The Maroon
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27-24 HC at the halfThey're gonna get this done...
I CAN FEEL THE MOJO GROWING! 
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ps2
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Same old stoeyOnce again Tammy finds a way to lose.Purr-13 Garner-11 VVD-8.Tammy would rather lose doing things her way than win by getting the ball to the post. Where were the adjustments at half time. Thats right we dont make adjustments.I hope we have seen the last of this... 
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The Maroon
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A few reactions...unfortunately none of them are really fresh:
1) If Jim Crews can get Army's men's program back to respectable in 5 seasons, I gotta beleive there's a coach that could've gotten our program to win 10 games at least one time over 6 seasons.
2) There's plenty of reason to think next year will be better. I can't imagine how we wouldn't win 12 games...No matter WHO is the coach. So let's face it---if Bruce doesn't can her now, we have at least two more seasons of Tammy and possibly more because the season after next will be a "rebuilding year." I don't need two more years to draw any conclusions.
3) The point about halftime adjustments is on. We were leading or tied at the half in 13 games this season.
4) I could almost make a case for Tammy based on her league performance, but the league stinks. Colgate is a God-awful team/program and they are now in the semis.
Tammy has worked hard, carried herself with class, represented the school well and had teams that never quit on her--unfortunately in the end I think it would be a HUGE mistake if Bruce doesn't make a change this week.
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dogofthewater
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WBBThere is no way to justify keeping the coach based on her record this year or over time. The one argument would be that the scholarships just started. The school made the commitment to her, which somebody on the other board said amounts to a half million dollars annually per scholarship year. I guess that is three players times $40,000 times four years although it is not as if the players would have gotten zero dollars under the old system.
If a change is to be made the sooner the better. I like her personally but we have not had a real important game since that loss to Lehigh for the bid in 1997 or 1998?
Sometime reader first-time poster to either board. Go Lafayette.
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Curious George
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I've been following this team all year, but this is my first post.
There's a lot of talent on this team, but it's obvious they're not getting the most from what they've got. For the life of me, I can't figure out their offensive system or if they really have one. (It seems to be to pass the ball around the outside until they either commit a turnover or the shot clock runs out). For a team with its first scholarship class plus a couple of new walk-ons, there does not appear to be any player development taking place, especially the two six+ footers. That does not portend well for next year or the future.
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Andy
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Welcome, dog and George. Glad you've joined us.
I'm afraid Tammy's going to get a full ten years. Didn't she just bring in an assistant or two? With that record, for them to sign on wouldn't they have had to be assured of a few years of stability? Also, the press release on the HC loss is full of mitigating factor mentions--highest seed under Tammy, sophomore this and sophomore that, seven returning players who started at one time or another. She's coming back.
A fifteen point loss to the three seed while the eighth is beating the first? Horrible.
Maroon, I was away for the weekend, the board looks great with the Leopard and the links!
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The Maroon
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I'll be keeping close watch this week to see if the Tammy era is over. As has been mentioned, we have no idea of Tammy's contractual status so that's a HUGE part of the equation we can't weigh in on.
Bruce has proven to be remarkably astute in making personnel decisions---if he sticks with her he's taking one hell of a chance to wind up with egg on his face.
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Refrider
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Taking all the bits and pieces of everyone's comments, I think everyone has hit the nail on it's head. The biggest difference in the the offensive scheme from this years is that last year we did a dribble weive where this year we did more of a passing weave around the perimeter. At times, I felt Tammy had certain players in the wrong position. Little to no changes to this scheme occur throughout the year, especially in the second half of games when the opposition was able to figure out how to shut it down. The lone game that there was a major difference I believe was the Bucknell game (if I'm not miistaken). In this game we saw alot of back door screens and individuals aggressively attempting to drive the lane. Unfortunately, I never saw that scheme again the rest of the year (at home). We were to predictable. How many times did we have to sit there and watch teams figure out that the best way to best our press was to throw overtop. Our fast paced team was frequently beaten down the court on offense and defense. Our turnovers were horrible (dribbling the ball out of bounds, passing the ball to a player's foot, etc...). Our starting lineup seemed to be written in pencil. Some benchwarmer would have a couple of decent minutes one game and sure enough you would find them starting the next game. One pattern with recruiting has been that we get decent players but they have been down for a period of time during their high school career with a major injury. This is a roll of the dice situation that I'm sure Tammy was faced with having no scholarships (yet that Gomez kid is one tough cookie to be playing with that bad knee of hers). Now that we have scholarships, we shouldn't have to be taking these chances.
