This won't be what many of you are expecting...I'll just tell you that up front. The summary of my Bruiseresque diatribe is that I have alot of thoughts, but no answers...
I'm over the emotions of today's loss. Moving on. I hate getting caught up in the back and forth like I've allowed myself to do today. It's the single most divisive thing that our fanbase participates in, and it never helps anything at all. When it comes to basketball, we literally might as well call ourselves Ole Miss. The back and forth is that divisive and ridiculous. The worst part? The conviction of both sides is becoming so deeply-seeded that it is becoming increasingly impossible to ever reunite us all back on the same page. That's truly sad, and everybody suffers in this scenario.
Now, moving on. How do we ever get past this? Unfortunately, it isn't going to be easy or quick. The quickest possible way, IMO, would be the hiring of a new coach that comes in and immediately has greater success than Stans ever has, while getting the fans/players to buy into changing the culture around the program. Greater success than we've had before is the ONLY possible uniting factor, whether it comes from Stans or a new coach. Unfortunately, it is UNLIKELY that the new guy could come in and immediately have greater success, and if it doesn't happen quickly, you just end up with an even more greatly divided fanbase, which becomes even harder on the 3rd new coach(and we can again compare ourselves to Ole Miss). For this reason, I'm "scared" of the proposition of firing Stansbury. This is the best we've ever been in basketball, and maybe we truly are just plain spoiled by the success we've enjoyed. I'm not beyond the idea of this possibility. Unfortunately, there is NO WAY to decisively know the right answer until we've been down that road...
Now, the problem I have with Stans, beyond the well-known floor/practice complaints, is that he simply does NOT fit in idealistically or stylistically with the current athletics administration at State. He was the best part of the previous administration. No question. Cohen, Mullen, Stricklin, Steudeman, and Keenum are all a particular "type" of people who are charismatic, promote the HECK out of their programs, constantly involve the fans, are considered cutting-edge top-notch hires in their profession, and are very capable of firing up the fanbase. At this point, Stans is none of these things unfortunately. Our basketball program, IMO, is dying the same death now that our baseball program died the last few years under Polk in terms of dwindling crowds and fan support. The product on the court is not nearly as bad, but the people in the seats are going down a similar path. Going into the 4th season since the change, baseball is STILL has not fully recovered from that. Hopefully, we are back at 70-80% this year, but it's been hard to get people to buy in for Cohen. It'll be EVERY BIT as hard for the next potential basketball coach. Fortunately though, the cupboard in basketball is not nearly as bare as it was in baseball, and EFFORT is something that is far more easily seen.
I could fully get behind ANY team...even if they are a .500 team full of lightly-recruited 3*s...if they showed me great heart and determination. We haven't seen that consistently in a long time on our basketball team. How can the fans allow themselves to care, if the team itself doesn't? That's one of the things that makes today's loss sting so bad...because we actually DID see a glimpse of this approach 2 nights ago against Ole Miss. Seeing the potential get approached, then immediately thereafter seeing it get utterly wasted, is a tough pill to swallow, regardless of who is actually at fault for it happening...
I'm over the emotions of today's loss. Moving on. I hate getting caught up in the back and forth like I've allowed myself to do today. It's the single most divisive thing that our fanbase participates in, and it never helps anything at all. When it comes to basketball, we literally might as well call ourselves Ole Miss. The back and forth is that divisive and ridiculous. The worst part? The conviction of both sides is becoming so deeply-seeded that it is becoming increasingly impossible to ever reunite us all back on the same page. That's truly sad, and everybody suffers in this scenario.
Now, moving on. How do we ever get past this? Unfortunately, it isn't going to be easy or quick. The quickest possible way, IMO, would be the hiring of a new coach that comes in and immediately has greater success than Stans ever has, while getting the fans/players to buy into changing the culture around the program. Greater success than we've had before is the ONLY possible uniting factor, whether it comes from Stans or a new coach. Unfortunately, it is UNLIKELY that the new guy could come in and immediately have greater success, and if it doesn't happen quickly, you just end up with an even more greatly divided fanbase, which becomes even harder on the 3rd new coach(and we can again compare ourselves to Ole Miss). For this reason, I'm "scared" of the proposition of firing Stansbury. This is the best we've ever been in basketball, and maybe we truly are just plain spoiled by the success we've enjoyed. I'm not beyond the idea of this possibility. Unfortunately, there is NO WAY to decisively know the right answer until we've been down that road...
Now, the problem I have with Stans, beyond the well-known floor/practice complaints, is that he simply does NOT fit in idealistically or stylistically with the current athletics administration at State. He was the best part of the previous administration. No question. Cohen, Mullen, Stricklin, Steudeman, and Keenum are all a particular "type" of people who are charismatic, promote the HECK out of their programs, constantly involve the fans, are considered cutting-edge top-notch hires in their profession, and are very capable of firing up the fanbase. At this point, Stans is none of these things unfortunately. Our basketball program, IMO, is dying the same death now that our baseball program died the last few years under Polk in terms of dwindling crowds and fan support. The product on the court is not nearly as bad, but the people in the seats are going down a similar path. Going into the 4th season since the change, baseball is STILL has not fully recovered from that. Hopefully, we are back at 70-80% this year, but it's been hard to get people to buy in for Cohen. It'll be EVERY BIT as hard for the next potential basketball coach. Fortunately though, the cupboard in basketball is not nearly as bare as it was in baseball, and EFFORT is something that is far more easily seen.
I could fully get behind ANY team...even if they are a .500 team full of lightly-recruited 3*s...if they showed me great heart and determination. We haven't seen that consistently in a long time on our basketball team. How can the fans allow themselves to care, if the team itself doesn't? That's one of the things that makes today's loss sting so bad...because we actually DID see a glimpse of this approach 2 nights ago against Ole Miss. Seeing the potential get approached, then immediately thereafter seeing it get utterly wasted, is a tough pill to swallow, regardless of who is actually at fault for it happening...
