NCAA Coaching "Legend" Stew Morrill "improves" to 1-7 in the tourney

[Pakuni]

I can't believe some of you are blasting Utah State's coach after that game. 

Bunch of damn Devendorf's is what you are.  They played fantastic basketball against us, and their Ginger big man took us to town.

What would happen in this game if two of their stars didn't foul out in the closing minutes?

Did you watch the game?
USU played below their season average in most aspects of play. They scored less, shot worse and were outrebounded. About the only thing they did better was defend and take care of the ball.
Stating these facts is not blasting them or their coach. But it sure countradicts the continued proclamations they "played fantastic basketball" or were "damn well prepared."

[jmayer1]

I didn't mean to trash their coach, although I can definitely see how it came off that way.  To say he is a coaching "legend" is ludicrous.  I've followed college basketball extremely close for the last 20 years, and to be honest, I had never heard of this guy. Granted I don't live on the precious west coast, but to be considered a legend, any huge basketball fan should know youe name off the top of his head. 

That would be like saying Dick Bennett is a legend.  He's a heck of a coach and I was a big fan but I'm not going to say he's legendary.  I also wouldn't fault an east coast basketball fan if they didn't know his name because most of his success came at gb with only mild success at uw and wsu.

[StillAWarrior]

East Coast Bias     You need to get out of Cleveland more often.

Is StillWarriors from Cleveland, too?  Or are you confusing the two of us?

[StillWarriors]

Is StillWarriors from Cleveland, too?  Or are you confusing the two of us?

He's confusing us. But Mr. Morrill isn't exactly a legend in Chicago either, so the comment still fits I guess!

Sorry for the "copycat" moniker by the way, but wasn't aware of yours when I first logged in a couple years ago.

[GGGG]

Not sure I get your point here. I already said MU was atrocious for 15 minutes of the second half.
But MU being atrocious does not mean Morrill coached a good game, does it?

The facts are these:
1. USU scored well below their season average.
2. USU shot well below their season average.
3. USU got off to a terrible start in which they had trouble defending MU and struggled to score, or even get good looks, themselves.
4. USU was outrebounded by a smaller team.
5. USU lost six-point lead in the closing 4:30 or so and only a couple of lucky threes at the very end kept it close.

How does one consider these facts and claims Morrill coached a good game and/or had his team well prepared? Just because they made it close? Funny, I didn't hear about that about Buzz after the losses to Louisville and Villanova.
I guarantee that had MU blown a six-point lead with that little time left, many here would be calling for the coach's head.

Here is what Morrill said in the postgame presser: "You look at this game, it doesn't take a genius to figure out them getting to the free-throw line was huge, and that we were stunned by their athleticism and pressure initially in the game. We had a really hard time execituing because of their quickness and strength and those kinds of things."

Depite that, they came out in the second half and made the adjustments on both sides of the floor that got them back into the game.  That's coaching.  A coach can't make cherry pie out of cherry pits.  But a good coach can adjust.  And Morrill's adjustments had MU on the ropes...with a team made up of a bunch of players that will never sniff the NBA.

Now, I wouldn't call him a "legend" either.  But his record suggests that he is a very good coach.  And I think he showed why that's the case today.

[77ncaachamps]

I respect Morrill's career and what he's done in Utah State (and elsewhere), but you really don't get respect if you stay in a mid-major conference like the WAC where half the league finished less than .500 record and only two teams from the conference got post-season bids.

It's kinda like Big House Gaines. He won, stayed in it long enough, but never really was able to take HIMSELF to another level.

But hey, USU was a great matchup for MU.

And legends earn the title by doing extraordinary things, not finishing 1-7 when it really matters.

[Marquette_g]

The highlight of this thread is Chicos responding to his own post. 

Morrill is the classic example of a coach who can win a ton of games, but would never succeed at a bigger school.  That doesn't mean he isn't a good coach for Utah St., but there is a reason he has never left (and not all of them are because of his loyalty).  His use of a high school like means of calling plays is simplistic and rudimentary and 1-7 is not an opinion but a fact.

The idea that a number 11 seed played a home game is a bigger atrocity than either Chicos tooting his own horn or Morril being a tool.

[NYWarrior]

He coached a WAY better game than Buzz did today and you know it.