Will Tammy be back? There are many coaches out there who have much better records than her and they quit. While I see no major change on the horizon, I just can't see Bruce pulling the plug after one recruiting scholarship class, maybe two. Do I agreed???
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The Pardner
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| Andy wrote: | | Also, the press release on the HC loss is full of mitigating factor mentions--highest seed under Tammy, sophomore this and sophomore that, seven returning players who started at one time or another. She's coming back. |
I wouldn't read too much into that, I don't think the AD proofreads that before it's sent out.
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The Maroon
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| Quote: | I'm afraid Tammy's going to get a full ten years. Didn't she just bring in an assistant or two? With that record, for them to sign on wouldn't they have had to be assured of a few years of stability? Also, the press release on the HC loss is full of mitigating factor mentions--highest seed under Tammy, sophomore this and sophomore that, seven returning players who started at one time or another. She's coming back.
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WHAT?! 21%!#$#%$!
You're rarely wrong so I'm relegated to trying to find the right emoticon to express my displeasure.
You ever notice everything related to this team looks like it's written in some sort of apologist hell?
When it comes to Tammy's record we're asked to look at the big picture and include her record from Muhlenberg...So really it's not that bad.
If we look at the fact that we're 7-23 this season, all of a sudden we have amazing focus and can start talking about the millions of variables...
Let's look at a press release before the season started (November 3):
| Quote: | | After posting the most wins in eight seasons in 2005-06, the Lafayette women's basketball program is both eager and "cautiously optimistic," to use the words of sixth-year head coach Tammy Smith. There's no place to go but up. |
No place to go but up? No...we can go down. After all...we only had "cautious" optimism--words I usually associate with the long term prospects of stock.
Let's talk about our freshmen post players:
| Quote: | | Both post players have the potential to contribute right off the bat, but making a smooth transition to the Division I level will be crucial. Smith anticipates the freshmen will shake their inexperience during the non-conference slate and be ready for significant playing time at the start of the Patriot League schedule. |
Smith saw 32 minutes in the 15 league games...Niquette was hurt.
Tammy quotes at the media day:
"I think last year we turned the corner as far as, uh, our competiveness of every team that we played within the conference and outside the conference and this year we are looking to build on that. "
"We've got to learn to win on the road."
We feel that we're definitely on our way. It's no longer about competing. We competed last year...it's about WINNING right now"
No..apparently it's not. See you next year Tammy. [/i]
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Andy
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| The Pardner wrote: | | Andy wrote: | | Also, the press release on the HC loss is full of mitigating factor mentions--highest seed under Tammy, sophomore this and sophomore that, seven returning players who started at one time or another. She's coming back. |
I wouldn't read too much into that, I don't think the AD proofreads that before it's sent out. |
No, but maybe the SID does and shouldn't he and the AD be on the same sheet of music? What boss would want his media people pumping up the effectiveness of an employee, or making excuses for ineffectiveness, or telling why effectiveness is just around the corner, when he's going to fire the person in a few days? You end up looking silly or at least having to answer a lot of questions. But, that's just an opinion and impression I got from that release. We'll see.
Maroon makes a good case for firing her based on her own evaluation of and predictions for her program.
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The Pardner
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| Andy wrote: | No, but maybe the SID does and shouldn't he and the AD be on the same sheet of music? What boss would want his media people pumping up the effectiveness of an employee, or making excuses for ineffectiveness, or telling why effectiveness is just around the corner, when he's going to fire the person in a few days? You end up looking silly or at least having to answer a lot of questions. But, that's just an opinion and impression I got from that release. We'll see.
