Let’s not blast a guy who is giving it his personal best for a school and program he loves. Can we remember he is a human being while we give our assessments of his coaching acumen?

I was expecting much better this year than what I have seen from this team. They have been outscored 10 times in the second half of games and sometimes by a lot. The last 10 minutes of the second half is always nail biting time. These guys play scared then. The free throw shooting is all mental. They are consistently out of position on defense. Their offense has been a strength but the last three games it has gone away.

I feel this season will end much like the previous three have. Lou has built this roster. He added some additional pieces this year yet the weaknesses remain the same as previous years most glaringly, their inability to close out games.

The beauty of basketball season is that football occupies us until mid-January so we only have 6-7 weeks of disappointment to contend with before it’s over.

(01-04-2020 09:42 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Let’s not blast a guy who is giving it his personal best for a school and program he loves. Can we remember he is a human being while we give our assessments of his coaching acumen?

I was expecting much better this year than what I have seen from this team. They have been outscored 10 times in the second half of games and sometimes by a lot. The last 10 minutes of the second half is always nail biting time. These guys play scared then. The free throw shooting is all mental. They are consistently out of position on defense. Their offense has been a strength but the last three games it has gone away.

I feel this season will end much like the previous three have. Lou has built this roster. He added some additional pieces this year yet the weaknesses remain the same as previous years most glaringly, their inability to close out games.

The beauty of basketball season is that football occupies us until mid-January so we only have 6-7 weeks of disappointment to contend with before it’s over.

Your post pretty much sums up how I feel, especially about the FT shooting and the second half performance. Not counting Shenandoah, we have only "won" the second half three times all year. Apparently the first half is easier since there is less pressure. Then in the second half when the final result is the focus, we melt.

(01-04-2020 09:42 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Let’s not blast a guy who is giving it his personal best for a school and program he loves. Can we remember he is a human being while we give our assessments of his coaching acumen?

I was expecting much better this year than what I have seen from this team. They have been outscored 10 times in the second half of games and sometimes by a lot. The last 10 minutes of the second half is always nail biting time. These guys play scared then. The free throw shooting is all mental. They are consistently out of position on defense. Their offense has been a strength but the last three games it has gone away.

I feel this season will end much like the previous three have. Lou has built this roster. He added some additional pieces this year yet the weaknesses remain the same as previous years most glaringly, their inability to close out games.

The beauty of basketball season is that football occupies us until mid-January so we only have 6-7 weeks of disappointment to contend with before it’s over.

Nation, I know you're a good dude, but read your complete post and tell me where you are any more gentle with the human aspect than the rest of us. The truth is glaring, we all see it, including you. There's no debating at all by anyone. Heck, this is about the first time I've ever seen every poster seemingly on the same page.

(01-03-2020 05:29 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  And btw don’t take my word for it regarding the returning talent on that team- 0 pre season all conference players and check out the stats for the guys who returned. Of the group Dalembert was the biggest difference maker and he was injured and ended his college career prematurely due to an ailment.

Sorry just tired of that narrative. Not buying it. If you don’t follow the team closely I can see where you would draw that conclusion but for the guys who wat chiEd we knew that group was limited without Ron Curry. Hammer Rowe for last year the start of this year and even his second season. Some of the misses on players and recruiting, the uneven play, the historically bad second halves of games and end of games. I’m not going to kill him for underperforming with that group.

I bought into what you are saying and supported Rowe his first couple years. But I think it speaks to the fact Brady could coach when he was able to win without talent and Rowe can't coach even with supposed talent. Until recently I watched the games and can speak critically about what I've seen. I also played team basketball. It's clear to anyone who knows basketball that he ain't coaching and more critically can't make in game adjustments. And players such as Christmas and Jacobs actually seem to be regressing instead of progressing. A good coach brings his team up. Rowe is just a large anvil around the neck of the team. They'd probably win just as many games if they coached themselves based on what they learned from their high school coaches.

(01-04-2020 09:42 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Let’s not blast a guy who is giving it his personal best for a school and program he loves. Can we remember he is a human being while we give our assessments of his coaching acumen?

