hawkssb04 said:
OK. Let's all just calm the hell down. First, if you think we're going to find a better coach than Randy at less than $300k per year, your dreaming. Second, the terrible home schedule has less to do with Randy than it does with Jerry Bovee and unfortunate circumstances (successful mid-major program that doesn't have enough money to afford home-game payouts).
Lastly, I think expectations may need to be tempered a bit this season. Yes, we should always expect a Big Sky championship. That's a standard that has been set at Weber State for decades. However, we just graduated the best post presence the Big Sky has seen in 25+ years. That's not easily replaceable. Braxton and Dallas are going to go through some growing pains. We won't have the dominating presence on the boards that we are used to, which is why we've seen the live-by-the-3, die-by-the-3 outcomes early this season. Our preseason schedule is tough. Denver and UVU won't be easy, BYU and Utah State are obviously difficult. However, time and time again, Randy's squads are battle tested because of these difficult preseason schedules, it prepares them for the Big Sky, and it almost always pays off (even if the home schedule is crap).
It must have been a dream when I watched Mark Pope's (salary 230,000) hold on to their second half lead to beat the Cougars at the Marriott center. When BYU put the pressure on late they were calm didn't turn it over, threw some nice passes over the top of the press and most important they made their foul shots. They were playing to win instead of trying not to lose. Pope is doing it with low level D1 talent, And yes he makes under 300K.
This Weber State team has some fatal flaws that make it very difficult to win without shooting over %50 from the three. You combine that with the prevent offense we play if we have a close lead and we are doomed in these games.I am glad you brought up Braxton and Dallas. How can Dallas be going through growing pains when is such a liability that he can't even see the floor? Braxton can't do it all himself especially when he picks up quick fouls. That leaves the post to Hill and Baker. Randy kept saying is #1 goal was to bring in a big that could contibute and then he brings in Darling. The staff has known that Dallas is not going to cut it but yet we hoped it would work.
My biggest argument with your logic is that our two other fatal flaws rest on the backs of our senior players. Our seniors combined for 20 turnovers this weekend. Then please explain to me how we can be this bad at foul shooting? It is like we almost shoot as good from 3 as we do from the foul line. I am sorry but there is something out of wack with this team.
At around 450,000 per year, Randy makes 14K per game played. If we had a huge budget I could understand paying that price, but consider that a big chunk of that money comes from private sources. We are sacrificing other parts of our athletic budget to pay him. He keeps using the same excuses game after game and is not saying that there are some major issues with this team. he makes about 1K for the 14+ excuses he makes after the game. Where is the accountability? This is a senior laden team without a real leader.
I think we are way too one dimensional to win the Big Sky this year. Teams can bait Zach in to a couple of cheap fouls early and then we are doomed. You look at how many minutes this team has logged together, and I think it is acceptable to have high expectations. My expectations are definatly lower now. Lets hope that as soon as the plane touched down 15 young men were on their way to shoot some free throws. Probably not!
