Why he is the Wizard of Weber - no more hate

[weberwildcat]

coach rahe is a bad a**. i expect us to be outright champs and win our 2 games and go dancin, but no matter what happens in 2014 just remember that no other coach in big sky history has had the run rahe has accomplished. of course weber has won 6 striaight titles but no team has had a run like rahe in his 8 yrs since then.....40 yrs.

losing in-state games, losing in the conf tourneys, almost made me physically ill. i am an obsessed fan and i am fully aware of that. i have always wanted more than we have accomplished in the rahe era but what we have accomplished, can't/shouldn't be disrespected. what if it was a different coach? during the cravens era i remember each yr saying, just finish in the top 3 and give us a shot at even getting to the conf tourney title.

rahe era:
1. 2007: big sky title
2. 2008: 4 games out of 1st, 16-14 record
3. 2009: big sky title
4. 2010: big sky title
5. 2011: 2 games out, lillard played 0 conf games
6. 2012: 1 game out, closest race in conf history
7. 2013: 1 game out, even closer closest race in conf history
8. 2014: big sky title

-4 titles in 8 yrs
-had lillard not been injured we all know it would have been 5 titles in 8 yrs
-1 game out 2 yrs straight away from having 7 titles in 8 yrs
-the crappiest, sh**iest team of the rahe era was 3rd place and had an overall winning record

4 titles ties mccarthy for the wsu record. no big sky coach has ever won 5 titles, then again most big sky schools dont even have 5 titles even.

most coaches that win a big sky title have lean years immediately after, you had a great team with high talent, likely senior loaded roster. this would be very easy to show with other big sky teams but im not going to go look it up. a good weber example is mccarthy in 1980, one of our best teams to win the big sky. in 1981 we were 6th place, 8-19, worst team in school history, no big sky tourney. rahe hasn't had a team ranked in the top 25 like 1980 but he has never had a drop off like that.

1980: 26-3
1981: 8-19

phil johnson isnt a good comparison since he was only hear 3 yrs where as rahe has 8 yrs and mccarthy had 9.

abegglan was hard core, he won 3 titles in 8 yrs, but he didn't coach weber longer than rahe. abegglan didn't have the opportunity to be our coach as long as he should have.

we currently have the 2nd longest drought in school history of getting to the dance, 7 yrs. record is 10 yrs. but that can end in 2 weeks.

the point of my rant is that i would rather be in contention for a title each and every yr of the 8 seasons than how things went in the cravens era as well there is no guarantee the new/next coach can build on what rahe did. look at the football program. cravens had 1 title in 7 yrs and 4 5th place finishes and a last place finish.

2000: 5th
2001: 5th
2002: 3rd
2003: 1st
2004: 5th
2005: 5th, losing record
2006: last (8th), losing record, fired

there have only been 8 losing seasons in weber's 51 yr history.

in closing....please get us back to the dance.....please....please! we can do it! i love all the above and am very greatful we have had rahe these 8 yrs but the team, fans program, coaches all deserve to get back!

:rockon:

 

[weberwildcat]

another thing i love about the rahe era is it appears that we have more players graduating. who was the last senior that didnt get his degree? have there been any?

i would rather get 2nd place and see all 4 seniors graduate with a bachelors degree than win the big sky and go to the dance.

 

[WILDCAT]

I dont hate Rahe, I love the guy, there is excitement back at Weber, attendance grows every year. There are just a few things Rahe does or doesnt do in some games, like taking the foot off the gas against NAU, we had them against the wall why not keep going? Having said that I wouldnt trade Rahe for anybody.

 

[hawkssb04]

I dont hate Rahe, I love the guy, there is excitement back at Weber, attendance grows every year. There are just a few things Rahe does or doesnt do in some games, like taking the foot off the gas against NAU, we had them against the wall why not keep going? Having said that I wouldnt trade Rahe for anybody.

