Well, not the most fun I've ever had in the dome, but we had our shot and we will be back.
Positives:
- Mike Smith played his heart out, that kid is just going to get better
- 2 Freshman and a sophomore played alot of minutes today
- We did make it to the championship game and have a NIT bid, not bad work at all.
Concerns:
- Let's not make this the Pigram show, he's a great player, but a few times we were standing around watching CP.
- Replacing our big men, rarely does the Juco player excel in his first year, should be interesting.
Hope: Gentlemen, I remember sitting in Charleston watching Gerald and Zak walk off in disgust as their NCAA dreams were dashed, these kids will bounce back, give them time.
Someone who sees the big picture. Everyone forgets about Micah Williams sitting in street clothes.
This team returns so much, and if by some chance Kenyona and Blake can develop in the off season, we'll be able to couple that with maybe a big man or two, and have another great season.
The two Nashville schools graduate this year, next season will be interesting with JU returning some good players, Campbell gets their two big men back next season, Gardner-Webb I believe loses one player, so the conference next season will still be fun to watch.
They SHOULD win the conference and the tournament next year. Nothing less should be accepted.
Still a lot to play for:
Brad is 6 shy of 1,000pts.
We still have an NIT game(s) to play.
Valuable experience for the young guys.
AGREED 88. A great opportunity to make up for today coming up in the near future.
Well I think we have a very important job in front of us. We have a chance at winning at least one game in the NIT. Any postseason action could affect recruiting, it only takes one great pick to affect things greatly.
I think you'll see alot of Kenyada next year, but shooting alot three's.
Petras will be a banger, big body for rebounding and defense. I've stood close to him in the CPA, he's every bit of 6'8".
M. Williams, I just don't know much about, let's hope for good things.
Whoever we recruit as Juco's, we'll be huge, absolutely huge.
i dont think u guys have to much to be ashamed of. i mean you improved a lot since last year. yea you got you're ass kicked..it happens..at the end of the day it wouldnt of mattered if belmont beat u on a halfcourt buzzer beater..a loss is a loss.
i think you guys will be tough next year, i think losing Eryk and Knuckles is going to hurt u guys a lot. i felt those guys were the reason u did so well. you guys were able to outrebound everyone. Though i do love Mike Smith. he's the kind of gritty hard working player u can build a team around, and a kind of guy that makes everyone play better. I think Pigram is talented, but i think he's more valuable as a playmaker then a scorer. i heard he did a real good job playing the point guard this year when needed 2.
good luck in the NIT. i'm pulling for belmont to win a game..but i think you guys have a much greater shot to win a game in the post season..if not more. u played tenn and auburn tight, jjust couldnt finish, much like ksu couldnt finish against wichita and uga.
It was a tough day, but im optimistic about the team next year.
1. Pittsburgh suggests in another topic that the best support of the team is to quit buying tickets- I am doing the opposite. I am buying season tickets next year for the first time!
2. We got outplayed and out coached yesterday. Our halfcourt offense needs alot of work, giving it to Pigram with 10 on the shotclock and saying "do something" doesnt work. Also, our defensive zone was designed to stop the inside players and Belmont just hit those three's. Problem was there was no in-game adjustments! Having said that, I think we have a great coach!
3. Remember last season, when we dropped to the Atlantic Sun conference, didnt play well in the conference regular season games and then lost the first round of the tourny? We lost some good players and I was expecting us to be young and down this season. Well we played better in the regular season and made the finals of the conference tournament. Last season was an embarrassment for ETSU basketball, this season was better, and we are poised to possibly get back to where we were just a few years ago if we can find a way to replace Nuckles (and find a halfcourt offense).
4. We need to quit playing so many non Division 1 teams. With a low powered conference, we need all the experience we can get. Playing Milligan might be fun, but doesnt help the team.
I hope they are a great teamnext year. However, you say they need to improve in the half court. Yes they do. Do you honestly think they will? This staff has been together for four years and the half court offense has been terrible every year, even 03-04. So many people blamed it on Smith. I've got news... the coaching in the halfcourt on both ends is atrocious. Defensively, this team cannot man up and playing zone against a disciplined, hot shooting team does not cut it. It blows my mind that Bartow ever had any contact with Bob Knight, who is the best teacher of man defense in the college game. I wonder what Bartow did those two years in Bloomington. Knight's teams are always some of the best to watch in half court motion O and man D. Those are ETSU's two weakest areas, in addition to not being able to make anything happen on an inbounds play.
Bartow is a very average coach who had the advantage of inheriting a very good team four years ago and dropping to a terrible conference. I hope we run the table next year, but it will not be because of coaching. BTW, his recruiting is not very good either.
Did ETSU even recruit Tony White? Or was he like Wiggins, who "can'y play at this level"
Those are some legitimate points. Our halfcourt offense has been bad for years. I think we had the talent to play man against anyone in our conference, and should have against Belmont when they started hitting from outside. Its against the ACC, SEC, etc. teams that us, just like every other mid major team, has to play zone and hope that the other team doesnt hit the shots. Against Belmont, and even worst when we played Vandy, they hit their shots. When that happens, we get blown out. We have, at times, been able to play a good press defense. Again though, when its not working, its embarrassing and should be abandoned.
