Praying for a solid outcome. Axe 'Em Jacks

GCU is 11 1/2 point favorites.

Down to 10 1/2. This is a house money game. Just play loose. Should have won the last one against them.

GCU is 10 for 10 from free throw line.

Heck of an atmosphere at GSU! Would be nice to get just a hint of this at SFA! I guess we are currently in one of our extended scoring droughts sadly.

This is really hard to watch. We can't get anyone remotely open and yet they don't have a Lumberjack anywhere close with WIDE open shots!

I can't remember turning off a game at halftime. That's the story tonight.

GCU perfect from the free throw line. 14/14. Jacks not so good.

Hopefully they will start defending the 3 pointers.

This is really depressing. We are a pile of parts that don't fit together and love or hate Keller we aren't getting better since his hire. Sure...talent isn't exactly looking for Nacogdoches but they ain't looking for Toledo or North Dakota but they still find a way to win. Us...not so much. You wanna dislike me for saying Keller needs to go...go ahead but anything is better than this slop right now. Give me an up and coming assistant from a Power 4 conference and let's get back to being someone who can beat Duke on the road.

He was using both Underwood and Kaspers talent and not his recruits....just saying.

Definitely the most physical game that I've seen this year. There are plenty of calls made but few underneath the basket.

migata33 said:

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He was using both Underwood and Kaspers talent and not his recruits....just saying.

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Yep Kaspar's talent, Allister's talent, Fowler's talent…Keller won with all those guys.

I have to tip my cap to GCU. They were hands down the best team tonight. Oh how I would love SFA to have that type of crowd and players.

Harrison and Foster were beasts tonight. GCU is a very good team. We're just not there

migata33 said:

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He was using both Underwood and Kaspers talent and not his recruits....just saying.

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Not sure if you're serious. Most of underwood's best players graduated and a lot of his recruits Decommitted. Basically keller's best returning player was TJ Holyfield, other than that it was pretty much a new team.

Just to much GCU tonight. Everything that is said about then is true. Deep talented. Play offense and defense.

For 15 minutes we didn't look that far off. I hope Keller that can really play the 3 spot Beaubrun would be so much better with a 3 that can draw a crowd.

migata33 said:

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This is really depressing. We are a pile of parts that don't fit together and love or hate Keller we aren't getting better since his hire. Sure...talent isn't exactly looking for Nacogdoches but they ain't looking for Toledo or North Dakota but they still find a way to win. Us...not so much. You wanna dislike me for saying Keller needs to go...go ahead but anything is better than this slop right now. Give me an up and coming assistant from a Power 4 conference and let's get back to being someone who can beat Duke on the road.

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Buy out is close to $700k. How much are you good for?

SFAJack_76 said:

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migata33 said:

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This is really depressing. We are a pile of parts that don't fit together and love or hate Keller we aren't getting better since his hire. Sure...talent isn't exactly looking for Nacogdoches but they ain't looking for Toledo or North Dakota but they still find a way to win. Us...not so much. You wanna dislike me for saying Keller needs to go...go ahead but anything is better than this slop right now. Give me an up and coming assistant from a Power 4 conference and let's get back to being someone who can beat Duke on the road.

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Buy out is close to $700k. How much are you good for?

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I think we're stuck paying out this contract with Keller on campus. I know the dude can coach and recruit(despite the fact that it's not working rn), so it'll be up to the new AD to figure out how to get the most out of the next two years.

SFAJack_76 said:

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migata33 said:

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This is really depressing. We are a pile of parts that don't fit together and love or hate Keller we aren't getting better since his hire. Sure...talent isn't exactly looking for Nacogdoches but they ain't looking for Toledo or North Dakota but they still find a way to win. Us...not so much. You wanna dislike me for saying Keller needs to go...go ahead but anything is better than this slop right now. Give me an up and coming assistant from a Power 4 conference and let's get back to being someone who can beat Duke on the road.

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Buy out is close to $700k. How much are you good for?

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I'll respond for him... Zero. Some guys type faster than they think. I assume he's probably just frustrated with the situation like the rest of us.

I want Keller and the program to succeed. Next year recruiting will be critical for him. Ever how many spots he has he needs to make them count. We have seen that he can coach when he has the talent.

Stepping away from Keller for a definition------You say a "connected coach to what kids hunger for today". So what does that mean exactly. What exactly do they hunger for?

The transfer portal is completely detrimental to any continuity and establishing long term commitments and it doesn't really serve many of the young folks that put their names out there only to find out no one is looking for them. Hundreds enter the portal each year so it is not a unique problem to SFA, but all over.
If a coach gets mad at you or if you don't play enough minutes in your own mind, you run for the portal.
Perhaps too many of these athletes were pampered and babied in high school because they were very good and HS coaches went out of their way to pacify them? Then in the real world life doesn't give them a pass 24/7.
I'm sure some go to the portal for legitimate reasons.

Mostly I'm just curious to hear what exactly this hunger is??

I certainly do not know the answer to our lack of quality recruits. Perhaps we should recruit kids from the smaller rural communities who enjoy living in a small town. There are plenty of these guys that get overlooked. When we recruited those two kids from Houston Yates a few years ago and followed up with two recruits from Houston Klein, I was excited, but they all left quickly except for Calvin Solomon. He ended up transferring to UTEP. I wasn't around to watch Jacob Parker play, but I remember reading an article about his love for hunting and fishing.

