Rank the Big Sky Coaches

[Webergrad02]

Alright, lets rank the Big Sky based on this seasons performance. I have to dock Hayford a little bit for his conduct on Saturday. I thought he spent far more time coaching the officials than his team in the 1st half.

1. Travis Decuire Montana - Over-achieved with a "young and inexperienced" team.
2. Brian Katz Sac State - Level headed approach holds players accountable.
3. Nick Robinson SUU - He has been getting the most out of team not deep in talent.
4. Jim Hayford - He is a baby, but his team pulled off some good wins this year.
5. Murphy NAU - Solid coach of a good team.
6. BJ Hill Northern Colorado - Another "young and inexperienced" team that finished with a winning record.
7. Randy Rahe Weber State - As the losses started mounting so did the excuses. Still a good coach the team had a major disconnect this season.
8. Tyler Geving Portland State - Coach, team and program appear to stuck in mediocrity.
9. Don Verlin Idaho - Could he be fired this week?
10. Bill Evans Idaho State - Good coach of a bad team. Next year doesn't appear to be better.
11. Brian Fish Montana State - I wasn't too impressed with him seems to be a whiner.
12. Brian Jones - He is out of his league in the Big Sky.

 

[n.ogdencat]

I want to point something out...Ken Bone is the top assistant at Montana. Not saying that DeCuire isn't a good coach. I think he is, but the cupboard definitely was not left bare for him, and he has an assistant who knows the Sky and the dynamics of the Sky very well. But DeCuire is a good coach.

Hayford is a solid coach, but I have no respect for the baby. He was on his knees the entire game on Sat. He didn't really coach just rode the refs. He is a joke. His team is scary good though. I hate to admit this but they will be just as good next year too. Ugh!!


Hill's team was anything but young and inexperienced. UNCO had 5 seniors four of which were starters, and Cody McDavis is a three time letter winner for the cubbies (he is a jr). Cameron Michael and Jordan Wilson are good players and will be something to build on for next year, along with Rice transfer Drew Bender, but UNCO is destined to be in rebuild mode next season. They don't have any bigs.

I agree with Katz, Robinson, and Murphy. Two of the three will be down next year. Robinson losses very little. SUU will be a lot better next year. Katz will have a team full of tough, hard-nosed players, but they aren't going to rebound automatically after losing this senior class. It'll take Sac two to three years to get back into top contention. Maybe scare some folks next year. They have the bigs to do damage. Murphy...well, he is going to have to pull some rabbits out of his hat. He is losing a lot. Not as much offensive fire power as Sac but pretty close. PSU...well, Geving is getting lucky again. I'm sure PSU will keep him on board again, cause he does just enough, but he is losing a lot. Braxton Tucker is the only player coming back for the Vikings who really did much this season. Verlin...senior team, talented team, definitely under-achieved.

Me 2014-2015, based off of talent available and results:

Robinson
Katz
Hayford
DeCuire
Murphy
Rahe
Hill
Verlin
Evans
Geving
Fish
Jones

 

[LarrytheFarmer]

I want to point something out...Ken Bone is the top assistant at Montana. Not saying that DeCuire isn't a good coach. I think he is, but the cupboard definitely was not left bare for him, and he has an assistant who knows the Sky and the dynamics of the Sky very well. But DeCuire is a good coach.

Hayford is a solid coach, but I have no respect for the baby. He was on his knees the entire game on Sat. He didn't really coach just rode the refs. He is a joke. His team is scary good though. I hate to admit this but they will be just as good next year too. Ugh!!


Hill's team was anything but young and inexperienced. UNCO had 5 seniors four of which were starters, and Cody McDavis is a three time letter winner for the cubbies (he is a jr). Cameron Michael and Jordan Wilson are good players and will be something to build on for next year, along with Rice transfer Drew Bender, but UNCO is destined to be in rebuild mode next season. They don't have any bigs.

