I know that many of you will not like this thread but I am not at all impressed with Rib Murphy. This past season he achieved the pinnacle of his success and I believe basketball will be on the way down. Why? For these reasons:
1) He has not been able to recruit great high school players except for one - Ray Lee and usually he has Ray in the dog house. Do you really think Ray is going to help recruit kidsvto EMU when the Rumor is that Rob Murphy told Lee he would help him transfer out. Bottom line, we just have not been able to get recruits.
2) Scheme - tell me what player wants to come and play in a three man weave offense and then jack up a shot as time expires???? We had an All Mac 4 star player in Glenn Bryant who barely saw enough of the ball on offense. Bryant should have been a focus in the low post. With a good coach Bryant would have been 1st team all call inference and for what it is worth so would Derek Thompson from last year's team.
3) Defensive scheme - I am tired of this zone. Tell me, how many teams only play zone in defense that consistently make the NCAA tournament? Yep only Syracuse and that is because they have NBA talent. Predominantly NCAA teams play man to man defense.
4) To Murphy's credit he had the most talent of any team in the MAC and vastly underachieved.
5) I was hoping he would take another job. EMU is one of the best mid major jobs and as soon as Heather Lyke gets to hire her guy like she did in football...watch out becausevwe will Dominate MAC.

I agree with points one and two wholeheartedly, and part of point three.

I actually like the zone defense, but I would like to see us develop the capacity to play man to man so that we can switch things up when the other team is shooting the lights out. We have to be able to switch to man occasionally, if only to get the other team out of rhythm.

(05-04-2014 03:38 PM)luckeyone1 Wrote:  I know that many of you will not like this thread but I am not at all impressed with Rib Murphy. This past season he achieved the pinnacle of his success and I believe basketball will be on the way down. Why? For these reasons:
1) He has not been able to recruit great high school players except for one - Ray Lee and usually he has Ray in the dog house. Do you really think Ray is going to help recruit kidsvto EMU when the Rumor is that Rob Murphy told Lee he would help him transfer out. Bottom line, we just have not been able to get recruits.
2) Scheme - tell me what player wants to come and play in a three man weave offense and then jack up a shot as time expires???? We had an All Mac 4 star player in Glenn Bryant who barely saw enough of the ball on offense. Bryant should have been a focus in the low post. With a good coach Bryant would have been 1st team all call inference and for what it is worth so would Derek Thompson from last year's team.
3) Defensive scheme - I am tired of this zone. Tell me, how many teams only play zone in defense that consistently make the NCAA tournament? Yep only Syracuse and that is because they have NBA talent. Predominantly NCAA teams play man to man defense.
4) To Murphy's credit he had the most talent of any team in the MAC and vastly underachieved.
5) I was hoping he would take another job. EMU is one of the best mid major jobs and as soon as Heather Lyke gets to hire her guy like she did in football...watch out becausevwe will Dominate MAC.

I mean, you're entitled to your opinion I guess, but this is a ridiculous post on so many levels:

1) Where did you hear this rumor about Lee? I'm sure from an "inside source". But anyway, we lucked into Ray Lee. Players of his caliber with the type of offers he had don't typically come to the MAC. This isn't an EMU problem. It's a MAC problem. We got some talented looking freshmen coming in this year (Timmy Bond, especially), so this point makes little sense to me.

2) I actually agree. Our offense is horrendous and it costs us games. This needs to change. However, Glenn Bryant was a 3-star (same with Riley, Lee, and Price), and while I loved watching him play and spark the team with massive dunks, he was lazy on defense at times, and that's why Harrison got more minutes. Same with Thompson last year. Don't blame the coach for them not giving 100% effort when other guys did.

3) Baylor plays a zone exclusively too. But you're right, not many teams do. Still, you're complaining about our defense when it was one of the best in the country last season? Wow...you're reaching.

4) That point is very debatable. Toledo, in my opinion, was the most talented, followed by Buffalo. I'd say we were in the next group with Ohio, WMU, and Akron in terms of talent. To say he "vastly underachieved" is unfair. There were some good teams in the MAC. One of the better years it's ever had, in terms of RPI.

5) This is where I think you're nuts. How on earth is this one of the best mid major jobs? Little money, even littler fan support, and a pretty recent history of being terrible. Sounds like a very desirable job to me!