I was expecting much better this year than what I have seen from this team. They have been outscored 10 times in the second half of games and sometimes by a lot. The last 10 minutes of the second half is always nail biting time. These guys play scared then. The free throw shooting is all mental. They are consistently out of position on defense. Their offense has been a strength but the last three games it has gone away.

I feel this season will end much like the previous three have. Lou has built this roster. He added some additional pieces this year yet the weaknesses remain the same as previous years most glaringly, their inability to close out games.

The beauty of basketball season is that football occupies us until mid-January so we only have 6-7 weeks of disappointment to contend with before it’s over.

That's the nature of sports and it's just as quantitative as sales. He's not getting the job done and I don't care if he loves the school more th an his own family. Get a guy who thinks JMU smells like chicken **** but can win and I'd be fine with that.

(01-04-2020 11:12 AM)JacksonHall Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 05:29 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  And btw don’t take my word for it regarding the returning talent on that team- 0 pre season all conference players and check out the stats for the guys who returned. Of the group Dalembert was the biggest difference maker and he was injured and ended his college career prematurely due to an ailment.

Sorry just tired of that narrative. Not buying it. If you don’t follow the team closely I can see where you would draw that conclusion but for the guys who wat chiEd we knew that group was limited without Ron Curry. Hammer Rowe for last year the start of this year and even his second season. Some of the misses on players and recruiting, the uneven play, the historically bad second halves of games and end of games. I’m not going to kill him for underperforming with that group.

I bought into what you are saying and supported Rowe his first couple years. But I think it speaks to the fact Brady could coach when he was able to win without talent and Rowe can't coach even with supposed talent. Until recently I watched the games and can speak critically about what I've seen. I also played team basketball. It's clear to anyone who knows basketball that he ain't coaching and more critically can't make in game adjustments. And players such as Christmas and Jacobs actually seem to be regressing instead of progressing. A good coach brings his team up. Rowe is just a large anvil around the neck of the team. They'd probably win just as many games if they coached themselves based on what they learned from their high school coaches.

I hear you and it’s been a failure thus far- really no debating that but I do think if you expect young players under any coach to have a straight line progression you are going to be disappointed. There are incremental improvements and then set backs. That is part of the development process. Parker looked good , regressed, then he’s gotten better, Wooden showed signs earlier then wasn’t a factor and now he is.

Some of this is to be expected and the hope is that as you build a program the older guys are your more consistent performers. The consistency of the team overall has been disappointing but show me a freshman or sophomore under Brady that performed at a high level and was consistent- they are very rare so you have to have built a solid foundation and program with upper class men who are reliable - that remains to be seen and for good or bad Coach Rowe will sink or swim based on his first full recruiting class. The faith that he’s shown in Lewis. Banks and Wilson they need to carry this team. Jacobs needs to be more reliable.

Just think had he landed Wheeler who currently starts as a true PG for a ranked Penn a State team as part of that class. He’s been close to even more talent but ultimately they should have enough and enough continuity in the “system” to show better on the floor at this point, to have taken the next step as a group(including coaches) and they haven’t. Needs to click soon or it will be time to move on.

(01-04-2020 11:24 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 11:12 AM)JacksonHall Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 05:29 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  And btw don’t take my word for it regarding the returning talent on that team- 0 pre season all conference players and check out the stats for the guys who returned. Of the group Dalembert was the biggest difference maker and he was injured and ended his college career prematurely due to an ailment.

Sorry just tired of that narrative. Not buying it. If you don’t follow the team closely I can see where you would draw that conclusion but for the guys who wat chiEd we knew that group was limited without Ron Curry. Hammer Rowe for last year the start of this year and even his second season. Some of the misses on players and recruiting, the uneven play, the historically bad second halves of games and end of games. I’m not going to kill him for underperforming with that group.

