Eustachy blows big early lead, loses at Marshall - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Feb 25, 2006

Eustachy blows big early lead, loses at Marshall

Date: Feb 25, 2006

At least the Lady Eagles won last night. With a win Sunday they could finish the regular season with a winning record. A winning record is something few on this board would have expected.

Also, the Eagle baseball team will be playing to win the series on Sunday. Softball team will be playing to get to .500 after an 0 for 6 start.

Date: Feb 25, 2006

i did not know Eustachy was playing, pretty good for an old guy.

Date: Feb 25, 2006

With the win over Oregon State tonight, Tim Floyd's Southern Cal team will be 17-10 on the year. A win or two more and they should get into the big dance. They have a good resume. Eustachy road his tails at Iowa State. Floyd took the players he inherited and won big this year at a place where basketball success hasn't occurred that often.

The kind of coach USM should have gone after is the guy at South Alabama. But, had to go the high risk route.

Date: Feb 26, 2006

I can't say I disagree with you. But, I think Eustachy's team will show dramatic improvement next year. If not a change should be made.

Date: Feb 26, 2006

If James Green had generated the record that Eustachy has, he would have been fired mid-season. Anyone want to attempt an explanation at the reason for the differential treatment.

Date: Feb 26, 2006

Cossack, I don't know if anyone will take you up on your question. Here's what they've got to contend with:

Larry Eustachy, 13-36 (8-17 and 5-19)

Year 1 Div IA Wins: Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State, Centenary, Alcorn State, LSU, South Alabama, Tulane, TCU. Year 2 Div IA Wins: Lamar, New Orleans, Tennessee State, Tulane, Central Florida...

Year 1 Div IA Losses: Georgia State, UNC-Greensboro, New Orleans, UAB, Memphis, Louisville, Houston, Saint Louis, DePaul, South Florida, Marquette, Tulane, Houston, Cincinnati, Memphis, East Carolina, UNC-Charlotte. Year 2 Div IA Losses: Denver, San Diego State, Samford, Arkansas, Sam Houston State, South Alabama, Bradley, McNeese State, Auburn, Tulsa, Houston, Memphis, Rice, UAB, SMU, UTEP, Memphis, UAB, Marshall....

Remaining Year 2 Schedule: at Tulane, East Carolina, C-USA Tournament.

James Green, 34-26 (12-15 and 22-11); NIT Bid 2nd Year

Year 1 Div IA Wins: Jackson State, South Alabama, Grambling State, Nicholls State, Texas Southern, UAB, DePaul, South Florida, Saint Louis, Houston, South Florida, Mississippi Valley State. Year 2 Div IA Wins: Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jackson State, Elon, Arkansas-Little Rock, South Alabama, Loyola-Chicago, Oral Roberts, Mississippi Valley State, Oral Roberts, Northern Iowa, Houston, South Florida, DePaul, Tulane, Houston, UAB, Memphis, Tulane, Louisville, Houston, Memphis.

Year 1 Div IA Losses: Texas Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, LaSalle, New Orleans, Louisiana-Lafayette, Oral Roberts, Marquette, Tulane, Tulane, Memphis, UAB, Louisville, Cincinnati, UNC-Charlotte, Saint Louis. Year 2 Div IA Losses: Auburn, Iowa, Cincinnati, UNC-Charlotte, Memphis, South Florida, Marquette, Saint Louis, UAB, UNC-Charlotte, Auburn.

Date: Feb 26, 2006

Coach Green did that on a very low budget, very very low compared to what is currently in place given the air flights Eustachy has taken. Coach Green did so well on a small budget, they cut it figuring he could do even better.

Date: Feb 26, 2006

The EagleTalkers have long since begun uttering the mantra "wait until next year." Will they be willing to admit their miscalculation if Eustachy has another poor season next season? Is USM willing to give Eustachy 4 or 5 bad years?

Date: Feb 27, 2006

Cossack,

Why don't you just come on out and state that you think Green was terminated merely because he is black? It is clearly your intent -

Date: Feb 27, 2006

Cap't Obvious wrote:

Cossack, Why don't you just come on out and state that you think Green was terminated merely because he is black? It is clearly your intent -

Cossack's post could be taken to mean that Green was terminated because he didn't have the marquee name that Eustachy had. USM backers clearly believed, and still do, that LE gets them to the Big Dance, all based on his name and ability to attract players and fans.

Date: Feb 27, 2006

How many years was Green coach? Did the program in the end prosper in those years? Though I do not know the answer to question 1 I do know the answer to question 2. Green was fired because USM went nowhere under his leadership. At least Bower holds his program at a respectable level of mediocrity. Turk more or less did the same thing. Green did not.

Date: Feb 27, 2006

was green given the same amount of resources ($) as LE?

Date: Feb 27, 2006

Why don't you just come on out and state that you think Green was terminated merely because he is black? It is clearly your intent -

If that had been my intent, I would have said it. I did not say it because I do not think race had very much to do with what happened. I suspect there were some athletic backers who were not happy about having a black basketball coach, but they likely had little influence.

I do not know why Coach Green was not given more resources during the period he was here. There may have been some budget shortfalls during part of that time and football was going to be taken care of first. I think that much of the dislike of Coach Green was the lack of basketball moxy among USM fans. They did not like the defensive emphasis in basketball, and I suspect they do not like it in football either. Coach Green determined, accurately I think, that his best chance to win was by playing strong defense and slowing the game down so that teams that wanted to run and gun were forced to play defense far more than they wanted. It was a successful strategy for the most part because it did not allow opponents to get into the rythmn they preferred.

If Coach Green had amassed the record in his first two years that Eustachy has, Green would have been fired much sooner than he was. Even the diehard Eustachy fans do not believe in their heart that he will turn it around next year or the year after. Mostly they do not want to have to admit that hiring Eustachy was not a good decision, or admit that Coach Green was a far better coach than they claimed.