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Post by PantherU on Mar 17, 2021 8:47:03 GMT -6
Just think if the Milwaukee Athletic Department was proactive and was the first to give Rick Pitino another chance............ We’re better than Iona right? Iona has been to the tournament more times in the last 5 years than Milwaukee has in its entire existence with an at large bid in 2013 as well. No chance. Edit: Iona is also my favorite mid major after Milwaukee. Yeah but Brad Carroll never played for Iona.
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Post by steveisback on Mar 17, 2021 9:26:12 GMT -6
Nor did Olivier DeSmedt!!!
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Post by steveisback on Mar 17, 2021 10:02:38 GMT -6
Olivier was a 7 foot 1 center from Belgium. Came to UWM from Farragut academy. Sat on the bench in 94-95 season. Remember us at the Arena chanting for Antrim to put him at the last game in but he never did. Sadly, I just googled to catch up on him and he passed away some years ago at the early age of 37.
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Post by davedome on Mar 17, 2021 14:08:53 GMT -6
But Iona had Jeff Ruland and that stache!
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Post by DunneDeal on Mar 21, 2021 14:19:25 GMT -6
So this thread needs a perspective.
Loyola.
Where was Loyola playing in 2005. A high school gym and in the Horizon Leauge. Not winning much. Mid pack team.
They decided and made an effort to upgrade and invest. They redid their on campus arena dumped money in everything. Got themselves out of the Horizon and to the MVC.
What have we done. Not upgraded. Not invested. The school could care less.
What have they done. Just a Final 4 and another strong showing this year making a Sweet 16.
What have we done. Since 2005. 2 appearances. 2.
Until the boosters and administration decide to invest and commit to thus program you will have this same run of mid level Horizon leauge team
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Post by Spirit of Bruce on Mar 21, 2021 15:52:31 GMT -6
So this thread needs a perspective. Loyola. Where was Loyola playing in 2005. A high school gym and in the Horizon Leauge. Not winning much. Mid pack team. They decided and made an effort to upgrade and invest. They redid their on campus arena dumped money in everything. Got themselves out of the Horizon and to the MVC. What have we done. Not upgraded. Not invested. The school could care less. What have they done. Just a Final 4 and another strong showing this year making a Sweet 16. What have we done. Since 2005. 2 appearances. 2. Until the boosters and administration decide to invest and commit to thus program you will have this same run of mid level Horizon leauge team There's just one problem: It's the administration that doesn't care. Whatever "boosters" existed in the past have been driven away by our toxic and incompetent Athletics Director. Just based on the $5 million she cost the Lubar School when David Nicholas walked should have cost her her job, much less his athletics contributions. Chapman Hall is clueless, and will continue to be as long as that coffee-spilling dolt occupies the Chancellor's chair.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 21, 2021 17:37:27 GMT -6
As a former booster I’m not alone in saying “never another dollar.” This administration — university and athletic — has shown it is VERY comfortable with a failed, irrelevant men’s BB program.
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Post by 73withharoldlee on Mar 21, 2021 18:06:08 GMT -6
Disagree! UW Milwaukee is a state funded University competing for dollars and donors. The Kohl Center in Madison is named after a Milwaukee resident who made his billions in Milwaukee. Milwaukee needs representation in Madison. The gerrymandering in this state must stop so that Milwaukee gets its fair share. It is not just about sports. It is about politics. Accuse Braun for not having power? Let us come to some agreement about women in power. Give your bucks because you care about the program! Not because a woman is in charge.
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Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Mar 21, 2021 18:17:56 GMT -6
Not to be a broken record, but there is a big difference between Loyola and Milwaukee. Loyola is a private university; Milwaukee answers to the state. I agree that doesn’t mean Milwaukee can’t do non-financial things to help the program, but the university has been arguing with the state for a practice facility going back to pre-Mark Mone pre-Amanda Braun times.
This is just my opinion here, but I think a better guide for this program would be Wright State or Northern Kentucky. Both are public universities in states where there is a dominant public university in each state (Ohio State and Kentucky). And even with Wright State arguably being the strongest basketball program in the conference, it’s also important to consider they needed a waiver to remain in D-1 since their number of sports programs are lower than the minimum for D-1.
As Jimmy posted on Twitter a few days ago, it’s important to start with non-financial things to help the program. Get our average attendance back over 2,000... then 3,000... and so on. Get us back in the top half of programs in the Horizon League. Hopefully the practice facility helps, but there needs to be more excitement in the program.
