2013-2014 Basketball

[CAS]

Hard to believe it's but 4 years since Cornell's Sweet 16 finish under Coach Donahue. Incredible how far the program has fallen in 4 years.

[Swampy]

Hard to believe it's but 4 years since Cornell's Sweet 16 finish under Coach Donahue. Incredible how far the program has fallen in 4 years.

This could be some kind of record. Does anyone know?

[billhoward]

I generally agree with honoring contracts, if for no other reason than paying someone not to coach is a lousy use of money.  23 straight D1 losses trumps that in my mind, but I'm not the one making out the budget.

Agree with your statement on trump, but your first sentiment really kills recruiting.

Has anyone (covering Cornell basketball) talked to the players, ask what they think privately? Maybe they like Courtney and they're giving it their best shot.

[Swampy]

I generally agree with honoring contracts, if for no other reason than paying someone not to coach is a lousy use of money.  23 straight D1 losses trumps that in my mind, but I'm not the one making out the budget.

Agree with your statement on trump, but your first sentiment really kills recruiting.

Has anyone (covering Cornell basketball) talked to the players, ask what they think privately? Maybe they like Courtney and they're giving it their best shot.

But liking a coach and giving it your best shot is not going to make up for a coach who is a bad teacher, does not organize a team's defense, does not implement a varied offense, or does not design a game plan that can beat the opponent of the evening. I'm not saying Courtney fits any of these descriptions, I'm not close enough to the action to know. I am saying that even if the players like him and are working as hard as they can, this will not get the team very far unless Courtney also coaches well.

[mountainred]

I generally agree with honoring contracts, if for no other reason than paying someone not to coach is a lousy use of money.  23 straight D1 losses trumps that in my mind, but I'm not the one making out the budget.

Agree with your statement on trump, but your first sentiment really kills recruiting.

Has anyone (covering Cornell basketball) talked to the players, ask what they think privately? Maybe they like Courtney and they're giving it their best shot.

But liking a coach and giving it your best shot is not going to make up for a coach who is a bad teacher, does not organize a team's defense, does not implement a varied offense, or does not design a game plan that can beat the opponent of the evening. I'm not saying Courtney fits any of these descriptions, I'm not close enough to the action to know. I am saying that even if the players like him and are working as hard as they can, this will not get the team very far unless Courtney also coaches well.

I'm willing to assume they are "giving it their best shot;" I've watched virtually every game and have generally thought they were playing with maximum effort.  Bill Courtney is certainly trying his best to win.  By virtually every account Bill is a geninuely likable person who everyone wants to see succeed.

But that can't be the standard, can it?  This is year four of the Courtney experience and the Big Red is 1-17 and rated the 342nd best team in the nation (out of 351) by Ken Pomeroy.  Losing Shonn hurt, but there should be enough talent on the roster to avoid being one of then ten worst teams in the nation.  Either Bill did not recruit enough legit D1 players (however much they hustle), or he is not capable of getting them to reach their potential.  Maybe some combination of both.  It's just clear this isn't working and after four years is extremely unlikely to work.

[mountainred]

last D1 win was 2/16/2013 almost a year ago, still crazy that we had a half time lead over #1 Cuse

can't deal with Courtney's nonsense for another year

But according to BRF, it's a certainty he's coming back.  Hard to believe he could stick around after this train-wreck of a season, but we'll have to see.

I generally agree with honoring contracts, if for no other reason than paying someone not to coach is a lousy use of money.  23 straight D1 losses trumps that in my mind, but I'm not the one making out the budget.

Nonetheless, I'm going to predict D1 win #1 will come on Friday.  Hard as it may be to believe, but Jerome Allen may be an even worse bball coach than Courtney.  Penn is incredibly inefficient on offense, so they may not torch our D.  

Well, it sounded good.  Penn wins 90-83 as a the Big Red can't overcome a terrible first half.  Next is a Princeton team that is 0-4 in the league.

[Ken711]

1-18 soon to be 1-19 after the Princeton game.

[mountainred]

1-18 soon to be 1-19 after the Princeton game.

The Ivies have been a nightmare for Princeton, but I agree.

Still, the team has been hanging around in every Ivy game.  I think they've "covered" Ken Pomeroy's expected margin in every league game.  With six of the last eight at home, they'll break through against someone.

[Ken711]

1-19 after 69-48 loss to Princeton.

[nyc94]

When is the last time an Ivy team went winless in league play?

Edit: Columbia 2002-2003. Dartmouth in 1964 and 1966 as well.

[Ken711]

When is the last time an Ivy team went winless in league play?

Edit: Columbia 2002-2003. Dartmouth in 1964 and 1966 as well.

When is the last the time a team went to the Sweet 16 and was this bad 4 only years later?

[CAS]

25 consecutive D-1 losses.  12 consecutive Ivy losses.  Our 2009-2010 team went 29-5 and 13-1 in the Ivies.  Just unbelievable how the program fell apart in 4 years.

[mountainred]

Princeton was desperate and a bad match-up.  The 2009 champs lost in Jadwin by 20.  Ken Pomeroy still gives Cornell a 77% chance of winning a league game and our best opportunity is Friday night at home versus Dartmouth.  The Big Green stunned Penn and Princeton two weeks ago, but came back to earth a bit with double digit home losses to Brown and Yale this weekend.

[CAS]

What isn't a bad matchup for us?

[Luke 05]

With Grambling's win tonight over Alcorn St, I believe Cornell now holds the longest current D1 losing streak. Southern Utah is the only other school without a D1 win this year but they won 2/23/13, a week more recently than Cornell's last win.