(01-25-2022 10:57 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 10:26 AM)gusrob Wrote:  Don't click on this POS. Here's the entire article. Check out how Mike Deblahblah changes the question. So much for journalistic integrity (thought of the 20th Century):



If only college basketball consisted of an enduring series of offseasons, Penny Hardaway could be the undisputed king of Memphis.

OK, so maybe “King” is a poor word choice given that Elvis always is present in the Mid-South.

Penny would be some sort of monarch, regardless, if he never had to coach a game.

Speaking of poor choice of words, Hardaway dropped a barrage of F-bombs following the Tigers’ most recent loss, Thursday night at home to SMU, angry at a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could “get it done” as Tigers head coach.

“The one thing I can say to this media – because this media gets kind of f—ed up sometimes when it comes to me – we don’t have our full roster. Y’all know we don’t have our full roster. Stop asking me stupid f—ing questions about if I feel like I can do something.

“If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I could do whatever I want to do. I’m coaching really hard, my boys are playing really hard. I’m not embarrassed about nothing. We have four freshmen starting. Y’all need to act like it. Act like we got 17- and 18- and 19-year-olds out here trying to learn how to play against 22-, 23- and 24-year-old guys. Come on, man. Stop disrespecting me, bro. Like, don’t do that. I work too f—ing hard. I work way too hard for that. Y’all write all these f—ing articles about me, and all I do is work.”

The loss dropped Memphis to 9-8 and 3-4 in the AAC, the nation's 9th-rated league based on RPI. The odds of him ending Memphis' seven-year NCAA tournament drought are growing longer and longer.

In some ways, Memphis’ meager performance as a program under Hardaway, in this season and the three that preceded it, might be less disconcerting if he were teeing it up every morning and playing poker with his buddies each night. If he truly is putting all the energy necessary into making the Tigers a successful college team -- and there’s no reason not to take him at his word – then the only reasonable conclusion is he’s not very good at being a high-major Division I head basketball coach.

If doing this job were only were about lining up elite recruiting classes, there might be no one to compete with him, especially if traditional program strength were factored into the equation. Three of the five highest-ranked players in the modern history of Memphis basketball were signed by Hardaway since 2019.

On National Signing Day, Hardaway lands great players and generates great enthusiasm and sees all of that reflected in a Memphis media that covers the Tigers like the New York papers cover the Yankees. On Selection Sunday, Hardaway watches as 68 other coaches see their teams chosen to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

MORE: SN Midseason All-America team

That’s how it’s been every year since he arrived, almost literally to the sound of trumpets, in March 2018. Enthusiasm for Tigers basketball had plummeted, from the extraordinary run under John Calipari to the 2008 Final Four and four consecutive trips to the tournament’s second weekend, to four straight appearances under successor Josh Pastner, to four consecutive empty Marches from 2015-18. Season ticket sales plunged to low-major levels.

The hiring of Hardaway – a city kid who became a Tigers All-American and NBA superstar – reinvigorated the program’s fan base. Capacity crowds became common. There were myriad articles on local and national web sites about how fantastic it was for Memphis to have Hardaway as its coach.

What does Memphis have to show for it? More curse words and NCAA investigations – the Tigers’ recruitment of Golden State Warriors center James Wiseman led to a case that’s in front of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) – than NCAA Tournament appearances. The Tigers’ lone postseason success was the championship of the 2021 NIT.

With many of the players from that squad returning, and with top-five prospects Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates enrolling, the Tigers were widely projected as a top-20 team this season. They’ve been nowhere near it, because that involved games being played.

Hardaway’s lament about not having a full roster in Thursday’s loss is fair; the Tigers were missing dependable forward DeAndre Williams and top shooter Landers Nolley. But it's also misleading. Nolley appeared in the season’s first 15 games, during which the Tigers were 9-6 with losses to teams that now own a combined record of 62-40. Memphis was 8-4 in Williams’ dozen games, and that included losses to Georgia and Ole Miss, who own a composite record of 14-21.

It’s worth mentioning, as well, that when those players were healthy and active, Hardaway called out his group of veterans in a startling article with Seth Davis of The Athletic. Hardaway excoriated them for not being more welcoming to the program’s two new elite freshmen.