Part of this needs to be on the team too. They need to win. They need to recruit to build the best team, and not the best collection of individuals. Bo Ryan and Bruce Pearl started winning playing their home games at a high school gym. Pat Baldwin isn’t getting it done. If there’s no appreciable sustainable improvement next year, he needs to be done here.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 21, 2021 18:27:52 GMT -6
So the excuse for the precipitous decline and quick collapse of our men’s basketball program since March 17, 2016 is that “Madison” has the political power, and you think I stopped giving because our AD is a woman?
Fail. Fail.
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Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Mar 21, 2021 18:29:40 GMT -6
Frankly, the precipitous drop has been since Bruce Pearl and Bud Haidet left. The program wasn’t exactly strong in 2015 either.
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Post by BBFran on Mar 21, 2021 18:39:49 GMT -6
I hope none of you guys are homicide detectives. “Sir, the victim, John Doe, was shot five times in a room locked from the outside. We arrested a woman in the same locked room holding a smoking revolver with one bullet left in it. She was wearing a sign saying ‘Doe must die!’ There was no one else in the room.”
“Wow, what a coincidence. Well, get her name and phone number and give her a ride home. I’m sure the whole thing was very traumatic for her, but maybe she saw something that will help our investigation at some point. Now round up the usual suspects! I have a hunch you should start in Madison!”
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Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Mar 21, 2021 18:50:25 GMT -6
I’m not defending Amanda Braun, but most of the decrease in average attendance, success on the court, excitement for the team, etc. took place between George Koonce and Andy Geiger. I’m not impressed by Amanda Braun and was upset she got an extension (much as I would have been if Andy Geiger was extended), but to pin this all on Amanda Braun is ridiculous. And Mark Mone has done a good job of raising the profile of the university on an academic basis. Of course I’d like him to take a more active role in improving the athletics program, but UWM is a university first and foremost and the athletics program stems out from that. It shouldn’t be the other way around like it really seems to be at a lot of major programs or at Grand Canyon or something.
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Post by DunneDeal on Mar 21, 2021 21:27:33 GMT -6
Actually the decline since 2005 is on Bud and Chapman Hall
Our school had a boon in Fall 2005 because of Basketball.
They failed to capitalize on current success. Another example is Butler. The same Butler we beat twice that season. Again yes a private institution but still. It's not a political action. It's not Madsion holding us down.
This administration has again and again made the wrong hires.
That's the problem. It starts at the top.
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Post by PantherU on Mar 22, 2021 0:25:08 GMT -6
This administration has again and again made the wrong hires. That's the problem. It starts at the top. This is what happens when you don't have people organizing every time there's an opening Not because a woman is in charge. I love the idea of lecturing a bunch of tree-hugging feminists about how they don't support the AD because "ShE'S a gIrL." Well, not Spirit of Bruce, but I can vouch for him - he doesn't give a f*** that Amanda's a woman either. Frankly, the precipitous drop has been since Bruce Pearl and Bud Haidet left. The program wasn’t exactly strong in 2015 either. God damn it how many times do we have to point it out... IN 2010 and 2011 THEY RAN INTO THE GREATEST MID-MAJOR OF ALL TIME. Butler had to make free-throws to beat us in the 2010 semifinal. They SMOTHERED Wright State by 25. We had split the Wright State series, beating them by 6 at home and losing by 5 on the road. We could have won that game. In 2011, we had beaten Butler twice already. No stretch to win another one for the title, but they shut down Ant well and good. Sorry Jeter didn't outcoach one of the GREATEST COACHES IN BASKETBALL. I mean sh*t, we don't grade on a curve? Does it matter that our Sweet 16 came when the Horizon League was ranked 20th and the 2010 team was in the 14th-ranked Horizon League and the 2011 team was in the 11th-ranked Horizon League? Yeah man, we went from 2006 to 2014 without an NCAA Tournament. We would have had one, arguably two right in the middle there if we didn't run into... THE GREATEST MID-MAJOR OF ALL TIME[/b]. I mean sh*t, would the 2020-21 Cleveland State Vikings catch a break if the conference was won by the Duke Blue Devils? I mean, Duke isn't all that great but they're 36th in KenPom, which is what national runner-up Butler was in 2011. Or how about Villanova? How would Villanova do in the 2021 Horizon League? They're 12th in the KenPom ratings, which is what Butler was in 2010. We have people who will say "meh, horseshoes and hand grenades" about Jeter in 2010 and 2011 but wax poetic about how LaVall Jordan ALMOST got there in 2017 and Pat Baldwin ALMOST got there in 2018 and 2021.
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