Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="bballnut90, post: 3142003, member: 2117"] 2017 he lost 3 starters from a team that just wasn't all that good offensively. Fast forward one season and the improvement we saw from McCowan, Vivians, Johnson and Schaefer was truly remarkable. McCowan blossomed from being an awkward post into a dominant All-American, Vivians' shot selection improved immensely, and the other 2 guards stepped in as 3pt assassins after playing reserved roles the year prior. While people thought Mississippi State would be good, NO ONE thought they'd go undefeated in the regular season and nearly win it all. First SEC team in 20 years to have a perfect regular season. No one expected that. 2019 they lost 3 times all year after losing 4 starters. Many SC fans on here thought Dawn would retake ownership of the SEC, but Missisippi State dominated the conference. Yes, their schedule was light and the SEC was down (though not terrible), but they were still a great team. They were a #1 seed and lost a Final Four berth by 4 points in a hostile road environment. Their resume lacked big wins, but they still were a major title threat. Vic relied on one new transfer, Howard, but only McCowan/Holmes had ample experience. Bibby/AEH/Danberry/Scott were seldom used the year prior and the team had to create chemistry with essentially a brand new roster. That's not easy to do. We saw SC in 2017 struggle to incorporate a very talented transfer in Kaela Davis for much of the year until she found her groove in the tournament. Vic gets credit for a strong coaching job in 2019. Miracles worked...well, I know it's redundant, but knocking off UCONN in 2017 was definitely a miracle worked. As was beating a much more talented Baylor team in the Elite 8. Getting his 2018 team to go undefeated through the regular season qualifies as a miracle worked. No miracles this year but he did a stellar job coaching his team. I personally think he's a better coach right now than Staley based on the product he's put on the court the past couple of years and how well he develops his players/teams. I also don't think championships are the end all be all when assessing coaches. I think Staley is great and admit that my opinion may change over the next year or 2 if SC retakes the SEC throne. Overall I love that there's a new budding rivalry in the SEC and that both fan bases are so impassioned about their teams. Both programs sold out arenas for their home and home this past year and I expect more of the same as both schools are loading up for the future. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

Forum statistics

Threads: 164,433

Messages: 4,396,128

Members: 10,209

Latest member: gemini*trvl