This is loaded with trolliness, but what the hell

Posted on: March 2, 2023 at 00:55:09 CT

A coach's first year is largely affected by the group he inherits. Except this year Gates had to deal with almost the entire team leaving and a terrible recruiting effort by CM. Gates filled the roster up in a short period of time and crafted a decent season out of a bunch of kids that a bunch of folks on this board dismissed as D2 castaways. Much respect to Gates for piecing this team together and giving us some great games to watch this year. It was a huge improvement over the CM years.

As for Haith, his one good year was with a solid veteran core that was left by Anderson. After that season, Haith was never able to develop players or keep them around for long. It was a cavalcade of transfers and players who were recruited with no vision of where they would fit into the system. And Haith couldn't draw up a play to save his Teddy Ruxpin life. Unlike Gates, who actually has the team run a play after a timeout. What a novel concept.

Haith left the team in a mess, which some on this board refuse to acknowledge. Anderson was hired and inherited a team in academic and recruiting trouble. Anderson inherited a team that had to vacate the entire 2013-2014 season, was banned from the post-season and was stripped of two scholarships. Yes, Anderson's teams were abysmal, but many forget what he inherited and that he stepped in when nobody else wanted that job. Haith was an absolute disaster and I will never understand the homoerotic love for him on this board. You folks who love him are very good at revisionist history. Give it a rest.

Martin had all the potential and seemingly none of the motivation and desire to succeed. Hard to understand why his teams were not better or why he did not recruit better. He was worth the gamble but his teams were hard to watch.

First year stats are not a good measuring stick. I have more optimism watching this Gates team than I have had for Mizzou basketball in a long time.