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Celeritas

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Was firing Steve McClain a mistake?

I think it was.

Ask me that question 2 years from now - I'll give you an answer then.

" I believe that forgiving them is God's function.

OUR job is to arrange the meeting. " - General Schwarzkopf

 

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Was firing Steve McClain a mistake?

I think it was.

No. Here's why:

1. Under Steve McClain attendance at the AA declined by 40% from 2003 to last year. More importantly, season ticket sales declined by over 25%. That is huge as season ticket sales tend to be less volatile than overall attendance. It will take quite a while to regain that season ticket base and it just wasn't happening under McClain.

2. 4 straight years of no postseason bids. The program was clearly headed in the wrong direction and had been for a couple of years.

3. APR plummeting. The program had an APR below 900 causing scholarship losses (Schroyer will not be able to field a full squad of 13 scholarship players next year thanks to APR problems under McClain's tenure). These problems were getting worse rather than better by the way.

Now, the follow-up question is: Was hiring Schroyer a mistake? The logical answer to that is what WYCowboy00 said. I was not happy with the hire, but had started to change my mind (typical preseason unrealistic hope) until the squad actually hit the court.

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Was firing Steve McClain a mistake?

I think it was.

I don't know why McClain was fired after winning 36% of his conference games over the last four years. I just don't get it.

McClain couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. He left Schroyer a mess to clean up on and off the court. Wyoming has a lot of young and/or inexperienced players learning a new system right now. We certainly could use a few 24- and 25-year-olds right now during the maturation process.

It could be worse. Instead of losing to an NCAA tourney-type team like Akron on the road, the Pokes could have lost to Northern Colorado or Harvard, like CSU and Michigan did.

I try not to pay much attention to those who question the Schroyer hire because I believe most of these people have never set foot on a regulation basketball court. During the interview portion of the process, Schroyer was head and shoulders above the other candidates. The esteemed Jim Brandenburg wanted three years to turn the Wyoming program around. Heath should get the same.

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I don't know why McClain was fired after winning 36% of his conference games over the last four years. I just don't get it.

McClain couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. He left Schroyer a mess to clean up on and off the court. Wyoming has a lot of young and/or inexperienced players learning a new system right now. We certainly could use a few 24- and 25-year-olds right now during the maturation process.

It could be worse. Instead of losing to an NCAA tourney-type team like Akron on the road, the Pokes could have lost to Northern Colorado or Harvard, like CSU and Michigan did.

I try not to pay much attention to those who question the Schroyer hire because I believe most of these people have never set foot on a regulation basketball court. During the interview portion of the process, Schroyer was head and shoulders above the other candidates. The esteemed Jim Brandenburg wanted three years to turn the Wyoming program around. Heath should get the same.

Since I was only a couple of months old when Brandenburg took over I will admit I am highly unqualified to discuss the beginning of his tenure. However, I would point out that the team improved by 3 games in his first year. If Schroyer improves the team's record by 3 games over last years you won't hear much complaining at the end of the year. Brandenburg then improved by 3 more games the next year, then in his 3rd year he won 24 games, the WAC, and advanced in the NCAA tournament.

I wouldn't say it took him 3 years to turn it around. He turned it around and had it headed the right direction in his first year and clearly by his second. He reached the goal (conference title, NCAA tourney) in his 3rd year. There will not be a soul alive who would complain about Heath if he accomplished that in his 3rd year.

Now, I don't really know the personnel situation that Brandenburg inherited, but he took over a team that was much worse in its previous year than this group was. Schroyer certainly has some personnel issues to deal with, primarily in the post (evidenced by the inability to defend Wood, the Akron big man, without double teams which led to lots of dunks and open shots as Akron was adept at passing out of the double). However, he wasn't exactly left with nothing (for an example of that look in Fort Collins where Miles had one player left from last year basically, Aguilar doesn't really count, and had to start from scratch) as he does have 3 starters back from last year (Taylor, Ewing, Jones) and last year's 6th man (Platt). None of those 4 are stiffs either (Platt has been battling some injuries and having him healthy would certainly help).

Losing at Akron? Probably not a big deal. Getting blown out and committing 17 turnovers in the first half alone? Not real impressive. The loss to DU is still the one that really stings. You know that Northern Colorado team you mock in your post? Well, they handled DU by 18, FWIW.