I agree with Katz, Robinson, and Murphy. Two of the three will be down next year. Robinson losses very little. SUU will be a lot better next year. Katz will have a team full of tough, hard-nosed players, but they aren't going to rebound automatically after losing this senior class. It'll take Sac two to three years to get back into top contention. Maybe scare some folks next year. They have the bigs to do damage. Murphy...well, he is going to have to pull some rabbits out of his hat. He is losing a lot. Not as much offensive fire power as Sac but pretty close. PSU...well, Geving is getting lucky again. I'm sure PSU will keep him on board again, cause he does just enough, but he is losing a lot. Braxton Tucker is the only player coming back for the Vikings who really did much this season. Verlin...senior team, talented team, definitely under-achieved.

Hey don't EVER let facts get in the way of an opinion. :rofl: :rofl:

 

[Itiger]

Alright, lets rank the Big Sky based on this seasons performance. I have to dock Hayford a little bit for his conduct on Saturday. I thought he spent far more time coaching the officials than his team in the 1st half.

1. Travis Decuire Montana - Over-achieved with a "young and inexperienced" team.
2. Brian Katz Sac State - Level headed approach holds players accountable.
3. Nick Robinson SUU - He has been getting the most out of team not deep in talent.
4. Jim Hayford - He is a baby, but his team pulled off some good wins this year.
5. Murphy NAU - Solid coach of a good team.
6. BJ Hill Northern Colorado - Another "young and inexperienced" team that finished with a winning record.
7. Randy Rahe Weber State - As the losses started mounting so did the excuses. Still a good coach the team had a major disconnect this season.
8. Tyler Geving Portland State - Coach, team and program appear to stuck in mediocrity.
9. Don Verlin Idaho - Could he be fired this week?
10. Bill Evans Idaho State - Good coach of a bad team. Next year doesn't appear to be better.
11. Brian Fish Montana State - I wasn't too impressed with him seems to be a whiner.
12. Brian Jones - He is out of his league in the Big Sky.

Really? 4 times named coach of the year and you guys rank him middle of the pack in the BSC ? Rahe had a horrible year and needs to spend a lot of time looking in the mirror this offseason, but middle of the pack for all the coaches???? You guys are worst than brutal! It's almost like your fair weather fans! I think on this particular issue you guys should be ashamed of yourselves! Is this how you become when you get old and senile?

 

[SWeberCat02]

I want to point something out...Ken Bone is the top assistant at Montana. Not saying that DeCuire isn't a good coach. I think he is, but the cupboard definitely was not left bare for him, and he has an assistant who knows the Sky and the dynamics of the Sky very well. But DeCuire is a good coach.

Me 2014-2015, based off of talent available and results:

Robinson
Katz
Hayford
DeCuire
Murphy
Rahe
Hill
Verlin
Evans
Geving
Fish
Jones

I don't think you're giving DeCuire enough credit. UM lost three starters from last season, including Jamar, and then lost two contributing players during the season. Don't you remember how bad they looked in Ogden? For that team to turn around and win the conference was stunning, really.

In regards to having Bone, that's one reason UM's program is better than Weber's. They always have very experienced assistants, something Weber never has. Bone, Rupp, Evans. Maybe Rahe ought to take a pay cut so he can hire some decent assistants and save his job.

 

[SWeberCat02]

Alright, lets rank the Big Sky based on this seasons performance. I have to dock Hayford a little bit for his conduct on Saturday. I thought he spent far more time coaching the officials than his team in the 1st half.

1. Travis Decuire Montana - Over-achieved with a "young and inexperienced" team.
2. Brian Katz Sac State - Level headed approach holds players accountable.
3. Nick Robinson SUU - He has been getting the most out of team not deep in talent.
4. Jim Hayford - He is a baby, but his team pulled off some good wins this year.
5. Murphy NAU - Solid coach of a good team.
6. BJ Hill Northern Colorado - Another "young and inexperienced" team that finished with a winning record.
7. Randy Rahe Weber State - As the losses started mounting so did the excuses. Still a good coach the team had a major disconnect this season.
8. Tyler Geving Portland State - Coach, team and program appear to stuck in mediocrity.
9. Don Verlin Idaho - Could he be fired this week?
10. Bill Evans Idaho State - Good coach of a bad team. Next year doesn't appear to be better.
11. Brian Fish Montana State - I wasn't too impressed with him seems to be a whiner.
12. Brian Jones - He is out of his league in the Big Sky.