Agreed, Wildcat. Although catcat has great points, I still think it's perfectly acceptable for fans to be irritated with Randy's inability to manage and win big games. Sure, it can always be worse and we compete for a championship almost every year under Randy's direction. I love having Randy as coach, and it may sound disingenuous to tee off on him after saying that. However, until we finally snap our championship dry spell with Randy, I've been conditioned to always expect the worst. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I'll be singing a different tune. I've never been so eager to be proven wrong. :?

 

[Wildcat_Fan]

I think most fans would not trade Rahe for anyone. But most people are frustrated because it is the same things over and over again. If we cleaned up those issues (press break for example) there is no telling how good these teams could be. I think that is where the frustration comes in.
Also when dame got hurt, that made him who he was and gave the team an identity without him. There is no telling what would have happened. If he didnt get hurt he may not as worked as hard to be a better player. So there really is no telling what could or should have been.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Rahe is the Wizard of Weber!! He is the man!! After the Craven's years, having a program that is consistently a contender is, as Bengalhater would say, TITS!! Lets get this thing done and go dancing!!

 

[SWeberCat02]

Rahe makes 3Xs more than any other coach in the conference, the Dee is 3Xs nicer and larger than the average facility in the conference, and Weber's fan support is 3Xs better than the average support for conference teams. So it's perfectly acceptable to be frustrated with certain things he doesn't do well and expect more and better at times. If his pay was on par with the rest of the conference coaches I would be much more willing to look the other way when it came to his weaknesses.

 

[n.ogdencat]

I think most fans would not trade Rahe for anyone. But most people are frustrated because it is the same things over and over again. If we cleaned up those issues (press break for example) there is no telling how good these teams could be. I think that is where the frustration comes in.
Also when dame got hurt, that made him who he was and gave the team an identity without him. There is no telling what would have happened. If he didnt get hurt he may not as worked as hard to be a better player. So there really is no telling what could or should have been.

The year Dame got injured, most of the team was injured too. That season is a clear-cut example of how good of a coach Rahe is. He took a team that had little chance of making the tournament, almost win the title. But agreed, there are those in game things that drives me a bit nuts about his coaching. I think the issue might be assistants. I'm sad that Berard isn't here this season, even though I love seeing McCoy back on the bench. I think he brought ideas that helped our team and wasn't the same thing as the others seem to be. Regardless, Rahe is a good coach.

 

[SWeberCat02]

I think most fans would not trade Rahe for anyone. But most people are frustrated because it is the same things over and over again. If we cleaned up those issues (press break for example) there is no telling how good these teams could be. I think that is where the frustration comes in.
Also when dame got hurt, that made him who he was and gave the team an identity without him. There is no telling what would have happened. If he didnt get hurt he may not as worked as hard to be a better player. So there really is no telling what could or should have been.

The year Dame got injured, most of the team was injured too. That season is a clear-cut example of how good of a coach Rahe is. He took a team that had little chance of making the tournament, almost win the title. But agreed, there are those in game things that drives me a bit nuts about his coaching. I think the issue might be assistants. I'm sad that Berard isn't here this season, even though I love seeing McCoy back on the bench. I think he brought ideas that helped our team and wasn't the same thing as the others seem to be. Regardless, Rahe is a good coach.

I've always thought that one of the reasons Tinkle has been so successful is because of his assistants. He always seems to have at least one veteran coach on staff like Evans or Rupp. Maybe it's Rahe's big salary that makes it hard to pay his assistants what it would take to get the veterans.

 

[oldrunner]

It may be a valid point that Randy seems inflexible during a game and sticks with a failing game plan too long. It is not valid to say that he and his staff don't respond and seek solutions to how teams are attacking us on both ends of the floor. Some of the adjustments happen between games but most happen in the 'off' season. I know for a fact that they have made major defensive adjustments in the past to combat what teams were doing successfully against us. It changed us from being one of the worst teams in defending the 3 point line, to one of the best in the country, overnight. There were new offensive sets introduced this year to highlight the talent coming in.

I suspect that there will be some changes in how we attack zones and presses. I would expect to see the fruits of those efforts next year. I have seen this coaching staff grow and improve each year. They take the same approach with themselves as they do with the players.

