Well some interesting things happened in the OT loss to LMU today. I really felt the coach needed to take credit for the loss today, which didn't seem to show in the Mercer article. Also, James Florence's presence on the court was destroying the team. He's human, and he wasn't hitting shots or making quality decisions. The coaches finally pulled him for most of the 2nd half. I don't know if they will spin it as an injury or anything though.

The crazy coaching moves led to this loss. Seven minutes into the game, only trailing by 2 points, the entire starting lineup was pulled for bench players. This of course immediately led to LMU gaining a sizeable lead. Mark Hall, who sparked the team today with 30 points, was the only bright spot of the new group. He was then pulled with the rest of the group as Coach had mass subs again a few minutes later (the damage had already been done).

I'm a fan of our coach, and of course all of the players. But I hope Florence can sit down with the coach and rationally discuss this. When the star player is benched there has to be a talk about it later behind closed doors.

Thought you guys should know what the reporters won't write about. The Mercer article had no mention of Florence, his performance, his benching, his nasty collision early in the game with an LMU player, nothing at all. So it could have been an injury, or it may not have been.

As far as this rant goes, if anyone in authority at Mercer reads it -- it's because we care about the program. We have the talent. You can't beat USC by 15, and then lose the next four games. Something doesn't add up.

Frustrating loss...I wonder if there were some things going on behind the scenes and your Coach wanted to send a message to his starters. If that was the case, then I would have to question his tactics too. Whatever the case, it's hard to stomach when your team shows promise and then doesn't win when it should.

Good luck the rest of the way. You're loaded with talent and I hope you can maximize it.

Well we took an ass beating by Georgia Southern tonight. The coaching comments in the post game were that they are proud of the team. I'm sorry, but if we want to improve as a program, we can't be proud of ANY loss. A loss is a loss. We need someone who will step up and take responsibility for the short coming. Someone who will say we will fix what's wrong. We don't need to accept failure in any shape or form. If the Coach came out and said "I've messed up terribly in the last five games, and we're going to get back to where we were in game 1", I would have all the respect in the world for the team. I would be posting great praise for the staff. "Players make plays" says the ETSU coach, but players don't blow five straight games. You have to look elsewhere. I hate posting these negative comments, but it's safe to say that we just lost ALL momentum from the Southern Cal upset. Back to the drawing board, great opportunity gone. All potential new fans just forgot what Mercer basketball is. Hopefully we can pull it together in conference play. This team is so talented, it's a shame to see them at 1-5. They deserve much better.

Oh, and USC hasn't lost since losing to Mercer. They are 5-1. This is just sick.

For the record, I think our Coach is a great recruiter, a great person, and a great face/personality for the team. I just feel like he's missing the key to take us to the next level. It's nothing personal, but I saw the 23-6 powerhouse Mercer Bears fold to UCF by a huge margin when it counted. I feel like this team could have been 20+ wins. That's gone barring a miracle. They can still win the tournament. I hope our Coach can pull that off and get the monkey off his back, and our teams back. Give us something to take pride in. A trip to the NCAA's, not a loss to Georgia Southern.

MercerFan Wrote:You can't beat USC by 15, and then lose the next five games. Something doesn't add up.

I'll keep fixing it as long as I have to...

There are flukes in sports. Time will tell if that fluke was USC or the five losses that followed it.