Charleston Pony wrote:The title of this thread is so fitting if you watched that game last night. I can't EVER remember seeing a team burned so frequently and consistently by back door cuts that lead to layup after layup after layup. Up until last night I thought Lanier did a really good job coaching team defense but that performance was beyond pathetic
It wasn't just last night. It was over and over again. The overall results aren't terrible. A 20 win season followed by an NIT appearance are actually above average at SMU. However, when you consider the NIL program we have and the talent on the roster I truly believe a replacement level coach (using WAR) gets you at least that much success. We could have easily made the NCAA tournament if we simply didn't implode time and time again throughout the season and then these last 6 or 7 games. Even the ECU win was an overtime game. I think that even if Lanier upgraded the talent on the roster, the collapses would have persisted because we will be playing a higher level of competition so that is why I believe it was the right decision to move on. I hate that we didn't get a better coach to begin with because the optics of this situation are terrible given our historical success and because the only other coach we removed after two seasons was Tubbs. I'm not saying we have racist administrators, but it is not the best look.