Final point: Schroyer will get 3 years. Vic got 3 years and we knew he couldn't coach by the end of September his first year (by the end of that Nevada game it was pretty much obvious). Schroyer is obviously not a Vic Koenning, He has been a head coach before at the D1 level and he knows how to manage a program. The question is: can he take this program to the next level?

Getting back to something in my era, do you remember "Shyatt Happens"? Sure he jumped ship quickly, but in his first year he took over a program that was in relatively bad shape on and off the court and didn't have a ton of players return, yet in his first year the team won 19 games (10-2 OOC) and finished with the highest RPI we have seen in recent memory (higher than the 00-01 and 01-02 MWC title teams).

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No. Here's why:

1. Under Steve McClain attendance at the AA declined by 40% from 2003 to last year. More importantly, season ticket sales declined by over 25%. That is huge as season ticket sales tend to be less volatile than overall attendance. It will take quite a while to regain that season ticket base and it just wasn't happening under McClain.

2. 4 straight years of no postseason bids. The program was clearly headed in the wrong direction and had been for a couple of years.

3. APR plummeting. The program had an APR below 900 causing scholarship losses (Schroyer will not be able to field a full squad of 13 scholarship players next year thanks to APR problems under McClain's tenure). These problems were getting worse rather than better by the way.

Now, the follow-up question is: Was hiring Schroyer a mistake? The logical answer to that is what WYCowboy00 said. I was not happy with the hire, but had started to change my mind (typical preseason unrealistic hope) until the squad actually hit the court.

I don't know that I would say he was head and shoulders above the likes of Cox and others that were named at that time.

I will say he had the advantage of having a prior relationship with Burman and had already his confidence.. Head and shoulders,,,NO..a decided advantage... YES

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I don't know that I would say he was head and shoulders above the likes of Cox and others that were named at that time.

I will say he had the advantage of having a prior relationship with Burman and had already his confidence.. Head and shoulders,,,NO..a decided advantage... YES

Well, I think you're talking to me, even though you're replying to a Nowhere post.

I spoke directly to one of the three UW search committee members and asked him about the hiring process. He told me that during the INTERVIEW portion of the hiring process, Heath was "head and shoulders" above the others with the way he presented himself and his goals for the program. The fact that Schroyer showed his value on the defensive end at BYU and in his first stint at Wyoming didn't hurt either. Yeah, I was one of the early cheerleaders for a Schroyer hire, but I think most anyone associated with Cowboy basketball can now see how Heath is laying a foundation for a solid all-around program in the near future.

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I don't know why McClain was fired after winning 36% of his conference games over the last four years. I just don't get it.

McClain couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. He left Schroyer a mess to clean up on and off the court. Wyoming has a lot of young and/or inexperienced players learning a new system right now. We certainly could use a few 24- and 25-year-olds right now during the maturation process.

It could be worse. Instead of losing to an NCAA tourney-type team like Akron on the road, the Pokes could have lost to Northern Colorado or Harvard, like CSU and Michigan did.

I try not to pay much attention to those who question the Schroyer hire because I believe most of these people have never set foot on a regulation basketball court. During the interview portion of the process, Schroyer was head and shoulders above the other candidates. The esteemed Jim Brandenburg wanted three years to turn the Wyoming program around. Heath should get the same.

I love the subtle jabs at BYU that you have to take. BTW, is there even a BYU player that is 24 or 25? I know our best players didn't serve missions, so sorry no age excuses for their reason of workin your team on the court.

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Was firing Steve McClain a mistake?

I think it was.

No way. McClain's teams had some fire and talent, and they were decent defensively for the most part. But they never moved the ball around consistently, and they benefited from some good individual talents like Davis and Baily and Williams and recently Brandon and Brad. The struggles that the pokes are seeing under Heath are more due to McClain's system than Heaths. For the first time in a couple of years Brandon and Brad are being asked to be complimentary players and not the center of the offense. And many new players are being asked to contribute and have struggled at times. On defense the team is using team defense strategies that McClain's teams never, or rarely, used (after Schroyer left at least) and these efforts will pay dividends late in the season. Right now the new philosophies on defense and offense are causing some tentativeness and that is why the pokes have struggled to hold onto the ball and have had lapses on defense.

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