Time for a change.

leatherneckcountry
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 4:55 pm

Many people on this board called for change last year and I gave Billy the benefit of the doubt thinking we may actually run an offense that didn't consist of one player jacking up Jumpshots half the time down the floor but apparently that is are offense. People will make the JD excuse but honestly every year you could see improvement from the girls we don't see that fro the guys. Every game we seem to be worse than the game before Omaha is probably the second worst team in the league.
vatusay
Posts: 962
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2014 2:14 pm

Billy is a good recruiter, but lacks in the coaching department.

I hate think that someone should be fired. But there is a decent amount of money involved and the performance on the court speaks for itself.

I thought last year was the time to make the change, but like you, I was curious to see what this offense looked like without a couple guys. Well, the early season started off promising. Gilbeck got the ball and it was a team game. Unfortunately we are back to perimeter offense with an inability to hit shots consistently.
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wiu712
Posts: 6864
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:05 pm

The attendance for the Omaha game was posted as 467. But the crowd looked much smaller than that.

Attendance at the Men's games has really dropped off since the 2012-2013 season when we had some crowds in the 4,000 to 5,000 range.

There has been an on-going conversation of "Football Attendance Crisis" under the "Leatherneck Athletics" tab. Perhaps we need to add Men's Basketball to that discussion.
vatusay
Posts: 962
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2014 2:14 pm

I see it as a “crisis” for all sports. The women who have been successful in the recent past can’t get a crowd worth a darn either.

Back to billy, he just had another one year “extension” contract, correct?

If Tanney was to make a change, what caliber of applicants do you think we would see?
#ALLIN #YOLO
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Tere North
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Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:59 pm

wiu712 wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:56 am Attendance at the Men's games has really dropped off since the 2012-2013 season when we had some crowds in the 4,000 to 5,000 range.
I remember maybe a couple of games that big in the past, e.g. when Bradley came to play, but definitely not a season of even above 2k.
vatusay
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Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2014 2:14 pm

There were a few 4000+ games in the CC/TP years.

If I had to guess they probably averaged 1200-1500 during those two seasons.
#ALLIN #YOLO
HoosierNeck13
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:30 am

I think it's time to make a coaching change but keep this thought it mind-we also need a marketing and promotions person to help promote the games.

Yes, we do need a new coach but without a person to promote the home games, it's useless. We could have a big name coach (Coach K, Izzo, Calipari, etc.) but if we don't have an incentive for people to come it would be a waste of money, although winning would certainly help the marketing person's job.

I was in grad school during the last 2 Molinari years and the reason we were successful was two fold: we had a good product to promote and we had a good marketing person.

Something that needs to change, regardless of who coaches is the schedule: I'm tired of playing non D-1 games (esp. the Christian schools-it's just a way to inflate our stats). Part of the reason attendance is low is the quality of opponents we bring. We had some good one this year but I'd like to see more regional games.
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sealhall74
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Location: Wherever, Windblows

These days, I am not sure if "just basketball" is going to fill the stands of an average mid-major in a small town, regardless of the quality of product on the court. I think you really have to be creative and entertain people to get them to show up in large numbers. Maybe even going so far as marketing separate game day events like an old-fashioned pinewood derby style contest that might draw in some interest from outside of Macomb. Pre-game you have the prelims out there near the concession area. Half-time you roll the track out and have the qualifiers go at it in front of all of the fans at the game. Young kids (cubs scouts?) and I assume their dads could compete alongside the more advanced (physics and engineering majors?) students for bragging rights. Would you have to invest in a nice aluminum track? Yes. Is that a big investment? No, not if you use it a few times a year for a decade. No reason you could not do for football as well.

Do we need a change? Absolutely. I am just not sure what the change should be. It could be as simple as switching out of the pack line defense to a 1-2-2 zone to give Gilbeck some protection or it could be the more drastic coaching personnel change.

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wiu2017
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:34 pm

thoughts
We are too predictable, easy to scout and prepare for. Same crap for last three years. We will never have the talent at WIU to just say you know what we do, try and stop us. Kobe did great early on, because nobody was ready for him, but now teams have seen him and know his moves.. .
Zone works better with a big shot blocker in the middle. Shot blocks should translate into a fast break once in a while,.. for us they don't. We dont rebound well in the pack line or defend the three very well either, so just place some zone, mix it up.. I see other teams do this all the time.
on Offense throw some oops, loosen up, we cant have any more turnovers than we already do..
wiu2008
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:08 am

I do not know what the answer is but Wright does not seem to be getting it done.

Another Coach Mo isnt coming through Western's door, and I really hope it didnt come down to 20-30k as the reason he departed.

There will be plenty of quality assistants that would not take this job in fear that it would set back their career too far. WIU is in a tough spot right now, and there isnt an easy answer.
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