I bought into what you are saying and supported Rowe his first couple years. But I think it speaks to the fact Brady could coach when he was able to win without talent and Rowe can't coach even with supposed talent. Until recently I watched the games and can speak critically about what I've seen. I also played team basketball. It's clear to anyone who knows basketball that he ain't coaching and more critically can't make in game adjustments. And players such as Christmas and Jacobs actually seem to be regressing instead of progressing. A good coach brings his team up. Rowe is just a large anvil around the neck of the team. They'd probably win just as many games if they coached themselves based on what they learned from their high school coaches.

I hear you and it’s been a failure thus far- really no debating that but I do think if you expect young players under any coach to have a straight line progression you are going to be disappointed. There are incremental improvements and then set backs. That is part of the development process. Parker looked good , regressed, then he’s gotten better, Wooden showed signs earlier then wasn’t a factor and now he is.

Some of this is to be expected and the hope is that as you build a program the older guys are your more consistent performers. The consistency of the team overall has been disappointing but show me a freshman or sophomore under Brady that performed at a high level and was consistent- they are very rare so you have to have built a solid foundation and program with upper class men who are reliable - that remains to be seen and for good or bad Coach Rowe will sink or swim based on his first full recruiting class. The faith that he’s shown in Lewis. Banks and Wilson they need to carry this team. Jacobs needs to be more reliable.

Just think had he landed Wheeler who currently starts as a true PG for a ranked Penn a State team as part of that class. He’s been close to even more talent but ultimately they should have enough and enough continuity in the “system” to show better on the floor at this point, to have taken the next step as a group(including coaches) and they haven’t. Needs to click soon or it will be time to move on.

We are watching street basketball. I don't care what the supporting cast is, this is a summer pick up game. At this point I'm not even looking at the wins and losses, but rather what the guys are doing, where they are positioning themselves, who they put the ball in the hands of when up six with a minute to play, and are they working to set screens for their teammates. Coached teams do these things, these players aren't coached.

(01-04-2020 11:22 AM)JacksonHall Wrote:  Get a guy who thinks JMU smells like chicken **** but can win and I'd be fine with that.

On certain days....when the wind is blowing in from Dayton or Bridgewater....I mean....well, you know what I mean.

(01-04-2020 09:42 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Let’s not blast a guy who is giving it his personal best for a school and program he loves. Can we remember he is a human being while we give our assessments of his coaching acumen?

I was expecting much better this year than what I have seen from this team. They have been outscored 10 times in the second half of games and sometimes by a lot. The last 10 minutes of the second half is always nail biting time. These guys play scared then. The free throw shooting is all mental. They are consistently out of position on defense. Their offense has been a strength but the last three games it has gone away.

I feel this season will end much like the previous three have. Lou has built this roster. He added some additional pieces this year yet the weaknesses remain the same as previous years most glaringly, their inability to close out games.

The beauty of basketball season is that football occupies us until mid-January so we only have 6-7 weeks of disappointment to contend with before it’s over.

Don't worry about Lou Rowe. The "blasting" on this board of him is extremely tame compared to most other message boards. That is, by the 6 or 7 who regularly post on MBB and haven't completely given up...which, apparently is the vast majority. Couldn't possibly disagree with your last sentence more, btw.

Rowe is getting paid handsomely. He should be ashamed of himself for skipping out on postgame radio interviews...multiple times. At other programs that is unheard of. Of course, there are probably only 3 or 4 folks tuning in for a postgame radio interview anyway, but still. A professional being paid over 200 grand a year doesn't weasel out of facing a postgame radio interview. Well, I guess except at JMU.

Apathy is a beyatch.

(01-04-2020 09:42 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  Let’s not blast a guy who is giving it his personal best for a school and program he loves. Can we remember he is a human being while we give our assessments of his coaching acumen?

It's not personal. It's business. The man has not performed. He needs to be replaced.

No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

(01-04-2020 02:35 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

That's right. He has performed to the best of his abilities. I blame the inept hiring managers who continually fail to recognize the limitations of their hires.

We're long past the "shame on you" stage and well into the "shame on us" stage.

But I don't expect you to see that since your field of vision is so obscured by the lining of this admin's arse.

