We honestly don't deserve to be in the ncaat,ak needs to go

[jrebel87]

While watching mississippi state go on another improbable sec tournament run....yet again....i am almost sick to my stomach. As much as i hate msu and as much as i want them to fail, i have to admire what they put into their basketball program. They put more emphasis on students to attend games. They advertise their team more. And last but not least, msu cares about basketball more then we do. These are only a few reasons why they win every year and we don't . We don't deserve to be in the ncaa tournament. Look at our body of work, we lucked up by beating a kansas st team earlier in the year that would crush us if we played now. Our only other quality win comes against a utep team that had us beat but gave up a 12 point lead with under 3 minutes remaining to allow us to beat them in overtime. After that there is no other good win. We beat one team with a winning record after that, alabama and they finished the season 16-15. We lost to ut twice, msu twice, west virginia, villanova, florida, and kentucky. All of those teams are going to be in the tournament. Do you see a pattern starting to emerge? Teams that deserve to be in the ncaa tourney beat other tournament teams. If you want to be in the big dance then you have to beat msu, you have to get one of those wins against wvu or villanova. And most of all, while fighting for your tournament lives against ut in the sec tourney, you have to do better then 40 something percent at the free throw line and over 20 turnovers. All of that goes back to coaching. Don't laugh at the guy who said we need to hire rick pitino, he may be onto something. We are a team of wasted talent. Our talent alone should propel us into the tournament but bad coaching doomed us and for the 8th year in a row we are missing out of the only thing that matters, the ncaa tournament. Compared to that , the 3 20 win seasons, the 2 sec west championships, and the good recruiting that kennedy has done here means NOTHING. All that is irrelevant. All that matters is winning. He hasn't.

[colreb74]

You're preaching to the choir!

[------------------]

Oh good lord, people....so we fire AK. Who, REALISTICALLY, do we get to replace him?

Did you know that we are the ONLY member of the SEC to NEVER win an SEC Championship?

Did you know that we are dead last in all-time conference and overall standings in the SEC?

Did you know that we have losing records to every single team in the SEC but one? And the one we do have a winning record against (South Carolina) is only by one game (13-12)?

Ole Miss basketball WAS a joke for DECADES...BUT WE AREN'T ANYMORE. AK might not be the best coach in the SEC, but look at what he's had to work against! Coaching the traditionally worst program in the SEC with the worst facilities in the conference. We might not be great, but at least we are competitive...which is something Ole Miss Basketball has NEVER been. I'll take NIT appearances and a share of the SEC West Title any day of the week over being an abysmal joke like we were during the Ed Murphy years. I was a student then, and know just how bad Ole Miss Basketball USED to be. That's one reason you'll not hear too many complaints about AK from me, and you certainly won't hear me calling for his head after having an average season.

[done]

Have to disagree with you slightly Sasquatch...we have never been a power and we haven't won an SEC championship (although we have won one SEC tournament Championship), but AK has not IMO taken us to new heights or made any significant strides...so far he hasn't even come close to the success of either of his immediate predecessors..

Having said that, no way you fire him off of his first winning conference record. But do not think he will ever coach a team to its full potential, partly because I do not think he is a great coach, but mostly because I don't think he will recruit basketball savvy players....I think he is Bob Huggins light...

Ironically Huggins is benefiting this year from having a basketball savvy and team player in Da'Sean Butler who may get them to the Final Four...of course he inherited Butler..it will be interesting to see if West Virginia remains a great team next year after Butler is gone...

As a matter of full disclosure I must also say that my view may be influenced by the fact that I am also not real thrilled to have AK the man representing the University. I would not want any of my boys to play for him. On the other hand I would gladly turn them over to Rob Evans, Rod Barnes, Coach Nutt or Coach Cut.

On some levels (not winning % certainly) the AK experience has reminded me of the Orgeron experience...he has certainly had more success than Orgeron (but who hasn't) but I get that same out of control feeling about his style and his approach and his teams.

[rebelliousb]

Oh good lord, people....so we fire AK. Who, REALISTICALLY, do we get to replace him?

Did you know that we are the ONLY member of the SEC to NEVER win an SEC Championship?

Did you know that we are dead last in all-time conference and overall standings in the SEC?

Did you know that we have losing records to every single team in the SEC but one? And the one we do have a winning record against (South Carolina) is only by one game (13-12)?

Ole Miss basketball WAS a joke for DECADES...BUT WE AREN'T ANYMORE. AK might not be the best coach in the SEC, but look at what he's had to work against! Coaching the traditionally worst program in the SEC with the worst facilities in the conference. We might not be great, but at least we are competitive...which is something Ole Miss Basketball has NEVER been. I'll take NIT appearances and a share of the SEC West Title any day of the week over being an abysmal joke like we were during the Ed Murphy years. I was a student then, and know just how bad Ole Miss Basketball USED to be. That's one reason you'll not hear too many complaints about AK from me, and you certainly won't hear me calling for his head after having an average season.

