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Post by aussielion on Mar 10, 2015 1:43:46 GMT -5
Dunlap didnt get run out of Adelaide...........Dunlap also served three seasons in Australia (1994-1996) as head coach of the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League, taking the team to the NBL Grand Final in 1994 against the North Melbourne Giants and the semi-finals in 1995 and 1996. Over his three season in Adelaide Dunlap compiled a 59-36 record before returning to the USA just weeks before the 1997 season following the sudden death of his father, though it was incorrectly reported at the time the move was because of a fallout between Dunlap and 36ers management.
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Post by waterboy on Mar 10, 2015 3:24:15 GMT -5
Look folks, Evan was a good player, but not a complete player on any level! In fact the team played horribly the first half of the season with Payne starting. No team can win with a selfish gunner...via Pete Maravich. Dunlap will come through. His recruitment the TOP player out of Canada is a glimpse. He needs to get rid of Simon, and possibly Herman and maybe Hayes to really open up recruiting to get some real D-1 players and players who want to play for him. I was very encouraged by both Dejis and Godwins assessments at the press conference that we will have a good team next year. They should know! The key is recruiting to replace Payne. We need scorers, with very high BB IQ's, which Payne did not have, he had a high scoring IQ but that is not enough, and we need leadership, at least 5 skilled shooters and bangers. Where Dunlap dipped in my estimation, was with the performances of his first recruiting class in Simon, Herman and Hayes. Humpheries is borderline, not quiet D-1, but a banger circa Tom Peabody and should play a similar role around better players next year. Herman is a head case, and if he could shake off his timidity, he might be something, but fearfulness is a hard thing to shake. We would not have fared any better under Max than we did this year. Without AI we still would have been leaderless, as we were all season. Evan never took up the mantle of leadership, and he was the only one skilled enough to do so. It takes good unselfish leadership to be a winner, i.e. Pangos. That is what we really need, leadership.
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Mar 10, 2015 12:35:35 GMT -5
I am all for giving CMD time to implement his own methodology. That requires players that he recruits and, once they come on campus, they begin to work hard and improve.
How to players improve? In my mind they have to be self motivated to want to improve, but they also need a coaching staff to teach them the intricacies of the game at the Division I level.
I do think some of our players improved rather dramatically from last season, mainly Godwin and Marin. Hopefully Patson will make a similar leap next year. A starting frontcourt of Patson, Marin, and Humphries is pretty solid.
Therein lies the issue! With Payne and Tutu we had a starting five that would've been fairly formidable. Maybe CMD sees Haney as a starting 2. He and Humphries possibly are interchangeable at the two and three. But I feel as though if we are really lacking in depth.
I have been and an LMU fan since Dunlap was a player, so I am not giving up now, but 25 years without a NCAA bid is a long time! That is not CMD's fault, but losing your leading score is a pretty big risk. I am hopeful that this will work out.
Go Lions!
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Post by vadlion on Mar 10, 2015 17:17:40 GMT -5
Really sorry to see Evan go. He was such a talent and gifted player. We will really miss him next year. I wish him all the best. I understand why he would choose to leave. he wants to take things to the next level and LMU right now does not provide that option. We will also see 2 other players announce they are leaving also. We will now have 3 more open scholarships so Dunlap can get "his guys."
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Post by golions1444 on Mar 10, 2015 17:57:41 GMT -5
care to disclose who these other two are? I'd guess patson and maybe marin, not many Good players left...
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Post by golions1444 on Mar 10, 2015 18:16:31 GMT -5
no pun intended ^ lol
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 10, 2015 19:42:40 GMT -5
I hope you are wrong golions - those two are keepers. I think Marin is OK - he got lots of playing time and was a key player when his game was on. Siame has potential and hopefully Dunlap has a good relationship with him.
I would guess the departures would be some of the less productive Dunlap recruits.
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Post by pumpfake on Mar 10, 2015 20:49:53 GMT -5
For better or worse, Payne's exodus and the possible departure of another 1 or 2 of Good's guys will mean that Dunlap will have full ownership of the product that will be next year's team. By the end of next season we should have a clear idea of whether things are headed in the right direction. Right now, there are just too many missing pieces. It will come down to three things: recruiting, player development, and team cohesiveness. Game on.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 10, 2015 21:07:53 GMT -5
Rats! Sorry to hear that pump. Dunlap will have no excuses other than he needs time. I don't think LMU ball will survive 5 years of Dunlap with our current direction.
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Post by stopliontome on Mar 10, 2015 23:28:01 GMT -5
Good luck to Evan. I hope he can transfer to a WCC school. That way, he gets 4 shots to kick LMU's ass.