(01-04-2020 02:41 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:35 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

That's right. He has performed to the best of his abilities. I blame the inept hiring managers who continually fail to recognize the limitations of their hires.

We're long past the "shame on you" stage and well into the "shame on us" stage.

But I don't expect you to see that since your field of vision is so obscured by the lining of this admin's arse.

Plenty of blame to go around- I don't feel sorry for Lou- I root for him and appreciate what he's trying to do but he has been given a good opportunity and one could argue a better opportunity then his predecessors in that JMU funds COA and is on the verge of a state of the art arena relative to other mid majors.

I also see the other side where he's over his head and I think JMU has protected him a little along the way because he's an alum/close to the program and because they realize he was a reach but everyone hoped he would grow into the role. He has some good attributes and so does his team that has given you hope along the way but ultimately they have come up way short on the court.

Go DUKES!

(01-04-2020 02:41 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:35 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

That's right. He has performed to the best of his abilities. I blame the inept hiring managers who continually fail to recognize the limitations of their hires.

We're long past the "shame on you" stage and well into the "shame on us" stage.

But I don't expect you to see that since your field of vision is so obscured by the lining of this admin's arse.

I thought the hire was a mistake from the beginning, but the powers that be decided extending an opportunity to an alum to succeed was a risk worth taking. It’s clear (or should be at this point) it was a failed hire. Again, nothing personal against LR, but this is a business and LR simply hasn’t performed to required expectations.

While the employee’s failure to perform might have been predictable, only the failure to terminate now would be on the decision makers. Time to move forward and start anew.

(01-04-2020 04:04 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:41 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:35 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

That's right. He has performed to the best of his abilities. I blame the inept hiring managers who continually fail to recognize the limitations of their hires.

We're long past the "shame on you" stage and well into the "shame on us" stage.

But I don't expect you to see that since your field of vision is so obscured by the lining of this admin's arse.

I thought the hire was a mistake from the beginning, but the powers that be decided extending an opportunity to an alum to succeed was a risk worth taking. It’s clear (or should be at this point) it was a failed hire. Again, nothing personal against LR, but this is a business and LR simply hasn’t performed to required expectations.

While the employee’s failure to perform might have been predictable, only the failure to terminate now would be on the decision makers. Time to move forward and start anew.

That was well stated. They also need to recognize that they are incapable of making a hire that meets the required expectations. Pony up and stay out of the process til there's nothing but strong candidates to choose from.

(01-04-2020 03:53 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:41 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:35 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

That's right. He has performed to the best of his abilities. I blame the inept hiring managers who continually fail to recognize the limitations of their hires.

We're long past the "shame on you" stage and well into the "shame on us" stage.

But I don't expect you to see that since your field of vision is so obscured by the lining of this admin's arse.

Plenty of blame to go around- I don't feel sorry for Lou- I root for him and appreciate what he's trying to do but he has been given a good opportunity and one could argue a better opportunity then his predecessors in that JMU funds COA and is on the verge of a state of the art arena relative to other mid majors.

I also see the other side where he's over his head and I think JMU has protected him a little along the way because he's an alum/close to the program and because they realize he was a reach but everyone hoped he would grow into the role. He has some good attributes and so does his team that has given you hope along the way but ultimately they have come up way short on the court.

Go DUKES!

Scares me that the onus is on alumni and not the administration.

(01-04-2020 04:04 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  I thought the hire was a mistake from the beginning, but the powers that be decided extending an opportunity to an alum to succeed was a risk worth taking. It’s clear (or should be at this point) it was a failed hire. Again, nothing personal against LR, but this is a business and LR simply hasn’t performed to required expectations.

While the employee’s failure to perform might have been predictable, only the failure to terminate now would be on the decision makers. Time to move forward and start anew.

I was skeptical of this hire, but also a bit sad he doesn't seem to have what it takes. Part of me really wants to see Lou still pull some magic out of a hat before this season ends. I was in school when he played ball, and knew a few guys on that team.

