I know most people could care less about Misery, but I want some people's honest opinion.
Kim Anderson, who I think can be a pretty decent coach for them, has been put in a tough situation. He took over a program that was down on talent. Most of the solid players have graduated or declared for the draft in the last couple of years. They have had a terrible year, but Anderson has put up with injuries and a lot of suspensions over the course of this season. Frank Haith says in USA Today, that he feels that this year's Missouri team would have won 20 games in his system. I'm just not seeing it. If you watch Missouri play, they might have one or two guys who could play for most other P5 schools at this time. I think Haith saw that he was going to have a crappy year in Columbia and he made the smart choice and bolted before being fired. I don't blame him for this at all, because in coaching, you take the best situation for yourself. I do think he's patting himself on the back too much considering last year's team had Clarkson and Brown, who were both very good college players, and they weren't that close to making the NCAA Tourney.
Also, Haith is being given a LOT of credit for Tulsa being where they are right now. I think pretty much anybody could have taken over that team and won because Danny Manning is the one who built that team back up and got talent back in the program. Yes, Haith has done a good job of maintaining their success from last season, but they would have just as good a record and probably better if Manning were still coaching them. It's no surprise that a junior-laden team that improved a ton as sophomores is playing even better as juniors. I think Haith and Bruce Weber are very similar in that they win for a couple of years with other coach's players and then they regress when their own guys come in and apparently their message runs its course and is largely ignored.
What are your thoughts about these two programs?
Kim Anderson, who I think can be a pretty decent coach for them, has been put in a tough situation. He took over a program that was down on talent. Most of the solid players have graduated or declared for the draft in the last couple of years. They have had a terrible year, but Anderson has put up with injuries and a lot of suspensions over the course of this season. Frank Haith says in USA Today, that he feels that this year's Missouri team would have won 20 games in his system. I'm just not seeing it. If you watch Missouri play, they might have one or two guys who could play for most other P5 schools at this time. I think Haith saw that he was going to have a crappy year in Columbia and he made the smart choice and bolted before being fired. I don't blame him for this at all, because in coaching, you take the best situation for yourself. I do think he's patting himself on the back too much considering last year's team had Clarkson and Brown, who were both very good college players, and they weren't that close to making the NCAA Tourney.
Also, Haith is being given a LOT of credit for Tulsa being where they are right now. I think pretty much anybody could have taken over that team and won because Danny Manning is the one who built that team back up and got talent back in the program. Yes, Haith has done a good job of maintaining their success from last season, but they would have just as good a record and probably better if Manning were still coaching them. It's no surprise that a junior-laden team that improved a ton as sophomores is playing even better as juniors. I think Haith and Bruce Weber are very similar in that they win for a couple of years with other coach's players and then they regress when their own guys come in and apparently their message runs its course and is largely ignored.
What are your thoughts about these two programs?