It was stunning to see Hardaway turn on the people who mostly prominently celebrated his selection as Tigers coach

The problem with the hiring always was this: Hardaway’s only preparation for the position was as a successful high school coach at Memphis East and as the operator of an eponymous club – Team Penny – in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League. He wasn’t even that squad’s primary game coach; in every Team Penny game I observed in several years of Nike Peach Jam tournaments, it was former Arkansas star Todd Day who was at the head of the Team Penny bench.

Who’s the last success story who came directly from high school to a Division I head coaching position? John Wooden? In 1946?

I covered Tigers basketball in the 1990s when another of the team’s greatest players, Larry Finch, struggled to meet the standard expected of him – and that was with years of preparation as an assistant at UAB and with the Tigers, after coaching the Tigers to an Elite Eight appearance in 1992 and a Sweet 16 in 1995.

By the end of the 1997 season, because recruiting had collapsed and the fan base had soured, Finch was forced to resign. I worried when Hardaway was hired that another of the program’s icons would encounter the same result: disappointing the very people he once thrilled on a regular basis.

There is an old coaching axiom: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

And that appears to be what happened here.

There is nothing in that article that is not true.

The question asked is not accurate. And he used quotation marks to quote him.

Here is Geoff Calkins recanting the question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I2UdFrAa8w&t=14s

According to Deblahblah's article "a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could 'get it done' as Tigers head coach." Innaccurate.

(01-22-2022 08:56 AM)presskh Wrote:  It’s hard to argue with the main conclusion of the article, that Penny was just not prepared to be a high-major D1 BB coach. What is truly perplexing, however, is how our level of play has seemingly deteriorated since last year’s NIT tourney, and with Larry Brown on the sideline, to boot. I think most believed that Penny had it figured out after the NIT run.

This is what I don’t get - we had defense figured out and were actually moving and running consistent offensive sets leading up to and in the NIT.

And then this year it’s a complete and total regression.

(01-25-2022 11:01 AM)gusrob Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 10:57 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 10:26 AM)gusrob Wrote:  Don't click on this POS. Here's the entire article. Check out how Mike Deblahblah changes the question. So much for journalistic integrity (thought of the 20th Century):



If only college basketball consisted of an enduring series of offseasons, Penny Hardaway could be the undisputed king of Memphis.

OK, so maybe “King” is a poor word choice given that Elvis always is present in the Mid-South.

Penny would be some sort of monarch, regardless, if he never had to coach a game.

Speaking of poor choice of words, Hardaway dropped a barrage of F-bombs following the Tigers’ most recent loss, Thursday night at home to SMU, angry at a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could “get it done” as Tigers head coach.

“The one thing I can say to this media – because this media gets kind of f—ed up sometimes when it comes to me – we don’t have our full roster. Y’all know we don’t have our full roster. Stop asking me stupid f—ing questions about if I feel like I can do something.

“If I had my roster like they did, then I feel like I could do whatever I want to do. I’m coaching really hard, my boys are playing really hard. I’m not embarrassed about nothing. We have four freshmen starting. Y’all need to act like it. Act like we got 17- and 18- and 19-year-olds out here trying to learn how to play against 22-, 23- and 24-year-old guys. Come on, man. Stop disrespecting me, bro. Like, don’t do that. I work too f—ing hard. I work way too hard for that. Y’all write all these f—ing articles about me, and all I do is work.”

The loss dropped Memphis to 9-8 and 3-4 in the AAC, the nation's 9th-rated league based on RPI. The odds of him ending Memphis' seven-year NCAA tournament drought are growing longer and longer.

In some ways, Memphis’ meager performance as a program under Hardaway, in this season and the three that preceded it, might be less disconcerting if he were teeing it up every morning and playing poker with his buddies each night. If he truly is putting all the energy necessary into making the Tigers a successful college team -- and there’s no reason not to take him at his word – then the only reasonable conclusion is he’s not very good at being a high-major Division I head basketball coach.

If doing this job were only were about lining up elite recruiting classes, there might be no one to compete with him, especially if traditional program strength were factored into the equation. Three of the five highest-ranked players in the modern history of Memphis basketball were signed by Hardaway since 2019.

