D'Antoni will be here as long as he wants to be....

[W-S HerdFan]

I know I have been defending Danny on here pretty fiercely. Reading todays HD article, It is so obvious that he has a method, a philosophy developed over 50 years in coaching. As has been stated by others, he loves working with the youngsters and veterans alike to make them better. He can see the long view with this current team. We are very young. Given time to develop, we are going to have a much more consistently successful program when he leaves than before he was named HC. And, probably most importantly? He could care less what the internet says about him or his guys; he has thick skin and the players respect him. 'nuff said - he's here until he decides to stop....

 

[marshallsig]

I know I have been defending Danny on here pretty fiercely. Reading todays HD article, It is so obvious that he has a method, a philosophy developed over 50 years in coaching. As has been stated by others, he loves working with the youngsters and veterans alike to make them better. He can see the long view with this current team. We are very young. Given time to develop, we are going to have a much more consistently successful program when he leaves than before he was named HC. And, probably most importantly? He could care less what the internet says about him or his guys; he has thick skin and the players respect him. 'nuff said - he's here until he decides to stop....

So you are saying you won't yell "you suck" at him?

 

[ekal]

I agree with W-S HerdFan above that Danny brings a number of intangibles to the coaching position. The players like him and enjoy his style of play. Recruiting is difficult, but he has done an admirable job so far in bringing in kids who have the potential to play at a high level. Potential is all most recruits bring, since how hard they work and develop is mainly up to them. Hope he sticks around for several more years. The program is stable now.

 

[ohio herd]

Our program is not ready to just reload year after year. This is a rebuild year. The next few years we are going to be a much better team. Right now we are taking our lumps.

 

[The Real SamC]

I love the faith that this crew is going to get anything in the next few years but older.

It is 100% correct that DD will be here about as long as he wants. This is a disaster of a team, and it still is going to win a number of games in CUSA. That is just how little some CUSA members care about basketball. What little effort they put into it. So something like .400 ball, and that is fine with most people.

The rest is just green colored glasses ho-ha. The main issue with this team is not their age, it is their fundamental lack of Div I talent.

 

[herdalicious]

I've been paying attention to Marshall basketball since the late 90's, and this is what I've seen as our options:

- Greg White keeping Marshall on par with the University of Charleston (WV)
- Ron Jirsa spending the entire year practicing for the WVU game
- Donnie Jones scheduling NAIA schools and using runners to get prize recruits
- Tom Herrion flopping around like a giant baby with a team that can't dribble, pass or shoot
- Dan D'Antoni doing whatever this is

I'm okay with this. I don't see what people are so up in arms about, like Marshall basketball is supposed to be real good, every year. Seems to me like we're hardly good, any year. This isn't that bad.

 

[The Real SamC]

I'm okay with this.
I don't see what people are so up in arms about
This isn't that bad.

That is fine. Really. You accept mediocrity. Actually far below mediocrity. And you admit it. Great.

My objections are two.

- People that don’t admit it. Like the OP. “The future is bright” “we are young” “there is a plan” “we are going to have a consistently successful program” and other such ho-ha. No there isn’t. There is no reason to say ridiculous and delusional statements, be it in October about the coming season; or, after reality starts to sit in, in January about some future season. You get it. Just say, this team is going nowhere, it doesn’t matter, no one cares, and “I’M OK WITH THIS.”

- We can do better. This conference is filled with teams with near zero basketball commitment, no fans, playing in gyms, not even trying. We should be in the upper third EVERY YEAR. We should win this league with great regularity. And our fan base is “OK” with not doing that. Accepting mediocrity.

 

[oldeherd]

Being young with enough legitimate quality D1 talent is one thing.

Being young with average to sub par D1 talent is another.

Former scenario will likely see progress and success as years go by. The latter, not so much!!

 

[BleedsGreen33]

I've been paying attention to Marshall basketball since the late 90's, and this is what I've seen as our options:

- Greg White keeping Marshall on par with the University of Charleston (WV)
- Rob Jirsa spending the entire year practicing for the WVU game
- Donnie Jones scheduling NAIA schools and using runners to get prize recruits
- Tom Herrion flopping around like a giant baby with a team that can't dribble, pass or shoot
- Dan D'Antoni doing whatever this is

I'm okay with this. I don't see what people are so up in arms about, like Marshall basketball is supposed to be real good, every year. Seems to me like we're hardly good, any year. This isn't that bad.

So because we've always been below average to bad we shouldn't want to be any better than now? Got it.

 

[Herd-nificent]

IMO DD needs to bring in an assistant coach to teach fundamentals and an assistant to be the game time floor coach. Then go ahead and let DD have fun with the reporters and fans.

