Would You Take Stans Back Right Now?

[Dawsonmsu]

Our program may never recover. We have the lowest men’s basketball attendance in the SEC.

[Big4Dawg]

That?s an us problem more an howland problem. We finished 4th in the SEC last year.

[Dawsonmsu]

You guys don’t get it! We literally have the most basic and vanilla offense of any team in the SEC, and you wonder why our fans don’t attend home basketball games? Check out some of our offensive sets the next time we take the floor.

[Todd4State]

Bc we had our most successful 10 year run ever under him and have been wandering in the wilderness for the 10 years since he left, and our program now has almost zero fan support whereas we had sold out arenas under stans.

All that said, I know stans is never coming back and I'm fine with that. This was just a thought exercise.

But that doesn't mean our program would have that kind of success again. See Ron Polk II. That's what I don't get about those people.

[confucius say]

But that doesn't mean our program would have that kind of success again. See Ron Polk II. That's what I don't get about those people.

True. No guarantee for sure.

[Todd4State]

True. No guarantee for sure.

To me, it seems like what typically happens is when you bring back a successful coach it rarely works out and typically is worse.

It all seems to me like we MSU fans want to see something more exciting on offense- at least for football and basketball- but because we have a team that isn't oriented or maybe built for that we usually end up with a major growing pain when we make a hire like that. And then we lose and people are still pissed off. Of course some of those same people will come back and say "We shouldn't have ever switched to that offense" after wanting a change.

So it is what it is. At this point I expect Cohen to make a bad hire so I guess I've decided to go with the keep Howland and hope for a one and done tournament run with this group over a complete rebuild.

[PGHBulldogBG]

We have to keep Howland as frustrating as it is until we know someone other than Cohen will make the basketball hire or Cohen is out the door.

[maroonmania]

That?s an us problem more an howland problem. We finished 4th in the SEC last year.

But still would have likely been outside of the NCAA tournament. Attendance for basketball when the program is mediocre will always be a challenge for MSU for several reasons. A lot of the older loyal and local MSU basketball fans have been alienated by the administration reseating policies trying to grab more money, plus the fact that many are still unhappy about the way the Stans firing went down. So that really hurts. Then, on top of that, we have the most remote fanbase in the SEC which is a real problem for basketball which has multiple games per week. So when our product is not that good, and every game is available to watch on TV or online, then why spend 4 or 5 hours roundtrip traveling back and forth to Starkville? Another problem is Howland has done literally nothing to try and engage with the students to get more of them to come to games. And, in Starkville, you really need students coming to games to have a decent weekday crowd. Yet, with all of that, I've still seen some really good Saturday crowds at the Hump during Howland's tenure when a big game was on tap, and unfortunately, we've lost nearly all of those. Unfortunately, that doesn't really inspire many folks to keep coming back.

[Offshore Dawg]

My apathy level is too high for basketball to even give a shit anymore.

[Lord McBuckethead]

I would take him back. The stans era of basketball was my favorite time a bulldog basketball fan. Other than the final 4 years, which I was too young to appreciate.

[R2Dawg]

I would take him back. The stans era of basketball was my favorite time a bulldog basketball fan. Other than the final 4 years, which I was too young to appreciate.

It would be tempting. I've been following MSU basketball and all sports since late 70s/early 80s. Stans certainly had a great run for about 10 years and probably the best stretch in MSU history. We have had some great teams over the years but nothing for many years like Stans did. The sequels are never as good as the first one.

Cohen has to go before the next hire is made. Cohen needs to go now and the next guy needs to start basketball searches - men and women and find a young energetic coach to bring us out of the rut.

[maroonmania]

It would be tempting. I've been following MSU basketball and all sports since late 70s/early 80s. Stans certainly had a great run for about 10 years and probably the best stretch in MSU history. We have had some great teams over the years but nothing for many years like Stans did. The sequels are never as good as the first one.

Cohen has to go before the next hire is made. Cohen needs to go now and the next guy needs to start basketball searches - men and women and find a young energetic coach to bring us out of the rut.

Yea, while I would take Stans back I do realize that rehiring someone rarely ever works out well (see Polk II). But even the year we let Stans go, though the end of the year was disappointing, we were still a 1 seed in the NIT. I feel like the big mistake we made was not giving him one more year with Sidney out the door to see if he could get the program culture straightened out. I think we owed him that for all he had done for the program, including recruiting most of the players that got us in the 96 Final Four. The Hawaii scene was bad but Renardo was just a cancer on the program while here. Stans took a chance with him and it backfired but would have liked to have seen if he could have gotten things turned back around. Nobody we've ever had involved with MSU basketball has ever worked harder in the recruiting game than Stansbury.

[Johnson85]

Instead of staying with Ben or rolling the dice on a replacement, would you take stans back today?

I would keep Howland before going to Stans. They are pretty equivalent but Howland looks better now. If Howland is off the table, I would not rush to offer Stans. We certainly could do worse and I would go to Stans before hiring a nobody like we did with Rick Ray.

[archdog]

I would keep Howland before going to Stans. They are pretty equivalent but Howland looks better now. If Howland is off the table, I would not rush to offer Stans. We certainly could do worse and I would go to Stans before hiring a nobody like we did with Rick Ray.

Agree, 100%. Imagine the energy Stans would bring to the hump. Although it would all be gone after the first time the team turns the ball over against a soft press.

[tcdog70]

Agree, 100%. Imagine the energy Stans would bring to the hump. Although it would all be gone after the first time the team turns the ball over against a soft press.

Stans always had a PG that could handle a soft press. Plus Stans would throw the 1-3-1 trap out there , and it was effective.

[BB30]

Stans always had a PG that could handle a soft press. Plus Stans would throw the 1-3-1 trap out there , and it was effective.

Yall must not remember trying to watch a Stans team break a zone defense...

[maroonmania]

Yall must not remember trying to watch a Stans team break a zone defense...

Howland has taught me that I only thought Stansbury's offense struggled against a zone. I didn't know how good we had it back then.