Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

[kdubnation]

Delta State is 2-10 on the season. Their highest offensive output in a game has been 71 points. If we can't beat them, even on the road, then I have no hope that we will win a road game all season.

[pantherfan]

Well, they only scored 71. Too bad we only scored 62….

The difference was they shot 23 free throws to our 3. Couldnt watch so not placing any blame on refs, just an interesting stat.

[WKYDave]

I don't understand D2 conferences going to subscription service for games (GLIAC does this also). There are not casual fans of D2 who are willing to shell out for subscriptions. You're basically hitting the diehards and parents. Seems like a bad model. If I were a GMAC team recruiting against a GLIAC team I would point out to parents that they could watch their kid play most games for FREE.

[kdubnation]

We are witnessing the demise of what was once a powerhouse D2 program. After Harper was tossed aside, attendance at home games began to suffer. We went from averaging 3500 a game to around 2000 almost overnight. Under Todd Lee we regained some of what we lost. Then we hired Happy, which I still think was a homerun hire as he was a well established "face" of small Kentucky college basketball. His teams performed well, were exciting to watch, but the move to the G-MAC and away from the old rivalries of the GLVC had fans leaving. Or, maybe the fan base was getting so old and disappearing due to attrition and we hadn't gained the attention of the younger fans to replace them. I don't know...but the fact is we lost fans even though the team was winning and playing a fun, exciting brand of basketball.

Then Happy leaves mid season, leaving an absolute trainwreck of a team that Jason Mays couldn't control. In comes Drew Cooper.

Cooper said - and continues to say - all the right things. He has the pedigree - he played D2 basketball, he was an assistant to Scotty D at Bellarmine during their amazing seasons as the top tier program in the country, he has all the connections and etc to bring in elite talent to restore KWC to our former glory.

But it's all talk. The reality is, he has singularly failed to bring in elite talent. The talent he DOES bring in either under performs or leaves after a season of riding the bench (or before the season even starts). This bold plan of bringing in a mix of freshman and transfer players has seen very few top tier type transfers - a handful of D1 transfers who were never D1 talent to begin with, or D3 / NAIA transfers who belong at those levels not D2. And freshmen that if they do stick around, pretty much ride the pine their entire careers, with couple of notable exceptions such as Ben Sisson.

This year we seem to HAVE the talent to be successful - look at how we obliterated Cedarville - but we are absolutely TERRIBLE on the road. Delta State??? Are you kidding me? Winning in overtime against NORTHWOOD?

You have to go back to the 1930s-40s to find a coach with a worse winning % than Cooper at KWC.

And the home crowd is down to 200-300 people, even when we are playing a top team in the conference such as Cedarville.

The hospitality room at home games - does anyone else on here give to the PAC at the level to receive hospitality passes? The hospitality room has always been pretty sub-par, but they would at least bring in some sponsor to "cater" snacks or some kind of finger food type stuff. This year so far, do you know what they've done? They literally have laid out a few baggies of chips and let you grab a lukewarm bottle of water or soda. It looks like they forgot to get a sponsor so they just raided a vending machine. Just another example of how far the program has fallen under Cooper. Of course he's not directly responsible for the hospitality room, that would be silly - but he IS responsible for getting butts into seats and without the butts the admin either doesn't have the $ to do the room right, or it doesn't care enough to. Probably the latter, if I'm being honest.

So I fully expect we'll be around .500 this season, maybe make the conference tournament as the bottom seed and get destroyed by Hillsdale in round one and Cooper will tell us all about how close we are to being that great team we're supposed to be and if the ball had bounced our way one or two more times our 13-13 record could have been 24-2 and this and that and the other. It's all BS. I hope the admin has the balls to do what needs to be done and send him packing.

[Lawson]

As to the Hospitality room….when it only cost a 100 donation I got it….now I still donate the 100….but I won’t donate the 250 it requires now…so, no more Hospitality room for me.

[Lawson]

On a different note…..I enjoyed the win yesterday….I wish I knew exactly what led to multiple almost fights breaking out after the game though.

[kdubnation]

We had a bowling tournament so I wasn't able to be there for the Lake Erie game. I did watch the last 5 minutes or so of regulation and overtime online, though. The announcers said the game had been "chippy" throughout, and they mentioned that our main assistant coach and a player from Lake Erie had words and then the Lake Erie head coach got involved as well during handshake line after the game. So who knows who said what to whom. It's a little refreshing to see our team show a little passion and fire...though I'd feel better about it if it were the players and not the assistant coach.

As for the game itself, I'm glad to get the win, of course. What was evident from the part that I was able to watch was Lake Erie's offense entirely revolved around running screens until we would switch into a mismatch - guard on big, etc - and then exploit the mismatch. Radio guys said that LE had done that the entire game, which begs the question - why was our coaching staff unable to adjust and prevent it from working still down in the waning minutes of the game? Obviously, I know the answer but it's just another example of where we are. And where we are is .500, inconsistent, and poorly coached. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[kdubnation]

Fairly close game against Findlay but a loss is a loss and we're back below .500

[kdubnation]

Eddie Jones is the most athletic and physically gifted player on this team and yet he plays 8 minutes in a game like that. Cooper doesn't know what he's doing, plain and simple.

[kdubnation]

Loss to Tiffin. Nice job, Coop

[Lawson]

Markel Aune?

Anybody know

[Lawson]

Never mind….I saw in the paper this morning it’s a suspension

[pantherfan]

I didn't even notice he didn't play last night until reading your post. Wonder what he did to get suspended?

Last night's game was a breath of fresh air. The team seemed to fight and really lock in together. But it also makes it all the more frustrating that they beat Hillsdale and lost to Tiffin.

[Lawson]

The thing that seems strange to me is that he wasn't even on the bench in street clothes. I just assumed he left the program. I thought usually when a guy gets suspended you still make him show up to the game and support his teammates, but who knows. I also noticed no Brady Dame or Gavin Tudor on the bench, but that seemed less important.

Dame isn't listed on the roster anymore, so maybe that happened before and I just didn't notice.

Anyway, I had a great time at the SportsCenter last night...it was fun to watch them get a great win like that.

[kdubnation]

No doubt this was a great win. I LOVE great wins. But until they show that they can play this way outside of Owensboro it really means nothing. We know they can play this way at home - look at what they did to a GOOD Cedarville team. That's why it's so incredibly frustrating that they go on the road and lose to Tiffin, Miles, Delta State, Findlay's most mediocre team they've fielded in who knows how long - and allow Malone to set a new school record for 3 pointers made while pummeling us by 33 points - and have to go into overtime to beat Northwood who is now 2-16 on the season.

And don't get me wrong - I will NEVER root against KWC or hope that they lose a game. But a win over a top 10 team in a season that is otherwise mediocre (at best) is just the kind of thing that I fear will keep the AD from firing the head coach. And again - I'd absolutely love it if they take this win and build off of it and don't lose another game all season and end up with a great year. But does anyone think that's actually going to happen?? If Cooper was to end up this regular season at 19-9, make a little noise in the conference tournament and then come back next year and win 25 games, I'd fully endorse keeping him around as long as he's winning. I'm not holding my breath! If you look at our remaining schedule I fully expect us to finish the season at 14-14 (and I'm being optimistic with that prediction) which would put us at 10-10 in G-MAC play. Is that good enough? It's not for me!

I know I'm starting to sound like the USI goons that used to do nothing but complain about Rodney Watson. And I hate that fact. But I'm just being honest. If anyone feels like I'm not being fair, please explain because I honestly would love to feel more optimistic about where the program is headed than I do right now.