Is MM a winner?

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McKinney
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by McKinney » Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:18 am

KahunaK wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:53 pm As far as the not-so-demanding expectation of making the tournament- since 1998 (24 years) UMASS has had 5 coaches and 1 NCAA appearance. In that appearance, UMASS got blown out in the first round by an 11 seed. Not sure where the confidence in going to the NCAA comes from but it is not from recent past experience.
A drought spanning decades is just simply not okay for the amount of money and commitment UMass has put into basketball and the A10.

So while maybe it shows it's difficult to win here, that should not lower the expectations in hiring personnel. Extension/termination decisions should be made looking at their own performance (not the past 20 years) and also forward-looking: what's the plan to improve, what's the probability that the plan is executed successfully.
Class of 2019 - @StatsMass

PreecherJenkins
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by PreecherJenkins » Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:26 am

eldonabe wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:07 am
PreecherJenkins wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:34 am
KahunaK wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:58 pm

Not too sure about that. With Chaz- two NIT and one NCAA appearance. Without Chaz- nada.
Umm it wasn’t just Chaz, he was def the engine but you had tv, put, maxie, trey, samp, cady and Jesse. All guys better than anyone mwm has brought in with the exception of tre.

Dear Preecher Phillip Jenkins.......

Puh-lease..... Yes, that was a solid team (DK's). Imagine the possibilities with a coach who spent a little less time on hair gel and a little more time on some game planning.

You can argue about talent all day long - if they cannot win games, what difference does it make. MM is not winning enough games. Easy to see and wrap your head around. I get it, you want to see success on the court. No argument here, MM is not getting that done yet.

In relative terms (and only IMO) McCall has done much better with what he has had to work with than what DK did with his "riches of talent"...... obviously debatable, but that is how I see it. I would prefer to see a sub-par talent team meeting or exceeding expectations all day long, than agonizing (in fandom terms) over a team which should be much better than it is performing. That team you reference above played very pedestrian basketball after that awesome start out of the gate. Once the book was written on them, it was game over.
First it’s preecher catfish Jenkins. Lol

Has mwm had a period of time when his team have played pedestrian basketball going 9-7 over a 16 game period? I’ll take pedestrian basketball over the past 4 years.

In 2020 they went 5-3 over their last eight.
"You are what your record says you are" Coach Bill P.

JUST SAY NO TO THE MAC

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by KahunaK » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:06 am

McKinney wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:18 am
KahunaK wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:53 pm As far as the not-so-demanding expectation of making the tournament- since 1998 (24 years) UMASS has had 5 coaches and 1 NCAA appearance. In that appearance, UMASS got blown out in the first round by an 11 seed. Not sure where the confidence in going to the NCAA comes from but it is not from recent past experience.
A drought spanning decades is just simply not okay for the amount of money and commitment UMass has put into basketball and the A10.

So while maybe it shows it's difficult to win here, that should not lower the expectations in hiring personnel. Extension/termination decisions should be made looking at their own performance (not the past 20 years) and also forward-looking: what's the plan to improve, what's the probability that the plan is executed successfully.
McKinney- you are absolutely right. The expectations for UMASS should be much higher than they have been able to attain. UMASS spends the money on the coaches and has an excellent practice facility and a very good home court. IMO UMASS should be a regular participant in the NIT at a minimum. So why hasn't UMASS gotten there? I think it is because the ADs have tried to solve the problem overnight and not looked at building a solid foundation for the program that can bring long-term success. Hiring Lappas, in my mind, was one of the worst mistakes possible. UMASS has also hired coaches to capture the "Cal" magic-both flamed out. I think Bamford is taking the right approach-not just in bball- by looking at coaches with success at lower-tier schools and giving them time. It happened with Carvel (spectacularly) and Verdi to a degree. I'm not saying MM is a great coach and he may flame out as well. What I am saying is that you cannot judge MM by normal standards- he lost a whole team his first month after another coach quit. Now the transfer portal has screwed up lots of teams including UMASS. Sure you can fire MM but then what? Problem solved? Nah. Before Tre/Gray left, I thought he had two years with a consistent roster to show if he was a good coach. Now I think he still has two years without them. If you fire him now, UMASS will probably be in the exact circumstances five years from now unless they get lucky.

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by JoleonLescottsHair » Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:57 pm

PreecherJenkins wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 9:26 am Has mwm had a period of time when his team have played pedestrian basketball going 9-7 over a 16 game period? I’ll take pedestrian basketball over the past 4 years.

