Crean is our coach.

[MarquetteFan94]

Every MU "fan" that is bashing Tom Crean and calling for his head/resignation needs to get a serious grip and reality check!  Does anyone remember the state of our "program" 9 years ago?!  Those who say we're not getting our money's worth....are you paying his salary out of your own pocket?  Are you looking for a bargain?  Do you realize the money Crean has brought into this school?  Should we go back to  C-USA?  Did you enjoy ESPN College Game Day?  How about Dwyane Wade, did you enjoy watching him in an MU uniform? I want to make it to the Final Four every year, but give me a frickin break.

Take a look at the following head coaches.  I'd say they all have a fairly decent track record and are pretty well respected.  They ALL hit post-season bumps in the road throughout their coaching careers...ALL of them.  Clearly, they ALL should have been fired.

And, NO, I'm not comparing Crean to any of them, their records, pedigree, accomplishments, etc....clearly, TC has a long career ahead of him and I'll wait to cast my judgement until he retires...and so should you.

Bob Knight
After 3 NCAA Titles:
1995 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1996 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1997 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1998 - NCAA - W 1st Round game, L in 2nd Round
1999 - NCAA - W 1st Round game, L in 2nd Round by 25
2000 - NCAA - L in 1st Round

Clearly, he's a terrible coach.

Dean Smith
After a FF Appearance.
1977 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1978 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1979 - NCAA - L in 1st Round

Clearly, he's a terrible coach.

Ray Meyer
After a 1979 FF Appearance.
1980 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1981 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1982 - NCAA - L in 1st Round
1983 - NIT

Awful, just an awful coach.

Lute Olson
After a FF Appearance.
1984 - No postseason appearance, finished 11-17. (should have canned him then, right?)
1985 - NCAA - L 1st Round
1986 - NCAA - L 1st Round
1987 - NCAA - L 1st Round

I can't believe they kept this guy, can you?!

Gary Williams
1996 - NCAA - L 1st Round
1997 - NCAA - L 1st Round
2005 - NIT
2006 - NIT

What a bum.

John Thompson
After no postseason appearances in his first two seasons as a head coach (sound familiar?!) at Georgetown:

1975 - NCAA - L 1st Round
1976 - NCAA - L 1st Round
1977 - NIT
1978 - NIT
1979 - NCAA - L 1st Round

Clearly, GU was not getting their money's worth!

Jim Boeheim
He's done a few things at Syracuse, right?
2005 - NCAA - L 1st Round
2006 - NCAA - L 1st Round
2007 - NIT

Wow, all that snow must be getting to their heads in Syracuce...what are they paying this guy for?!

Anyone who doesn't appreciate:

-4 NCAA Appearances in 6 Years
-A Final Four Appearance
-The Big East
-Home Attendance Records
-The Al McGuire Center
-A completely energized fan base and student body
-Hosting ESPN College Gameday
-3 Players drafted into the NBA in 4 years

Needs to start cheering for UWM....there's a lot of upside there.

[mu_hilltopper]

3 points:

1. The internet has given rise to the extremists.  So yes, you'll find 4 guys who are calling for Crean's resignation today.  Out of 4000 guys.  Overlook them.  While you may find it irritating to read, it's equally irritating to have extremist views debated as if they are in the mainstream.

2. Those who have expressed discontent, aside any who would utter "fire crean now" .. have valid points.  You've listed eight reasons why Crean has done a great job, and few would deny that he has.  BUT.  Success in March is why we play this game.  You don't throw out a coach who can't get it done in 1-2 years.  Or 3-4.  Or 5-6-7 .. but year after year, it gets harder.  There is a finite number of March losses you endure before finding someone new.  Some would say Crean has 1 year to get "a" win.  Some would say 2.  Others love all the other stuff and wouldn't ever find someone to go to the next level.   All of these opinions have an element of validity and shouldn't be derided.

3. High expectations are a bitch.  You're lucky to have them, but it hurts triply when it's perceived you've missed them, and in this case, a (supposed) top 25 team that loses in March two years in a row .. hurts.

[muwarrior87]

the points brought up above are very good...all of those coaches are great and i see some similarities in post seasons to ours. however, most of the ppl who are asking for Crean's resignation really have forgotten where marquette basketball was in the 80's and 90's. Tom Crean has made this program so much better. It would probably be like DePaul without him. Keep this guy here and we will have our Final Fours and NCAA championships will come. As soon as Crean figures out how to piece together everyone and figures out what type of offense and defense he wants to consistently run, we will be great.

[MarquetteFan94]

3 points:

1. The internet has given rise to the extremists.  So yes, you'll find 4 guys who are calling for Crean's resignation today.  Out of 4000 guys.  Overlook them.  While you may find it irritating to read, it's equally irritating to have extremist views debated as if they are in the mainstream.