Honestly, the most annoying aspect of this is that it will likely be the SECOND time the admin has tried a failed experiment like this, the first was Sherman. It's equivalent to us hiring Stinespring for football instead of Cig. It really reeks of treating basketball as just an afterthought.

(01-04-2020 11:38 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 11:24 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 11:12 AM)JacksonHall Wrote:  

(01-03-2020 05:29 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote:  And btw don’t take my word for it regarding the returning talent on that team- 0 pre season all conference players and check out the stats for the guys who returned. Of the group Dalembert was the biggest difference maker and he was injured and ended his college career prematurely due to an ailment.

Sorry just tired of that narrative. Not buying it. If you don’t follow the team closely I can see where you would draw that conclusion but for the guys who wat chiEd we knew that group was limited without Ron Curry. Hammer Rowe for last year the start of this year and even his second season. Some of the misses on players and recruiting, the uneven play, the historically bad second halves of games and end of games. I’m not going to kill him for underperforming with that group.

I bought into what you are saying and supported Rowe his first couple years. But I think it speaks to the fact Brady could coach when he was able to win without talent and Rowe can't coach even with supposed talent. Until recently I watched the games and can speak critically about what I've seen. I also played team basketball. It's clear to anyone who knows basketball that he ain't coaching and more critically can't make in game adjustments. And players such as Christmas and Jacobs actually seem to be regressing instead of progressing. A good coach brings his team up. Rowe is just a large anvil around the neck of the team. They'd probably win just as many games if they coached themselves based on what they learned from their high school coaches.

I hear you and it’s been a failure thus far- really no debating that but I do think if you expect young players under any coach to have a straight line progression you are going to be disappointed. There are incremental improvements and then set backs. That is part of the development process. Parker looked good , regressed, then he’s gotten better, Wooden showed signs earlier then wasn’t a factor and now he is.

Some of this is to be expected and the hope is that as you build a program the older guys are your more consistent performers. The consistency of the team overall has been disappointing but show me a freshman or sophomore under Brady that performed at a high level and was consistent- they are very rare so you have to have built a solid foundation and program with upper class men who are reliable - that remains to be seen and for good or bad Coach Rowe will sink or swim based on his first full recruiting class. The faith that he’s shown in Lewis. Banks and Wilson they need to carry this team. Jacobs needs to be more reliable.

Just think had he landed Wheeler who currently starts as a true PG for a ranked Penn a State team as part of that class. He’s been close to even more talent but ultimately they should have enough and enough continuity in the “system” to show better on the floor at this point, to have taken the next step as a group(including coaches) and they haven’t. Needs to click soon or it will be time to move on.

We are watching street basketball. I don't care what the supporting cast is, this is a summer pick up game. At this point I'm not even looking at the wins and losses, but rather what the guys are doing, where they are positioning themselves, who they put the ball in the hands of when up six with a minute to play, and are they working to set screens for their teammates. Coached teams do these things, these players aren't coached.

This. Which was my point of just letting the players coach themselves. We don't need Rowe for this. The guy has no idea what he's doing. If he loves coaching go find a nice Division III job.

(01-04-2020 04:04 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:41 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:35 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-04-2020 02:33 PM)2Buck Wrote:  No one should be blaming Lou, he didn't hire himself.

Don't blame the guy who hasn't performed? Ok.

That's right. He has performed to the best of his abilities. I blame the inept hiring managers who continually fail to recognize the limitations of their hires.

We're long past the "shame on you" stage and well into the "shame on us" stage.

But I don't expect you to see that since your field of vision is so obscured by the lining of this admin's arse.

I thought the hire was a mistake from the beginning, but the powers that be decided extending an opportunity to an alum to succeed was a risk worth taking. It’s clear (or should be at this point) it was a failed hire. Again, nothing personal against LR, but this is a business and LR simply hasn’t performed to required expectations.

While the employee’s failure to perform might have been predictablee, only the failure to terminate now would be on the decision makers. Time to move forward and start anew.

As some have said this was the Sherman Dillard hire 2.0. Clearly nobody in administration learned from that.