Wichita State: Great Program, Coaches, Players, and Fans

[GarH]

Glad to see not everyone are haters. Thanks for some classy posts.

[Veritas]

He's emotional and that rubs people that lose to him the wrong way.

I agreed with you until this point. Are you saying that he rubs everyone who has lost to him the wrong way, which would be every team in the Valley at one point or another, or he only rubs people the wrong way on the night they lose to him?

Why not say that he is an emotional coach who can rub people the wrong way? I can agree with that, but to take it a step further and imply that fans only dislike his antics when they lose to him is untrue. I have come out of CU/WSU games that CU won thinking that I would be embarrassed if our coach acted in the same manner. ISU probably thought the same thing when he got ejected against them in St Louis.

I can't say that I like Marshall, he has shown an emotional side that portrays an 'everyone is against me/us/WSU' attitude and shows a complete inability to understand that things don't always go your way, or the way you planned. At the same time, in almost every press conference I have seen him do after a Shocker loss he compliments the other team on a job well done and takes responsibility for being outplayed or outcoached. Whether it is sincere or not is irrelevant, it shows me that he knows what the right thing to say/do is in that situation. But every once in awhile he goes out of his way to do the wrong thing, that is what I disagree with.

I think Gregg definitely coaches with a chip on his shoulder. He hasn't been given anything. He's earned it all... http://www.kansas.com/2012/03/10/225048 ... halls.html

and he still loves defense and still doesn't like to back down from a challenge.

[iSASO]

Coach Marshall plays no favorites among fans either, meaning he treats the smallest boosters the same as the major boosters, as far as I have observed. I know that when my wife takes our 4-year-old to GM Auction meetings, Marshall always makes time to interact with him.

The true measure of a program is not just wins and losses, but in the young men he recruits and the way they perform off the court. He has a pretty stellar record in that area, maintaining great relationships with players from previous eras and his own. He hosted at least one former player in his home for a while when they came to visit and they participated in the Marshall family holiday events.

Now, Mrs. Marshall, you simply have to be in her good graces. She is the competitive one in the family!

[Ace Dad]

I like the mocksy and swag of WSU teams since the early 2000s. In my view, they don't play dirty, but hard, similar to the Salukis for about 4 seasons straight. And while I'm a die-hard Braves fan, every season there are a couple other Valley teams that I enjoy watching and kind of pull for, whether it be past experiences of following their "teams" or just the way that a team gels. I have grown to like this Shockers team after only knowing a couple of their players at the start of the season. Their home court environment is outstanding and I think every league team is envious of the way their fans support and get into the games. Of course, the Jays have awesome support too, but the environment they produce just doesn't compare to Koch Arena.
It will be a sad day if/when the Shox leave the Valley for greener pastures, but it will be a WHOLE lot easier to pick up a road win vs. any other team that joins.

Acedad, whose son is yours on the Aces?

Lucious Wagner, bottom left in the photo, circa 2001-2005. We did not win too many games, but we had a lot of fun.

http://www.blackheartbasketball.com/bio/

[rlh04d]

I have come out of CU/WSU games that CU won thinking that I would be embarrassed if our coach acted in the same manner.

Interesting. I had the same thought last year in Omaha when your coach was belittling his son on the side of the court.

I did in fact come out of that CU/WSU game that we won thinking that I would be embarrassed if our coach acted in the same manner.

You, of course, have a similar instance to describe why you'd be embarrassed of Coach Marshall?

Which isn't to say that Marshall won't yell at a Shocker player if he makes a bone-headed move. But I don't recall ever seeing him stare down one of his players and belittling him and screaming directly into his face for an extended period.

But of course Coach McDermott is all sunshine and roses, and Coach Marshall is the devil incarnate.

[cu36]

I have come out of CU/WSU games that CU won thinking that I would be embarrassed if our coach acted in the same manner.

Interesting. I had the same thought last year in Omaha when your coach was belittling his son on the side of the court.

I did in fact come out of that CU/WSU game that we won thinking that I would be embarrassed if our coach acted in the same manner.

You, of course, have a similar instance to describe why you'd be embarrassed of Coach Marshall?

Which isn't to say that Marshall won't yell at a Shocker player if he makes a bone-headed move. But I don't recall ever seeing him stare down one of his players and belittling him and screaming directly into his face for an extended period.

But of course Coach McDermott is all sunshine and roses, and Coach Marshall is the devil incarnate.

Is there any part of my post that said I have never been embarrassed by a CU coach? I don't see it. That was certainly out of line for McD. I also remember being embarrassed when Altman ran after the officials following the NIT loss to Miami. CU coaches aren't free from scrutiny and neither are any other Valley coaches.

