State of the Program

[JFord]

I think we would all agree our program is not where we want it.

We can all sit back and say "shoulda, coulda, or woulda" about a number of situations with our program. Does this solve anything?

Are we recruiting the kind of players we need, whether that mean in character, quality, or even position? I believe that answer is no. This finger should point to the coach.

In the Lady Techsters "hay day", I was not around to see the crowds we drew to the TAC, but I would imagine they would dwarf the current crowds. Did we do anything to capitalize on our success during that period (i.e. marketing and promotions)? Clearly that answer is no, because if we had capitalized on that then, we would not be where we are now. The budget would be of such that we could hang with the "big girls." This finger should be pointed at our athletic administration and university administration.

Loyal Techster fans, where are you? You love your Techsters so much, however we have a few bad years after LB and you jump ship. In order to sustain a program in the eyes of our Athletic department, they have to see people who care! They do not see that. This finger is pointed at US (the fans).

So, when you sit back and say FIRE LONG, I'm totally understand. But also, step back and look at what has happened to get us to this point. We should never have gotten to this point.

Do you honestly think we will get back to National Prominence in women's basketball? It will be a LONG time (no pun intended) if ever when we do. Women's basketball is not the money maker that Men's Basketball and Football are and as a result we will not pour the amounts of money into that program as we have the others.

The glory days are gone, and possibly gone for good. If you want something done about where we are do something about it.

JFord

[Mean Gene]

J - Just because we "vent" here on this board DOESN'T mean we're NOT still behind the program!! Go back over many of the threads this season & U'll find MANY people who donate to CHAMPS; attend games & even "grandstand" recruit.
I WAS around during the Techster heyday & we'd literally PACK the TAC ( even outgrew the old Memorial Gym ) for the big games ( Tennessee; USC; ODU, etc ) & still manage to get 5k in there just to see us beat up on the likes of McNeese & ULM ( who DID have a brief few days in the sun back in the early 80's! Man!! To relive the days that Kim went one on one w/ Eun Jung Lee - WOW!!! ).
If the current administration wants to know how we feel about the current state of the program then all DR needs to do is attend one of the games & see how sparse the stands are! Whether or not he cares enough to do anything about it - well, guess we'll see when this pitiful season ends!! The real father of the Lady Techsters was President F. Jay Taylor who had a vision ahead of the rest of the NCAA's in that WBB COULD make $$ & bring attention to the university. F. Jay was at EVERY game that I can recall & he'd sit amongst the students & cheer just as hard as we did!! Think DR ( "Dumb" of "Dumb & Dumber" since Oakes ( "Dumber" ) is gone ) would EVER do that?? I think he feels athletics is beneath him!!
To paraphrase U - woulda-coulda-shoulda doesn't do us any good, right? Then why do YOU bring up the fact that we should have never let the program get to this point? Besides, it's kinda fun to speculate where we'd be if KM was our coach or KB was still here. :icon_wink:
Do I personally think the Techsters will ever get back to the elite level? It pains me to answer "No". :bigcry: However, w/the right coach ( CL AIN'T it!! ) I think we CAN get back into the Top 25 & advance to the Sweet Sixteen & occasionally break into the Elite Eight, IMHO!

Gene

[JFord]

Bump

[OmahaDawg]

Do you honestly think we will get back to National Prominence in women's basketball?

It will be a LONG time (no pun intended) if ever when we do. Women's basketball is not the money maker that Men's Basketball and Football are and as a result we will not pour the amounts of money into that program as we have the others. JFord

No we will not.

You are probably right...depends on who the new AD is.

[TechDawgMc]

Capitalizing on our previous success and having the budget to hang with the big girls do not go together. The big girls aren't big because they make a lot of money on women's basketball. They're big because they make so much money on football they can afford to spend it on women's basketball. You're not going to make money with a sport unless there is TV money involved. And women's bball doesn't have any.

So if we're going to make it back, we're going to have to do it on the same smaller budget that we had 10 years ago. The problem is that we could do that for two reasons -- we had a big name that drew players and we had Leon Barmore. Now we have neither. It's going to take someone who can really sell the program. Our last two coaches have failed at that. We better hit a home run on the next one or we're just another SFA/WKU/Immaculata.

