Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

[Lawson]

We have 4 games remaining on the season. The best we could finish is 10-10 in conference. But wait! All is not lost! We can still make the conference tournament!


*Edit: I realize I've argued against this kind of rant many times in the past. I'm a firm believer in giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Of giving them a fair chance. And I feel like I've done that before getting to this point where I've completely lost confidence in this staff.

[kdubnation]

I enjoyed last night's game and was really happy to see the guys keep fighting and pull it out in overtime. That said, there's no way we should be going to overtime against a team with one of the worst records in the conference. Just another example of how far we've fallen.

[pantherfan]

Toss the inbounds off the side of the board at the end of regulation and our starting PG dribbles off his foot down 1 in OT with the ball. This team makes my head hurt.

[kdubnation]

I just don't really get it. Ashland is a very good team. Losing to them in overtime is a lot easier to swallow if you're both in the top 3 or 4 in the league standings. But as it stands, it's just another example of how inconsistent this KWC team can be. We had spurts in this game where we looked as good as we've looked all season. Then turn right around and look completely clueless for a minute or two. And you just can't win games against good teams with those kinds of lapses. But, if we had played this way against Tiffin, we'd beat them by 15 points rather than having to win in overtime.

I really don't know what the issue is. The talent is there, for the most part.

[pantherfan]

Listening to the radio show last night it appears Jamil, Wyatt, and Boyle are graduating and not returning next year. That returns 4 current starters (5 if you count Jomel). Not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Presumably Kaveon is in a starting role if he comes back healthy and also expect that Eddie Jones Jr sees a lot more action. Assuming everyone else stays, we have a few spots for transfers which just plays back in to the chemistry issues we have regularly experienced in the last 4 years.

Speaking of rosters, I'm assuming Preston Murrell quit? He isn't listed on the roster anymore. Is that 3 kids off the team during the course of the year?

[kdubnation]

Murrell was at a handful of the last home games in street clothes sitting with fans under the home-end basket. I don't know why he's no longer on the roster. Kids that get kicked off the team don't typically come watch games afterwards. I'm wondering if maybe grades got him, or he decided to quit school or something? I really don't know.

Is Sasha looking at coming back for another year? He's listed as a senior but you didn't mention him and I noticed that Cooper didn't mention him the other day when talking about seniors so maybe he's getting an extra year?

[pantherfan]

Interesting. Maybe he just realized it wasn't for him. He needed some serious conditioning. The few runs he got, he looked winded immediately. Discovering college sports aren't for you is real, and hats off to him for still coming to support the team if that's the case.

My thought process exactly. My assumption is that he is coming back. I'm guessing he is utilizing the Covid year of eligibility?

[kdubnation]

Stuck working night shift this week so can't be at the Sportscenter for this last game of the season.

First five minutes of the game - not so hot. #1 Cooper has 3 seniors but instead of doing the classy thing and starting all the seniors, he goes with his normal starting lineup. #2 Team lets Lake Erie come out and go up 9-0 for no other reason than they are playing hard and we aren't. #3 We aren't even attempting to rebound on either end of the court.

Now it's early and we very well may come back and win this game which we SHOULD absolutely win. But regardless, this isn't exactly the way you want to close
out a season if you're wanting to build for next year.

Edit: EVERYTIME WE MAKE A 3 OR DO ANYTHING IMPRESSIVE WHOEVER IS RUNNING THE STREAM KEEPS CHANGING THE CAMERA ANGLE AND THE DELAY MAKES ANYONE WATCHING MISS WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[kdubnation]

So we end the season on a high note. Made it to .500 for the season. No postseason, though.

Cooper on the radio after the game acknowledged that he knows this isn't good enough. I mean...that's good to know, that he understands the expectations and recognizes that we're not where we should be. And kudos to him for saying it out loud. But what's being done about it?

He also said that they ARE expecting to have Sasha back for another year. And that's great - I hope he comes back and plays to his potential, because it is high.

We're only losing 1 starter to graduation. Of course you never know who you might lose to transferring or dropping out of school. But even though we're not losing that many players, the ones we are losing are significant. Recruiting is going to have to bring in at least a couple of seasoned transfers that can come in and make an immediate impact at the high D2 level.

Fingers crossed we have a good off season and bring in some bigtime players.

[pantherfan]

Oh that camera is frustrating. And it's behind Joel's play by play. They have to be better. The boys started slow, but I was glad to see them fight back and put it on them a little bit. Erie was playing PHYSICAL, and it was good to see a little push back from our guys.

In the weekly show and in the postgame radio show, Cooper seemed to have a very somber tone in addressing how thankful he is for his position. Maybe he's feeling a little pressure. I don't think he's lost the fan base, but we need some winning seasons ahead.

I think we'll return a good portion of the roster. I'm most curious on Antonio. Him and Cooper seemed to be at odds on the bench several times this year. Although, the kid led us in turnovers so the exchanges may have been warranted. Coop said they plan on signing a couple kids that will make immediate impact, so I'd assume they have sights on a couple transfers. Add in Sasha and Kaveon and Eddie Jones, and there's potential for 8-9 solid guys. I'll be anxiously awaiting some recruiting news. All we have to look forward to now.

Cheers to a conference tourney berth next season.

[kdubnation]

I think Cooper has to be under pressure. I really hope he is, because if not that means the KWC admin doesn't define what's acceptable for the MBB team in the same way fans and alumni do. And maybe I'm reading things wrong but the way his wife has acted at games late in the season this year sort of made me feel like there's some pressure being felt. But who knows. I know covid had impacts on everything and everyone. So if the admin feels like we should stay the course and give him another season or two to produce then I can support that. But there needs to be a significant turnaround, and quickly.

I had my concerns early on about Antonio but once he started making some shots in the second half of the season it seemed like he got more comfortable and played better overall. He's a good defender and generally good at running the offense so I definitely want to see him back for his senior season. I'm wondering if Scotty Draud will officially have a redshirt for this season. He didn't play in any of the non-exhibitions. Hopefully that means they're planning for him to have 4 more years of eligibility. His high school career seems to indicate a lot of potential there, but he definitely needs to be in the gym non stop during the off season developing his strength and quickness for the college game.

The one I'm most worried about possibly not returning is Boyd. Him and Cooper didn't see eye to eye sometimes. And his minutes really dropped off late in the season. I know I'm not the only one that saw him put 29 on UK in that first exhibition and had really high hopes for the season...only to be really disappointed by his production. I really don't know what it was - he seemed like a totally different player after those exh were over.

[Lawson]

[kdubnation]

There are some intriguing head coaches out there looking for jobs right now. Just sayin'

[kdubnation]

The other finalist for the job that was ultimately awarded to Cooper has his team playing for the Atlantic Region championship tonight as a 7 seed.

[kdubnation]

The other finalist for the job that was ultimately awarded to Cooper has his team playing for the Atlantic Region championship tonight as a 7 seed.

Tobin Anderson, whom we almost hired but instead went with Coach Cooper, has been announced as the new head coach of D1 Fairleigh Dickinson.