No he didn't.  He lost despite a late lead, momentum and a defacto home court to boot.

Buzz won the game when Stew's team went up six and it felt like the game could get away from MU.  Buzz called a timeout -- after the timeout, MU scored its first bucket in several minutes.  After that, a new defensive set created an immediate turnover.  Before you knew it, MU scored seven in a row.  MU smartly abandoned a traditional zone offense and Buzz had his fellas drive to the hoop in the last 5 minutes, USU had no answer......FTs won the game as a result.  Nice adjustments by Buzz when the going got tough.

[tower912]

Ripping USU's coach = classless.   We are better than this.   Kudos to USU for a tough game, enthusiastic fanbase and well-coached team.    Bigger Kudos to our guys for finding a way to win despite trying very hard to lose it.   
1. Standing around, passing the ball around the perimeter and hoisting a 3 does not equal a zone offense.
2.  Playing at the speed of your opponent is never a good idea.
3.  Jerel and Wes really miss DJ getting into the lane, drawing the defense, and dishing to them.   
4.  J and W have got to start attacking the rack again.
5.  Solid defense everywhere but the post today.   Either those guys are really well coached in post moves, or they are actually better than Harangody.   So tired of watching them spin to hole and getting fouled.

It is just as important to be a gracious winner as it is to be a gracious loser.   

[Marquette_g]

Ripping USU's coach = classless.   We are better than this.   Kudos to USU for a tough game, enthusiastic fanbase and well-coached team.    Bigger Kudos to our guys for finding a way to win despite trying very hard to lose it.   

How is it "classless" if you disagree with the way a guy coaches? It is a topic of conversation.  It is also not "classless" to cite his tournament record, that is a matter of fact.

[tower912]

He runs a clean program, he graduates his players, he gets a lot out of his talent, he wins lots of games with his system.   His team played hard and clean, playing their guts out.   Trashing a coach for no other reason than our team beat his is classless.    Why should we lower ourselves to the lowest common denominator or act like the tools we complain about on other boards?    Stay classy, scoopers.

[Pakuni]

He runs a clean program, he graduates his players, he gets a lot out of his talent, he wins lots of games with his system.   His team played hard and clean, playing their guts out.   Trashing a coach for no other reason than our team beat his is classless.    Why should we lower ourselves to the lowest common denominator or act like the tools we complain about on other boards?    Stay classy, scoopers.

Just so I'm clear for future reference, at what point does fair criticism become classless trashing?

[77ncaachamps]

Just so I'm clear for future reference, at what point does fair criticism become classless trashing?

+1

[jmayer1]

He runs a clean program, he graduates his players, he gets a lot out of his talent, he wins lots of games with his system.   His team played hard and clean, playing their guts out.   Trashing a coach for no other reason than our team beat his is classless.    Why should we lower ourselves to the lowest common denominator or act like the tools we complain about on other boards?    Stay classy, scoopers.

btw, smells a lot like mu's former coach too, anybody who disagrees has an agenda

[MilWarrior]

Those play cards they use are gay.

Hahahaha. Awesome. Agreed. And Chicos is right on this thread.

[Murffieus]

I like Morrill's tempo-----but he wasted Wilkerson by passing to him down low from the sideline where he had a poor angle to the hoop and where he could be doubled to his blind side-----should have been passing to him in the lane from on high where he had better alley to the hoop and couldn't be doubled.

Also playing a man defense against us in th most of the first half was a huge mistake-----he just didn't have the quickness to match up that way------actually USU won the second half going away using a zone!

[NavinRJohnson]

Also playing a man defense against us in th most of the first half was a huge mistake-----he just didn't have the quickness to match up that way------actually USU won the second half going away using a zone!

I have been trying to think of what his reasoning was for the man to man, and I really can't come up with anything.

[RawdogDX]

Funny, I didn't hear about that about Buzz after the losses to Louisville and Villanova.
I guarantee that had MU blown a six-point lead with that little time left, many here would be calling for the coach's head.

Really P?  You didn't hear that after louisville and villanova and uconn?  What board were you posting on?  That was part of the reason that buzz has proven himself beyond a shadow of a doubt to be a future hall of famer.  People were all very impressed with buzz's ability to keep it close.