Really? 4 times named coach of the year and you guys rank him middle of the pack in the BSC ? Rahe had a horrible year and needs to spend a lot of time looking in the mirror this offseason, but middle of the pack for all the coaches???? You guys are worst than brutal! It's almost like your fair weather fans! I think on this particular issue you guys should be ashamed of yourselves! Is this how you become when you get old and senile?

Read the whole post. based on this seasons performance Rahe had a terrible season.

 

[Webergrad02]

Okay Youngguns. Who does he deserve to be in front of? This was based on THIS seasons performance.

Decuire - Comes into a new situation without key pieces and wins the league.
Katz - Built a good team with arguably the worst facilities in D1.
Robinson - Got a local church ball team rolling by the end of the season.
Murphy - Rebuilt BAU about a year ahead of schedule.
Hayford - Has turned a walk on into the nations leading scorer and has assembled some great pieces around him.
Hill - Lost Barden and Unruch and still put together a winning record.

Based on our talent level we underachieved. You pointed out Saturday that we finished our last game the same way we finished our first game by blowing an 18 point second half lead. Some of that blame goes to the coaches.

 

[PURPLEFORLIFE]

Didn't someone say that Rahe knew this years team was going to be down? I'm as disappointed as everyone else about this season, but I think it is safe to say, we all were wearing purple-tinted glasses last October and were thinking this team would be a lot better than it actually was. We lost Berry, Tresnak, Richardson, and Fulton, a huge chunk of our offense, and thought we were going to win the conference? Rahe has admitted that he missed on his JCs, he has admitted there was a disconnected, and he admitted to knowing that things need to change. We have to respect coach for taking the blame, instead of constantly pointing a finger. In 9 season's this is Rahe first losing season. Lets all step off the ledge and appreciate the program for what it is right now. I for one am pretty interested in seeing what will happen in the off-season, and how much the team improves for next season. After all, there is still 1 more game on Thursday. Wouldn't it be nice to finally exact a measure of revenge on Montana?

 

[LarrytheFarmer]

Didn't someone say that Rahe knew this years team was going to be down? I'm as disappointed as everyone else about this season, but I think it is safe to say, we all were wearing purple-tinted glasses last October and were thinking this team would be a lot better than it actually was. We lost Berry, Tresnak, Richardson, and Fulton, a huge chunk of our offense, and thought we were going to win the conference? Rahe has admitted that he missed on his JCs, he has admitted there was a disconnected, and he admitted to knowing that things need to change. We have to respect coach for taking the blame, instead of constantly pointing a finger. In 9 season's this is Rahe first losing season. Lets all step off the ledge and appreciate the program for what it is right now. I for one am pretty interested in seeing what will happen in the off-season, and how much the team improves for next season. After all, there is still 1 more game on Thursday. Wouldn't it be nice to finally exact a measure of revenge on Montana?

:thumb: :agree:

 

[sapokama]

Alright, lets rank the Big Sky based on this seasons performance. I have to dock Hayford a little bit for his conduct on Saturday. I thought he spent far more time coaching the officials than his team in the 1st half.

1. Travis Decuire Montana - Over-achieved with a "young and inexperienced" team.
2. Brian Katz Sac State - Level headed approach holds players accountable.
3. Nick Robinson SUU - He has been getting the most out of team not deep in talent.
4. Jim Hayford - He is a baby, but his team pulled off some good wins this year.
5. Murphy NAU - Solid coach of a good team.
6. BJ Hill Northern Colorado - Another "young and inexperienced" team that finished with a winning record.
7. Randy Rahe Weber State - As the losses started mounting so did the excuses. Still a good coach the team had a major disconnect this season.
8. Tyler Geving Portland State - Coach, team and program appear to stuck in mediocrity.
9. Don Verlin Idaho - Could he be fired this week?
10. Bill Evans Idaho State - Good coach of a bad team. Next year doesn't appear to be better.
11. Brian Fish Montana State - I wasn't too impressed with him seems to be a whiner.
12. Brian Jones - He is out of his league in the Big Sky.

If we are basing this only on this year, I don't think you can put Katz any higher than fourth. He had arguably the best back court in the Big Sky which is a guard driven league, and had two shots at the conference title, only to choke and finish tied for third. In my opinion, Murphy and Robinson both had a better coaching year with their teams peaking at the right time. Would anyone want to play SUU if they made it into the tournament?

