https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/statu...586412544?s=20
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Stands makes NIT- remains only WK coach in modern history not to make the NCAA Tourney
Glad we got picked. Hopefully we can win a game or 2
We are good enough to make NIT, maybe we get a second win and make a small run.
OM on our side of the bracket, lol.
Kenpom has st Louis #47 and us at #77.
y'all have fun, LOL
I’m happy our guys are playing, rather play in NIT than be sitting home.
That's the hope. Seeing Stewart at 2nd pick of 2nd round in this mock kinda scares me
https://www.nbadraft.net/nba-mock-dr...year-mock=2021
My bad- 8 seeds behind us at 5-8. Point remains and we would have made the NIT regardless. Program remains at Stands-level which is what most of our fans care about at the end of the day. Hopefully we meet up with Stands in our bracket. That would be awesome.
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I definitely don't think we can fire Howland, but I would not be upset if he retired after the season.
We can?t avoid making a move if it?s needed just because we?re afraid Cohen will screw it up. He ain?t going nowhere for a while & Howland has to make the NCAAT next season to get another season after next. We can?t just bring him back knowing we?re going to maintain mediocrity just because we don?t want Cohen making a hire.
That may be but I feel like with Howland we have a chance to have another good year next year with a more veteran team. Molinar, probably Stewart, Tolu, Post, and Javian Davis will all be juniors. And then Fountain, Deivon, and Montgomery will be sophomores. And Matthews could be better next year too. And then if he can keep this group mostly together for two years we could be even better.
So, short term let's see what Howland can do with this group. If he doesn't make the NCAA's with them next year then maybe we look at making a change but as it is he basically made the NIT with a group that was basically all freshmen and sophomores. To me that's not a bad job unless it's a team with like five McDonald's All Americans or something like that.
If he retires or we make a change we're probably going to try to bring in someone that "runs a more exciting brand of basketball" which typically for us "more exciting brand" means rebuild because we don't have the players to run a more exciting brand or the leadership to hold it together on the team like we do with baseball. So, I'd rather have a chance at a decent two year run rather than an almost guaranteed rebuild again.
Only 6 teams in the sec have made postseason play the last 3 times: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, state, and tenn. If you go ncaa tourney only, that list goes down to Florida and tenn.
Making the ncaa tourney is hard. Expecting every year is just unrealistic.
ETA... covid is the only reason tenn's ncaa streak is still alive. They would've most likely made NIT though
The one and done rule and the rise of Mid-majors has altered the landscape for making the tournament. So much so that Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, and Indiana are nowhere to be found. UCLA is in a play-in game. Programs that have dominated college basketball for decades can't make the dance.
Someone has stated that he has made it known to the administration that he plans to retire after next year. Don't know whether that is true or not but makes sense. Year after next will likely be another transition year with new guys so it would make sense that next year would be Howland's last rodeo. He is no Spring chicken.
Howland returning, getting us in ncaa, and retiring after would be just about a perfect situation for us. We'd then need to pony up some money for a good hire. We would be a much more attractive job with howland retiring rather than us running him off while getting postseason play.
Louisville, Seton Hall, St. John's, Duke, and Xavier all said no thanks which allowed us to get in. We got the next to last seed as Saint Louis was the #2 overall seed. I don't really care, because I'm glad we are still playing. In a regular year with a 32 team NIT we'd probably have been a #6 seed. Many times you see a team with most guys coming back get into the NIT and parlay that into a NCAA birth the next year. Maybe, that's us.