On National Signing Day, Hardaway lands great players and generates great enthusiasm and sees all of that reflected in a Memphis media that covers the Tigers like the New York papers cover the Yankees. On Selection Sunday, Hardaway watches as 68 other coaches see their teams chosen to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

MORE: SN Midseason All-America team

That’s how it’s been every year since he arrived, almost literally to the sound of trumpets, in March 2018. Enthusiasm for Tigers basketball had plummeted, from the extraordinary run under John Calipari to the 2008 Final Four and four consecutive trips to the tournament’s second weekend, to four straight appearances under successor Josh Pastner, to four consecutive empty Marches from 2015-18. Season ticket sales plunged to low-major levels.

The hiring of Hardaway – a city kid who became a Tigers All-American and NBA superstar – reinvigorated the program’s fan base. Capacity crowds became common. There were myriad articles on local and national web sites about how fantastic it was for Memphis to have Hardaway as its coach.

What does Memphis have to show for it? More curse words and NCAA investigations – the Tigers’ recruitment of Golden State Warriors center James Wiseman led to a case that’s in front of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) – than NCAA Tournament appearances. The Tigers’ lone postseason success was the championship of the 2021 NIT.

With many of the players from that squad returning, and with top-five prospects Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates enrolling, the Tigers were widely projected as a top-20 team this season. They’ve been nowhere near it, because that involved games being played.

Hardaway’s lament about not having a full roster in Thursday’s loss is fair; the Tigers were missing dependable forward DeAndre Williams and top shooter Landers Nolley. But it's also misleading. Nolley appeared in the season’s first 15 games, during which the Tigers were 9-6 with losses to teams that now own a combined record of 62-40. Memphis was 8-4 in Williams’ dozen games, and that included losses to Georgia and Ole Miss, who own a composite record of 14-21.

It’s worth mentioning, as well, that when those players were healthy and active, Hardaway called out his group of veterans in a startling article with Seth Davis of The Athletic. Hardaway excoriated them for not being more welcoming to the program’s two new elite freshmen.

It was stunning to see Hardaway turn on the people who mostly prominently celebrated his selection as Tigers coach

The problem with the hiring always was this: Hardaway’s only preparation for the position was as a successful high school coach at Memphis East and as the operator of an eponymous club – Team Penny – in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League. He wasn’t even that squad’s primary game coach; in every Team Penny game I observed in several years of Nike Peach Jam tournaments, it was former Arkansas star Todd Day who was at the head of the Team Penny bench.

Who’s the last success story who came directly from high school to a Division I head coaching position? John Wooden? In 1946?

I covered Tigers basketball in the 1990s when another of the team’s greatest players, Larry Finch, struggled to meet the standard expected of him – and that was with years of preparation as an assistant at UAB and with the Tigers, after coaching the Tigers to an Elite Eight appearance in 1992 and a Sweet 16 in 1995.

By the end of the 1997 season, because recruiting had collapsed and the fan base had soured, Finch was forced to resign. I worried when Hardaway was hired that another of the program’s icons would encounter the same result: disappointing the very people he once thrilled on a regular basis.

There is an old coaching axiom: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

And that appears to be what happened here.

There is nothing in that article that is not true.

The question asked is not accurate. And he used quotation marks to quote him.

He paraphrased the original question and then put it in quotes. That’s amazingly bad journalism

(01-25-2022 11:51 AM)TGTiger Wrote:  

(01-22-2022 08:56 AM)presskh Wrote:  It’s hard to argue with the main conclusion of the article, that Penny was just not prepared to be a high-major D1 BB coach. What is truly perplexing, however, is how our level of play has seemingly deteriorated since last year’s NIT tourney, and with Larry Brown on the sideline, to boot. I think most believed that Penny had it figured out after the NIT run.

This is what I don’t get - we had defense figured out and were actually moving and running consistent offensive sets leading up to and in the NIT.

And then this year it’s a complete and total regression.

Too much freedom and too much asking players to do what they are incapable of. You have college players trying to run an NBA system.

I have said it many times. I can give a group of second graders step by step instructions on how to build a plane but they still are not going to be able to build it...