I
Murphy...well, he is going to have to pull some rabbits out of his hat. He is losing a lot.

I would watch out for NAU next year. I think that will be contending again. The core of Yanku and Kaluna are going to win them a lot of games. Kaluna is a stud and Yanku is plain special.

I also think we just need to cool down from this year, the team will be better next year. Look at Montana. With Jamar, they barely made it into the tournament last year, now the are co-champs again. I think something similar will happen for Weber.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

Okay Youngguns. Who does he deserve to be in front of? This was based on THIS seasons performance.

Decuire - Comes into a new situation without key pieces and wins the league.
Katz - Built a good team with arguably the worst facilities in D1.
Robinson - Got a local church ball team rolling by the end of the season.
Murphy - Rebuilt BAU about a year ahead of schedule.
Hayford - Has turned a walk on into the nations leading scorer and has assembled some great pieces around him.
Hill - Lost Barden and Unruch and still put together a winning record.

Based on our talent level we underachieved. You pointed out Saturday that we finished our last game the same way we finished our first game by blowing an 18 point second half lead. Some of that blame goes to the coaches.

The list seemed pretty solid to me.

Based on our talent level we underachieved.

100% agree.

we finished our last game the same way we finished our first game by blowing an 18 point second half lead. Some of that blame goes to the coaches.

Most of the blame is on the coaches when you lose a lead like that or are "handled" after halftime-- meaning you were out-coached by halftime adjustments.

I've never understood why fans can't discuss negatives or less-than-par aspects of their teams without being labeled "fair weather" or whatever. It's OK to be realistic about something you're passionate about. Furthermore, it's someone's opinion and just because your opinion differs it doesn't mean you're any more or less of a fan.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

In my opinion, Murphy and Robinson both had a better coaching year with their teams peaking at the right time. Would anyone want to play SUU if they made it into the tournament?

Aside from Weber State, SUU wouldn't scare me in the tournament one bit, unless it were being hosted in Cedar City.

 

[sapokama]

In my opinion, Murphy and Robinson both had a better coaching year with their teams peaking at the right time. Would anyone want to play SUU if they made it into the tournament?

Aside from Weber State, SUU wouldn't scare me in the tournament one bit, unless it were being hosted in Cedar City.

I understand what your saying, but they did win 5 out of their last 8, 3 of their last 4 on the road, and took Montana to the wire in Montana before that. In the last 8 games they beat sac st and nearly beat ewu. In the same 8 game period, ewu was also 5 and 8 and sac at was 4 and 4. In my opinion, I would be more worried to play them then Weber in the tournament. Robinson has done an amazing job with what he has had.

 

[Itiger]

Alright, lets rank the Big Sky based on this seasons performance. I have to dock Hayford a little bit for his conduct on Saturday. I thought he spent far more time coaching the officials than his team in the 1st half.

1. Travis Decuire Montana - Over-achieved with a "young and inexperienced" team.
2. Brian Katz Sac State - Level headed approach holds players accountable.
3. Nick Robinson SUU - He has been getting the most out of team not deep in talent.
4. Jim Hayford - He is a baby, but his team pulled off some good wins this year.
5. Murphy NAU - Solid coach of a good team.
6. BJ Hill Northern Colorado - Another "young and inexperienced" team that finished with a winning record.
7. Randy Rahe Weber State - As the losses started mounting so did the excuses. Still a good coach the team had a major disconnect this season.
8. Tyler Geving Portland State - Coach, team and program appear to stuck in mediocrity.
9. Don Verlin Idaho - Could he be fired this week?
10. Bill Evans Idaho State - Good coach of a bad team. Next year doesn't appear to be better.
11. Brian Fish Montana State - I wasn't too impressed with him seems to be a whiner.
12. Brian Jones - He is out of his league in the Big Sky.

If we are basing this only on this year, I don't think you can put Katz any higher than fourth. He had arguably the best back court in the Big Sky which is a guard driven league, and had two shots at the conference title, only to choke and finish tied for third. In my opinion, Murphy and Robinson both had a better coaching year with their teams peaking at the right time. Would anyone want to play SUU if they made it into the tournament?

