Is MM a winner?

Anything and everything that is UMass Minutemen Basketball.
eldonabe
Hall of Fame
Posts: 5577
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:34 pm
Location: Western MA

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:27 am

JoleonLescottsHair wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:33 pm
TheOFFSeason wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 6:20 pm MM wanted Mathews to go to prep for a year before coming and he didn’t want to do that.
I understand why Matthews would be disappointed and resist. He was excited about coming to UMass and didn’t want to wait a year. He is hopefully confident that he is ready. I so get that. It sucks to have to change plans when you were committed and I personally wish he was coming rather than another transfer. BUT for everyone who wants to use this as another knee jerk reason to bash McCall, I invite you to go blow yourself. BarcaLounger style.

Let’s review: Season ends, Twitter and the Collegian tell us a massive exodus is on us...McCall sucks!
Matthews asks out of his scholarship...McCall is a disloyal douchebag who might have emotional intelligence problems.

I mean, c’mon. He took over a shitty situation and did a decent job his first season. Year 2 was a massive misfire and the team sucked. Put that on McCall and his failed transfer strategy. He has admitted as much. Year 3 he adds TB, Tre and the Woodstock strategy and the team starts to turn the corner. One shit call against URI and they finish .500 and advance in the A10. They finished strong and had all the typical makings of a team ready to make the next step. Year 4 is Covid year. A very youthful team plays 15 games total, finishes a over .500 and as close to the top of the league as they have finished in quite a while. They also show they can win without Tre and won a game in the A10 tournament. Great year, no. But 15 games. The season was not terrible by any stretch and could have very well been the logical next step in building the program back were it not for Covid. It is not crazy to think last years squad was an NIT team in most seasons.

Overall, have the last 3+ seasons been successful? No, definitely not. But hardly the train wreck his critics claim. When I get hit by a John Deere tractor tomorrow, and die, I will go to my grave convinced that if Matt McCall was from New England we would not be hearing half the shit we do about how aloof he is or how he screws over recruits and has no loyalty. Dude has not delivered a winning record (except last year’s abbreviated 8-7 result) but I believe he has demonstrated integrity, love for the university, and his approach comes from the right place. I think next year is and should be the final test, but Jesus the vultures in our midst.

In short, if tomorrow someone should happen to transfer out or change their mind about coming, I look forward to the next round of venom. If there is one thing consistent about this program it is that our fan base is entirely predictable.
It is unfortunate how few get lost in the moment and forget that this is a marathon and not a sprint. We all have eyes and should be able to see if there is any "there" there. DK did not have it - he looked lost on the sidelines and had poor game plans and even worse game management.

MM is a true basketball guy - he knows a lot about the game, and has shown that it is in there. He has made his share of bad or questionable decisions, but he is a basketball guy and will do great things at some point. I never saw that in DK - he had one great player who was able to rise above most of inconsistent and incoherent game plans. When that team NEEDED DK to be a coach they regressed back to what we all knew they were - a virtual rudderless ship. Even with that Chaz was almost able to pull off a miracle.

I digress - This is about MM. He has his hands full next season for sure and maybe he will fail / maybe he will succeed. For too many here he has already failed, and that is a short sighted opinion.

PreecherJenkins
Senior
Posts: 1642
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2003 12:41 am

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by PreecherJenkins » Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:54 am

Eldon, let's play a game here:

You have to say something nice about Derek and I have to say something nice about Matthew Wayne McCall? Deal?
"You are what your record says you are" Coach Bill P.

JUST SAY NO TO THE MAC

Roadtrip
Hall of Fame
Posts: 3807
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 1:54 pm
Location: Back in FL
Contact:

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by Roadtrip » Tue Apr 20, 2021 11:24 am

I'll play too. DK was a good PG, MM was a good team manager.

eldonabe
Hall of Fame
Posts: 5577
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:34 pm
Location: Western MA

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:33 am

PreecherJenkins wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:54 am Eldon, let's play a game here:

You have to say something nice about Derek and I have to say something nice about Matthew Wayne McCall? Deal?
Sure thing.

DK had great hair.

eldonabe
Hall of Fame
Posts: 5577
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:34 pm
Location: Western MA

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:56 am

PreecherJenkins wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:54 am Eldon, let's play a game here:

You have to say something nice about Derek and I have to say something nice about Matthew Wayne McCall? Deal?

Lets play a slightly different game - who is Umass getting that is better? That is a loaded question however, because you must consider what UMass pays their coaches. You can't just say - Lets get Mark Few....

I am not calling the hiring of MM an unmitigated success at this point. To be fair, nobody can say that. This goes back [again] to realistic expectations. UMass IS NOT a destination where 4 and 5 star recruits are falling all over each other to come here; and only a once in a generation (maybe a lifetime) coach could really accomplish that. You are asking for a near perfect storm of talent and luck to strike simultaneously to put Umass on something beyond a one hit wonder season.

Tre was a huge piece - regardless of how he got here, McCall got him here. The infamous "next year" looked like it was finally going to arrive. If last year was normal, and Umass was able to win 21 games and play post season, everyone here would be pissing their pants over MM and the direction of the program. If Tre stays and the 21-22 season is quite possibly (and even likely) the season to move Umass into a much better neighborhood. Not sure that is McCall's fault at least directly. Thankfully for Tre he is a smart kid so when Bergeron advises him into basketball oblivion, he will have a damn good education to fall back on.

Was this past season still good - I say yes it was.... After whatever happened with that Mason game collapse, Umass played pretty solid basketball after that - if it wasn't for that ri-goddamn-diculous 2 week covid pause by the university Umass was projecting to 12-8 (or so).


