Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Do you believe his teams have played at/above their talent level?
Cuonzo was my top choice to replace Mike Anderson when we ended up with Haith, so I've liked the guy for awhile now. That said, he does seem to do less with his talent than many of his contemporaries.
So expound - do you believe his recruiting success has been overstated? Or that his teams have underachieved relative to the talent he's been able to bring in.
Because it has to be one or the other, does it not? In 6 years with TN and Cal he's routinely pulled in top 10 to top 20 recruiting classes and yet he's only made the tournament twice in that span and has only managed to win 2 tournament games in that period. That's a pretty poor record.
Is that due to talent acquisition? Development? Tactical deficiencies? There has to be something to explain it. Because you can say he's a 'damn good coach' if you'd like, but he seems to be developing a pretty clear record as an underachiever. Why do you think his ceiling would be substantially higher at Missouri? Or more accurately, why should Missouri fans see his ceiling as substantially higher?
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I know what he did at Missouri State. He took a team with no talent and was MVC champs by his 3rd year. Lost the MVC tournament championship game in typical Missouri non-MLB team fashion, with a player dribbling a ball off his foot. His last recruiting class he had signed with the Bears mainly followed him to Tennessee - Josh Richardson, Wes Washburn, and Quinton Chievous. Was offered the same salary than Marshall made then $750,000 per year but took the Tennessee job. If he would have stuck around Springfield, Shockers wouldn't have dominated the Valley - it would have been a two team race. He beat Gregg Marshall twice his last year and had a winning record against him at home. Went to Tennessee, by the 3rd year they were a Sweet Sixteen team. And they haven't been back to NCAA since then. Left because the fan base never embraced a black head coach who was different than loud mouth Bruce Pearl. He will also help your St. Louis recruiting which is the biggest problem Missouri faces. But whatever, go bitch and moan about this C hire. Alford was average at Iowa but now looks like a genius in UCLA.