sfajack05 said:
Whelp another season down the drain. Another embarrassing loss in the tournament.
How did we get to the point where we are turning out t-shirts for a first round conference tournament win? Didn't we make fun of Sam for doing the same exact things in years past?
Feel bad for the players. Coaches are not doing them any favors, running them into the ground, not adjusting playing style, etc. Wouldn't blame them (the players) if they all left. Coaches making our social media department look like a joke with pushing the PressU hashtag.
Something needs to change and I think we all know what it is.
After the ACU game, I think it was Jossell that said something like, "you have to have a certain mental toughness to play here in this system." And I get that in general, I have a lot of respect for the guys on our team currently as individuals. And, I have the same respect for Keller as a person.
But...now it makes me think about it more. If each year we're pushing guys so hard that everyone gets injured in practice, guys see limited minutes, and all we're getting out of it is middle of the road seasons...what's the point? Is this mentality actually working?
Like I said before, this is no longer a one-off random season. This is the Kyle Keller trend. Let's now take a look at our post season history under Keller.
16-17: 2nd game loss to Corpus A&M, then a 23 point loss to Idaho in the CIT.
17-18: Good season and won the SLC Tournament (as the 3 seed)
18-19: Didn't qualify for Southland Tournament
19-20: No tournament for COVID, unfortunate
20-21: No tournament for post-season ban
21-22: First game loss to ACU, then a 12 point loss to UNC Ashville in the CBI
22-23: First game loss to Utah Tech
23-24: 2nd game loss to UTA
So in 8 seasons, we've won a total of 5 conference tournament games. Yeah, we were unlucky for 19/20 and 20/21. Not to mention that the 16/17 & 17/18 seasons were also vacated, so technically this years ACU game is the only postseason win that counts. The only positive thing we can say about these 8 years is the "what if" years. Sorry, that doesn't cut it for me any longer.
So...we're getting the kids that I guess have the best mentality and what are we doing with it?
KT Turner was able to assemble a legitimate squad in one season with transfers from Texas A&M, Louisville, Saint Louis, Kansas State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Tulsa, & Western Kentucky.
I will back every SFA coach and every system/plan that they have. But if 5+ years later that system isn't working...then it's time to change things up.