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Official Apology thread for those who wanted Coach L fired 2 years ago

MiamiJoe

MiamiJoe

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It’s time for those who wanted his head to apologize to the best coach we’ve ever had. He has consistently done more with less than any coach I’ve seen. The bogus FBI rumors robbed us of an entire recruiting class and injuries decimated the team for 2-3 years. The kids would run through a wall for him and it shows how they play, allowing them also to have fun. No other coach in the country did as well head to head with Coach K or Roy Williams with their 5 star players. He has embraced the portal to quickly rebuild and here’s hoping we get a good big man to come in next year to help more.
 
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Amen!

I think there was a third factor that affected the team badly during that dip. I think Chris Lykes was a locker room poison. I never liked his game as a ball hungry point guard. But when the injuries happened there was something else going on behind the scenes with him and the Freshmen. It seemed to be a disaster for all of them to transfer but the team immediately got better instead
 
MiamiJoe said:
It’s time for those who wanted his head to apologize to the best coach we’ve ever had. He has consistently done more with less than any coach I’ve seen. The bogus FBI rumors robbed us of an entire recruiting class and injuries decimated the team for 2-3 years. The kids would run through a wall for him and it shows how they play, allowing them also to have fun. No other coach in the country did as well head to head with Coach K or Roy Williams with their 5 star players. He has embraced the portal to quickly rebuild and here’s hoping we get a good big man to come in next year to help more.
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To your final point about a big man. For some unknown reason, last night I was reading the post game comments from the Kansas game last year and L mentions that “this team” showed them a path to winning that they would like to replicate for years to come.

So I’m not sure going after 7’ centers is really going to be his thing going forward.
 
Miami04 said:
To your final point about a big man. For some unknown reason, last night I was reading the post game comments from the Kansas game last year and L mentions that “this team” showed them a path to winning that they would like to replicate for years to come.

So I’m not sure going after 7’ centers is really going to be his thing going forward.
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A 7 footer that can play outside like Sam on offense but be a rim protector on defense would be helpful. It was brilliant having Omier play out by top of key keeping Lively away from basket.
 
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Miami04 said:
To your final point about a big man. For some unknown reason, last night I was reading the post game comments from the Kansas game last year and L mentions that “this team” showed them a path to winning that they would like to replicate for years to come.

So I’m not sure going after 7’ centers is really going to be his thing going forward.
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I mean we have Aire who I believe was a 4 star recruit and we signed a 6’10” 4 star recruit who will enroll after this season.

I don’t think L wants to play small ball. He just fits the scheme to the players… and skilled bigs are generally hard to come by. Recent success may be changing that and giving L more of an opportunity to build exactly the roster he wants.
 
I figured his best coaching days were behind him what with getting into his 70's. I don't recall if I actively called for his replacement, but I'll happily admit I'm glad he's still here.
 
Sports fans, and Canes fans especially, are too quick to turn on a coach after some bad luck. Something to be said for continuity and character.

Coach L was a great hire and a keeper. I hope this team has another good tourney run.
 
Miami fans were quick to dismiss what the FBI investigation actually did to recruiting and the program. I think a lot of that was because they remember Al Golden constantly talking about "The Cloud" from Nevin Shapiro. Golden was a bad coach who had to deal with adversity. L was/is a good coach that had to deal with adversity.
 
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Miami04 said:
To your final point about a big man. For some unknown reason, last night I was reading the post game comments from the Kansas game last year and L mentions that “this team” showed them a path to winning that they would like to replicate for years to come.

So I’m not sure going after 7’ centers is really going to be his thing going forward.
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The other aspect, as I have been calling it, he has aadapted the Mid Major formula with Power five talent. Older, experienced players who have a few years of playing experience and refined skills. The game against Duke is a prime example. When a team, no taller than 6'7" out rebounds three seven footers. it is skill and technique. Two of the biggies were youngsters.
 
I firmly believe everyone that wanted his head have admitted they were wrong (including myself)

Do you guys want us to put it in our handles? It continues to get brought up year after year.

We misjudged. Period.

He’s Howard and Frazier esque when it comes to building this hoops program from ground up like those two pioneers did at their respective sports.

But to continue to act like we were all nuts for bringing it up is what I disagree with. Those years were abysmal… and yes there were legitimate excuses for why they were so bad…. But any college hoops fan would be questioning what was going on during those years.

Whenever L does hang it up. The next hire is crucial for the longevity/sustainability of this program. I don’t want to see L’s tremendous work go to waste.