[UNLIKE DK] MM has yet to prove he officially sucks after 4 seasons. He has certainly not blown the doors off, but he is light years ahead of where the Calipari disciple - who only [slightly] resembled his idol because of the amount of hair-slick.

vanmeter
Hall of Fame
Posts: 2376
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 9:12 pm

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by vanmeter » Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:02 am

I respectively disagree that last season was a success or that UMass could not find a better coach than McCall.

Roadtrip
Hall of Fame
Posts: 3807
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 1:54 pm
Location: Back in FL
Contact:

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by Roadtrip » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:00 am

UMass needs a better coach than McCall, finding one may be a problem.

User avatar
InnervisionsUMASS
Hall of Fame
Posts: 17645
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 1:32 am
Location: Milford, MA
Contact:

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:13 am

^ & ^^

Them fightin words!


McCall's tenure has not been a success and boy does he need next year to be. I've said it before, this isn't entirely his fault.. he got off to a rough start with the botched firing of DK/hiring of Pat Kelsey. That coupled with the major roster turnover each of his first 3 years and he has been almost setup to fail. But at some point you've got to move past that. What's concerned me is that he hasn't seemed to figure out the coaching aspect... Tre helped mask a lot of that these last two years, but the offense is generally sluggish, the adjustments are minimal and the press is poor, among a few other things. Some people are very happy to pretend that this isn't the case, but it's DK all over again, except that we at least had two NITs by this time and were tending forward towards an NCAA appearance (before it was to fall apart again).

I think McCall can succeed... he finally has some stability with the roster from one season to the next and hopefully jettisoning TB gets rid of the power-dynamic issue they were experiencing in the locker room. Those things should help him overcome some of his shortgivings and give him more time to develop as a head coach.

For his and our sakes... it needs to happen now.
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades

69MG
Hall of Fame
Posts: 12096
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:07 pm
Location: Western Mass

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by 69MG » Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:40 am

I have mixed, even conflicted feelings. I root for him to be successful because I want the team to be successful and I also agree that not everything that has happened was his fault. However, his in game coaching leaves a lot to be desired. He cost us 2 games last year with very poor late game decisions. That can't happen again.

eldonabe
Hall of Fame
Posts: 5577
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:34 pm
Location: Western MA

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:00 am

Roadtrip wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:00 am UMass needs a better coach than McCall, finding one may be a problem.
Succinctly making my point.


AKA be careful what you wish for... AKA the Devil you know versus the Devil you don't

MM needs to improve - no arguments from me or any MM supporter on that; and we are about to find out if he is capable of it.

User avatar
Jackson96
Hall of Fame
Posts: 2981
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:28 pm

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by Jackson96 » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:19 am

I have my doubts about McCall — things have generally been a bit chaotic with roster and staff turnover, but something that has given me a bit of hope — and it’s not something that is set in stone yet given we are still in the offseason — is that really everyone is returning except for Tre and the graduates. Especially since a majority of the kids are Woodstock-TB kids. If that holds, to me that says a lot. Holy shit I just reread my first sentence - that is a bit long.

I also liked the way they played without Tre in a couple of games last year. I know they didn’t play the best teams but they were scrapping out there.

I don’t know what the ceiling is for this team next year if things remain intact. I think they have a couple of players who could be very good and a bunch of players who can be/are good. All depends on how they come together.

I think this year will tell us everything we need to know. If you’ve already made up your mind, well that’s cool too.
"I wrote a column and it went national"

User avatar
chuff
Senior
Posts: 1507
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 9:26 pm

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by chuff » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:36 am

I'm amazed! Most people here are more optimistic than I am. I haven't been here for ... a long time, probably most of McCall's tenure. My overall impression from that distance has been that McCall is not the guy, and Tre's departure clinched it. Then, on a whim, I come here to check out what the cognoscenti are saying, and it's not so bad! Basically, it just might come together next year. Then again it may not, but at least everyone isn't jumping off the boat in unison.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em. L. Armstrong

User avatar
InnervisionsUMASS
Hall of Fame
Posts: 17645
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 1:32 am
Location: Milford, MA
Contact:

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:58 am

chuff wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:36 am I'm amazed! Most people here are more optimistic than I am. I haven't been here for ... a long time, probably most of McCall's tenure. My overall impression from that distance has been that McCall is not the guy, and Tre's departure clinched it. Then, on a whim, I come here to check out what the cognoscenti are saying, and it's not so bad! Basically, it just might come together next year. Then again it may not, but at least everyone isn't jumping off the boat in unison.

Most people here are realistic about what is going on. A few, though... not sure what reality they are living in.
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades

PreecherJenkins
Senior
Posts: 1642
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2003 12:41 am

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by PreecherJenkins » Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:56 pm

eldonabe wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:33 am
PreecherJenkins wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:54 am Eldon, let's play a game here:

You have to say something nice about Derek and I have to say something nice about Matthew Wayne McCall? Deal?
Sure thing.

DK had great hair.
matthew wayne mccall has a great blazer collection...
"You are what your record says you are" Coach Bill P.

JUST SAY NO TO THE MAC

eldonabe
Hall of Fame
Posts: 5577
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2003 4:34 pm
Location: Western MA

Re: Is MM a winner?

Post by eldonabe » Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:52 pm

PreecherJenkins wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:56 pm
eldonabe wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:33 am
PreecherJenkins wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:54 am Eldon, let's play a game here:

You have to say something nice about Derek and I have to say something nice about Matthew Wayne McCall? Deal?
Sure thing.

DK had great hair.
matthew wayne mccall has a great blazer collection...
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well done sir!

Post Reply