LRTrojan made- his teams have gotten better and better every year. However, it is also important to remember that when he came in the program was at rock bottom and had nowhere to go but up.

Before Steve, Porter had conference records of 9-7, 8-6, and 8-6. Steve clearly improved the next 2 years at 9-5 and 10-4. Then we had a setback having two seasons of 5-9 and 8-10. Last year we were 11-7 and won 20 games for the first time in forever. We have a good chance to improve on our conference record this year. So if we continue our success this year, Steve will have had 4 very good seasons and two down (but not disasterous) seasons in 6 years. That's obviously not good enough for some folks, but realistically its a rare midmajor program (i.e. Gonzaga) that doesn't have occasional down seasons.

(01-14-2009 09:11 PM)mjs Wrote:  LRTrojan made- his teams have gotten better and better every year. However, it is also important to remember that when he came in the program was at rock bottom and had nowhere to go but up.

Before Steve, Porter had conference records of 9-7, 8-6, and 8-6. Steve clearly improved the next 2 years at 9-5 and 10-4. Then we had a setback having two seasons of 5-9 and 8-10. Last year we were 11-7 and won 20 games for the first time in forever. We have a good chance to improve on our conference record this year. So if we continue our success this year, Steve will have had 4 very good seasons and two down (but not disasterous) seasons in 6 years. That's obviously not good enough for some folks, but realistically its a rare midmajor program (i.e. Gonzaga) that doesn't have occasional down seasons.

Come on Mickey, Shields has been basically an average coach at best. You say that Foley's teams have improved each year, but "it's important to remember that when he came in the program was at rock bottom and had nowhere to go but up".

That's my point, Foley brought his team from rock bottom to where it is today. Shields followed three straight 18 win seasons, and hasn't improved things overall. Foley has had two straight 20 win seasons, did make it to the NIT, and that after taking over a program that had won only 24 games in the four years the program had existed. With the win tonight, he'll have a record of 91-70 record in five and one half seasons.

As of tonight, Steve's record in five and one half seasons is 93-71. Now tell me again who has done the best job, with improvement each year.

If we're talking about whether or not we need to replace Steve, your opinion is as good as mine, but if we're talking about who has done the better job at UALR, Steve or Joe, in improving their respective programs, then your argument doesn't have a leg to stand on. The facts speak for themselves.

(01-14-2009 09:59 PM)LRTrojan Wrote:  

(01-14-2009 09:11 PM)mjs Wrote:  LRTrojan made- his teams have gotten better and better every year. However, it is also important to remember that when he came in the program was at rock bottom and had nowhere to go but up.

Before Steve, Porter had conference records of 9-7, 8-6, and 8-6. Steve clearly improved the next 2 years at 9-5 and 10-4. Then we had a setback having two seasons of 5-9 and 8-10. Last year we were 11-7 and won 20 games for the first time in forever. We have a good chance to improve on our conference record this year. So if we continue our success this year, Steve will have had 4 very good seasons and two down (but not disasterous) seasons in 6 years. That's obviously not good enough for some folks, but realistically its a rare midmajor program (i.e. Gonzaga) that doesn't have occasional down seasons.

Come on Mickey, Shields has been basically an average coach at best. You say that Foley's teams have improved each year, but "it's important to remember that when he came in the program was at rock bottom and had nowhere to go but up".

That's my point, Foley brought his team from rock bottom to where it is today. Shields followed three straight 18 win seasons, and hasn't improved things overall. Foley has had two straight 20 win seasons, did make it to the NIT, and that after taking over a program that had won only 24 games in the four years the program had existed. With the win tonight, he'll have a record of 91-70 record in five and one half seasons.

As of tonight, Steve's record in five and one half seasons is 93-71. Now tell me again who has done the best job, with improvement each year.

If we're talking about whether or not we need to replace Steve, your opinion is as good as mine, but if we're talking about who has done the better job at UALR, Steve or Joe, in improving their respective programs, then your argument doesn't have a leg to stand on. The facts speak for themselves.

I was actually agreeing with your point that Foley has done a tremendous job. I think I was just saying it's harder to look good if you took over for a coach who had been relatively successful.

If anyone knows where we can find a Hall of Fame Coach who wants to come here to coach our men's team, then even I would say, Fire Steve. Let me know when you find one.

(01-14-2009 10:07 PM)Ynocpirt Wrote:  If anyone knows where we can find a Hall of Fame Coach who wants to come here to coach our men's team, then even I would say, Fire Steve. Let me know when you find one.

It's always exciting when we bring in a new coach, but generally its going to be a crap shoot especially for a program on our level. Getting someone like Foley was a Godsend for our women's program. No I don't know any Hall of Fame men's coaches waiting for an opening here. ASU got extremely lucky with Brady, as we did with Wimp. If we have an opening we might get lucky with who we hire- but there are certainly no guarantees. I don't know how good a coach Steve is, but like Ynocpirt pointed out, 3 out of 5 years (going on 4 out 6) he's outcoached the other 6 coaches in our division.