(01-25-2022 11:08 AM)gusrob Wrote:  Here is Geoff Calkins recanting the question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I2UdFrAa8w&t=14s

According to Deblahblah's article "a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could 'get it done' as Tigers head coach." Innaccurate.

I’ve seen the Q&A multiple times. Mike’s article encompasses the disappointment in Penny’s entire tenure, not just the framing of Calkins’ question; and it’s spot on. Painful, but accurate. Since the press conference, Geoff has served as the foil and has momentarily taken the heat off Penny; but in the end, it’ll come down to W’s & L’s, and not Geoff’s opinion.

(01-25-2022 11:58 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 11:08 AM)gusrob Wrote:  Here is Geoff Calkins recanting the question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I2UdFrAa8w&t=14s

According to Deblahblah's article "a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could 'get it done' as Tigers head coach." Innaccurate.

I’ve seen the Q&A multiple times. Mike’s article encompasses the disappointment in Penny’s entire tenure, not just the framing of Calkins’ question; and it’s spot on. Painful, but accurate. Since the press conference, Geoff has served as the foil and has momentarily taken the heat off Penny; but in the end, it’ll come down to W’s & L’s, and not Geoff’s opinion.

It's a terribly written piece. You just like that it echoes your thoughts.

(01-25-2022 12:03 PM)gusrob Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 11:58 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 11:08 AM)gusrob Wrote:  Here is Geoff Calkins recanting the question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I2UdFrAa8w&t=14s

According to Deblahblah's article "a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could 'get it done' as Tigers head coach." Innaccurate.

I’ve seen the Q&A multiple times. Mike’s article encompasses the disappointment in Penny’s entire tenure, not just the framing of Calkins’ question; and it’s spot on. Painful, but accurate. Since the press conference, Geoff has served as the foil and has momentarily taken the heat off Penny; but in the end, it’ll come down to W’s & L’s, and not Geoff’s opinion.

It's a terribly written piece. You just like that it echoes your thoughts.

Terribly written how? The grammar and punctuation seem right. The sentence structure is correct. There are no fragments or run-ons. So, what's so terrible?

(01-25-2022 12:31 PM)RCM1029 Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 12:03 PM)gusrob Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 11:58 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 11:08 AM)gusrob Wrote:  Here is Geoff Calkins recanting the question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I2UdFrAa8w&t=14s

According to Deblahblah's article "a reporter’s question regarding whether he believed he could 'get it done' as Tigers head coach." Innaccurate.

I’ve seen the Q&A multiple times. Mike’s article encompasses the disappointment in Penny’s entire tenure, not just the framing of Calkins’ question; and it’s spot on. Painful, but accurate. Since the press conference, Geoff has served as the foil and has momentarily taken the heat off Penny; but in the end, it’ll come down to W’s & L’s, and not Geoff’s opinion.

It's a terribly written piece. You just like that it echoes your thoughts.

Terribly written how? The grammar and punctuation seem right. The sentence structure is correct. There are no fragments or run-ons. So, what's so terrible?

context

Few writers know the Memphis program better than DeCourcey… so what did he take out of context?

(01-25-2022 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Few writers know the Memphis program better than DeCourcey… so what did he take out of context?

he left out the "are you embarrassed" part of the question, which in my opinion, is where he triggered Penny.

(01-25-2022 01:19 PM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 12:49 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Few writers know the Memphis program better than DeCourcey… so what did he take out of context?

he left out the "are you embarrassed" part of the question, which in my opinion, is where he triggered Penny.

The gist of the question was do you still think you can get it done & Penny prefaced that in his response…
“Stop asking me stupid f—ing questions about if I feel like I can do something.” He never referenced the embarrassed line… which was in reference to the embarrassing start to the SMU game.

I have no idea what triggered this surreal F bomb dropping response, yet there’s also the post Tulsa press conference where petulant Penny basically sat in his seat in silence…. which I suppose is preferable.

But again, DeCourcey’s article focused on Penny’s complete tenure at Memphis & not just the exchange with Geoff; but I do understand why some fans want to focus on that exchange & not the disappointing product on the floor.

