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8 losses in the last 9 games to go from 9-3 to 10-11. Outside of the Michigan game, we have shown no ability to beat a decent team.
Do we have a coaching problem or a talent problem? Or a bit of both?
The scary thing is that we are starting 3 seniors including a very good player in Raeshawn Gaffney. I don't see much hope on the horizon.
We really haven't had good recruiting since McGuff. Perhaps the powers that be at Xavier should take a close look at the Thomas More Coach. He wins consistently and seldom even "takes prisoners"! I realize he's putting teams on the floor that are two levels below the Big East (Division 1), but the guy gets results and is even doing it this year without Sydney Moss! He's either a great recruiter or a great practice and game coach (or a combination of both)! I think he has two D-3 NCAA Championships under his belt and his current team was undefeated at 19-0, winning most games by 30 or more points.
Brian Neal WAS the Thomas More coach before the current guy (Jeff Hans):
http://goxavier.com/coaches.aspx?rc=204&path=wbball
Quote:
Neal spent the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons as an assistant coach on the Xavier staff before being appointed head coach. Prior to Xavier, he was the head coach of Thomas More's women's program for seven years.
Neal posted a 171-31 (.847) overall record at Thomas More with six consecutive 20-win seasons and five consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championships. Neal was a four-time recipient of the PAC Coach of the Year Award and was twice named the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year.
The Saints made five straight NCAA Championship appearances during Neal's tenure. In 2010-11, Thomas More earned the school's first-ever No. 1 ranking and posted the program's second undefeated regular season in four years while advancing to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Division III Championship for the second time in three seasons. In March of 2011, he was named the Russell Athletics/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Region Six Division III Coach of the Year.
Yeah, we've been down that road already. I really have to wonder if X should have just cleaned house and started over again after Amy Waugh's departure.Quote:
Originally Posted by usfldan
Then I look at what Mike Neighbors has done at Washington. Makes me shake my head.
Waugh was also hired over Jonathan Tsipis, who was at the time at Notre Dame. All he did after being passed over was take GW from the cellar to the top of the A10, with a top-5 WNBA draft pick, national ranking, and back-to-back NCAA appearances in four years. He's now at Wisconsin.Quote:
Originally Posted by cinskyline
Yep. I actually forgot about that. X misfired greatly on the Waugh hiring, and it has cost them dearly.Quote:
Originally Posted by HomerCecil
Well, with today's 18 point loss @ Georgetown, the team has now dropped 10 of the last 11 games.
While our talent isn't great, I think we should still be a lot better than we are. Especially given that there have been almost no injuries.
X should seriously consider a coaching change after the season. It's beyond embarrassing at this point.
I have a mini pack and I have seen this team blow games at the end in the same fashion. They freak out and throw the ball away, have really low basketball IQ. I don't think the talent level is quite there but now they are just getting blown out lately. Team plays with no sense of urgency and I wonder about chemistry. I am willing to give Neal another year but I would think he might be a short leash.
Like the men's team, the women apparently can't shoot FTs either. I happened to catch the end and OT against Villanova on TV. Make a couple of FTs and they win in regulation.
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I haven't seen them play this year, but have watched the results. It seems like they were playing pretty well at the beginning of the year. Yes, the schedule was not difficult, but they did beat a Michigan team that (until this week) was ranked and is in third in the Big Ten, and they also beat Cincinnati, who's actually having a decent year. Things seem to have fallen apart the latter half of the season. I agree that Neal did not take over a good situation (to put it mildly), but this year hasn't been a step forward. Anybody know what kind of recruiting class is coming in?
Women finally got a W on Sunday. Maybe they can make som noise in BE tournament. They got nothing to lose.
Looking forward to cheering them on in Milwaukee. Full Xavier day with the men's game vs DePaul at 1PM in Chicago and Women's Big East tourney in Milwaukee at 4PM (Chicago times).
Neal got to go! Big East record 31-53 4 years = enough said!
His record wouldn't bother me as much if I thought the program was making progress. But, I don't see that happening. In fact, next year may be worse than the previous one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Vikingballer
These terrible year to year records shouldn't be acceptable at X. I really wonder what happened to get into the pattern that we are currently in.
http://media.mlive.com/sportsnow_imp...2995-large.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by cinskyline
Waugh can't be responsible for the current condition of this program. Neal has had more than enough to get it on track.
He's had the talent over the past 4 years to complete in this conference. The problem is the players didn't like him! The same is true for many season ticket holders and faculty members. He's just not a likable guy! There's a reason we've had high turnover in the coaching staff. He's a difficult dude! AD is In a bad position with daughter in the program. However, he must make it right for all season ticket holders, alumni, and musketeers fans. Xavier will have no problem hiring a true winner for all of us to be proud of...!
I am happily going to renew my season tickets tomorrow for WBB. Proud to continue to support the team. I find Coach Neal quite likable and have appreciated some frank discussions I've had with him. I've always seen him represent the university well at events. I have trust in our AD to make the best decisions for Xavier. As a fan, I'll cheer them on whether it's all rosy or even when it's bumpy. Glad V-baller is taking an interest and is expressing some valid opinions. Hope to meet others at games this year.
I find the timing of the rebirth of this thread interesting....
Can you tell us why, Muskie? Do you know something we don't know?Quote:
Originally Posted by Muskie
It came from a new poster. Wasn't Ehlen stepping down from the same position that Dave Bezold (former NKU men's coach) filled recently?
An intriguing news.
Just that this thread is months old. New poster dug it up to comment.Quote:
Originally Posted by muskienick
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