is leaving on the bench. On the other hand 1972Shocker proves a point also.

[Shock_You]

I have "lost the faith". I know that our team has talent. I know that they have off court chemistry, which is a complete turnaround from last year. I know that they work hard, but come on, A coach that never plays a zone defense, or even has a full court press in her concept of winning basketball games? How do you go to an interview for a D1 coaching job and tell the hiring committee that you do not believe in either one of these, and get the job? This is team development. We haven't even seen indivudal player development. I agree that the senior class has not improved much since their freshman year, but who's fault is that? Our offense is centered on Jacie dribbling the ball for 20 seconds, and then trying to either take it all the way in herself, or passing to Kiki or Marcy for them to "create" a shot. GIVE ME AN OFFENSE!! Where is the team offensive development? In todays paper, Jane AGAIN talks about the loss of Antionette and Lexi. For Pete's sake, this is February! Give it up! This is one reason Jane cannot move forward. She is still in love with the past. If what she says is true, that we miss them so much and if you had Kiki with them, then we would be a great offensive team, then, Oh wait, that was last year. We had them all three and what did we win? 9 games? Time to move on to a new coaching system. One with a development plan.

[1972Shocker]

A third artricle in yesterday's Wichita Eagle discussed the Depth of Talent in Area Girls Basketball:

http://www.kansas.com/266/story/298321.html

Unfortunately, not one of these talented area players committed to or even has an interest in attending WSU.

Someone posting under the monikier of "derbyshocker" commented as follows:

The other front page article on high school Div. 1 signees says everything. No one is considering WSU. I've talked to families of recruits and they love everything about the school except the head coach. Come on Jim, it's time for Jane to go.

The latter may or may not be true, and even if it is, it is anecdotal. Nevertheless, this is another perceived negative in the Jane Albright era.

[Shock_You]

I don't think it was a coincidence that the high school article was right there with the WSU stories. It just adds more frustration to the whole picture, and helps support the impending change needed.