Sorry, but less than .500 should not be acceptable.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

I am just trying to save certain people time & effort. The writing is on the wall. The D'Antoni's have unusually long life spans, so settle back & enjoy the ride...

 

[herdalicious]

So because we've always been below average to bad we shouldn't want to be any better than now? Got it.

I mean you can want it.

 

[herdalicious]

You accept mediocrity.

 

[Herd-nificent]

Sorry I am not enjoying this ride. Tired of the "young" excuse. Other teams have "young" players who are doing quite well.

If this were football the marchers with flaming torches would storm the administration building.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

Sorry I am not enjoying this ride. Tired of the "young" excuse. Other teams have "young" players who are doing quite well.

If this were football the marchers with flaming torches would storm the administration building.

No way. Apathy would douse those torches and fans would sit at home to watch it on tv....apathy is the bedrock of MU football until there is a change at the top. The Herrion era saw the apathy take over his last season. The average attendance at the Henderson Center would indicate apathy has not yet reached a significant level in Huntington...

 

[Tim Hensley]

Jesus H MF Christ, boys! This program is just coming off its first-ever NCAA win and a CIT Championship. Why are some of you so up in arms? Sometimes we've had four freshmen on the floor. Show some patience with these kids; one of them wasn't even allowed to play until this semester. Geesh!

 

[herd4life5 (HN)]

I love the faith that this crew is going to get anything in the next few years but older.

It is 100% correct that DD will be here about as long as he wants. This is a disaster of a team, and it still is going to win a number of games in CUSA. That is just how little some CUSA members care about basketball. What little effort they put into it. So something like .400 ball, and that is fine with most people.

The rest is just green colored glasses ho-ha. The main issue with this team is not their age, it is their fundamental lack of Div I talent.

Players don’t get better year to year, is that your ignorant argument?

 

[Herd-nificent]

WOW.....a CIT tournament win. Can you name the teams we beat for this historic achievement?

P.S. When DD first came he said he would never play in a pay for play tournament.Guess he changed his mind so Elmore could beat Skip's record.

 

[sistersville]

I know I have been defending Danny on here pretty fiercely. Reading todays HD article, It is so obvious that he has a method, a philosophy developed over 50 years in coaching. As has been stated by others, he loves working with the youngsters and veterans alike to make them better. He can see the long view with this current team. We are very young. Given time to develop, we are going to have a much more consistently successful program when he leaves than before he was named HC. And, probably most importantly? He could care less what the internet says about him or his guys; he has thick skin and the players respect him. 'nuff said - he's here until he decides to stop....

Do you know how STUPID your comment is? Danny is a 70+ first time college basketball coach after spending 40 years coaching high school ball and 10 years as Mike's assistant. That is an argument that could be made for Huggy at WVU, Coach K and Duke, former Marshall coach Dana Altman at Oregon, or Calipari at UK.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

Do you know how STUPID your comment is? Danny is a 70+ first time college basketball coach after spending 40 years coaching high school ball and 10 years as Mike's assistant. That is an argument that could be made for Huggy at WVU, Coach K and Duke, former Marshall coach Dana Altman at Oregon, or Calipari at UK.

Or Doc Holliday ........

 

[5150]

That is fine. Really. You accept mediocrity. Actually far below mediocrity. And you admit it. Great.

My objections are two.

- People that don’t admit it. Like the OP. “The future is bright” “we are young” “there is a plan” “we are going to have a consistently successful program” and other such ho-ha. No there isn’t. There is no reason to say ridiculous and delusional statements, be it in October about the coming season; or, after reality starts to sit in, in January about some future season. You get it. Just say, this team is going nowhere, it doesn’t matter, no one cares, and “I’M OK WITH THIS.”

- We can do better. This conference is filled with teams with near zero basketball commitment, no fans, playing in gyms, not even trying. We should be in the upper third EVERY YEAR. We should win this league with great regularity. And our fan base is “OK” with not doing that. Accepting mediocrity.

The program has been in mediocrity for decades at least DD has proven he can get us to post season play. Being average with a young team is better then what has taken place with other coaches

 

[HerdFan300]

I've been paying attention to Marshall basketball since the late 90's, and this is what I've seen as our options:

- Greg White keeping Marshall on par with the University of Charleston (WV)
- Ron Jirsa spending the entire year practicing for the WVU game
- Donnie Jones scheduling NAIA schools and using runners to get prize recruits
- Tom Herrion flopping around like a giant baby with a team that can't dribble, pass or shoot
- Dan D'Antoni doing whatever this is

I'm okay with this. I don't see what people are so up in arms about, like Marshall basketball is supposed to be real good, every year. Seems to me like we're hardly good, any year. This isn't that bad.

