Re: Coach Mac's Press Conferences
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ISUChippewa 
Jeff,
I think you bring up a great point about Wayne Morgan. It was probably the best long-term decision to let him go, but at the time it was hard for me to see happen, as Wayne had treated both my dad and myself very, very well when we got the chance to meet him and interact with him. If nothing else, he is a kind man, and it's hard for me to see good people fall.
Last year was a disappointment, but I hope that ISU fans don't forget the previous two years before that and how awesome it was to beat #2 ranked Kansas on their own floor.
Being a nice guy didn't save Dan McCarney's job either.
I have no doubt that Wayne was a good guy but he was a terrible coach and I think the wins had more to do with the talent he had than the job he did coaching. Last season that team had plenty of talent to make it to the NCAA tourney and it completely flopped and played some very selfish basketball and lacked fundamentals. While at times this team with lesser talent can be sloppy it's not being accepted by Mac and you can see the progress and fundamentals developing. And the effort has never been questioned whereas last year I doubted our effort on many occasions when it looked like we had given up. I'm much more pleased with the product on the court this season than I was last season.
Re: Coach Mac's Press Conferences
A great point was made (surprisingly enough) by the ESPN announcers calling the KU game at Kansas.
During the 05-06 season, we finished with a record of 16-14 (6-10). This was with players like Stinson & Blalock. A team with nationally recognized talent, which was picked to finish near the top of the Big 12. Due to a lack of discipline, we basically tanked the season. Wayne Morgan commanded no respect from his players, and it showed on the court. There was no set offense. It was street ball, 5 guys all looking for their shot.
ISU finished 15-15 (6-10) this season, with what basically amounts to the basketball version of the Bad News Bears. Face it, McDermott had slim pickins when he got here to recruit. Several of our players might not be playing anywhere, were it not for Iowa State. Coach Mac has done a great job of getting them to work hard, play together, and never give up.
We basically lost one more game this year than last year, but we showed discipline. Whenever a player (namely Taylor) started to play 1 on 5, he was benched.
To me it's obvious that Wayne Morgan, regardless of how nice he was, was taking that team nowhere but down. No discipline + no fundamentals = Spiraling into obscurity.
Elements of street style basketball can add to a player's game. They can be a very tough weapon. But no college basketball team can play 100% street ball and expect to go to the post season. Coach Morgan's success was very heavily steeped in Eustachy's leftovers.
I'm in no means saying Wayne Morgan was a bad person. He seemed like a very likeable guy. But he was a band-aid placed over the open wound left by Eustachy. He was never meant to last, and was peeling off when he was finally let go.
Re: Coach Mac's Press Conferences
To the brave soul, I was responding to an old college friend's post about Wayne being a nice man. I was amazed that people still were OK with talking about his shortcomings, nearly a year after he was fired yet we are supposed "let it go," when it comes to talking about a coach who lost more games in 12 years than Joe Paterno has in 50.
We are supposed to talk over and over about how the basketball team was so bad, playing "streetball" I believe is what we have heard over and over. Yet a coach who admitted on his radio show that they don't work on blocking or tackling in practice, because it is up to the high school coaches to teach that to the players we recruit, who had the worst team fundementally in the Big 12, possiblty D 1 football, but that is OK???
In the end I guess what I was pointing out was that the same things that the group continues to slam Wayne for, were equally apparent in the football team over the years, yet to say that Dan was bad will get you insulted, while Wayne was a bad coach. Again, I will say the reasons that I can think for this to continually happen aren't things that I want to think about people on here, but I am starting to wonder.
Re: Coach Mac's Press Conferences
Quote:
Originally Posted by
travman23 Being a nice guy didn't save Dan McCarney's job either.
I have no doubt that Wayne was a good guy but he was a terrible coach and I think the wins had more to do with the talent he had than the job he did coaching. Last season that team had plenty of talent to make it to the NCAA tourney and it completely flopped and played some very selfish basketball and lacked fundamentals. While at times this team with lesser talent can be sloppy it's not being accepted by Mac and you can see the progress and fundamentals developing. And the effort has never been questioned whereas last year I doubted our effort on many occasions when it looked like we had given up. I'm much more pleased with the product on the court this season than I was last season.
Last years team did not have an inside presence. Wayne's big recruit got sick, and never really recovered. How was that his fault???
Yet our football coach in his 12th year had the worst offensive and defensive lines in the conference. They were dominated up front by Colorado for ******'s sake, yet that was the fault of the assistant coaches???
Look for as many times as I have heard, "let it go," or "you guys got your wish," etc. Then I read the same hypocrites slam Wayne Morgan every chance they get.
I think that it is really funny that I am on here defending Wayne Morgan. Of course I think it is even funnier (sadder) that there are people that think that Dan McCarney was a good coach.
Re: Coach Mac's Press Conferences
Quote:
Originally Posted by
darts180 In the end I guess what I was pointing out was that the same things that the group continues to slam Wayne for, were equally apparent in the football team over the years, yet to say that Dan was bad will get you insulted, while Wayne was a bad coach. Again, I will say the reasons that I can think for this to continually happen aren't things that I want to think about people on here, but I am starting to wonder.
After you mentioned it the first time Darts, I had to think about it, but you're absolutely correct, DMac was a spinster with the media. I think that's why people find it hard to "slam" him by either saying it, or agreeing with it; he got the media to work for him. Both coaches weren't the best fit to bring our programs to the next tier, but WM had something to work with at the start, and DMac didn't, I think that's the biggest difference between, and why DMac stayed 2-3 years too long. We're headed in the right direction in many sports, and DMac did great things for our program, but couldn't get any further than he did. Without DMac however, we wouldn't have Jamie, and without Jamie, we'd probably still have WM, Bobby Douglass, and DMac.
