Craig Neal

[BackHarlowRoad]

“We told them not to allow a 3 and not to foul on a 3, and we fouled them,” UNM coach Craig Neal said. “They made them all.”

“On that last possession, they were told in the huddle to call a timeout (if Wyoming made the free throw), and they didn’t call it,” Neal said of his team. “And I’m yelling to call it. I don’t get the timeout, but we still get the ball in bounds. We get it to the guy we want to shoot the free throws and for some reason he didn’t hold it to get fouled with five seconds. It’s one of those deals.”

“Yeah, we got a road split, but we’re here to win,” Neal said. “We’re here to win championships. We’re not here for splits. Happiness isn’t splits. I’m not happy about it. … We played well enough to win that game. To just give it to them. … They had two great players who made two great plays. Adams made a heck of a play and Nance made a heck of a play. Our guys didn’t make plays.”

Reading this pissed me off. Good coaches don't throw their players under the bus to the media like this, even if they screwed up. UNM will continue to slide the longer they keep this clown around.

Could you imagine if Papa Shy said after the Fresno game, "Larry Nance, Jr. didn't make free throws when we needed him to. It's one of those deals. For some reason he disappeared when we needed him."

 

[BeaverPoke]

“We told them not to allow a 3 and not to foul on a 3, and we fouled them,” UNM coach Craig Neal said. “They made them all.”

“On that last possession, they were told in the huddle to call a timeout (if Wyoming made the free throw), and they didn’t call it,” Neal said of his team. “And I’m yelling to call it. I don’t get the timeout, but we still get the ball in bounds. We get it to the guy we want to shoot the free throws and for some reason he didn’t hold it to get fouled with five seconds. It’s one of those deals.”

“Yeah, we got a road split, but we’re here to win,” Neal said. “We’re here to win championships. We’re not here for splits. Happiness isn’t splits. I’m not happy about it. … We played well enough to win that game. To just give it to them. … They had two great players who made two great plays. Adams made a heck of a play and Nance made a heck of a play. Our guys didn’t make plays.”

Reading this pissed me off. Good coaches don't throw their players under the bus to the media like this, even if they screwed up. UNM will continue to slide the longer they keep this clown around.

Could you imagine if Papa Shy said after the Fresno game, "Larry Nance, Jr. didn't make free throws when we needed him to. It's one of those deals. For some reason he disappeared when we needed him."

I was thinking at first, that Neal was right with what he was saying, then when I read your last comment about the "what if" Shyatt throwing Nance under the bus, and I realized you are right. Really can't believe he said that.

That's what having home crowd advantage does. The 10K fans that showed up and made it loud enough to drown out Neal won the game for the Pokes.

But, for Neal to say his players messed up (isn't it always the players that win or lose games?) is kind of dumb on his part.

I think the only reason Neal is the coach is because at the time, some of the top Lobo players threatened to leave to UCLA with Alford if Neal wasn't given the job. I don't think he is cut out to be the head coach at a hoops school like NM.

 

[stymeman]

we'll get em at the Pit too

 

[kansasCowboy]

After coaching myself, I don't really see this as Neal throwing players under the bus. I see a coach voicing frustration because his team didn't do what they were told.
Don't get close to the 3 pt shooter and foul them. The player ran over Adams.
Call a time out. They didn't.
Keep the ball in the hands of your best ft shooter, they started passing it around and got it stolen instead of forcing a foul call to ice the game.
I would have no problem saying that my players were making mental mistakes during a tight game at the end.
That's a coach telling it exactly like it is. The point in having a coach is to listen to the coach. They didn't.
This interview was not bad at all. You should hear coaches like KUs Bill Self after a 28 point loss to Temple. He calls it like it is. He pinpoints who performed and who didn't and how they didn't to his expectation. Or even Greg Marshall at WSU.
Big name coaches tell it like it is, they don't sugar coat it and foot around the bush on subjects of the game, or bad game decisions. But they will also take blame if they made a wrong call.

 

[WYCowboy]

After coaching myself, I don't really see this as Neal throwing players under the bus. I see a coach voicing frustration because his team didn't do what they were told.
Don't get close to the 3 pt shooter and foul them. The player ran over Adams.
Call a time out. They didn't.
Keep the ball in the hands of your best ft shooter, they started passing it around and got it stolen instead of forcing a foul call to ice the game.
I would have no problem saying that my players were making mental mistakes during a tight game at the end.
That's a coach telling it exactly like it is. The point in having a coach is to listen to the coach. They didn't.
This interview was not bad at all. You should hear coaches like KUs Bill Self after a 28 point loss to Temple. He calls it like it is. He pinpoints who performed and who didn't and how they didn't to his expectation. Or even Greg Marshall at WSU.
Big name coaches tell it like it is, they don't sugar coat it and foot around the bush on subjects of the game, or bad game decisions. But they will also take blame if they made a wrong call.