I believe we have a winning record with Ark since they moved to the SEC. I'm pretty certain of that.

[done]

You are correct Sir! (albeit barely)

We have winning SEC Records against Arky and SC (since they both joined the conference) if you include games before they joined we have losing records against them as well...

Since they joined, we are 20-18 against ARKY and 12-10 against SC...thanks largely to Rod Barnes' tenure

Barnes was 11-5 against Arky and 7-2 against SC....

Surprisingly Rob Evans was 4-8 against ARKY amd 3-4 against SC

[colreb74]

You are correct Sir! (albeit barely)

We have winning SEC Records against Arky and SC (since they both joined the conference) if you include games before they joined we have losing records against them as well...

Since they joined, we are 20-18 against ARKY and 12-10 against SC...thanks largely to Rod Barnes' tenure

Barnes was 11-5 against Arky and 7-2 against SC....

Surprisingly Rob Evans was 4-8 against ARKY amd 3-4 against SC

Whipidy freaking do! We've got winning records against ARKY and SC.... And how many NCAA appearances do those two teams have during that time? REBCHUCK makes the best point I've read on this topic. AK has 20 win seasons on LUCK and not COACHING. And why can't we at least start beating our arch rival MS State. I believe Evans and Barnes did that a few times. Maybe we get what we pay for! Let's Face it, at $800,000/year AK is close to the bottom of the SEC in salary. I'm still of the opinion of "If you build it they will come!" Look at the Ticket Sales last year after Nutt came in and won the Cotton Bowl his first season. If Ole Miss puts out the money for a 2 to 3 Million $$ per year BBall coach that can actually give us a chance to compete nationally, the ticket sales will come and we can actually afford the salary. Apparently we have taken the approach that we want to spend what we think we can get back based on last years BBall tickets sales. As far as a "Coach" AK is not great or from what I see really that good. We got some great athletes 3 - 4 years ago and they haven't got any better under AK's watch. How about Terrico White's sophomore year??? He came in on fire out of HS, and after one year under AK, he hasn't produced nearly as much. I'd argue they got worse looking at Free Throw shooting percentage. OK, we won more conference games, but anyone who has watched knows it was pure luck. at least half our conference wins could have easily gone the other way barring a miracle shot.

[colreb74]

Ole Miss basketball WAS a joke for DECADES...BUT WE AREN'T ANYMORE. AK might not be the best coach in the SEC, but look at what he's had to work against! Coaching the traditionally worst program in the SEC with the worst facilities in the conference. We might not be great, but at least we are competitive...which is something Ole Miss Basketball has NEVER been.

I don't think the Stats agree with the "joke for DECADES" comment prior to Kennedy. We were a joke for decades prior to Evans. Remember Evans left on his terms in 1998 (after being named coach of the year) to take a pay raise at SMU after two 20+ win seasons (first time since 1937-1938), and Barnes first 4 years we went to the NCAA tourney 3 out of 4 years (1999 - 2002) with a Sweet 16 appearance. During that 4 year stretch, went to the Quarter Finals of the NIT the year we were left out of the NCAA. Grant it Barnes inherited some athletes from Evans, but a lot of coaching was required to develop them as Ole Miss was not known as God's gift to great basketball players. Barnes lost it and the next 4 years we had loosing seasons and fired Barnes. Kennedy has been 1 game under .500 in the SEC, with the 8-8 season, two 7-9 seasons and this year 9-7. Hardly results worth writing home about. We all wrote off Kennedy's 16-15 season to the injuries, but with everyone healthy this year we won 5 more games and lost our first SEC tournament game. I hope we go far as we can and win the NIT, but let's call it for what it is, if we win the NIT we can argue we are maybe the 66th best team in the nation. 65 arguably better teams went to the NCAA tournament.

[wildthang80]

I know it is hard for some of you to believe, but our beloved Ole Miss is NOT a destination any established coach wants. THink about coming to a school that can't halfway fill a 5,000 seat arena, pluse you have to recruit against MS State and lose to them every year. Oh yeah, by the way, you have to play Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, and MS State know, redundant) twice.

Maybe coach K, or Bob Huggins would like to come down and tour our campus.

[done]

I know it is hard for some of you to believe, but our beloved Ole Miss is NOT a destination any established coach wants. THink about coming to a school that can't halfway fill a 5,000 seat arena, pluse you have to recruit against MS State and lose to them every year. Oh yeah, by the way, you have to play Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, and MS State know, redundant) twice.

Maybe coach K, or Bob Huggins would like to come down and tour our campus.

True as that might be, it still does not change the fact that AK has not been as successful as the two immediately preceding "unestablished" head coaches even though he supposedly has recruited much better talent. (see Orgeron)...I really don't expect us to compete for National championships in basketball, but I would like to see a well coached and disciplined team playing instead of the playground basketball that he has brought to the Tad Pad. I don't blame people for not coming. College basketball used to be my favorite sport to watched before the AAU prima donnas took over, and I love Ole Miss and have never had a defeatist attitude about our possibilities but it is almost painful for me to watch AK's teams play ball.