You left out Dwight Freeman. Nevermind. Enough said.

 

[The Real SamC]

Players don’t get better year to year, is that your ignorant argument?

Yeah, DI players at 21 or 22 are generally better than DI players at 18 or 19.

The fundamental issue is not age, it is ability. Do some of these guy even belong in DI? Will this crew be better next year or the next? Sure. But they will, when they face the top 1/3 of CUSA that actually tries at basketball, still be not good enough to compete.

 

[whf2]

I think we will grow back to the top tier in C-USA with the players we have now, maybe a #4 or so repetitively. We'll be good enough to occasionally win the tourney and get a 15 slot in the NCAA on occasion. But this scenarios is partly created by the fact that DD did all he could, IMHO, to take advantage of the couple players that fell into his lap, Elmore and Watson (who was a master #6 for our conference). With two actually pretty good recruits, Burks and Peneva, he played his cards well. But without building a bench behind three seniors last year, the program has been set back to a mid first tier level for probably a decade.

 

[herdalicious]

The goal for most schools in college basketball that don't get one-and-done players is to assemble, develop, and congeal a core that you can add to as the years progress. This starts with a season where those players are "young" - as inexperienced at the collegiate level as they are playing with each other.

Over time, you expect that to improve, but at some point, that core will expend its eligibility and have to be replaced. This starts the process anew, and the cycle is never-ending.

 

[YouGotMossed]

. We should be in the upper third EVERY YEAR. We should win this league with great regularity. .

Why is it you think that? Based on what?

 

[marshallsig]

I think we will grow back to the top tier in C-USA with the players we have now, maybe a #4 or so repetitively. We'll be good enough to occasionally win the tourney and get a 15 slot in the NCAA on occasion. But this scenarios is partly created by the fact that DD did all he could, IMHO, to take advantage of the couple players that fell into his lap, Elmore and Watson (who was a master #6 for our conference). With two actually pretty good recruits, Burks and Peneva, he played his cards well. But without building a bench behind three seniors last year, the program has been set back to a mid first tier level for probably a decade.

A decade? That is an eternity for college basketball. You can turn things around pretty quick in basketball.

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

I think we should win the league with some regularity in football and basketball but obviously we don’t. When football gets whipped by lowly Charlotte two times in the last 4 years and b’ball gets toasted by USM by 50, we have issues. Time for both coaches to deliver more than they have.

 

[The Real SamC]

Why is it you think that? Based on what?

Asked and answered.

 

[YouGotMossed]

Asked and answered.

False

 

[The Real SamC]

False

True.

Please, other posters do not jump on me for repeating this yet again. Apparently this poster doesn’t get it, or, more likely, just wants to argue.

CUSA was formed for FOOTBALL. CUSA schools joined together to play FOOTBALL on the same level. Every CUSA school’s main athletic goal is to compete in FOOTBALL at the G5 level.

Men’s basketball, and everything else, was brought along for the ride. Vastly different histories, resources, ideas, goals, and fan and student interest. As it relates to men’s basketball, about 1/3rd of the league simply has no interest in men’s basketball at all. It is just something they play because they have to. Another third, smartly, know that they have limited resources and have put the vast majority of what they have into football. One effect of this is a ridiculous number of free parking victories out there in CUSA.

Leaving the last third. The third that has a fan base that cares, that has a basketball history, that has the resources to compete. MU is in that third.

Thus, being in the top third of CUSA in terms of resources, history, fan interest and level of institutional commitment, in terms of men’s basketball, it is obviously failure to not achieve that, every single year.

 

[5150]

Jesus H MF Christ, boys! This program is just coming off its first-ever NCAA win and a CIT Championship. Why are some of you so up in arms? Sometimes we've had four freshmen on the floor. Show some patience with these kids; one of them wasn't even allowed to play until this semester. Geesh!

Right

 

[YouGotMossed]

in terms of history, fan interest

Things that have nothing to do with winning basketball games. Marshall fans aren't interested in having a rabid student section fan base, just like the rest of CUSA. Marshall fans come to games and fill the Cam about half full at most, which is a little more than what most of the CUSA teams do, so it really has no bearing either way.

What does history have to do with winning games this year? Memphis (formerly Memphis State) was once a national powerhouse. St. Johns, UCLA, Houston, were all huge in past years. They all suck now. History doesn't win you games, and it doesn't mean Marshall should be in the top 3rd in CUSA. Their basketball history is no different than most of CUSA. The only teams where history matters are Duke, UNC, Kansas and Kentucky. Everyone outside the blue bloods don't have players coming for history.

