I harken back to the offseason of 2008-09
Posted on: April 14, 2021 at 09:53:29 CT
FIJItiger
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Similarly we had a coach inheriting a program in disaster, and the early returns were less than promising. We had a returning roster of only one highly sought after recruit in Lyons who had been rather underwhelming and were brining in a class of 5 non-top 100 freshman, a transfer from Delaware, and a JUCO big man. People thought we were building a mid-major program with a mid-major coach. Expectations were low, but those who understood what Mike Anderson was trying to do could see he finally was assembling the pieces and depth and skill sets he needed. We ended up setting the program record with 31 wins, won the Big 12 championship, and advanced to the Elite Eight.
I'm not saying that is going to happen this year, but it would have been equally ludicrous to suggest it was going to happen in 2008-09. In my opinion the last three seasons MU has been fluctuating between rather to very poorly coached, and that diminishes my optimism of Cuonzo being able to ever do good things at MU. But I will also acknowledge the possibility that what I see as poor coaching could be trying to adapt his style to the limited roster's strengths that he was working with, and it is realistically possible that this upcoming roster on paper may be less talented but more conducive to playing to Cuonzo's strengths as a coach. I think we will still likely struggle mightily to score, maybe even moreso than the last few years. But if we could develop a team identify around defense like many envisioned with Cuonzo took this job and the pieces fit better into what he is trying to do, maybe we won't look so poorly coached going forward and the results will improve. We shall see.
Edited by FIJItiger at 09:54:46 on 04/14/21