The article itself is misleading with some of its implications and purposeful omissions. Yes, he slightly alters the question itself. He also fails to even mention Tubby Smith, and the terrible state that the program reached in his short tenure. "What does Memphis have to show for it?" A complete turnaround in recruiting, a return of crowds to the game, and the national media actually talking about the Tigers again. The article mentions these things as something Penny has wasted, not as something he is directly responsible for. Then it is misleading again by saying that the recruitment of Wiseman is why we are in front of the IARP, like Penny did something dirty or cheating. Penny is to blame for the IARP, but it was because of his defiance and his attempt to support a player. Then he talks about the Tigers record, but fails to mention any of the meaningful victories over Alabama, VTech, and Cincinnati. No one is happy with the record, but the article purposely leaves out that the team has come together and played well at times, and that injuries did derail what looked like a team that was starting to figure it out. Then the article is again misleading when talking about Team Penny. It implies that Penny wasn't even good enough to be head coach of Team Penny with "He wasn't even the squad's primary game coach; in every Team Penny game I observed...it was former Arkansas star Todd Day who was at the head..." And it is again misleading when talking about Hardaway blaming losses on not having the hurt players when earlier he blamed veteran players for not being good teammates early in the season. It doesn't point out the possibility that Penny seemingly got the veteran players to start playing better with the new players and the team looked better and then players got hurt. It implies that Penny is always just looking for a new excuse.

(01-25-2022 02:03 PM)gotohellolemiss Wrote:  The article itself is misleading with some of its implications and purposeful omissions. Yes, he slightly alters the question itself. He also fails to even mention Tubby Smith, and the terrible state that the program reached in his short tenure. "What does Memphis have to show for it?" A complete turnaround in recruiting, a return of crowds to the game, and the national media actually talking about the Tigers again. The article mentions these things as something Penny has wasted, not as something he is directly responsible for. Then it is misleading again by saying that the recruitment of Wiseman is why we are in front of the IARP, like Penny did something dirty or cheating. Penny is to blame for the IARP, but it was because of his defiance and his attempt to support a player. Then he talks about the Tigers record, but fails to mention any of the meaningful victories over Alabama, VTech, and Cincinnati. No one is happy with the record, but the article purposely leaves out that the team has come together and played well at times, and that injuries did derail what looked like a team that was starting to figure it out. Then the article is again misleading when talking about Team Penny. It implies that Penny wasn't even good enough to be head coach of Team Penny with "He wasn't even the squad's primary game coach; in every Team Penny game I observed...it was former Arkansas star Todd Day who was at the head..." And it is again misleading when talking about Hardaway blaming losses on not having the hurt players when earlier he blamed veteran players for not being good teammates early in the season. It doesn't point out the possibility that Penny seemingly got the veteran players to start playing better with the new players and the team looked better and then players got hurt. It implies that Penny is always just looking for a new excuse.

Well, he does have some valid points.

(01-25-2022 02:03 PM)gotohellolemiss Wrote:  The article itself is misleading with some of its implications and purposeful omissions. Yes, he slightly alters the question itself. He also fails to even mention Tubby Smith, and the terrible state that the program reached in his short tenure. "What does Memphis have to show for it?" A complete turnaround in recruiting, a return of crowds to the game, and the national media actually talking about the Tigers again. The article mentions these things as something Penny has wasted, not as something he is directly responsible for. Then it is misleading again by saying that the recruitment of Wiseman is why we are in front of the IARP, like Penny did something dirty or cheating. Penny is to blame for the IARP, but it was because of his defiance and his attempt to support a player. Then he talks about the Tigers record, but fails to mention any of the meaningful victories over Alabama, VTech, and Cincinnati. No one is happy with the record, but the article purposely leaves out that the team has come together and played well at times, and that injuries did derail what looked like a team that was starting to figure it out. Then the article is again misleading when talking about Team Penny. It implies that Penny wasn't even good enough to be head coach of Team Penny with "He wasn't even the squad's primary game coach; in every Team Penny game I observed...it was former Arkansas star Todd Day who was at the head..." And it is again misleading when talking about Hardaway blaming losses on not having the hurt players when earlier he blamed veteran players for not being good teammates early in the season. It doesn't point out the possibility that Penny seemingly got the veteran players to start playing better with the new players and the team looked better and then players got hurt. It implies that Penny is always just looking for a new excuse.