Maroon makes a good case for firing her based on her own evaluation of and predictions for her program. |
If you look at the last two coaches that didn't return (women's soccer and softball), similar things were written after their last game. I don't think a couple words in a game recap are indicative of any future plans of what the AD might or might not do. If anything, it's a brief wrapup of the season and preview of next year that has to do more with the team itself than the head coach.
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Xbo
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FWIW, I don't believe that the Sports Information Department reports to the AD. I am under the impression that they report to Glenn Airgood. Plus, I doubt the AD would have the time to review every piece of information that comes out of there. Especially the routine stuff like pre-game notes, the Maroon Club daily email, etc.
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dogofthewater
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Assistants...I think most college assistants are on one-year deals unless they are real fixtures at big schools. It's a pretty mobile business.
I know John Wooden was around a long time before he won much but I don't think he had a record quite like Tammy's.
If no change is made that sets some crazy precedent for other sports but right now I would be surprised to see her booted, just because they kept her last year. Maybe the post is right, she'll get two scholarship years.
My frustration with both squads, and I know both coaches know about 1,000 times as much as I do about basketball, is that the freshmen didn't play enough and I don't understand that.
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The Maroon
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Yeah...I can't imagine the second and third assistants WANT to stay around long--not exactly lucrative. It's not even close to lucrative. There's no way those coaches are on any kind of deals beyond a year.
I'm 99% sure that the Sports Information department is part of the athletic department: IE, Scott Morse reports to Bruce. It's been that way since Steve Pulver left. It became that way because of Steve Pulver.
The Sports Information releases aren't objective reporting obviously and aren't meant to be. They're supposed to promote the team and the school in the best light possible. I can't fault them for that. In Tavani's early tenure they used to list how many games he came within 5 points of winning, how many leads he had at half time, how many times he got more yards than the opposition...ANYTHING to make a 4-17 record sound good.
I still can say Tammy KNOWS she should be getting more out of her team. I don't see how Bruce justifies keeping her. I also can't fathom he signed her to any kind of long term deal.
I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, I can see no justification for keeping her.
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dogofthewater
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cautiously optimistic...Yes that is pretty funny, always said about a company's prospects. I remember when T.S. was hired, she said the players had gotten used to accepting losses. I guess they have again.
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dogofthewater
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my error there...My comment refers to the term used in a release earlier, ``cautiously optimistic.''
Just finding my way around the forum, which I think is set up very well. Thanks to whoever did it.
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The Pardner
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| The Maroon wrote: | I'm 99% sure that the Sports Information department is part of the athletic department: IE, Scott Morse reports to Bruce. It's been that way since Steve Pulver left. It became that way because of Steve Pulver.
The Sports Information releases aren't objective reporting obviously and aren't meant to be. They're supposed to promote the team and the school in the best light possible. I can't fault them for that. |
I'm 100% sure you're wrong . . but I agree with the second half of your statement.
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TheTruth
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No unless they have changed it in the past 3-4 years, Sports Information is part of communications. Obviously the SID works very closely with the athletic department and would not send out anything if Bruce did not approve.
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The Maroon
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It looks like I'm wrong on this.
I could've sworn that at one point Scott Morse had a different title and was part of the athletic department. This would have been around the time he was hired in '94.
Looks like we have another round of Ms. Smith....
I'll be BRUTAL next hear if they underachieve again... 
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dogofthewater
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Could things be any worse?I don't things can get any worse. The league is just dreadful this year, with two losing squads in the title game. We have some good players out there and the only positive is, they always played hard.
After thinking about it, more than I should, they have to make a change. There have to be good coaches out there who would view this as an opportunity.
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Refrider
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If a change was going to made in coaching, I believe it would have been done by now. Our season finish one week ago. A change in coaching is not something you sit on. Looks like Tammy has another year coming to her.
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