2. Those who have expressed discontent, aside any who would utter "fire crean now" .. have valid points.  You've listed eight reasons why Crean has done a great job, and few would deny that he has.  BUT.  Success in March is why we play  this game.  You don't throw out a coach who can't get it done in 1-2 years.  Or 3-4.  Or 5-6-7 .. but year after year, it gets harder.  There is a finite number of March losses you endure before finding someone new.  Some would say Crean has 1 year to get "a" win.  Some would say 2.  Others love all the other stuff and wouldn't ever find someone to go to the next level.   All of these opinions have an element of validity and shouldn't be derided.

3. High expectations are a bitch.  You're lucky to have them, but it hurts triply when it's perceived you've missed them, and in this case, a (supposed) top 25 team that loses in March two years in a row .. hurts.

1.  Well, I guess opposite opinons are what spur debates in the first place.  The extremist fans calling for Crean's head are what irks me the most.  We sound like whining, unappreciative Kentucky fans.  It's embarrassing.

2.  I don't have a problem with discontent.  How could we not be upset by, not only losing last night, but by the way in which we lost....completely out-played and out-coached....it happens in every sport to a lot of great teams and coaches.  This just happens to be our team and our coach so it stings a helluva lot more.  I agree that we wait all season to get to March but the events throughout the regular season are pretty darned important and exciting too.  The truth is that Crean can write his own ticket here like it or not....the FF gave him some breathing room....at least through his current contract and I think he's earned it.

3.  There's nothing wrong with high expectations...we should have high expectations.  We should also have realistic expectations.  Should we expect an annual appearance in the FF?  No.  Winning a first round NCAA game, sure.  We were playing in the 8/9 game last night without arguably our best player!  We don't need to get into the seeding argument again.  We beat Pitt without McNeal once...at home in front of a frenzied crowd....we struggled against St. John's, were handled pretty easily against Pitt at MSG (at least in the 2nd half) and were dominated last night.

Relistic expectations are that it's pretty tough to win against any NCAA tournament team without your second leading scorer, BE Defensive Player of the Year and undisputed emotional leader.  All the coaching in the world can't fill that void.

[mu_hilltopper]

 

Relistic expectations are that it's pretty tough to win against any NCAA tournament team without your second leading scorer, BE Defensive Player of the Year and undisputed emotional leader.  All the coaching in the world can't fill that void.

Right, and I agree. 

  On a micro-level, this loss to MSU was not that terrible.  McNeal was out.  Our seed was not representative of our resume.  yadda yadda. Many of us expected to lose this game, and we did.  (..however, I don't think any of us expected such a galactically poor performance digging a 14 point hole to start the game.  (Although to a certain extent, that poor start is hauntingly too familliar.))

But on a macro-level, when you look at trends and patterns, you've gotta have grave concern.  15 post-season tourneys in 8 years.  10 one and dones.  And a number of those one and dones were with Top 25 teams, no less. 

On a micro level, we had a great excuse for losing yesterday, no doubt.

On a macro level, we're running out of excuses for having little March success.

[pitz]

MarquetteFan94
EXCELLENT post!

[DegenerateDish]

Excellent post by Hilltopper, very well summarized, and your micro/macro argument is right on the money.

[Virginia Warrior 77]

MarquetteFan94 is right on the money.  Al McGuire - First Final Four appearance in 17th year as head coach (7 yrs at Belmont Abbey)/10th yr at Marquette; Second Final Four and National Championship in 20th year as head coach/13 yr at Marquette.

[only a warrior]

someone has a lot of time on their hands......   I have a few research projects you can help me with.

[MarquetteFan94]

someone has a lot of time on their hands......   I have a few research projects you can help me with.

Ha...you're right...I had some free time this morning...that's what you get working from home during the opening round of the tournament!

[only a warrior]

just giving you a hard time - nice research.  Also, I'm jealous that you can find all that out much quicker than I ever could.

[slingkong]

I agree 110% with mu_hilltopper's micro/macro view. Many good things have happened with TC. But those come with a price of higher expectations. Personally, I'm no longer happy simply making the tourney.

I'm not close to calling for TC's firing nor am I checking on the availability of firetomcrean.com. On the flip side, though, I don't think it does any good to impugn people's fanaticism by calling them "fans."

[Murffieus]

The expectations to exceed shouldn't be the Dukiet, O Neil, and Deane eras----we've upgraded the  conference status now and therefore should be able to get better players and upgrade our results. The expectation bar has to be raised -----and that bar IMO should be no less than a solid program similar to what UW has expereinced the last 7-8 years!

I don't think that is too much to ask for!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Murff, we matched what Wisconsin did last year....first round loss in the NCAA. 

Can we have their 41 million athletic department budget and 17,000 seat on campus arena while we are at it?