The case for Huger to stay

[hammb]

COMPLETE devil's advocate for the sake of argument:

If you had told me before the season that we would play the entire season without our two starting guards, I think the consensus predictions on here would be: ".500 at best, hopefully sneak into Cleveland, be about as good as Ball State and Miami but not on the level of the big dogs"

Now, while we fell just short of that (and trust me, that matters), but that's pretty close to where we finished up. I mean hey, we were just 1 home win vs the worst team in the MAC on senior night away from getting to Cleveland, amirite guys!?!?

So while we should have probably lowered our expectations once Fields and Metheny went down, we know this team still did not play to potential with the remaining talent relative to the bottom half of the MAC. We were still a more talented team than CMU (and it should be us getting pummeled on Thursday morning instead of them lol), but some inexcusable losses (home vs WMU; epic collapse at Ball State in a game we were in control for the first 39:35) and some embarrassing performances (Buffalo, at Miami in a must win, at Toledo) made the season a true disappointment and makes this argument extremely difficult to make, but hell I tried.

On some level this is fair. I guess my inability to truly believe it is the fact that I don't really see either Matheny, nor Fields, as real game changing players. And with all the transfers we actually had too many guards anyhow. I do think Matheny brings something to the offense that nobody else on the team could have, but as we saw when he was playing, it wasn't nearly enough. And he's definitely wouldn't have helped defensively. Fields would have likely been our best defender on the team this year, so we definitely did miss him.

Had you told me in the pre-season that we would play without Fields and have Matheny for less than half our games I would have probably expected the newcomers to fill their shoes and still put us in about the same place as I expected us to be WITH those guys. Even after having watched this season play out, as awful as we were, I'm not sure the difference between Fields/Matheny and seeing more of Mills/Curtis was truly a big deal. Gordon was our best guard and we kicked him off the team...

[Falcon]

I think it’s also fair to say we should have lowered expectations once Fields and Metheny went down. Fields was a STARTER on those 20 win teams. Both him and Metheny were starters on a 10-8 MAC team last season (NIU was one game that didn’t get made up last year which was likely a W). I do think both those guys would have significantly helped our poor, poor defense. If it contributes to ONE more win, then we are in Cleveland.

I also think not having those guys forced Huger to play Curtis out of position at PG which he isn’t. Same with Mills. For those reasons, I think it’s a case to stay and get more time.

SIDE NOTE/Reason #2:
1. When Gordon stepped away in the non conf, the team won 5 straight. Their next game they lost was Ball State when Gordon flopped out of bounds at the end of the game.

2. Reece admitted in the blade article that he stepped away from the team when getting his starting spot taken, which was CMU. With him I think BG wins that game and is in Cleveland.

Which leads me to my 2nd reason Huger should stay: There has to be more to this story that we will never know, and maybe he was dealt a crappy hand with those two guys on the roster. We all want to blame Huger but at the end of the day those guys “quit” during the year and that can’t all be Huger’s fault for disciplining them. WITHOUT them the team sure looked way more energized.

[Rollo83]

1. He still has three years on his contract and BG doesn’t have the financial resources to buy him out.

2. He’s an alum.

3. He represents a minority hire for the University. Not playing the race card here but this certainly matters in today’s environment.

[MarkL]

Which leads me to my 2nd reason Huger should stay: There has to be more to this story that we will never know,

That was definitely my thought after the blade article. The article was basically a mouthpiece for airing grievances via a newspaper which to me is a sign to approach with healthy skepticism. Maybe there's more to the story that Huger and the whole athletic department / university just cannot ethically discuss. Dunno. I just wouldn't call that issue a reason to change coaches. Biggest issue with Huger IMO is two straight regression seasons.

[Globetrotter]

Which leads me to my 2nd reason Huger should stay: There has to be more to this story that we will never know, and maybe he was dealt a crappy hand with those two guys on the roster. We all want to blame Huger but at the end of the day those guys “quit” during the year and that can’t all be Huger’s fault for disciplining them. WITHOUT them the team sure looked way more energized.

He picked the players.


I am not convinced "Falcon" isn't a current coach/staff member.

[Falcon]

Which leads me to my 2nd reason Huger should stay: There has to be more to this story that we will never know, and maybe he was dealt a crappy hand with those two guys on the roster. We all want to blame Huger but at the end of the day those guys “quit” during the year and that can’t all be Huger’s fault for disciplining them. WITHOUT them the team sure looked way more energized.

He picked the players.


I am not convinced "Falcon" isn't a current coach/staff member.

Darn you got me. Allow me to reintroduce myself, I’m the creator of the worst defense in the country, the “have a career day against us effort” & the no pass iso offense. I tipped my hat too much. .. If our real coaches are spending time on this board then we are doomed and it’s time to move on. Sorry for giving off that impression Globetrotter, I genuinely just try to be fair.