Post-Lickliter Head Coach Tyra Buss

It's just as lame as the people that play the card when someone disagrees with their idea.

I am assuming there is some misunderstanding of my original comment. I was expecting someone to lay the "sexist card" on ME for stating that there are some rapport advantages of having the coach the same gender as the team. While I didn't get the sexist card, a comparison to Selma for stating I would like there to be some substance along with the splash is equally ridiculous.

Regardless, this isn't a final, and no one needs to be condescendingly graded as if it was.

I've moved from 'Hey, there is some merit to a new approach to a failing program' to 'When do we discuss how to improve the UE men's program?'


I think we all agree that if Tyra Buss were promoted to head coach of the women's team, they'd automatically be a different team. Maybe not better because the people who recruited the team apparently don't have much of a clue. That isn't to disparage the women who play for UE; it's meant to ridicule people who are indifferent to the program and who keep people on staff whose record is not even worth laughing at.

Now, to say that a woman can or could make UE a better men's program ... I'd have to say there is a chance of that. There is also a real good chance that it wouldn't matter since we've had an Aces all-time star followed by an All-American star followed by a guy who helped build a national contender and so far, it's not making me giddy.

I don't want to throw Lickliter into the hot water basin and I don't know if he deserves any credit for much. He didn't win any games last year and he's got some nice slotted excuses for this year's team.


But back to Tyra Buss and the assertion that maybe UE would benefit if she were the head coach. Not much research went into that and we all should at least take the comment for what it's worth -- where does UE go after Lickliter?

Comments about 'sexism' simply deflect us into the anger zone again. UE needs to do something right, which is different from doing something, even if it's wrong. It's not like winning at basketball in the MVC is an arcane secret understood only by a select few. 

Overall nice discussion between games. I'll let it go at that. Thanks to all who participated. Tomorrow we'll have another game to discuss, hopefully a win.  

Cuz he's a man silly.  Only women do that.

Good discussion.  I am not arguing that coaching at different levels is exactly the same.  I am saying that if you are a good coach you can coach both women and men, and at different levels.  A lot of great college and even NBA coaches began coaching high school.  Greg Popovich coached Division III before the Spurs.  Assessing talent, devising an approach and strategy appropriate for your setting, motivating players and getting them to buy into your vision, skill development, surrounding yourself with coaches with complementary skills and recruiting the best players you can who are good fits for your program translate to various levels.  Good people skills certainly help.  There is no doubt that some coaches are not flexible enough or would not be comfortable at various levels or with both men and women, but I still say that if you can coach, you can coach.  Male coaches have gone from the NBA to WNBA and nobody bats an eye. 

Brad Stevens made the leap from Butler to Boston and they've been quite successful. Of course, pro teams are built differently than college teams and clearly different from high school or even academy teams. I think a lot of it comes down to whether the players are confident of their coaching leadership. They will do what they are told within reason at the upper levels. You could even have had Cunliffe play with his back to the rim and he'd do it for awhile but the consequences would be disruptive. Sure, a tough coach can say, "do it my way or hit the highway." You can get away with that once but eventually players are going to reject that and you will end up with a pretty bad program.