GO COWGIRLS

[BeaverPoke]

So YankPoke and I were talking about Coach Joe.
Why don't people want him fired?
0 MWC regular season titles in 11 years.
0 MWC tourney championships in 11 years.
Now 6-11 in the MWCT.
He has never won 2 games in a single tourney.
Made the Big Dance one time in 11 seasons.
NIT is almost always a lock for the girls, which is good, but often the Girls choke early (like last season)
Oh but we won the WNIT that one year! Well here is a fun fact...if you had a kid born during that WNIT run, that kid is in 1st grade right now...that was SO long ago.
Coach Joe gets a pass for what reason?
What Coach Shyatt has been doing in these 3 years is no different than Coach Joe for the last 11. Roughly 20 wins a year, and make some tourney not called the NCAA Tournement and lose early.

In terms of Shyatt and Legerski, does that mean you think we should fire them both?

Here are their winning percentages during their respective current stints at UW:

Shyatt - 59.5% overall, 39.5% MWC (2 CBI's out of 3 years)

Legerski - 63.0% overall, 60.4% MWC (5 WNIT, 1 NCAA out of 10 seasons, possible WNIT this year)


I think competing against your peers is critical and Legerski has done so far better than Shyatt. Legerski has only one losing record in MWC play (6-8 his first year). Other than that, even his bad years have been as good as Shyatt's best year (this year, .500). Legerski's worst finish in MWC play is 5th..also Shyatt's best.

How about in terms of their relative importance in Wyoming history:

Men's Basketball:

NCAA Tournament Appearances - 14
NCAA Tournament Games - 28
NCAA games coached by Shyatt: 0

Women's Basketball:

NCAA Tournament Appearance - 1 (2, if you count an AIAW appearance in 1979 which is equivalent, Margie was the coach)
NCAA Tournament Games - 1 (or 2, see above)
NCAA games coached by Joe Legerski - 1


A couple of other notes:

1. Joe Legerski is the winningest basketball coach in Wyoming history. Lavin coached for one more year than Legerski (12 to 11) but Joe has him by 41 wins at this point.
2. Prior to Legerski, the Cowgirls had an all-time losing record and only 2 20-win seasons. Legerski has won over 60% of his game and coached the Cowgirls to 7 20-win seasons.
3. Joe Legerski could have easily left UW for a "better" job. He did not do so. I will let you ponder that contrast.



Legerski has had at least 5 seasons better than any of Shyatt's 3 seasons this time around.

Legerski isn't perfect, but in an athletic department rife with failure and mediocrity, he seems a strange target for your (and YankPoke's) ire.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want Coach Joe fired, I just want the girls to take the next step.
My question was more simply wondering why people (my self included) are okay with Coach Joe without any MWC titles after 11 years.

My reason, is that, yes I don't care as much about the Cowgirls as I do the Cowboys.
I figured that was everyone else reason as well.

And I don't want Coach Shy fired especially because 3 years is too soon to fire someone if you give one guy 11 years.

If Coach Shy has similar results as Coach Joe after 11 seasons, then something needs to be done.

 

[fromolwyoming]

I was proud with how hard they fought, don't get me wrong on that, but just that like Beav, I wanted them to get over that hump and get the conference title. Legerski does a good job winning, but just keeps hitting a brick wall when it comes to conference titles.

Shyatt is obviously building a good program, we just need some solid depth on the bench. We have a good core with Nance and Adams next year, hopefully with Grabau getting out of his slump, and Cooke is getting better but really needs to focus on free throw shooting during the off season. Washington, if he can, looks to be the guy to take Sobey's spot, since it looks like Hankerson may not be coming back, but he needs to get his head in the game. He can make some really good shots, we saw that early on, but it looks like he didn't have his head in the game the rest of the season or something.

Too bad Sobey and Granberry are graduating and done with basketball, would have loved to have them both for one more year. Both of them, along with Adams, stepped up immensly when Nance went down. Granberry still didn't take very many 3 point shots, but still scored decent points and after Nance went down, didn't back down from much larger players when he had to defend them. Sobey, became a real threat as a slasher and even at the 3 at times.

 

[stymeman]

I agree with ya it's truly time for Coach Joe to get these ladies to take the next step and step it up....WNIT is great but it's time fo them to make the big dance year in and year out, it's been established the program is strong it's time for the Cowgirls to go dancing year in and year out

 

[BackHarlowRoad]

I agree with ya it's truly time for Coach Joe to get these ladies to take the next step and step it up....WNIT is great but it's time fo them to make the big dance year in and year out, it's been established the program is strong it's time for the Cowgirls to go dancing year in and year out

Joe must not know this and isn't trying to reach that goal. Someone better call and let him know!

 

[stymeman]

ok wise guy!!!!!!!! like every other program at UW medocrity is OK

 

[BackHarlowRoad]

Just poking fun. Mediocrity's not ok, I just don't think any of the coaches we have on staff has that mentality. They all want to win, it's the reason they signed up for this profession.

Fans, legislators, a few administrators, hell maybe even a couple athletes themselves might have that attitude, but not coaches.

 

[stymeman]

i know poking back!!! i'm tired of not winning anything outright for quite sometime as well myself!!!! that damn montra of Just wait til next year....ugh