My response was questioning the seemingly arrogant implication that other Valley fans dislike Marshall simply because they had lost to WSU. I can honestly say I dislike him just as much when CU wins as when WSU wins. If you take issue with that I can't change your mind, and I'm ok with that. I actually think that I complimented Marshall for being gracious in defeat, but press conferences like the one following the loss to ISUr last year in St Louis show that he will go out of his way to intentionally say the wrong thing. That was an example of him displaying embarrassing behavior in a loss. I can agree that emotions were probably running high during that press conference and things like that happen, but when he made his apology for those actions it was easy to interpret that he made the apology in a mocking tone/fashion.

[ABC]

So, CU, what do you have to say about Greg McD screaming at his son on national TV?

Approve or not?

[rlh04d]

So, CU, what do you have to say about Greg McD screaming at his son on national TV?

Approve or not?

He already said he disapproved. No need to beat it into the ground.

My response was questioning the seemingly arrogant implication that other Valley fans dislike Marshall simply because they had lost to WSU.

And my point was that Marshall would not be NEARLY as disliked in this league if his teams were winning 15 games a year. He'd just be that silly animated guy that gets laughed at. The difference between being silly and being loathed by most other fanbases is about 10+ wins a season.

As for his apology, it was absolutely intended in a mocking fashion. I don't see a problem with it. I don't like that referees get a free pass to do their jobs poorly, and any assertion that they aren't 100% perfect is considered whining and/or unprofessional. It's perfectly fine to criticize the actions and play of teenagers who aren't being paid a dime to be out there, but when it comes to the grown men with years of professional experience being paid to do a job ... hold on, that's crossing the lines of professionalism! College athletics is bullshit in what is considered acceptable exploitation and "professional." I don't have one problem with Marshall "crossing the line" in a press conference regarding officiating if he believes what he's saying and he's prepared to pay the inevitable fine. I respect him more for not just sitting on his hands and going "well, you know, them's the breaks." False modesty and false professionalism are worthless. Poor officiating doesn't improve by magic, and it rarely improves by a conference taking it upon themselves to change things.

While I would guess that WSU is probably the most heavily penalized team in the league this year (I'd like to see the stats ... the MVC's website doesn't include that), I still believe the officiating in WSU games has been vastly improved over last year's. The MVC has been much quicker to get involved when bad officiating calls are made. I believe there is at least some credit for that on Marshall's press conference last season.

I don't mean by any means that Marshall is perfect. I have seen him get more aggressive with the players than I would like (though nothing compared to McDermott). He was quick to get himself pointlessly thrown out of games early on. Sometimes he's a little too blunt. But he's an excellent coach, he's an excellent recruiter, I love that he is so enthusiastic about the game, his players obviously love playing for him, he's great with the fans, none of his players ever get in trouble, and all of his players graduate. If he ever decides to move on to another program, I will happily support him there. Just as so many Winthrop fans have supported him at WSU.

[Deanthonybowdenfan]

Agreed. Noones perfect, and if they have a public image of being perfect , or close to perfect, were all mature enough to know this is just a public image. Not to say some people with a good public image aren't great people, cause some are. But some people just care more than others about what everyone else thinks, instead of worrying more about what God knows. I have spoken my fair share of trash about WSU cause they are a rival, just as WSU fans have about Creighton, but seems to me like Marshall is a great coach and loves his players, and really just doesnt care what others think of him, which i respect. Also WSU has good fans, good players, and , ill put it this way a foundation for a great program, I wouldn't say after 2 successful seasons that they are there yet.

[rlh04d]

Agreed. Noones perfect, and if they have a public image of being perfect , or close to perfect, were all mature enough to know this is just a public image.

Absolutely. I think this obsession in sports with people having the perfect professional image is what creates the heartbreak we see so often. People in sports are encouraged to create a fake public image for marketing purposes ... and then Tiger Woods, Mark McGwire, Lance Armstrong, and on and on forever prove the lie in that.

Someone showing his emotions on his sleeve shouldn't be a bad thing. I feel like I have a pretty good idea of who Marshall is as a person ... both his positives and his negatives. I don't see it as being the tip of the iceberg ... I see it as already knowing where his negatives lie because he makes no attempt to hide them. That doesn't worry me; the guy portraying himself as perfect worries me. Hell, as a Florida State alumni, I'll be worried about Bobby Bowden until years after his death because he's always seemed too perfect. I think our current football coach is a lot more like Marshall ... neither has the public ceiling that Bowden has, but neither worries me with potential negatives coming out, either.

I disagree that we're all mature enough to know it's just a public image, though ... I think the vast majority of people rarely are mature enough to recognize that. I wish our culture didn't put so much emphasis on this image of the perfect professional and were more accepting of people being portrayed as flawed. Obviously there should be a limit to those flaws (hello, Bob Knight), but minor flaws should be celebrated rather than vilified. Otherwise you're just asking for the next perfect role model to break your child's heart.

As for the shot about 2 successful seasons ... WSU is 2 wins shy of their 4th straight season with 25+ wins.