 

[WeberSki]

Rahe makes 3Xs more than any other coach in the conference, the Dee is 3Xs nicer and larger than the average facility in the conference, and Weber's fan support is 3Xs better than the average support for conference teams. So it's perfectly acceptable to be frustrated with certain things he doesn't do well and expect more and better at times. If his pay was on par with the rest of the conference coaches I would be much more willing to look the other way when it came to his weaknesses.

^^^^^^ This. I've been saying this for a while now.

Jeez, it's nice to have a fan board on here that's not a bunch of Kool-Aid drinkers like the original group that use to be the only ones that posted here, catcat the beauty of a fan forum is there are many opinions, & I like them all some of you guys get butt hurt when everybody doesn't agree with your particular point of view.

Maybe I'll start a thread titled stop the Love, Why there is No way in hell Rahe is the Wizard of Weber, yet. I think I have a better argument than you. If anybody is the Wizard it's Abegglan he won when it mattered. PERIOD.

 

[AlumniWSU]

Rahe makes 3Xs more than any other coach in the conference, the Dee is 3Xs nicer and larger than the average facility in the conference, and Weber's fan support is 3Xs better than the average support for conference teams. So it's perfectly acceptable to be frustrated with certain things he doesn't do well and expect more and better at times. If his pay was on par with the rest of the conference coaches I would be much more willing to look the other way when it came to his weaknesses.

^^^^^^ This. I've been saying this for a while now.

Jeez, it's nice to have a fan board on here that's not a bunch of Kool-Aid drinkers like the original group that use to be the only ones that posted here, catcat the beauty of a fan forum is there are many opinions, & I like them all some of you guys get butt hurt when everybody doesn't agree with your particular point of view.

Maybe I'll start a thread titled stop the Love, Why there is No way in hell Rahe is the Wizard of Weber, yet. I think I have a better argument than you. If anybody is the Wizard it's Abegglan he won when it mattered. PERIOD.

:thumb: :clap: Just got to say that's the best thing so far I've heard you say 'Weberski' ! Especially about Abegglen. I'm talking post-postBig Sky people!! Except for last year's CIT, Coach Rahe has been a disappointment in his coaching vs. national quality teams. That is where Abegglen shined, and yes, I admit that we fans should not be overreaching in our expectations...perhaps I am. :|

 

[AlumniWSU]

It may be a valid point that Randy seems inflexible during a game and sticks with a failing game plan too long. It is not valid to say that he and his staff don't respond and seek solutions to how teams are attacking us on both ends of the floor. Some of the adjustments happen between games but most happen in the 'off' season. I know for a fact that they have made major defensive adjustments in the past to combat what teams were doing successfully against us. It changed us from being one of the worst teams in defending the 3 point line, to one of the best in the country, overnight. There were new offensive sets introduced this year to highlight the talent coming in.

I suspect that there will be some changes in how we attack zones and presses. I would expect to see the fruits of those efforts next year. I have seen this coaching staff grow and improve each year. They take the same approach with themselves as they do with the players.

Agreed...it's always a work-in-progress isn't it, from year to year. :twocents:

 

[weberwildcat]

I'm going to vote for rahe in 2016.

 

[UtahPirate]

Catcat, I don't think there is any "hate" on the board for Rahe at all.

I think my frustration comes from this question: "Is Rahe getting better at his job."

I can't answer that with a resounding yes at this point. I get discouraged watching us repeatedly make mistakes, many of them coaching mistakes. The inability to break a press frustrates me to no end. We are athletic and quick enough to destroy presses. We lost 3 OT games and every one we lost in the same way (wouldn't we all looove to be 19-7 at this point instead of 16-10). The strategy didn't change in any of them. We have struggled with zones this year -- and really most years. Ourselves, we rarely play zone, even when we need double-down inside help (BYU at home last year, USU this year). These problems seem to be constants under Coach Rahe. I'd like to see us improving at some of them.

That said, I love Coach Rahe. He is a recruiting monster and we get exciting and fun players to watch. We get really good kids as well. Kids who take school seriously and graduate -- and that is not lost on me. I'm intensely proud of the Damien Lillard story and think Randy Rahe is a huge reason that Lillard is so successful as both a player and a person. He runs a great program and I'm proud to bleed purple at a workplace where people think it's odd.

