Rambling0101 wrote:
I will make a prediction...over the next 3 seasons, we do not achieve a better than .500 record in the A10 and Coach V is let go at that time. And I totally disagree that you won't get a good coach or become DePaul if you let him go.
LU has brand, a recent final 4 and sweet 16...last I checked that was some 44 years ago for DePaul (final 4) and 36 years ago (sweet 16). DePaul's mistake was (outside of Leito's 1st run) poor hiring...that is what knocked the program down.
I don't want to single you out or be a jerk, but this kind of thinking is wrong. It's dumb and harmful to the program.
When Moser was hired, I was living in Normal, Illinois where he'd been a losing coach for four years and was fired. So I was very much against the Moser hiring at Loyola. I tweeted when it happened that I was upset.
I got even more upset when Moser drove kids out of the program in his first year. As a result, Loyola set a Loyola AND Horizon League record (needlessly, in my opinion) for most conference games lost in a season in his first year. In his second year, he lost about five conference games by 3 points or less (I can't remember the talking point the Athletic Department press releases put out), which was supposed to show we were moving in the right direction, but to me (at the time) showed he was a shit-ass coach in crunch time.
In his third year, we joined the MVC, and even after the shitty 2011-12 and 2012-13, Moser's record managed to get worse. His players (the ones he recruited) did stupid things like go outside barefoot in -15 degree temperatures and some couldn't play because of that injury. No discipline. No athleticism. The big men were stiffs, and the guards were slow. No direction.
After year THREE at Loyola, Moser was 32-61 overall. He was 10-42 in conference games. In year THREE. Remember, he was hired after they fired a coach who was ABOVE .500 overall AND the year he was fired. Remember, he had five straight losing seasons at two different schools, and SEVEN straight losing seasons in conference play.
I hated the Moser hire until somewhere around the fourth game of season four (2014-15), where we beat UTSA on the road. I thought the defense we used, without any players taller than 6'7", was pretty ingenious. When we followed it up with a win at Kent State in the next game, that was the first time I believed that Moser could coach. Year FOUR.
Loyola had a brand before Moser's several excellent years, and we have a brand after. I personally never meshed with Moser's personality. He seemed like a used car salesman to me. But after a few games in YEAR FOUR of his Loyola coaching run and YEAR ELEVEN of a previously undistinguished career, I finally got enough evidence to realize he could coach.
I realized Coach Valentine knew how to coach last year-- his first year-- when he made changes to his early starting lineups to maximize his players' talents, energy, and mismatches. He showed the flexibility to change focus, pivot to players that weren't in the original plan, and learn during the season. I've watched a lot of college basketball, and the main thing we're struggling with this year is a gap in athleticism, speed and length between the MVC and A10.
Please, folks. Use your heads, be patient. Be sensible. We've changed conferences-- to a league that's more challenging, has higher budgets, recruits differently, values different skills, and requires different travel patterns. We've got a team where the entire roster had like seven total games of experience against any A-10 team coming into the year. Our roster only had about six players out of the 11 added to it when we knew we were going to the A-10-- two of them are one and done grad transfers, one (Edwards) was a portal transfer, the others are freshmen.
Next year we'll have Miles Rubin, an athletic, 6'10" rim protector from one of the best high school programs in the country. Alston will be back, and ready to pair some strategery with his high motor and physical talents. We'll have really promising, physical guards Jayden Dawson and Jalen Quinn as sophomores, bulked up a little more-- they've both shown great things as freshmen. Ben Schweiger is a really athletic and versatile player who will have an off-season to work on muscles, free throws, and defense. We'll probably go to the juco level and transfer portal to get some inside players with length and versatility. And folks...... I mean it.... I think Hutty will have a meaningful role next year. He has weaknesses, yes..... speed, hops, etc. But he has some things that a lot of other A-10 teams can't match-- sheer size, footwork, a soft touch from a big guy, ability to pass, ability to hit a three well enough to spread the defense.... Now I've got myself psyched up for next year....