If Murphy is offered a better job and he takes it, then more power to him. I don't know how his non-existent offense will survive at a higher level, but if he can win here, he can probably win anywhere. I hope he stays, as he's brought a competitive product back to our school for this first time since the Clinton administration, but I'd understand him leaving. That's the nature of mid major college basketball.

I hope he is successful. When Eastern beat Duke in the NCAA tournament, that was a tremendous high for Eastern and the MAC.

Eastern always had some talented players. If they can put them together as a "team," they can be trouble.

Best to you all and have a great summer.

When we have gripes about a 20+ win season, then things are going just fine. I find this post offensive.

Just because he hasn't recruited high school talent (until this year) doesnt mean he won't succeed (he already has....) teams win different ways, an just because his way doesn't fit a traditional format, doesn't mean it's bad.

As for the zone... We have been a top 2 or 3 defensive team in our league since he arrived....
WHO CARES HOW HE DOES IT OR WHAT SCHEME HE RUNS. Incase you haven't noticed, EMU isn't an NBA level squad nor do we pump out NBA talent. The uniqueness of the zone gives us an advantage in this conference.

Quite frankly, I can't fathom what we can possibly gripe about. Were we talented ? Yes. Were we a top 4 team in the MAC, no doubt. But were we better than Toledo or WMU... Not a chance. We were talented... But not nearly as talented as those squads.

No doubt you are entitled to your opinion, and I do respect that opinion.... But just because Murph might do things that aren't "the norm" does not in any way make him unsuccessful. I'm pretty happy with the direction of the program and will settle with a MAC West championship, a 22 win season, and a postseason birth.... Considering where this team was the past 10+ seasons.

Dear Friends,
I know this thread started out as a complaint about Coach Murphy, and a possible comparison to Coach English.
The coach that should be talked about, in my humble opinion, is Coach Alexander of the baseball team. He is finishing his sixth season as head coach, and has had only one winning season during that span. This year will probably end up being his worst overall record for a season. How many years does a baseball coach get to have fairly consistent winning records? He may be a nice person, but one winning season in six? I think it's time for the hook.

(05-04-2014 07:53 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Friends,
I know this thread started out as a complaint about Coach Murphy, and a possible comparison to Coach English.
The coach that should be talked about, in my humble opinion, is Coach Alexander of the baseball team. He is finishing his sixth season as head coach, and has had only one winning season during that span. This year will probably end up being his worst overall record for a season. How many years does a baseball coach get to have fairly consistent winning records? He may be a nice person, but one winning season in six? I think it's time for the hook.

Agreed 100%

This forum is great because it allows me to enjoy emu basketball beyond the games through these discussions. So I not only respect but also enjoy everyone's opinion. That said...

Rob Murphy is clearly successful at EMU. His very first season was 9-7 in the MAC after EMU had one competitive season in the last 11 years. A marginal step back in year two despite a win over Purdue. Year three was a ~100 rpi/sagarin rated season which is solid (not great) for a mid-major program. That is a really quick turn around that speaks volumes to his coaching ability overall.

I would never say last year was an underachieving year- rather I congratulate the team on their successes. But, it should be noted that at the start of league play EMU had highest cumulative computer rankings of the MAC. Yet they finished with a 6 seed. There might be some justified criticism in that drop off.

As many of you pointed out offense is horrendous!! Defense is stellar, can't imagine any complaints about it.

As for recruiting this year, Bond, Alvano, and Navione make up a really nice class which I am really excited about. This should not be overlooked. But Murphy completely struck out at center. It is particularly peculiar since this is a huge need for EMU and there is ample playing time to offer a prospective recruit. Total speculation, but I am wondering if these recruits are worried about the limited playing time a stellar front-court talent like Bryant received. Or maybe just dumb luck. Who knows, but Murphy failed on this point and some criticism may be justified.

(05-04-2014 07:34 PM)easterneagles79 Wrote:  When we have gripes about a 20+ win season, then things are going just fine. I find this post offensive.

Just because he hasn't recruited high school talent (until this year) doesnt mean he won't succeed (he already has....) teams win different ways, an just because his way doesn't fit a traditional format, doesn't mean it's bad.

As for the zone... We have been a top 2 or 3 defensive team in our league since he arrived....
WHO CARES HOW HE DOES IT OR WHAT SCHEME HE RUNS. Incase you haven't noticed, EMU isn't an NBA level squad nor do we pump out NBA talent. The uniqueness of the zone gives us an advantage in this conference.