But I really would like to answer that original question, "Is Rahe getter better at his job" with a emphatic yes.

 

[weberwildman]

I posed this question to my dad and he said he would not vote for Rahe or Abbelglen. He put his vote for Dick Motta. Maybe it was because of his awesome assistant coaches (Phil Johnson)... He said Abbeglen could flat out win. I never saw Abbeglen on the sidelines though.
I put my vote in for Joseph Cravens. :rofl: :rofl:

 

[n.ogdencat]

I posed this question to my dad and he said he would not vote for Rahe or Abbelglen. He put his vote for Dick Motta. Maybe it was because of his awesome assistant coaches (Phil Johnson)... He said Abbeglen could flat out win. I never saw Abbeglen on the sidelines though.
I put my vote in for Joseph Cravens. :rofl: :rofl:

Wait...what are we voting for?

LARRY FARMER?? :rofl: :rofl:

 

[n.ogdencat]

Catcat, I don't think there is any "hate" on the board for Rahe at all.

I think my frustration comes from this question: "Is Rahe getting better at his job."

I can't answer that with a resounding yes at this point. I get discouraged watching us repeatedly make mistakes, many of them coaching mistakes. The inability to break a press frustrates me to no end. We are athletic and quick enough to destroy presses. We lost 3 OT games and every one we lost in the same way (wouldn't we all looove to be 19-7 at this point instead of 16-10). The strategy didn't change in any of them. We have struggled with zones this year -- and really most years. Ourselves, we rarely play zone, even when we need double-down inside help (BYU at home last year, USU this year). These problems seem to be constants under Coach Rahe. I'd like to see us improving at some of them.

That said, I love Coach Rahe. He is a recruiting monster and we get exciting and fun players to watch. We get really good kids as well. Kids who take school seriously and graduate -- and that is not lost on me. I'm intensely proud of the Damien Lillard story and think Randy Rahe is a huge reason that Lillard is so successful as both a player and a person. He runs a great program and I'm proud to bleed purple at a workplace where people think it's odd.

But I really would like to answer that original question, "Is Rahe getter better at his job" with a emphatic yes.

This is one of the best posts ever published on this forum. I thoroughly agree. The question that needs to be asked is whether or not Rahe is improving as a coach. USU fans ask the same question with regard to Stew (i'm using Stew purely as an example based on similar coaching styles between he and Rahe).

Sure he was successful in the Big West and the WAC. But now he is in a much bigger pond. New Mexico, UNLV, San Diego State, and a rejuvenated Boise State aren't the push overs. USU is a minnow now, instead of being the big fish that they once were. Biggest problem is talent. Stew got too use to recruiting instate. Now that Utah is getting more recruits and the Y is gobbling up all other available Utah DI talent, there isn't much available for Stew and USU. Automatically, we should be grateful for Rahe; he can recruit. Weber has pipelines to Texas, the Bay Area, Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho to name a few.

Recruitment aside Weber really struggles at beating zones, presses, and post defense. Decent bigs (see Max Jacobsen) really hurt the Cats and make the Cats look silly. Jayson Cheeseman is another example of a big having a big game against Weber this season. Post play and defense could and should be so much better, but nothing has really changed. I really had my fingers crossed that Rahe would hire an Asst. who has great big experience. No matter, the question is, would Rahe be able to go into a bigger conference, like the WCC or MW and win? He is great in the Sky, but how would his best teams match up against past WSU teams? He is the biggest fish in a shrinking pond. The drought does seem to be ending though. The Sky is getting better and there are other programs experiencing a renaissance. His inflexibility is both a pro and con. Stability, but like what happened in OT on Saturaday. Inflexibility can really end up hurting a program when a coach can't make in game changes. So, I stand by what I've said in the past and again now...Rahe is a good coach, still has a ways to go to become a great coach.

 

[MIGRAman]

Wow, I noticed a lot of hate on the PSU thread. Yikes!