Another issue that needs addressed is lack of player improvement. Who is responsible for teaching our big men proper footwork, keeping the ball up high, and setting screens? I've watched Nana since he was a freshman. He certainly improved from last year, but I haven't seen enough improvement in four years. These players should be fundamentally better from year one to year two in the program.

Let's talk about free throw shooting woes. Compare what GCU did in the last game to us. Other than Jossell, we are pathetic at free throw shooting. I may be wrong, but I seem to recall Coach saying they don't practice free throw shooting. If that's true, it needs to change.

SFAJack_76 said:

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migata33 said:

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If you think 700k is too much for a buyout at this level your crazy. If this was 1970 or even 1990 sure but 700k especially with all that UT money coming is is not compromising. Honestly I like Keller alot as he is a great guy and his family are amazing people. BUT...its a personality game and his is not attracting talent that can make this program consist. Kellogg when he was here and Humphries in womens volleyball do amazing work with the parts they can get. I dont see that with Kyle. Yes...its impossible in today's here today transfer tomorrow world of D 1 sports but I have seen enough to know we need a more connected coach to what kids hunger for today. Talent only becomes special when they feel attached and motivated to win for the whole rather than the one. If yall are happy with Keller that's cool but being a former coach and educator myself I dont see the connectivity to make the MBB program overachiever. Blessings my fellow Jacks....

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I fully understand your position on the current state of SFA men's basketball. The current athletic budget isn't in any way able to take a $700k charge. Intriguing that you think that's not a lot of money. Call me crazy. I've been called much worse. I have yet to see anything that indicates the UT System is ready to give $700k for a coach buy out at SFA.

The new President and new AD will have a lot to address in a short period of time. Enrollment and budget is high on the list. Specific for athletics is a master plan, facilities improvements prioritized from that plan, execution of the plan, and filling job openings. I suspect the current men's basketball performance is at least six to twelve month down the list of priorities.

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Keller knows what needs to be done. I don't know exactly how he's going to accomplish it, but I'm confident we'll be better next year. 23 or 24 wins…. Probably not. But I think he needs to get to 20 - 21 wins next season and make the WAC semifinals.

His teams are always disjointed in some way being actual disjointed body parts or one day hitting 3's and the next missing every shot they take in key periods of the game. In reality the only thing a coach can do is teach and inspire and create a passion for the game by creating accountability and pushing their players to go beyond their threshold because they don't want to ever let anyone down as the team is their family. It doesn't help either that the student body could give two craps about sporting events. No diss to Keller but it ain't working here not because he is a bad coach but because his players are fringe choices mostly due to what he can get to play in an empty stadium in the middle of nowhere. Let's see what some new energy can offer...thats all I'm really saying.

So if what you are saying is that Keller has no chance to land the players that want to go to a Big school with lots of media and attention and real chances to go to the Dance each year and around the nation coverage of that person or his team that an SFA or Nacogdoches can't offer---then I would agree. But that would go for any coach that comes here. Your very points about lack of overall support and Nac being off the beaten path and lacking a real airport will still hold true. Perhaps---perhaps a young firebrand assistant coach somewhere could come in and recruit some different athletes that would ignore a Keller but would he bring with him all the skills needed to get them to buy in and stay any more so than they do now? We may find out once a new AD comes online. The next AD will want to put his own brand on SFA and I expect we will see some coaches departing over the next year or two, not by their own choice.

I don't see the support of students or locals ever rising to the levels we want to see. Most students don't come here for the sports and likely many of the locals would just as soon see SFA leave town---those liberal students and all. Look at the Ladyjacks. Continued success on the hardwood since the 70s (with some lean times here and there) and the crowds do not come. Perhaps if SFA MBB won 25-30 games every year for a decade then we would get huge crowds......but the coach that could do that would only be here 3 or 4 years then hired away by the big money.

Not arguing for or against Keller in this case, just saying the "negatives" about SFA location and fan support will not vanish under a new coaching staff.

Ljacks&Longnecks said:

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So if what you are saying is that Keller has no chance to land the players that want to go to a Big school with lots of media and attention and real chances to go to the Dance each year and around the nation coverage of that person or his team that an SFA or Nacogdoches can't offer---then I would agree. But that would go for any coach that comes here. Your very points about lack of overall support and Nac being off the beaten path and lacking a real airport will still hold true. Perhaps---perhaps a young firebrand assistant coach somewhere could come in and recruit some different athletes that would ignore a Keller but would he bring with him all the skills needed to get them to buy in and stay any more so than they do now? We may find out once a new AD comes online. The next AD will want to put his own brand on SFA and I expect we will see some coaches departing over the next year or two, not by their own choice.

I don't see the support of students or locals ever rising to the levels we want to see. Most students don't come here for the sports and likely many of the locals would just as soon see SFA leave town---those liberal students and all. Look at the Ladyjacks. Continued success on the hardwood since the 70s (with some lean times here and there) and the crowds do not come. Perhaps if SFA MBB won 25-30 games every year for a decade then we would get huge crowds......but the coach that could do that would only be here 3 or 4 years then hired away by the big money.

Not arguing for or against Keller in this case, just saying the "negatives" about SFA location and fan support will not vanish under a new coaching staff.

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winning will fix most of that. We have had good crowds and top players. I would like to see a year injuries doesn't claim our two best players…looking at the top half of the WAC teams that are leading have a couple above average guys that can take over a game. Look at GCU and Tarleton…We don't have the resources that GCU have but we shouldn't be that far behind Tarleton…

Ya I don't think talent is the issue.

On paper to begin the season this team had a ton of talent.