Quite frankly, I can't fathom what we can possibly gripe about. Were we talented ? Yes. Were we a top 4 team in the MAC, no doubt. But were we better than Toledo or WMU... Not a chance. We were talented... But not nearly as talented as those squads.

No doubt you are entitled to your opinion, and I do respect that opinion.... But just because Murph might do things that aren't "the norm" does not in any way make him unsuccessful. I'm pretty happy with the direction of the program and will settle with a MAC West championship, a 22 win season, and a postseason birth.... Considering where this team was the past 10+ seasons.

I should have skipped my post, and just agreed with what you wrote. Well said!

i'm lukewarm on Murphy. i think he is good enough to keep us in the top 3-6 teams in the MAC just about every season, but i don't think he can get us a MAC championship. i say this to tell you that i'm not a huge defender of the guy as a coach, but i'm absolutely going to defend him against your comments.

(05-04-2014 03:38 PM)luckeyone1 Wrote:  1) He has not been able to recruit great high school players except for one - Ray Lee and usually he has Ray in the dog house. Do you really think Ray is going to help recruit kidsvto EMU when the Rumor is that Rob Murphy told Lee he would help him transfer out. Bottom line, we just have not been able to get recruits.

your fourth point is that he has the most talent in the MAC. why do you care if that talent comes from high school instead of transfers? you're mad because he obtained talent from 'lesser' places?

(05-04-2014 03:38 PM)luckeyone1 Wrote:  2) Scheme - tell me what player wants to come and play in a three man weave offense and then jack up a shot as time expires???? We had an All Mac 4 star player in Glenn Bryant who barely saw enough of the ball on offense. Bryant should have been a focus in the low post. With a good coach Bryant would have been 1st team all call inference and for what it is worth so would Derek Thompson from last year's team.

you're right, the offense is terrible.

(05-04-2014 03:38 PM)luckeyone1 Wrote:  3) Defensive scheme - I am tired of this zone. Tell me, how many teams only play zone in defense that consistently make the NCAA tournament? Yep only Syracuse and that is because they have NBA talent. Predominantly NCAA teams play man to man defense.

this point is painful to me. what is your reason? you're tired of it????

the zone has been the reason for any amount of success we've had in the last three years. you don't like it why? because not enough teams use it? there are 200+ teams that only play man-to-man and never make the NCAA tournament, so your logic here is garbage.

i agree with Bovine that we should have the option of going to man defense every once in awhile. strict adherence to a certain style isn't a good idea. but your point makes no sense.

(05-04-2014 03:38 PM)luckeyone1 Wrote:  4) To Murphy's credit he had the most talent of any team in the MAC and vastly underachieved.

'the most talent' is not a measurable attribute. but if you do believe this, why do you care that they're not coming from high school?

(05-04-2014 03:38 PM)luckeyone1 Wrote:  5) I was hoping he would take another job. EMU is one of the best mid major jobs and as soon as Heather Lyke gets to hire her guy like she did in football...watch out becausevwe will Dominate MAC.

Sam already said everything that needs to be said here, but this is a ridiculous point. we were a doormat from '00-'11. we don't pay well. we have painfully low attendance. i love EMU, but we are not a top mid-major job.

English took our football team - a team that has been awful since the 80s - to new lows. comparing that to Murphy doesn't make sense.

This was a 20+ win team.
This team led the nation in FG% defense.
This team went to the semi-finals of the MAC tournament.

I've endured 293 losses since I became an EMU fan in 1999.
Excuse me for enjoying all that this team accomplished over the last year.

I don't agree with the comparison with Ron English who didn't win and was worse than those football coaches that proceeded him. Yelling and screaming at players isn't coaching-sorry it just isn't.

That being said we have one instate recruit in this class. To say we've been successful in recruiting instate talent going into Murphy's fourth year here would not be a true statement.

I'm glad we won 22 games-again let me blunt, I doubt you'll see that level this coming year. I like some of the recruits that have come in but again you need to compare it with the rest of the MAC. I've said this before EMU may bring in good recruiting classes but things don't remain static other teams end up doing a better job. I don't see us being stronger next year and moving up in the MAC West or going farther in the MAC tournament. If they stick around for 4 years I think our freshmen recruits will surprise some people. We have less than 2 weeks until this signing period closes. Lets see what Murphy and his staff do with the center position.