I dont have a problem with Bartow's recruiting, except as you mentioned, he doesnt go after some of the local talent. When I said I liked Bartow, Im basically meaning in terms of what ETSU can get. Id love to have a young up and coming Bruce Pearl, but there are only so many of those young great coaches out there and I dont see any of them coming to ETSU until we move out of the A-Sun.
Does Bartow and his staff develop players? I have to say no at this point. Smith never improved and was just turned loose to do as he pleased. Nuckles never really got better, Thomas and Sneed weren't here long enough, although Thomas played well this year and Sneed was vastly underutilized.
We will find out about this staff in the next two years. Do they develop Williams into more than a spot shooter? Do Balocka and Mishler become serviceable big men? We shall see... The greatest improvement comes between a player's freshman and sophmore years. We shall see. I think this team takes a step back next year, JMHO. I hope I'm wrong.
As far as local players... put the full court press on Wiggins, unless he has already flat told you "not only no, hell no." keep going after him. It costs you about $20.00 to see him play.
Tony White the same way. Although he was in Knoxville, why not puch for this kid. If we are still on the level of three years ago, why can't we recruit a kid that goes to Charleston? I don't think they evaluate or develop talent at all.
A few points-
KSU- YES IT DOES MATTER THAT THE BUCS LOST THIS WAY INSTEAD OF A BUZZER BEATER!
Realistically, ETSU can't come out of this game and say "We are a better team than Belmont, it was just one game."
All year long we were trying to make excuses that this team had improved from the losses to the OVC, the 40 point loss to Vanderbilt, even the collapse at Knoxville (don't let ANYONE tell you THAT was a positive).
They dropped down to the remedial conference and started to pass. Not getting A's- mind you- this team was still having trouble putting away North Florida and Gardner-Webb at the end of the day. Passing.
But then here comes the final exam. And since we'd passed 16 of our last 17 tests- though often times by the skin of our teeth- even I go into the game with a good feeling.
Home game. Hot streak. Better record.
Sure I could give Belmont a chance to win. But for what, six or seven points at the most?
What this loss said was the "real" ETSU was the team that slumped early on. The "real" ETSU is the team that showed up on the Jacksonville trip. The "real" ETSU is a team that is being advertised as as good as before, but is actually a cheap imitation.
The REAL ETSU got an "F" in their final. They acted like they blew it off partying the night before.
A buzzer beater at least shows they tried.
UTFAN-
You are realitively new to this board and trust me, you are NOT a real ETSU FAN.
Not with the points you are making.
No REAL ETSU fan could come away from that game and say "I WANT TO RENEW MY SEASON TICKETS!"
No real ETSU fan could want to go along with this current administration, which in effect was like a woman who flirted with you for weeks, and then when push comes to shove made fun of you when you finally asked her out.
No real ETSU fan could think that under the current administration the program is going to return to the levels Ed DeChellis took this team to, let alone Les Robinson, Alan LeForce, and Madison Brooks.
It is most telling Sonny Smith is the coach the A-Sun is pushing down our throat here. Sonny Smith is one year at ETSU- a 17-11. That was his high point.
17 wins was the "Middle of the Road" season in the DeChellis era. Fourth best record in seven years.
And now, we see ETSU trapped in their own private cul de sac- led by fat guys named Stanton and Mullins who drive Jeeps through the city wearing big diamond rings and silk suits.
The losses just come with the scenery!
We're a bunch of Pretenders- baby! Let's get back on the Chain Gang!
OOOOOOOOOOOH! HOW DO I DO IT??????????
And a couple of final points-
One- I'd rather have Murry Bartow than Bruce Pearl. Pearl comes to the SEC from Wisconsin-Milwaukee and acts like it- painting himself orange and sitting in the student section or wearing louder sports coats than Lindsey Nelson ever thought of putting on.
Say what you will about the man, but Bartow is too professional for that.
Pearl isn't a coach. He's a buffoon. Guys like that always crash.
Finally- LOCAL PLAYERS!
This is a bad rap ETSU has taken through the years. You actually get idiots out there that think at the end UT football had more local players than ETSU did- when the real score was about three (that's counting the 195 pound walk-on center from Dobyns-Bennett as a real player, too) for the Vols to 35 for the Bucs.
The fact of the matter is the talent around here ain't that good. It ain't Memphis.
Yes, I realize there's a Wattad and a Wiggins out there. And I would like to get them, sure.
But those are the exceptions. Usually when you hear "ETSU needs more local players" you get guys whose other scholarship offer is from Division II.
Those Pitts teams at Science Hill were great examples. Demetric Stevens and Jovanny Johnson never dribbled a ball in college- and ETSU was raked over the coals for not giving these guys Corvettes with the full ride. Nathaniel Bailey had one year as a sixth man at New Orleans- which in no way, shape or form is as prestigious a basketball program as ETSU- then was kicked off the team.