It's been my experience that when players don't listen or pay attention to their coach, they don't have a high level of respect for their coach. It's not that way with the Wyoming team and their coach - they are one very close family.

 

[LanderPoke]

we'll get em at the Pit too

I think so, too, stymeman. Greenwood played out of his mind. They had some lucky crap happen that helped them stay in the game while at the same time I don't think we played close to our best game. I don't see that happening again.

 

[BeaverPoke]

After coaching myself, I don't really see this as Neal throwing players under the bus. I see a coach voicing frustration because his team didn't do what they were told.
Don't get close to the 3 pt shooter and foul them. The player ran over Adams.
Call a time out. They didn't.
Keep the ball in the hands of your best ft shooter, they started passing it around and got it stolen instead of forcing a foul call to ice the game.
I would have no problem saying that my players were making mental mistakes during a tight game at the end.
That's a coach telling it exactly like it is. The point in having a coach is to listen to the coach. They didn't.
This interview was not bad at all. You should hear coaches like KUs Bill Self after a 28 point loss to Temple. He calls it like it is. He pinpoints who performed and who didn't and how they didn't to his expectation. Or even Greg Marshall at WSU.
Big name coaches tell it like it is, they don't sugar coat it and foot around the bush on subjects of the game, or bad game decisions. But they will also take blame if they made a wrong call.

There's a difference in calling a player out on tv or newspaper versus getting on the kid in practice, where they can correct it.

 

[joshvanklomp]

There's a difference in calling a player out on tv or newspaper versus getting on the kid in practice, where they can correct it.

Neal never called out a single player, did he?

It's not like he said "I told Greenwood not to foul and he did. Greenwood was told to call a timeout and he didn't."

 

[Wyo2dal]

He pulled a CDC and placed all the blame on anyone but himself, He is a coach it's his job to take the blame just as he takes the congratulations on wins. He could have said.

We made mistakes at the end of the game and those will have to be corrected it's a learning experience.

It would have meant the same thing and wouldn't have sounded like he was trying to duck the blame. However he was probably just frustrated and didn't think about it. I doubt Shyatt would ever say something even remotely close to that.

 

[Cheywypoke]

As a former coach Kansas, here's a question. I as the UNM coach with a 3-point lead and 14 seconds left and Wyoming taking the ball out after a made basket I would have pressured Wyoming on the inbounds as well as all the way up the court hoping to run 6-7 seconds off the clock, then fouled in the back court, especially if someone other than Grabau or Adams got their hands on the ball. Wyoming was in the double bonus giving them two shots. UNM makes sure their best rebounders are on the floor in case of an intentional miss. If Wyoming makes both, you're still up one, UW misses one even better. Run the out-of-bounds pass play the lobos ran and make sure Greenwood gets the ball. Hope the inbounds runs a second or two off the clock before Greenwood is fouled. You are down to approximately 4-6 seconds in the game. Greenwood makes both you're up 3 or 4 (and the games over) and UW has 4-6 seconds to score a three.
I know hind sight's 20/20 but I didn't understand how come UNM didn't foul before Greenwood fouled Adams on the 3.

 

[TSpoke]

As a former coach Kansas, here's a question. I as the UNM coach with a 3-point lead and 14 seconds left and Wyoming taking the ball out after a made basket I would have pressured Wyoming on the inbounds as well as all the way up the court hoping to run 6-7 seconds off the clock, then fouled in the back court, especially if someone other than Grabau or Adams got their hands on the ball. Wyoming was in the double bonus giving them two shots. UNM makes sure their best rebounders are on the floor in case of an intentional miss. If Wyoming makes both, you're still up one, UW misses one even better. Run the out-of-bounds pass play the lobos ran and make sure Greenwood gets the ball. Hope the inbounds runs a second or two off the clock before Greenwood is fouled. You are down to approximately 4-6 seconds in the game. Greenwood makes both you're up 3 or 4 (and the games over) and UW has 4-6 seconds to score a three.
I know hind sight's 20/20 but I didn't understand how come UNM didn't foul before Greenwood fouled Adams on the 3.

Thats always the big question when/if you fould up 3. I think I have heard some wisdom that if it is under 5 seconds foul but I have seen plenty of teams get burned by not fouling. I think as a whole they don't foul up 3 enough.

 

[wyopig]

It's been my experience that when players don't listen or pay attention to their coach, they don't have a high level of respect for their coach. It's not that way with the Wyoming team and their coach - they are one very close family.

I think Neal seems like a good guy for the most part, but your statement may be right on. They had a number of transfers this year, and Alex Kirk unexpectedly left early for a shot at the NBA. That's working out okay for him, but he wasn't drafted.

I really hated Alford. He's a complete fucking asshole. I thought that Neal was a breath of fresh air down there, but I'm getting the impression that the players don't agree. Who knows?