Just want to emphasize it again so it isn’t hung over my head: I was totally wrong about wanting L gone. I apologize.
 
I tried telling you all he didn't just forget how to relate, motivate and teach just cause he's in his 70s.

Man did I get negged for that.

Dude is an all timer.
 
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Allabouttheu95 said:
I firmly believe everyone that wanted his head have admitted they were wrong (including myself)

Do you guys want us to put it in our handles? It continues to get brought up year after year.

We misjudged. Period.

He’s Howard and Frazier esque when it comes to building this hoops program from ground up like those two pioneers did at their respective sports.

But to continue to act like we were all nuts for bringing it up is what I disagree with. Those years were abysmal… and yes there were legitimate excuses for why they were so bad…. But any college hoops fan would be questioning what was going on during those years.

Whenever L does hang it up. The next hire is crucial for the longevity/sustainability of this program. I don’t want to see L’s tremendous work go to waste.

Just want to emphasize it again so it isn’t hung over my head: I was totally wrong about wanting L gone. I apologize.
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Agreed and let’s end this topic. Many of us could not appreciate just how harmful the investigation was. And how could we? We were not in the family rooms with the recruits to know the impact. All we could see was the end result which was not good.

But the tables have now turned so lets enjoy the ride.
 
I don't recall many knowledgeable folks here calling for L's head, as frustrated as we all mighta been at the time.

Many, including myself, questioned his ability to recruit here. This was not a 'complaint" only registered against Coach L. I can't recall any UM head basketball coach in the history of the program who was able to "break through" with consistently top HS recruits, Coach Ham included. We were left to make do with transfers and JuCos, many of whom excelled.

Fortunately, NIL and the Portal changed all of that. The Blue Bloods of college basketball have suffered, and that will continue as long as things remain the same. HS recruiting just isn't as important anymore. Since we weren't very good at that ... it hasn't really hurt us nearly as much.
 
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MiamiJoe said:
It’s time for those who wanted his head to apologize to the best coach we’ve ever had. He has consistently done more with less than any coach I’ve seen. The bogus FBI rumors robbed us of an entire recruiting class and injuries decimated the team for 2-3 years. The kids would run through a wall for him and it shows how they play, allowing them also to have fun. No other coach in the country did as well head to head with Coach K or Roy Williams with their 5 star players. He has embraced the portal to quickly rebuild and here’s hoping we get a good big man to come in next year to help more.
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Well, how many programs would have kept Jim after 3 consecutive losing seasons? Miami was also losing kids either through bad evaluations (Anthony Mack or Matt Cross or Earl Timberlake) or kids transferring out, such Lykes and Brooks. To Jim's credit we were fielding 5 to 7 scholarship players in some games, but the kids were still competing hard.

After getting our asses handed to us by Dayton and Alabama last year, it was unclear if Miami was headed to another bad year. Jim acted like he was losing some of his mojo and it was starting to wear on him especially after the 20-21 season.

Everybody loves Jim and we are all happy he has his mojo back. I also think Courtney, Irving and Kimble deserve a lot of love, and those were great pickups for his staff.
 
I love Coach L, always impressed me. After that beat down to Bama, if he were fired it wouldn't have broke my heart, won't deny that. Not because anything he had done, because more I thought the fog of the Adidas nonsense is tied to him and holding us back. I did question whether his desire after all the Covid stuff was the same, just weird times, wondered if he was burned out. We did see Roy, Wright, K all walk away after all that and changes to the system. Ruiz paying guys changed all that now. He gets smart ball players, high level guys, man I shudder to think how smooth his offense could be. I have never questioned his ability as a coach. Only issue I have ever had with L was when we had dribble king pg's that would hold the ball all clock, no movement then we launch horrible 3's at shot clock buzzer. Literally my only gripe about his scheme. We have seen that evolve though.
 
nobeastofburden said:
I love Coach L, always impressed me. After that beat down to Bama, if he were fired it wouldn't have broke my heart, won't deny that. Not because anything he had done, because more I thought the fog of the Adidas nonsense is tied to him and holding us back. I did question whether his desire after all the Covid stuff was the same, just weird times, wondered if he was burned out.
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This ^.

That FBI fiasco really seemed to take the energy and joy out of Coach (and it's easy to understand why, as it threatened his personal integrity and multi-decade legacy). Fortunately, looks like time and complete exoneration healed those wounds and he seems back better than ever.
 
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