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Herd Basketball

oldeherd

Gold Buffalo
Jan 24, 2014
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1,849
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OK, its December 23, 2014, and, 12 games into the current season, Herd men's basketball is 4-8, with losses to a 4-10 Morehead team and we have just lost to a 2 and 8 Nevada team by 28 points. This team and season are rapidly approaching the dumpster, if not already there. Double digit wins for the season would border on miraculous. Only maybe home games with Rice and FIU appear as possibilities for a "W". This is the reality of the state of a once proud, and frankly, long dormant, basketball program that is hardly relevant in Huntington, almost non-existent to most of the rest of the state, and essentially flat lined in terms of any "national" relevance.

This fact cannot be lost on Mike Hamrick. And he, along with most knowledgeable Herd fans, know that we are in the painful throes of a massive rebuilding program, virtually from the ground up, basketball wise.

A lot of threads have indicated that it would be a positive thing if we tarped a large portion of Edwards Stadium, or even tore down much of the end zone seating, to make our crowds more appealing on television (make the stadium appear more full, suggesting a greater interest in the football program).

What do you think of a similar idea for the Henderson Center for the rest of this season? As a good will gesture from the AD, knowing the status of our basketball program currently, I believe he should rope off/block all the "nosebleed" bleacher seats for remaining home games. Let all fans sit in chairbacks, lower, then, upper, until these sections are filled, regardless of what tickets were purchased, general admission or reserved.

Some would argue this" cheats" lower bowl season ticket purchasers, of which I am one (2 season tickets). I haven't been to a game yet, including against rival Morehead State, and the "power" school games, where there weren't "gobs" of empty seats through the reserved sections of the arena. At the Penn State game, my wife and I were virtually alone in an entire row of lower chairbacks. Until we reach a point, which appears highly unlikely this season, that ALL chairbacks are TAKEN/SOLD, then I think the AD needs to say NO more general admission tickets will be sold. Sell the available chairbacks at general admission prices to the public, thereby telling HERD fans that the administration acknowledges the basketball situation and fan frustration, but WANTS THEIR SUPPORT for the rest of this season, and for, hopefully, better days ahead in coming seasons!
 
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I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting this year.

Everyone knew this season was going to be rough.
 
This was a high risk/reward hire. Add to that DD doesn't really have a D1 roster and it's gonna be tough sledding for 2-3 years at least. Jmo.

My big concern is can the man and this staff recruit enough quality talent to finish in the top 3-4 of CUSA in the future. Not sure.
 
There will have to be significant roster turnover in the off-season to have any chance of moving forward.

Need at least 3 scholarship non-seniors to "decide" to continue their careers elsewhere.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think Nikolic will ever contribute at this level. I know that Mijovic won't.
 
I'm actually shocked that he has kept some of these games as close as he has. That shows me he is a basketball genious as a coach. Some of you may not know basketball or who the players on the team are. But DD has almost zero talent to work with. He had TWO players that had D1 talent in Taylor and Smith. Smith is gone for most of the season if not all of it. That leaves Taylor. If you thought this year was going to be anything other than what it was, WOW. I'm shocked Louisville just won by 20. And we had WV down until they rallied and won by 4. DD will get there but it will take a couple more years. Why don't you give a true Marshall alum the same time you gave a WV man (DOC)? And maybe DD could schedule all creampuffs?
 
Not sure if either Seb will develop but I do know that DD is determined to give them minutes. Personally, I feel Tameron Manning should be getting a lot more minutes. No doubt his stat line (even when given limited minutes) jumps out. I get letting the new players gain experience, but we are certainly better when Manning is on the floor.

I really do believe Nikolic has a huge upside. Heck, put Manning and Nikolic on the floor together for extended minutes and let's see what happens.
 
DD had to clean house some so this program could move forward. This year will be tough but it will get better. He is one heck of a coach I say. Here is my prediction. He will fill the roster with no names, coach them up and we will end up with a team that has a chance to go to the dance in the future. 20 win seasons will be the norm not the exception. Just give it time.
 
Before the season I predicted 9 wins... This program was a mess when DD took over. It is going to take more than one season to fix. I will be happy if the team continues to play hard and doesnt quit on the season.

The good thing is, in basketball, you only need 2-3 good recruits to pan out to turn a program around. Let's hope those recruits come in for next season.
 
oldeherd surely you did not expect more than what you are seeing even with a D'Antoni coaching? The season is not in the dumpster just yet but even a 500 finish more than likely will not happen. Danny is going to have to get some better recruits than what he has currently signed and, IMO, is probably a good two years away from making us a real team once again.
 
The thing is DD also knows this. He is not going to come out and say this team has no chance. But he knows what he has and he also knows where he is headed.
 
Tarp and rope off the nosebleeds?


No. Honestly I think the empty seating would be a good motivator for the team to improve.
 
We won't 10 games this year and lucky to win 10 next year if we don't get a point guard worth a damn
 
A PG would be fine but Dan's system needs 4 players who can handle and shoot.

I don't see 10 wins this year....Maybe 12ish next. In the 3rd year we'll know if he and his staff can recruit.
 
These response indicate 2 facts: It is going to take time to right the MU basketball ship and the key to the process is recruiting. My concern is that I hope DD is not reliving the 1960s and thinking he can build a program by recruiting the State of WV generally and southern WV in particular. HE is NOT going to build a quality Div. 1 program by recruiting heavily in Pineville, Mullens, Logan, etc. There is NOT that much quality D-1 talent produced in WV every year with which to build 1 quality major program, much less 2 (WVU). We've all been down that road before and been burned when it comes to transfers. Just look at the previous coaching staff, how many of the transfers brought in were said by many on this and other boards to be sure fire, can't miss super stars in waiting just ready to blossom for the Herd. And we know how that turned out.

We have a transfer from Miami, whose stats there were mundane, at best, and a D-II transfer from Fairmont. Apparently, from some comments some feel he will be another Stockton or Nash. How many times can anyone remember a D-II transfer who really blossomed at the D-1 level, albeit the CUSA level? I truly hope he does, but the odds are not favorable.

We have 2 seniors who are 6'9" centers. Who will replace them? The Big Serb? Not hardly at this stage. Look at our last 3 losses; we've been murdered on the boards and in the paint. Minimal second hand points. No D on the defensive boards; last night a bad Nevada team outscored us 4 to 5 to 1 on the inside and Ark State had a 6'8" player who had 20 points and 20 boards. Our three bigs had about 5 points and 8 rebounds total (or visa versa).

So recruiting is the key for next year and beyond. We have a 6'5" "wing" type player from KY whose stats are so-so. Kelly, from Miami, is 6'8", but is his game inside or outside? We have Taylor, who tries to take it inside and gives a lot of effort there, but he is undersized, and the lack of other inside threat makes him a marked man. The 2 guys DD ran off, Goard and the player from Denver, Thomas (?), were our only other consistent inside scoring and rebounding threats returning from last year.

So, I agree with a lot of the comments here. Can this staff get it down in next couple of recruiting cycles? The needs are clear to everyone: better talent is needed across the board; quality point guard and couple of quality interior players are needed ASAP. What the program cannot tolerate are more "projects", whether from Africa, Serbia or good ole West by God!
 
Originally posted by ARandomHerdFan:
I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting this year.

Everyone knew this season was going to be rough.
This. I have written this year off with the transition and dismissals. We will be much improved next year.
 
Stay patient with the program. Marshall basketball will soar in the next couple years. Word is Elmore is on the way and him and Browning in the backcourt for years to come will be fun. Taylor is a good player with much upside and can help the team a lot. Haven't seen the Miami kid play much but a big man or two could really help.
 
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