I
Murphy...well, he is going to have to pull some rabbits out of his hat. He is losing a lot.

I would watch out for NAU next year. I think that will be contending again. The core of Yanku and Kaluna are going to win them a lot of games. Kaluna is a stud and Yanku is plain special.

I also think we just need to cool down from this year, the team will be better next year. Look at Montana. With Jamar, they barely made it into the tournament last year, now the are co-champs again. I think something similar will happen for Weber.

You guys are great fans and I respect your opinions, but Coach Rahe didn't wake up one morning and forget how to coach a basketball team.

Lots went wrong this season..... theres no doubt about that, but although we have very talented players, this team was very flawed. This might sound off, but this season might actually have been Rahe's BEST coaching effort! He didn't have a dominant big available, Our two best players had to play out of position and the JC's didn't meet expectations. That wasn't due to Coach Rahe's decisions this year. These moves have been casted over the last 2-3 years...... recruiting misses and player issues had a negative impact on this year's results. There's positives from this season, Hajek stepped up to a level higher than he's ever achieved. Richardson and Hunter have very bright futures and the decision was made to not waste the eligibility of Jefferson and Braxton, although arguably we could've used both this year. We had a great recruiting year for the 2015 class and Senglin, Bolomboy and Gittens give us a great base to build on. Rahe tried to hold this team together with scotch tape this season and the results weren't pretty, but the team never quit! That's amazing considering the program did not meet the standards of previous seasons. Even losing Senglin could've sent the team into a tailspin, but they actually kept fighting...... and seemed to improve as the season ended.

I lead the effort to point out all the negatives of this abysmal season, but I believe that decisions were/are being made that will have a very positive impact for many years to come. Also, coaching doesn't end after the last game..... Rahe has got some tough decisions to make the next 3 months. its a part of coaching that really shapes the legacy of a coach. I cringe giving Decuire credit for a team he inherited.... maybe his best coaching decision was keeping Ken Bone. Rahe has now been at Weber for 9 seasons....... yes, tough year, but programs go through changes. I still think Billy Donovan at Florida is one of the best coaches in the country...... look at their record this year......

 

[Midmajor??]

Youngguns, interesting perspective. You never know whats goes on inside a program, but I agree the team didn't quit.

Lets face it, the only way this team could've lived up to the preseason hype is going undefeated against in state competition, winning the BSC regular season and tourney and losing by 1 on a buzzer beater to Kentucky in the NCAA's.

Expectations this year were significant and its hard to say that the player that had the best year was in some ways the biggest disappointment. I think we all missed on Joel not being skilled enough to play the 5 or having the toughness to defend in the paint. Hill was a disappointment on the court.... still can't figure out what happened there.

I looked back at posting in October.... Tal saying that Golden has a sweet stroke and is going to be huge for us this season, Old's saying Joel was going to average 20 points a game and be the BSC POY! We did a great job hyping the team past reasonable expectations and now we want to downgrade Rahe for it not happening. I remember Sac telling Olds that Joel's offense was still under development...... he actually talked about Joel shooting 50% from 3's right or left handed!!! All I know is that purple syrup sure is sweet!

 

[sacstateman]

Youngguns, Ken Bone was not a hold over from the Tinkle years, he was a new hire by DeCuire which shows his self confidence and intelligence about hiring GOOD assistants.....another good trait for a head coach...

 

[SWWeatherCat]

Youngguns, interesting perspective. You never know whats goes on inside a program, but I agree the team didn't quit.

Lets face it, the only way this team could've lived up to the preseason hype is going undefeated against in state competition, winning the BSC regular season and tourney and losing by 1 on a buzzer beater to Kentucky in the NCAA's.

Expectations this year were significant and its hard to say that the player that had the best year was in some ways the biggest disappointment. I think we all missed on Joel not being skilled enough to play the 5 or having the toughness to defend in the paint. Hill was a disappointment on the court.... still can't figure out what happened there.

