N
NSU67
Guest
This post is not to defend nor accuse Marvin Menzies. But, in the frenzy of coaching rumors, evaluations, recriminations and expectations, we should at least be accurate.
For whatever reasons, and I will not attempt to guess them, some posters have taken the attack to a level in which the facts get murky.
My main point is this. Despite what we read here, Menzies has not taken the program to its lowest level ever. Attendance and interest is certainly at historic lows. But, the program, the players, the outlook are not the worst.
Let us go back to April, 2016. The basketball program is a national laughing stock. After breaking a public promise by firing Dave Rice without allowing him to complete his season, he is clumsily shown tbe door, locking him out of his office. The players are locked out of the gym. Coaches use us and abuse us, culminating with the brief Beard era. Whichever explanation of the reasons he left are accepted, his ditching UNLV as he did was unusual, if not humiliating.
The players, standing in the rubble, leave. Left in the wreckage are two players. Right at late signing. The remaining unsigned recruits have flaws. That is why nobody has picked them up. Never in my memory has a new coach had to walk into a situation like that. No one has shown me one, either.
Enter Marvin Menzies. Nobody's first choice. Nobody's 2nd, 3rd.... When he signs his contract, he is already unpopular. Some want to give him a chance, others are infuriated. No one is cheering. So, UNLV, self inflicted destruction well established, will move forward with two players, an extremely limited recruit pool, and a coach that isn't popular by any means.
That, I submit, was the absolute lowest the UNLV program has been. Menzies did not crash the car.
He came in to the flaming hulk of what had been a pretty good racer. He had to find workers, bosses, parts, and tools. In a big hurry.
For most of us, he has not done a good enough job repairing. We don't like the parts, the design or timing of tbe work. We wanted and needed better. He hasn't succeeded. It is generally agreed that someone else needs to do/finish the job.
But, Menzies did not cause this. He has not made tne situation worse. He has worked to move the team. Not all the players are bums. The new coach will likely have more than two players to start with, unless UNLV totally botches it again.
Menzies did not win. It will likely cost him his job. That is the coaching business. But he is not Satan. He did not ruin the program, he was just unable to improve it enough..The hatred is unwarranted
For whatever reasons, and I will not attempt to guess them, some posters have taken the attack to a level in which the facts get murky.
My main point is this. Despite what we read here, Menzies has not taken the program to its lowest level ever. Attendance and interest is certainly at historic lows. But, the program, the players, the outlook are not the worst.
Let us go back to April, 2016. The basketball program is a national laughing stock. After breaking a public promise by firing Dave Rice without allowing him to complete his season, he is clumsily shown tbe door, locking him out of his office. The players are locked out of the gym. Coaches use us and abuse us, culminating with the brief Beard era. Whichever explanation of the reasons he left are accepted, his ditching UNLV as he did was unusual, if not humiliating.
The players, standing in the rubble, leave. Left in the wreckage are two players. Right at late signing. The remaining unsigned recruits have flaws. That is why nobody has picked them up. Never in my memory has a new coach had to walk into a situation like that. No one has shown me one, either.
Enter Marvin Menzies. Nobody's first choice. Nobody's 2nd, 3rd.... When he signs his contract, he is already unpopular. Some want to give him a chance, others are infuriated. No one is cheering. So, UNLV, self inflicted destruction well established, will move forward with two players, an extremely limited recruit pool, and a coach that isn't popular by any means.
That, I submit, was the absolute lowest the UNLV program has been. Menzies did not crash the car.
He came in to the flaming hulk of what had been a pretty good racer. He had to find workers, bosses, parts, and tools. In a big hurry.
For most of us, he has not done a good enough job repairing. We don't like the parts, the design or timing of tbe work. We wanted and needed better. He hasn't succeeded. It is generally agreed that someone else needs to do/finish the job.
But, Menzies did not cause this. He has not made tne situation worse. He has worked to move the team. Not all the players are bums. The new coach will likely have more than two players to start with, unless UNLV totally botches it again.
Menzies did not win. It will likely cost him his job. That is the coaching business. But he is not Satan. He did not ruin the program, he was just unable to improve it enough..The hatred is unwarranted