The rest of the team, if they went anywhere, went to North Idaho Junior College.
Yep. ETSU sure missed out there.
And the local media looked the other way and shilled for the man and now a coach whose track record says "I USE PLAYERS LIKE MEAT" is now coaching at King and you still get guys who say he should be at ETSU.
What? Is Jerry Tarkanian not available?
Hmm I seem to remember 2 Science Hill players ending up at UT in the mid 90's and not only played but both started. True UT teams weren't very good but they were good enough to beat ETSU during the 94-95 season.
Wasn't UT bringing up the rear of the SEC then?
Wow. They beat ETSU by seven that year- at Knoxville.
The same ETSU team Tennessee STATE beat by 17 points two games earlier.
Or Texas Tech beat by 38 the game immediately afterwards. Or Virginia Tech beat by 22 three games later.
Or East Carolina beat by 11. Or Kansas beat by 33.
Yep. Sure shoulda gotten those two players.
Who were they, by the way? I don't even remember.
But it goes to show you the UT envy we have here. Two players at Science Hill have pedestrian careers for the Vols.
WHY- WE SHOULDA GOTTEN 'EM HERE!
And that TOTALLY validates the Science Hill program.
Never mind bigger Hilltoppers stars couldn't get into any school bigger than North Idaho JC. Never mind those two were the exceptions, not the rule.
WE NEED MORE LOCAL PLAYERS!
I wonder what Ryan Lawson and Brad Nuckles were. I really wonder.
Oh, what I'd give for another Leslie Brunn in the middle . . . .
PittBuc and RockyTopBearcat
I think your going a little over the top with your criticism of the loss and completely demeaning the season. It's important to point out that the Bucs led the A-Sun in 3-point field goal percentage defense this year, meaning they vastly improved in that area. The first half shooting by Belmont -- which there were two or three open looks -- was really a fluke and something you just have to give them credit for accomplishing. They made shots at an unusually high rate. Even Byrd admitted that in the postgame press conference.
If they had stood out there without a defense and shot 14 threes it would be hard to make 10 of those shots. THEY DID IN THIS GAME!
It's your worst nightmare as a coach for a team to find the zone in a big game like this. The first half was just too much to overcome, especially after the running 3 at the end.
Let's remember this team was losing the school's all-time leading scorer and picked to finish third in this league with two new point guards.
What we got this year was:
-- Our fifth regular season championship in seven years.
-- A postseason trip
-- The fifth best overall record in school history
-- And four postseason individual honors.
All in all, it's a successful year and there will be recruits wanting to join this team.
Alwyas great to see new posters to the board!!!! Hope you guys continue to post (whether negative or positive).
I'm also glad to see new posters, it's showing that the interest is going back up in the program. They played a bad game, untimely, but it's time to move on from it and think about the NIT game(s), and at this point, apparently talk a little baseball.
I think it's hilarious that Marky thinks Pearl is stupid for doing that. Let's see here, does anyone really talk about WHY he was there? No. He was at the UT/Duke women's game, a game that the Lady Vols LOST, but you don't hear ESPN talking about that, you just hear about a coach that's "down to Earth," someone who relates to the kids, but can discipline as well (as evidenced by kicking Major Wingate off the team.)
It's Marketing 101, he went more extreme than what coaches like Urban Meyer, Billy Donovan, and other great young coaches have managed to do. He gets UT basketball MENTIONED ON TV, and Pat Summitt's cheerleading gig did the same thing. They led Sportscenter, and it got people talking about the program, oh and they beat Florida that night. I wouldn't care if Pearl was anywhere else, that's good marketing.
That's the typical east Tennessee propaganda there.
For the record, Pittsburgh Bucs the Individualist likes a coach who takes his shirt off and sits in the student section.
Like me, Pearl's a Wild and Crazy Guy and enjoying the moment to the fullest.
Unfortunately, the rest of the country sees Pearl as Steve Martin.
You also hear Meade talking about how UT doesn't get any votes in the coaches poll (MEADE! THE NO. 1 UT FAN OF ALL TIME!). There are ramifications.
Pearl is essentially Jerry Glanville leaving tickets for Elvis with these actions.
Truly great coaches- Dean Smith, Chuck Noll, Tom Landry, Don Shula, Connie Mack, Herb Brooks, WHOEVER- don't do things that take the attention away from their teams and puts it on themselves.
That's why when UT did win against Florida- nobody said "Look out for this darkhorse out of the SEC!"
They said "Florida has lost three of four."
There's a reason why Dean Smith gets Michael Jordan and Jim Valvano gets Chris Washburn.
Pearl's "Kid in the Candy Store" demeanor isn't doing anything. It is making him look like a rank amateur.
And by getting dressed up in the cheerleader's outfit, Pat Summit is showing to be a woman who can be manipulated and has had the game pass her by. I give you as evidence no national championships in nine years (whereas UConn has won it FOUR TIMES SINCE THEN) and the LSU win last night.
It might be time for Summit to think about retirement before she embarasses herself any more.