[LT]

love to be wku about right now
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IPAD CASES

[Cal&Ken]

I am certainly one that wants Long fired. Did he get us in this position, NO. DR and JO got us here by there national search to the end of the bench. It was all a lie and the program will never get over it. That said, can we be good again- I believe so-maybe not to the power house stage, but at least out of the cellar. I do think it will take someone that has heart and will not demand a huge paycheck to get it done. They will have to work their butts off to get the players on the court that can start some excitement. They will certainly be starting from scratch. Since this is not revenue producing to me it is obvious that the men's programs will be built first and I believe those are on the right track. I would love to see Long fired this year and get a former Techster back here with pride in the program. Long may be wonderful at being an asst. but clearly he has shown he can not recruit anyone other than guards and can not win. He needs to go to prevent further decline in the program. For those that think it can't get worse, I have thought that for the past few years and each year they have proven me wrong.

[fanfromafar]

I am certainly one that wants Long fired. Did he get us in this position, NO. DR and JO got us here by there national search to the end of the bench. It was all a lie and the program will never get over it. That said, can we be good again- I believe so-maybe not to the power house stage, but at least out of the cellar. I do think it will take someone that has heart and will not demand a huge paycheck to get it done. They will have to work their butts off to get the players on the court that can start some excitement. They will certainly be starting from scratch. Since this is not revenue producing to me it is obvious that the men's programs will be built first and I believe those are on the right track. I would love to see Long fired this year and get a former Techster back here with pride in the program. Long may be wonderful at being an asst. but clearly he has shown he can not recruit anyone other than guards and can not win. He needs to go to prevent further decline in the program. For those that think it can't get worse, I have thought that for the past few years and each year they have proven me wrong.

I agree. It absolutely can get worse, although it's as bad as it's ever been right now. My question is this: What about our program right now is attractive to top tier recruits? I'm sure someone will answer "tradition" but I consider that a cop out. The "tradition" doesn't really mean anything when it's been a decade since we were truly competitive. WE all know the history and tradition, as do many sports fans nationwide. But when young women with great skills are being recruited nationally, what would make them want to come to Louisiana Tech?

The answer, at least from what I determine, would be a visible commitment from the university to return to national prominence in this sport, and that would start with a TRUE national search. You said it well with "search to the end of the bench."

I've been harsh in my crticism of Long. It is never personal. He may be the greatest man alive in Ruston. He may be the best father any child could hope for, the best husband any wife would dream of....but the simple reality is that he has dragged this program down. Is it all his fault? NO, rarely is anything one person's fault when it comes to situations like this. But, he could have stepped up and proven the doubters wrong. All he has done, besides take the program to new lows, is add fuel to the fire.

It is time for him to go. Otherwise, the "state of the program" will continue as it is now....trying to survive the WAC.

[Cool Hand Clyde]

I agree. It absolutely can get worse, although it's as bad as it's ever been right now. My question is this: What about our program right now is attractive to top tier recruits? I'm sure someone will answer "tradition" but I consider that a cop out. The "tradition" doesn't really mean anything when it's been a decade since we were truly competitive. WE all know the history and tradition, as do many sports fans nationwide. But when young women with great skills are being recruited nationally, what would make them want to come to Louisiana Tech?

The answer, at least from what I determine, would be a visible commitment from the university to return to national prominence in this sport, and that would start with a TRUE national search. You said it well with "search to the end of the bench."

I've been harsh in my crticism of Long. It is never personal. He may be the greatest man alive in Ruston. He may be the best father any child could hope for, the best husband any wife would dream of....but the simple reality is that he has dragged this program down. Is it all his fault? NO, rarely is anything one person's fault when it comes to situations like this. But, he could have stepped up and proven the doubters wrong. All he has done, besides take the program to new lows, is add fuel to the fire.

It is time for him to go. Otherwise, the "state of the program" will continue as it is now....trying to survive the WAC.

Blah, blah, blah

I see no CHAMPS members from LA, California.