I'm starting to think you have this delusion that Marshall (football or basketball) has this diamond in the rough fan base, history, talent, tradition, expectations, resources, or whatever else that somehow they should be the best program in CUSA. There is no merit to that whatsoever.

And yes I get it, several years ago we got a boner about a nice IAF (welcome to catching up to everyone else).... whoopity do

 

[GoHerdMarshallYes]

I am just trying to save certain people time & effort. The writing is on the wall. The D'Antoni's have unusually long life spans, so settle back & enjoy the ride...

So now they're superhuman?

Can't wait till you tell us they can walk on water.

 

[The Real SamC]

Things that have nothing to do with winning basketball games. ....whoopity do

TRANSLATION:

You accept mediocrity, actually far below mediocrity.

The only question that remains is, why are you here? If we poor little Marshall people should be grateful to even have a basketball team and should not, shudder, actually expect results, then why are you worried about it?

Why not just post stuff like “well, we showed up. That is really all we can expect. We are just Marshall.” ?

At least W-S HF and others like him have the Marshall love to live in a delusional world where we are good. You understand we aren’t but don’t care.

I demand better.

 

[GoHerdMarshallYes]

I know I have been defending Danny on here pretty fiercely. Reading todays HD article, It is so obvious that he has a method, a philosophy developed over 50 years in coaching. As has been stated by others, he loves working with the youngsters and veterans alike to make them better. He can see the long view with this current team. We are very young. Given time to develop, we are going to have a much more consistently successful program when he leaves than before he was named HC. And, probably most importantly? He could care less what the internet says about him or his guys; he has thick skin and the players respect him. 'nuff said - he's here until he decides to stop....

You can convert the Pontiace Fiero into a Lambo for a fraction of the cost, doesn't mean your car has the quality within to perform to what it's masked to be.

Same can be said about MU's basketball program...which is a pretty smart way to mask underachievement. It was so terrible for so long that one long year has given the program, what appears to be according to your post, at least 10 years of "but but we won an NCAA tournament game!!! Remember!!!" Then proceed to load up your youtube account, where the same tournament game and WKU final are the only things suggested since its literally all you'll have to present your case.

As I have said, it was unfortunate UMBC happened to pull the biggest upset of the sport (and probably top 5 all time) the same year MU won their game.
But regardless...nobody spoke of MU again, nobody has mentioned it since (except on here), and nobody seems to care.
It literally happens every year.

BTW "given time to develop" well, he developed the team quite quickly and relied too heavily on one single player to carry the team to relative high level consistency.

Thats not Dan's fault, but I believe he achieved too much too quickly and now he is deservedly getting heat for not remaining consistent.
There is zero excuse for Elmore...Dan had an entire season and a half to find a replacement and groom him to play, at the very least, develop an existing roster player. He hasn't, and it has shown.

 

[muthed]

TRANSLATION:

You accept mediocrity, actually far below mediocrity.

The only question that remains is, why are you here? If we poor little Marshall people should be grateful to even have a basketball team and should not, shudder, actually expect results, then why are you worried about it?

Why not just post stuff like “well, we showed up. That is really all we can expect. We are just Marshall.” ?

At least W-S HF and others like him have the Marshall love to live in a delusional world where we are good. You understand we aren’t but don’t care.

I demand better.

Why then, do you not demand more than mediocrity from the football program?

 

[whf2]

A decade? That is an eternity for college basketball. You can turn things around pretty quick in basketball.

You CAN turn things around in basketball with two top tier recruits in C -USA in a single class, we've seen that. But you have to get them. I'm saying that a couple years of 12 - 18, or 13 - 17, it will take a long time to find a way to get those kids in Marshall's program. DD means a lot to many of us, but a lot to the general public of Basketball. If he was by name all we sometimes think he is, we'd be a continuing powerhouse by now. We have not built on the NCAA win, it did now bring D1 ready kids to the program, he has not distinguished himself as a draw in the recruiting process. These are just facts; no slam meant on DD, just facts.
';
Just like in football, I sometimes thing we still believe the plane crash and the movie are emotional attractions and set MU up for a leg up in recruiting. The kids we are recruiting are third generation removed from our tragedy, third generation.

Time moves on, kids are attracted to today's visions, toys, and talents. It doesn't mean our coaches are bad people, they're just not national figures, nor is the school a national attraction by name.

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Why then, do you not demand more than mediocrity from the football program?

Yep. He says the b’ball program is mediocre but lavishes praise on a football program that’s lost to Charlotte TWICE in 4 years. I think we’re the only D1 school to do that.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

So now they're superhuman?

Can't wait till you tell us they can walk on water.

GHMY - welp, Lewis lived to 104, I believe, so there's that.....