[------------------]

Ole Miss basketball WAS a joke for DECADES...BUT WE AREN'T ANYMORE. AK might not be the best coach in the SEC, but look at what he's had to work against! Coaching the traditionally worst program in the SEC with the worst facilities in the conference. We might not be great, but at least we are competitive...which is something Ole Miss Basketball has NEVER been.

I don't think the Stats agree with the "joke for DECADES" comment prior to Kennedy. We were a joke for decades prior to Evans. Remember Evans left on his terms in 1998 (after being named coach of the year) to take a pay raise at SMU after two 20+ win seasons (first time since 1937-1938), and Barnes first 4 years we went to the NCAA tourney 3 out of 4 years (1999 - 2002) with a Sweet 16 appearance. During that 4 year stretch, went to the Quarter Finals of the NIT the year we were left out of the NCAA. Grant it Barnes inherited some athletes from Evans, but a lot of coaching was required to develop them as Ole Miss was not known as God's gift to great basketball players. Barnes lost it and the next 4 years we had loosing seasons and fired Barnes. Kennedy has been 1 game under .500 in the SEC, with the 8-8 season, two 7-9 seasons and this year 9-7. Hardly results worth writing home about. We all wrote off Kennedy's 16-15 season to the injuries, but with everyone healthy this year we won 5 more games and lost our first SEC tournament game. I hope we go far as we can and win the NIT, but let's call it for what it is, if we win the NIT we can argue we are maybe the 66th best team in the nation. 65 arguably better teams went to the NCAA tournament.

You will notice that I did not specify when we ceased being a "joke" in the SEC, nor did I imply that our becoming competetive in the SEC was solely because of AK. But in Rod Barnes' last 4 years at Ole Miss, we had regressed to being the whipping boy of the SEC like we were under Ed Murphy. So, in reality, we had become a joke again in the SEC.

[------------------]

I know it is hard for some of you to believe, but our beloved Ole Miss is NOT a destination any established coach wants. THink about coming to a school that can't halfway fill a 5,000 seat arena, pluse you have to recruit against MS State and lose to them every year. Oh yeah, by the way, you have to play Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, and MS State know, redundant) twice.

Maybe coach K, or Bob Huggins would like to come down and tour our campus.

That was my point as well. The Ole Miss coaching job is not an attractive one, and in spite of all his faults as a coach, Kennedy is a decent coach who at least makes our program competetive every year.

[MageeRebel425]

I know it is hard for some of you to believe, but our beloved Ole Miss is NOT a destination any established coach wants. THink about coming to a school that can't halfway fill a 5,000 seat arena, pluse you have to recruit against MS State and lose to them every year. Oh yeah, by the way, you have to play Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, and MS State know, redundant) twice.

Maybe coach K, or Bob Huggins would like to come down and tour our campus.

That was my point as well. The Ole Miss coaching job is not an attractive one, and in spite of all his faults as a coach, Kennedy is a decent coach who at least makes our program competetive every year.

I understand your point. You do not want to take a step backwards. You figure, we are not terrible right now so why would we run the risk of being a “joke” again? I think you give A.K. one more year to get you to the dance and let him go after they are selected to the NIT again next season. I don’t think anybody would be having this conversation if A.K. represented the University in the same way that Evans and Barnes did throughout their Ole Miss careers. It is a miracle he was not fired over the cabbie incident alone. Somebody made a similar point but would you rather your son go play for A.K. or Stansbury? I think if most people were being honest they would have to say Stansbury.
I am also sick of people acting like Ole Miss is a garbage job. When coaching searches are debated we always come up with outrageous names that are already at big time schools making big time money, and we say, there is no way we could get that guy. We might as well just continue to be average and be satisfied with a guy that we are paying 800K, because nobody would give us a second look with that crappy pay at Ole Miss. Who cares if we play street ball? Who cares if we lack intensity? Who cares if we have no sense of urgency? I promise you there are a few men somewhere in America that know how to coach the game of basketball and would be cutting back flips to make that little measly 800K a year. Look at coaches at lower level schools who have proven they can run a program and dangle the Ole Miss job in front of them, and see if anybody would want it. Coach K just did not walk up to Duke and say, “hey I am coach K, I will take your head coaching job and I want 3 million a year.” He was at Army 5 years before getting the Duke job. Bill Self coached at Oral Roberts and Tulsa before getting a big time job. How many people knew Phil Jackson coached the Isabela Fighting-Cocks in Puerto Rico before becoming an assistant in the NBA? You cannot be afraid to take chances.

[done]

Just to clarify...I have never said he should be fired. That would be ridiculous. Just think we made a mistake that we will have to correct sooner than later....as I often said during Orgeron's tenure...I hope I am wrong!

[MageeRebel425]

Just to clarify...I have never said he should be fired. That would be ridiculous. Just think we made a mistake that we will have to correct sooner than later....as I often said during Orgeron's tenure...I hope I am wrong!

I dont think you will be wrong.