I looked back at posting in October.... Tal saying that Golden has a sweet stroke and is going to be huge for us this season, Old's saying Joel was going to average 20 points a game and be the BSC POY! We did a great job hyping the team past reasonable expectations and now we want to downgrade Rahe for it not happening. I remember Sac telling Olds that Joel's offense was still under development...... he actually talked about Joel shooting 50% from 3's right or left handed!!! All I know is that purple syrup sure is sweet!

Outside of maybe a few posters, I don't believe the hype was as great as you make it sound. Personally, I had them pegged for a "down year" and about a 4 seed. I got more optimistic when I must have been seeing some things that really weren't there in Purple-n-White and when both polls had them higher than I expected. I realize neither is anything to get too excited about, however, comparing P-n-W to many other years of P-n-W and coaches believing Weber was going to be better than they were did up my optimism.

No one in their right mind would expect a JC to jump in and automatically carry the team or outlandish things about Joel, however, Golden has shown he can stroke it and it certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Joel to be a 20-10 guy. I didn't see it, because I really believed there was enough talent for shared scoring instead of being carried by the same 1-2 guys. Maybe if Rahe hadn't concocted "small-ball" and encourage 1-5 to shoot the first look from the perimeter they saw, Joel could have played the 4/stretch-4 all season and been closer to what Olds was describing.

With Braxton, Jefferson, and whatever else materializes for next season, if the team struggles as badly as they did this season it will be a huge disappointment and knock on Rahe. No, they won't need to sweep in-state, go undefeated in the BSC, and push UK for the title to meet expectations but they will need to resemble a team that matches the talent they have. If the talent doesn't match the system, then change the system. If the talent is lacking, then teach, develop it or get real talent. I personally believe enough talent existed this season to produce better results and it seemed obvious the talent wasn't used in the best way it could have been.

Rahe is a solid coach but I have a hard time putting him on a pedestal when he's frequently out-coached by the teams that matter most. It's fairly obvious to me that he doesn't rate too high with his in-game ability, especially to adjust. I think that's apparent when you look at the (12) 2nd-half losses Weber had this season-- 9 of them were to BSC teams, including both SUU games, and 2 more were to BYU and the debacle known as USU. You can count me as one who thinks the assistants are sorely lacking and the loss of Beckner was a big hit to the overall coaching strength.

 

[weberwildcat]

Yall trippin.


Sac and sac alone at the top.

This is sac state!!!!

If sac doesn't have 25 losses the award should go to sac.

Katz is a lock, a guarantee for 2015.

Uh sac has like 0 winning seasons in d1 and on thurs should have 20th win. He should win district award too.

The question shouldn't be will Katz win COTY but how did he pull it off? How did he recruit to the nest? Sign him to a 10 yr deal, Sac. Jerome never did near this well.

 

[sapokama]

Yall trippin.


Sac and sac alone at the top.

This is sac state!!!!

If sac doesn't have 25 losses the award should go to sac.

Katz is a lock, a guarantee for 2015.

Uh sac has like 0 winning seasons in d1 and on thurs should have 20th win. He should win district award too.

The question shouldn't be will Katz win COTY but how did he pull it off? How did he recruit to the nest? Sign him to a 10 yr deal, Sac. Jerome never did near this well.

Sorry man, it's not a lifetime achievement award. We all know Sac St's basketball history, but this was Sac St's championship or bust year. They had their best talent ever and only needed one win in the final week to accomplish their goal, and they still couldn't do it. There is no way Katz deserves the award over Decuire when looking at this season only.

 

[weberwildcat]

Yall trippin.


Sac and sac alone at the top.

This is sac state!!!!

If sac doesn't have 25 losses the award should go to sac.

Katz is a lock, a guarantee for 2015.

Uh sac has like 0 winning seasons in d1 and on thurs should have 20th win. He should win district award too.

The question shouldn't be will Katz win COTY but how did he pull it off? How did he recruit to the nest? Sign him to a 10 yr deal, Sac. Jerome never did near this well.

Sorry man, it's not a lifetime achievement award. We all know Sac St's basketball history, but this was Sac St's championship or bust year. They had their best talent ever and only needed one win in the final week to accomplish their goal, and they still couldn't do it. There is no way Katz deserves the award over Decuire when looking at this season only.

dont forget the general was the 2007 mvp over an nba 1st rounder though...