[champion110]

Well, the end of the bench has yielded people like Curry, Blair, Mulkey, Fortner (shall I go on?). I, also, hear people say bring back a former Techster, as well. I think we all want the same thing, but most of you think you have to bring someone in from far away to get the job done. Long was Barmore's choice. This season may not have turned out the way we (Long, Barmore, Brooke, or Joni included) wanted, but right now we need to concentrate our SUPPORT, not our tears.

[LT]

It's not that this season may not have turned out how we wanted. It DID NOT turn out how we wanted. The same could be said about last year. In my opinion the best way to support the team right now is to demand a new coach. The coaches of the WAC picked us to finish 2nd this year and we're in fifth place. If the bottom four teams in the conference weren't so sorry, I'm not so sure we'd be in fifth place. We need to make a coaching change, and it needs to be made fast.
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EXPERT INSURANCE

[Cal&Ken]

Well, the end of the bench has yielded people like Curry, Blair, Mulkey, Fortner (shall I go on?). I, also, hear people say bring back a former Techster, as well. I think we all want the same thing, but most of you think you have to bring someone in from far away to get the job done. Long was Barmore's choice. This season may not have turned out the way we (Long, Barmore, Brooke, or Joni included) wanted, but right now we need to concentrate our SUPPORT, not our tears.

Maybe they did believe that they would luck out and that would happen- but, it certainly did not. If they had said we are hiring Long instead of the joke they put out about the national search it would have been much easier to swallow. The fact remains that our team is terrible, Long is not the coach that needs to be here, and we need to bring someone in from outside that can turn it around. Do I think this will happen- no.

[champion110]

Maybe they did believe that they would luck out and that would happen- but, it certainly did not. If they had said we are hiring Long instead of the joke they put out about the national search it would have been much easier to swallow. The fact remains that our team is terrible, Long is not the coach that needs to be here, and we need to bring someone in from outside that can turn it around. Do I think this will happen- no.

The point is that there is no use for everyone to come on here and cry and complain. We have a great group of girls and some great recruits coming in. Many of these teenagers read this board. If people would stop crying long enough to support our team, we might see some better results. They have been working hard and I have seen some great improvement from this young team over the last few games. I think (hope) we will continue to see that. The coaching situation is what it is and it will remain what it is for the rest of this season.

I love the passion that we all have for this program, but sometimes it comes across as just being whiny little babies. I am going to look forward to the game we have tomorrow night. THAT is the most important thing right now. I should not have posted on this thread, but it got the best of me. I will leave all of you be. Maybe I will check back in a couple of days and see what solutions everyone has come up with and implemented. I will be excited about that.

[fanfromafar]

Blah, blah, blah

I see no CHAMPS members from LA, California.

Really? You don't? I wonder why....

I guess this means you cannot have an opinion without paying for that opinion. Is that what you mean? If so, I have an opinion for you that is absolutely free of charge. It's a directive. A very specific directive. It tells you exactly what you can do, and to whom you can do it. It involves only you, so no one else gets hurt.

And the next time you "blah blah blah" please cover your mouth. I can smell the bourbon, cheetos and kool ultra lights all the way out here in the land of fruits and nuts.

[Cal&Ken]

The point is that there is no use for everyone to come on here and cry and complain. We have a great group of girls and some great recruits coming in. Many of these teenagers read this board. If people would stop crying long enough to support our team, we might see some better results. They have been working hard and I have seen some great improvement from this young team over the last few games. I think (hope) we will continue to see that. The coaching situation is what it is and it will remain what it is for the rest of this season.

I love the passion that we all have for this program, but sometimes it comes across as just being whiny little babies. I am going to look forward to the game we have tomorrow night. THAT is the most important thing right now. I should not have posted on this thread, but it got the best of me. I will leave all of you be. Maybe I will check back in a couple of days and see what solutions everyone has come up with and implemented. I will be excited about that.

You have been sucking down too much kool aid if you really believe that. I don't think there are that many people left that even care. There is no one crying or complaining - more stating the obvious. The solution to start if also obvious.