In 2020 they went 5-3 over their last eight.
No, but neither did Derek Wolfgang Kellogg. That 2013-14 team was 8-8 over its last 16 games, not 9-7. 8-7 if we take out the Tennessee loss and compare to last season’s final record of 8-7. And, yes, 5-3 over the last eight in 2020 and a shit call against uri from going 6-2.

PreecherJenkins
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by PreecherJenkins » Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:22 pm

hair, you are correct, they were 8-8 in their last 16. i miss calculated...
"You are what your record says you are" Coach Bill P.

JUST SAY NO TO THE MAC

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by DoctorJ » Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:29 pm

Wolfgang, seriously?
Refuse To Lose!!!

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SignMan
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by SignMan » Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:50 pm

This could evolve into the UMass Basketball version of Wolfgang Petersen's Neverending Story.
The angle of incidence = the angle of reflection: REBOUND!

Juice Stand
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by Juice Stand » Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:00 pm

This is such a weird thread. Is Matt McCall a winner? Well, he was a winner at Chattanooga in 2 years, and after 3 losing seasons has just had his first winning, albeit abridged, season here at UMass and every year has improved in the final conference ranking (13th, 12th, 8th, 5th). I'd say he's a winner, or at least trending in that direction. If we're talking about life, well the guy makes as much or more money than anybody that I know, so yeah, that's winner stuff right there.

I've definitely questioned his decision making at times, his in-game substitution patterns, and also have questions about his ability to hire the right people around him, but yeah, the guy seems like a winner to me.

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by JoleonLescottsHair » Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:24 pm

^ Thank you for the healthy perspective and reason. Hopefully this shuts down this stupid thread.

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:22 am

Juice Stand wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 2:00 pm This is such a weird thread. Is Matt McCall a winner? Well, he was a winner at Chattanooga in 2 years, and after 3 losing seasons has just had his first winning, albeit abridged, season here at UMass and every year has improved in the final conference ranking (13th, 12th, 8th, 5th). I'd say he's a winner, or at least trending in that direction. If we're talking about life, well the guy makes as much or more money than anybody that I know, so yeah, that's winner stuff right there.

I've definitely questioned his decision making at times, his in-game substitution patterns, and also have questions about his ability to hire the right people around him, but yeah, the guy seems like a winner to me.
Thank you - well said.

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:31 am

InnervisionsUMASS wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:26 am
eldonabe wrote: Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:07 am That team you reference above....


And that team he references is the only UMass Basketball team to make the NCAA Tournament since James Bruiser Flint. Show some fucking respect and get over your weird hatred obsession with Derek Wolfgang Kellogg. Seek help, immediately... this is getting very worrisome.
Show some respect - to DK? Fuck you! DK rolled a ball out there and said Chaz do whatever you need to do. That "tournament season" was the epitome of everything wrong with your beloved Cal offspring....

MM and Umass is in the position today in very large part due to the atrocious coaching and program running of Springfield's favorite son.



You (IV) can choose to believe whatever you want and odds are that your opinion on this (which is shared by most of the fanboys here) is exactly why this program is mired is such a deep fucking hole. A complete lack of understanding beyond w/l records......

Show some respect for the blind squirrel who found a nut? Go fuck yourself.

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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:03 am

eldonabe wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:31 amShow some respect - to DK? Fuck you! DK rolled a ball out there and said Chaz do whatever you need to do. That "tournament season" was the epitome of everything wrong with your beloved Cal offspring....

MM and Umass is in the position today in very large part due to the atrocious coaching and program running of Springfield's favorite son.



You (IV) can choose to believe whatever you want and odds are that your opinion on this (which is shared by most of the fanboys here) is exactly why this program is mired is such a deep fucking hole. A complete lack of understanding beyond w/l records......

Show some respect for the blind squirrel who found a nut? Go fuck yourself.

You are a sad sad person and need some serious help. This obsession is not ok.
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades

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Grossman promoted to assistant coach

Post by 69MG » Sat May 01, 2021 4:35 pm

Jon Rothstein
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2m
Sources: UMass' Matt McCall has promoted Brian Grossman to assistant coach. Grossman was previously in DOBO role. Former GA for Bobby Hurley at Arizona State.
Nothing against Brian but I was hoping for someone with more experience and recruiting connections. However, this was the scenario most often rumored.

Upstate10
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by Upstate10 » Sat May 01, 2021 4:47 pm

Yeah I would have preferred to hire somebody who could get us in conversations with kids who aren’t getting recruited by MEAC schools

UMassfan_19
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Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by UMassfan_19 » Sat May 01, 2021 9:40 pm

Grossman is actually pretty well connected in mass from his time working for zero gravity basketball

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