The undeniable truth/reality about expectations

Posted on: August 10, 2016 at 09:06:28 CT

Mike Anderson inherited an atrocious 12 win basketball team that lost its three best players from the year before, all of its incoming recruits other than Viadotus Volkus, and the prior class had been accumulated when MU was barred from leaving campus to recruit because MU was actually under meaningful NCAA penalties. He won ‘only’ 34 games in his first two seasons combined and was understandably on a considerable hot seat when he made a 15 game improvement the next year in the win column in setting the program’s single season record for wins in a season while winning the Big 12 championship and advancing to the Elite Eight. His first 3 years at MU totaled 65 wins. Since 2010 he has won a total of only 1 NCAA tourney game because he is at best an average NCAA head coach.

Frank Haith inherited a program where by year 2 his roster included only 1 returning player from the prior season and he had to entirely rebuild. He did so while under major NCAA investigation that seriously hampered his ability to run his program. He ‘disappointingly’ that season only finished 5th in the SEC and got knocked out in the first round of the NCAA tourney. The next year with all of his own players he again submitted a ‘disappointing’ season of only 23 wins and a 6th place finish in the SEC. His first 3 years at MU totaled 76 wins. His entire career as a head coach dating back to 2004 totals only 1 NCAA tourney game win because he is at best an average NCAA head coach.

I think its reasonable to expect this season we will win somewhere in the ballpark of around 17 games, will finish around 12th in the SEC, and will be a long shot to make the NIT tourney. I expect Kim will conclude year 3 somewhere in the ballpark of 35 total wins. But that is because I fully admit and recognize that we don’t have a viable option at head coach and that he is no where close to as good as Mike Anderson or Frank Haith as a head coach. Of course I expect such underwhelming results, I am don’t have any feeling he can do this job adequately.

When I suggest that a good benchmark for success this year is 24 wins, a top 5 finish in the SEC, and a 9 seed or better in the NCAA tourney of course I know that is entirely unrealistic. I don’t think even the most optimistic, blindly loyal Kim fan would say that is within the realm of possibility. But where the disconnect lies is that they seem incapable of recognizing that is essentially an admission that of course Kim Anderson isn’t anywhere close to as good a head coach as Frank Haith or Mike Anderson. To hold him to normal standards of success at MU are entirely unfair to the guy, of course he can’t do it. The reason achieving reasonable success is an absurd notion is a clear indication we have the wrong guy leading our program. Guys like Mike Anderson and Frank Haith already did it. Frankly whatever notion of ‘success’ is being presented as adequate for Kim Anderson would be viewed as abject failure by anyone else. Its undeniable, and it demonstrates a clear recognition that we have the wrong guy in charge if you (rightly) feel it is entirely implausible that he could reach the same normal benchmarks of success we would have previously held any other candidate to.

Edited by FIJItiger at 09:07:58 on 08/10/16