That is where he lost credibility...I think there were rules and regulations that kept Penny from being the primary coach. Something to do with him being school coach at the same time.

Tubby’s teams were no worse than Penny’s teams.
Penny brought smoke, excitement & recruiting classes, but there has been no upgrade on the court. Tubby’s squads were 19-13 & 21-13 & Penny’s much the same.

The one thing Penny did do was initially bring back the fans, but it looks like this year we’re in danger of not hitting the 13k (turnstile count) attendance threshold & might not receive the 800k from the Grizz. At some point, they have to win or the smoke will turn to fog.

(01-25-2022 02:45 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Tubby’s teams were no worse than Penny’s teams.
Penny brought smoke, excitement & recruiting classes, but there has been no upgrade on the court. Tubby’s squads were 19-13 & 21-13 & Penny’s much the same.

The one thing Penny did do was initially bring back the fans, but it looks like this year we’re in danger of not hitting the 13k (turnstile count) attendance threshold & might not receive the 800k from the Grizz. At some point, they have to win or the smoke will turn to fog.

Well maybe record wise. If you go by something like Kenpom, Tubby's last team was 150+ in kenpom when the season ended. As bad as we look right now, we are still around 60 in kenpom.
We did also win an NIT, which I doubt Tubby would have accomplished.

(01-25-2022 02:56 PM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 02:45 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Tubby’s teams were no worse than Penny’s teams.
Penny brought smoke, excitement & recruiting classes, but there has been no upgrade on the court. Tubby’s squads were 19-13 & 21-13 & Penny’s much the same.

The one thing Penny did do was initially bring back the fans, but it looks like this year we’re in danger of not hitting the 13k (turnstile count) attendance threshold & might not receive the 800k from the Grizz. At some point, they have to win or the smoke will turn to fog.

Well maybe record wise. If you go by something like Kenpom, Tubby's last team was 150+ in kenpom when the season ended. As bad as we look right now, we are still around 60 in kenpom.
We did also win an NIT, which I doubt Tubby would have accomplished.

If you don’t make the NCAA’s, then what difference does it make?

(01-25-2022 03:06 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 02:56 PM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 02:45 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Tubby’s teams were no worse than Penny’s teams.
Penny brought smoke, excitement & recruiting classes, but there has been no upgrade on the court. Tubby’s squads were 19-13 & 21-13 & Penny’s much the same.

The one thing Penny did do was initially bring back the fans, but it looks like this year we’re in danger of not hitting the 13k (turnstile count) attendance threshold & might not receive the 800k from the Grizz. At some point, they have to win or the smoke will turn to fog.

Well maybe record wise. If you go by something like Kenpom, Tubby's last team was 150+ in kenpom when the season ended. As bad as we look right now, we are still around 60 in kenpom.
We did also win an NIT, which I doubt Tubby would have accomplished.

If you don’t make the NCAA’s, then what difference does it make?

Best of the worst baby!!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(01-25-2022 03:06 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 02:56 PM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(01-25-2022 02:45 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Tubby’s teams were no worse than Penny’s teams.
Penny brought smoke, excitement & recruiting classes, but there has been no upgrade on the court. Tubby’s squads were 19-13 & 21-13 & Penny’s much the same.

The one thing Penny did do was initially bring back the fans, but it looks like this year we’re in danger of not hitting the 13k (turnstile count) attendance threshold & might not receive the 800k from the Grizz. At some point, they have to win or the smoke will turn to fog.

Well maybe record wise. If you go by something like Kenpom, Tubby's last team was 150+ in kenpom when the season ended. As bad as we look right now, we are still around 60 in kenpom.
We did also win an NIT, which I doubt Tubby would have accomplished.

If you don’t make the NCAA’s, then what difference does it make?

Even though I don't agree with it I get the argument about the NCAA tournament, but saying Penny hasn't improved the overall quality of play is simply false. You can argue that it doesn't matter how the team plays if they don't make the tournament, but you can't argue that therefore every team that doesn't make the tournament is equal in quality.