This is not good for CMD. He HAS to win next season.
I'm calling it: If the team finishes last or next to last next season, Dunlap gets fired.
Then you can bring in Bo Kimble and revive the System and maybe save LMU basketball.
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Post by LMUpepbander on Mar 11, 2015 0:13:36 GMT -5
There seems to be way too much kneejerking here. If you've paid attention to this program for the last couple decades it should be plainly obvious that the first year of a coach's tenure proves NOTHING. If that was the standard that we lived by they'd already be replacing the Gersten bust in the lobby with one of Rodney Tention. There's a lot of parallel with that era quite frankly if you think back because in both cases a potential/actual NBA talent was run off (Orlando Johnson/Evan Payne) whereas the remaining roster was pretty subpar (remember all the D-II/NAIA transfers that Rodney's recruits made after Bayno took over?)
The fact of the matter is that especially looking at Good's tenure, recruiting doesn't matter if you can't develop the players. There's a reason that Godwin/Marin improved so much this year as opposed to previous years. Give CMD's recruits a couple years of development and you very well may see a corner turned. We just need to get past the years of growing pains. And like pdine mentioned, we're not going to be respectable overnight.
Hell, let's look at the last few years in-conference
2014/15 - 10/10 (Dunlap) 2013/14 - 10/10 (Good) 2012/13 - 9/9 (Good) 2011/12 - 4/9 (Good) 2010/11 - 7/8 (Good) 2009/10 - 5/8 (Good) 2008/09 - 8/8 (Bayno/Good) 2007/2008 - 8/8 (Tention)
So, for all the love that Good's been getting, his teams only finished in the top half of the conference ONCE. For that reason alone, we need to be patient and see what CMD can build because clearly Max wasn't getting the job done and we don't even know if we could have trusted his prized recruits to develop into anything better than a team with a sniff at the top four in the conference every couple years.
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Post by slblions08 on Mar 11, 2015 10:10:00 GMT -5
Nobody denies our history. In we fact, we know the drill. Coach comes in with other coach's players, finishes last (except for Tension). Then the next year, coach asserts himself, wipes the program clean of the previous regime, and then fails until he has a year where he does a little better, buys himself two more years, until he's fired. I just suggest, why wait for the cycle to repeat?
Literally finishing just about last except for two years, reflects a structural problem, not just a coaching problem. What is annoying that Dunlap was heralded and hyped by the media as being a possible savior and he's just as terrible as everyone else. Every coach has come in to be given free reign to be either gruff, inflexible and unable to connect with their players. When even Max Good's best and own recruit (Anthony Ireland) says it was time for a change, that reflects terribly.
The great thing is that our University structure is so solid that the student athletes really like the setting and they feel great to be on campus so they'll stay committed to the program. But between Good and Dunlap, neither has been endearing. This "old school" style whether you like it or not just doesn't work anymore unless you have credentials to back you up, and neither coach has them.
It's time that a new athletic administration comes in and hires somebody that takes the program in a new direction from what Aggers, Tension, Good and Dunlap. Unfortunately that won't happen until Husak is gone.
By the way, I know some other sports have mild success...but when your location is Los Angeles, you're in the middle of some of the best areas for hotbeds of talent that includes baseball and soccer. Why we don't have more NCAA appearances in those sports is beyond me.
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Post by husky on Mar 11, 2015 12:57:59 GMT -5
Looks like Dunlap is going to get a nice long chance to turn things around and be adequately compensated in the process. After this first year, however, some of us remain decidedly unimpressed. His most notable achievement so seems to have been causing talent to disappear. I’ll admit to being a skeptic when it comes to before-the-fact claims of greatness but I have been anxious to find any evidence of the advertised brilliance.
I fully realize Good is gone and not coming back but recall in this 2nd season (actually his first full season) we achieved a winning record. And in his 3rd full season we won over 20 games. Do those seem like reasonable benchmarks to measure Dunlap’s progress? Just check out Dunlap’s pitiful interview after Saturday’s 31 point loss; I mean, hard to find much confidence that Dunlap can deliver. At some point in time the platitudes become meaningless and results are required.
Still i'M certain we all do really do want Dunlap to come through. It is much more enjoyable being a Lion’s fan when we are winning.
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Post by loyalion on Mar 11, 2015 17:47:19 GMT -5
Some good programs looking at Evan. I wouldnt be shocked to see him in the pros one day.
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Post by ironlion on Mar 11, 2015 21:35:30 GMT -5
I taked to Anthony when that grant land article cameout. He did was misquoted by the author. What he had said that when coach good left he fiigured Scholl would take over. He even tried to call the author three times.
The quote made no sense to me because I know athony loves coach good like a father.
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