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Post by aces44 on Jan 12, 2020 9:11:39 GMT -6
First time posting here. I’ve been reading the messages on here for the last two weeks. In my 40 years of being an Aces fan, I have to say I cannot remember a time I have been more embarrassed than I am today. We are literally the joke of college basketball right now. Outside of having roughly 1000 more people in the seats and the coach shaking a few more hands than Simmons did at the end of his tenure, how are we a better program than we were three years ago? Stats don’t tell the entire story, but they tell a lot. When you compare current year stats versus Simmons’ last year, we are scoring 9 more points a game and giving up 13 more. We are currently at or near the bottom of every defensive category in the conference for the season. A lot of people didn’t like the slower pace Simmons ran and the lack of 3-point shooting. Well, this year we are making 3 more shots from long range than we were two years ago...and we currently have the second-worst 3-point percentage in the conference. The “5-out” offense produces either a quick three, or a shot-clock dwindling game of drive and dish. Which...again...was a complaint of the former coach. Finally, The promises of a tougher schedule haven’t come through. I understand many people won’t agree with my thoughts. I also am not saying it wasn’t time for a change a couple of years ago. However I Agree that the problems run deeper than Coach McCarty’s current situation. There is no leader. Kids are arguing with the coaches on the court. Our scoring leader wants everyone to know every time he scores. Worst of all, there is no pride. No one is playing for their teammate. No one is making each other better. And this is not just in the last two weeks. Here is my assessment: outside of one glorious night last November, we are in a worse situation than we were three years ago. Final thought: one area that the current coach has done well in is raising money and fan support. I think we can all agree the university has helped with this tremendously with promotions, new branding, and creating excitement. But where was that before? Would be interested to know there wasn’t that much support in the three-four years prior to our current coach. I think to get real answers or real change, we need to bark higher up the tree than the basketball coach.... We are in a much better place than we were 3 years ago for reasons that I discussed on the Aces Hoopcast Long Story Short: Historical Financial Statements > Pro Forma Statements
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Post by E-Villan on Jan 12, 2020 10:32:36 GMT -6
We are in a much better place than we were 3 years ago for reasons that I discussed on the Aces Hoopcast Long Story Short: Historical Financial Statements > Pro Forma Statements Welcome acefamily...first I will say if you haven't listened to the Aces Hoopcast, I would strongly suggest it. Not only does he do an excellent job explaining why we are in a better place, the info in those shows are invaluable to any Aces fan. Good question on the lack of support. If you read the old board during those final years, you would have seen many of us screaming on that very subject...the need for marketing, fan engagement, etc. Why do we have it now and not during the Simmons years? I think it comes down to two main reasons, the leadership and the coach. Leadership - Remember Pres P. came the same time McCarty did. He was not here during the Simmons era. Unlike his predecessors, Pres P and his wife both have athletic backgrounds and I believe fully understand the importance of a competitive D-1 program to the university. That clearly wasn't the case in the past. I think the AD and staff basically had their hands tied beforehand. Coach - You can't go out and schedule caravan stops, speaking engagements, etc if the coach is unwilling to do it. There is no question there was a serious disconnect from Simmons with the community, fans, students and probably even the university staff. I have heard from more than one source that the reason we didn't have the band was primarily due to a riff between the coach and the music department. I don't want to turn this into another Simmons bash, but it is clear McCarty did a much better job of engaging everyone. Going forward, it is absolutely critical we continue that synergy between all parties. This program cannot isolate itself from everyone again, regardless of the outcome of the investigation.
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Post by acecard on Jan 12, 2020 11:33:20 GMT -6
family, I certainly agree with the tenor of your post. Yes, in some ways we are in a better position than we were three years ago, but in some other ways, mainly the results on the basketball floor, we are certainly no better than we were under Simmons. We were a last place team last year, and we will be a last place team again this year. We may, and I say may, have been a Thursday team with DeAndre in the lineup, but we are surely a last place team without him. I realize that DeAndre's injury is nobodies fault, but the results of this year are there for anyone to see. This opinion is based only on results for play in the Missouri Valley Conference.
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Post by Atlanta Ace on Jan 12, 2020 11:54:08 GMT -6
I apologize for the negative nature here, just very frustrated. I’m not against anyone. This program is truly special...and always has been. Just hoping we can move forward and truly breakthrough. No need to apologize acefamily. There are a lot of us here who are frustrated as well. Welcome to the board.
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Post by E-Villan on Jan 12, 2020 12:13:25 GMT -6
I owe acefamily and the board an apology. I accidentally deleted their last post, which I completely agreed with. I was responding to it and somehow screwed up the quote, so it didn't read well. I intended to delete my response and resubmit it, but apparently I deleted the original post instead.
Please resubmit it and your thoughts. They are good points.
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Post by acefamily on Jan 12, 2020 12:21:47 GMT -6
Any way to recover deleted message?
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Post by aces44 on Jan 12, 2020 12:29:26 GMT -6
I certainly meant no disrespect to Acefamily.
Welcome to the board. We are all feeling it and have many emotions right now.
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Post by E-Villan on Jan 12, 2020 12:32:34 GMT -6
Any way to recover deleted message? Apparently not..have been trying to since I did it.
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Post by acefamily on Jan 12, 2020 17:37:09 GMT -6
Apologize for the delay. Can’t completely reconstruct what I initially said. My memory isn’t that great.
I completely agree that the synergy of campus support needs to continue.
This entire situation Is a huge embarrassment for the university. We have not faced this situation before....EVER. And my meaning in that we are not any better than we were 2-3 years ago is that our program is currently moving backwards. Sure we have more money and some more support, but situations like this takes years to recover from. 15 years ago we had a president talking to the rotary club about re-evaluating our athletic program and mentioned “division 3”. That put the program back at least 5 years. We are moving towards replacing a coach again and having another “national search”. This will put the program back another 2-3 years. And the product on the floor is declining.
I agree that the support from the athletic department comes easier with a leader willing to work with them. However, leaders have to own the negative with the positive. For as many positives the current leader has done for the program, this is a negative that outweighs most if not all.
Again, apologize for the negative tone. This is a very special program and always has been. I just want to see this program finally break through. This is a program that has been very special to me and my family...like it has to many in the area. And we have always loved how it is a program that does things “the right way”...and I want to see that continue. No one person is bigger than the program.
No need to apologize Rex. Loved watching you play in the 90s. This is all just so frustrating.
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Post by castle69 on Jan 16, 2020 19:58:14 GMT -6
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Post by acecard on Jan 16, 2020 20:24:42 GMT -6
So. Ill is a team I wouldn't want to face in St. Louis. They may be little challenged on offense, but they are tough as nails on defense. They have a couple real nice freshman, and Domask is a candidate for freshman of the year.
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Post by castle69 on Jan 16, 2020 21:05:49 GMT -6
Agree...trouble w/ Domask is that he spends too much time outside. A kid his size (6'7")should get tip-ins & offensive boards. He's primarily a spot shooter. Needs to work on INSIDE shot diversity this Summer. SIU was just 5/26 from 3 tonight (Domask 1/3). Only 1 FT says it all...so much talent being under utilized.
See Mullin's comments re: Domask:
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