The reason state of Kent, Akron and OU passed us is because we let basketball rot. Good news is, there’s care for it again. Because I count walkon’s as real players, I actually see us having 6-7 spots to fill for next year. Simply based on what I see in the harsh reality of a 300 ranked team. It may sound mean but it’s a business. The softer side of it is these coaches are good dudes and will help the players find landing elsewhere that get let go by them. The players who know are bought in are not fazed by this current swoon. It’s sucks to lose. It’s part of the process. Anyhow, I was on the other side of a rebuild at Miami (men’s tennis) where we won 3 MAC champs in 4 years. It was ugly in the beginning and all the vitriol was the same as being said here save for the fact there was no social media. It feels a lot like Groundhog Day to me.
It’s quite early to start to wonder if Coach Steele is “not the right guy” for Miami. Given the past several years and the roster he inherited, he certainly has to be given some grace. He deserves time to get it right.
It looks like we have a great class coming in next year, and Morgan and Anderson have produced MUCH more than expected, so I’m excited about that. We take much better shots than previous year’s teams. (I know that’s a low bar to clear. And I know we don’t make a lot of those shots.) But our system looks better offensively. Our coaching staff as a whole is far more involved in actively coaching during games. There are positives.
This has certainly been a difficult year to watch. I don’t love Coach Steele preaching “we have to be the most connected team in the MAC” in the pre-season - and then when times are hard - saying in the press conference after that last game that “he hasn’t been around teams that don’t love basketball” like this one. Staying connected includes the coach. He’s frustrated - they just lost again - they blew a lead - he’s emotional - I get it. But don’t throw the team under the bus. Learn from it. Grow from it.
Coaches need time to find their footing sometimes. Coach K was 28-36 in ACC play his first 4 years at Duke. He needed time. (Of course I’m not saying Steele is Coach K.)
Players need time. Wally played 17 minutes per game and averaged 8 pts a game as a freshman. It takes time. (Of course I’m not saying we have a Wally in our Freshman class.)
Yep - it’s a different era - players come and go very quickly.
We’re a tough sell right now.
Do you want to play for a 2-MAC win team in a 80% empty stadium where there are no bleachers around the court? We haven’t been good in 15 years. Come to Miami!
I absolutely loved going to games at Millett. Some of my favorite memories from life are in that stadium. But many of us on here (myself included) have a romanticized vision of why Miami should be great every year. It’s obviously a really tough place to win at currently.
But dang it, that’s why it’s going to be an epic turnaround. And those who are part of it as players and coaches will be part of something incredible. Courts will be stormed. Stadiums will be packed. Nets will be cut down. Players and coaches will look at their banners hanging with pride. They’ll talk to their kids about how they helped re-create the best program in the MAC. And we’ll join together on HawkTalk to talk about about how bad we used to be, and how much better things are now!!!
You make a lot of good points. 
Well said. Coaches do grow. I bet we play more zone next year for instance.
Given his post game comments after CMU, we may be playing more zone tonight.
Could be!
I got to stop you on players need time Wally example. Wally scored 29 points on 9-9 shooting in his second game at Miami. He averaged 17 minutes a game because we were loaded. He improved meaningfully every year but he was a stud from day 1 - the same with Devin Davis- Damon Frierson- and most great MAC players that are freshman.
The only guys I ever remember going from why are they on the team as freshman to all MaC level performers were Tim Pollitz and William Hatcher.
One could argue the 29 point performance makes his 8 pt per game average a bit inflated, but I get your point. We were quite good in Wally’s first year - not amazing -12-6 in MAC - 3rd in the MAC. Amazing by our current standards, but good for our standard back then.
There are a ton of examples of “why is this guy on the team” that two years later are still “why is this guy on the team.” And there certainly may be some on this team.
But, I don’t think anyone I knew was saying, “probable lottery pick and NBA All Star” about Wally in year 1. He got a ton better.
Wally was an A- that worked his way into being an A+. I’m hopeful that some of our current freshman can eventually become B’s and make contributions to good team instead of playing big minutes on bad teams. That means we’ll need to recruit/find/develop some A’s and B’s. Easier said than done. But I need to hope for something.
Why not believe? There’s only one way to go from here and that’s up. That’s the great thing about being rock bottom!
I agree that wally was a A- that became an A+
That team was awesome though. Yes 12-6 but won almost every non conference game and played in the NIT at Fresno State on ESPN
Yes, I certainly remember. Thankfully an upperclassman invited me to his watch party at his apartment for the Fresno game. We didn’t have cable in the dorms. So sad.
For what result? Honest question, who on this roster would start for a decent MAC team? Maybe Safford. And that’s not to say that players on the roster couldn’t develop further, but top to bottom, this is a weak team.
@Max - the comment I remember being made about Williams was that he was the most talented in practice, but needed to be consistent to be more than talented. IIRC, the quote I heard was talent is a nice way of saying you could be good, but aren’t.
I remember hearing what Max heard. Best player in practice- maybe it was wishful thinking by my ears
For a decent MAC team, yeah, probably Safford. Lairy’s size likely has him coming off the bench for the better teams in the league. What about Mirambeaux? Maybe not quite, but I think he’s close. Excited to see his continued development for next season.
Admittedly I am a novice so feel free to critique my observation. I looked at the box and I was shocked to see how close we were (given the score) in several areas. What stood out (to me) was they had almost 6 dudes in double figures. Turnovers we were ok in. In some areas the shooting was fairly equal. We simply don’t have the horsepower right now to keep up. But soon, we will.
Mirambeaux wouldn’t start for anybody. He’s very skilled and has great footwork but unfortunately gives up well more than he contributes. Unless he radically changes his body he really shouldn’t be starting for Miami next season.
Anderson’s defense is atrocious. Part is positioning. Part is his size prevents him from doing what he needs to do. He has improved his rebounding. He gives us offense, but as Phil says, he is a negative on the +/-. He needs to get his weight to 275 and work on his D.
Can you imagine how talented we would be if the depth was good enough that he was a reserve? Wow. I am very high on his game as he’s a tremendously gifted athlete.
It’s interesting - we have to slow it down a bit offensively and not play transition when he is in there. That limits our turnovers, and causes us to hold the ball longer, and probably keeps games a bit closer with less overall possessions. It may explain why we’ve had so many close-ish games.
When he was out last night - we were kind of fun to watch. We ran, got some buckets in transition, and Kamari/Mabry/Morris looked a bit better in a more open game later in the 2nd half. (Toledo’s D was probably also less intense up 15.) But we also still got drilled.
I’m hoping Anderson has a great off-season and comes back even more prepared. He’s fun to root for.
Here’s the other odd thought I had late last night: even though our record sucks, I’d be willing to bet every coach in the MAC would say we are a tougher team to prepare for than the squads from the last couple years. Granted a new coach is always harder to scout, but just in terms of what we run we seem better? Am I high?