WKU Basketball/Lady Tops: State of WKU Basketball
Western's men and women are now well into the season. How are they doing?
First of all, for those hoping to see articles or any kind of thoughts from The Towel Rack besides a few tweets and retweets here and there, I apologize. I’m just now getting out of #MedicareMatt mode at Safeguard Insurance, so I have truly not had the time. Now it’s time to write some articles, though!
And I choose to start with WKU Basketball.
We’re now in the near thick of basketball season, not quite to the point that we know everything, but we know enough to have feelings, to know a little bit of what we’re looking at, and to have some kind of barometer of how conference play may go. Some of it has already started.
We also, especially on the men’s side, know that C-USA is smaller, lost some average programs, and is therefore more concentrated and apparently pretty freaking good within the top eight or so. In fact, absolutely no one will enter conference play with less than four wins, and it’s still possible that every team should enter conference season with a non-conference record of .500 or better (if FIU beats Florida College Thursday, this proves true). Conference USA is showing a top 10-ish national level of play so, and there may legitimately be at-large opportunities for someone. FAU, UAB, and UNT all seem legitimately in the hunt. Someone else could position themselves in there with an extraordinary conference record.
On the women’s side, it’s much more pedestrian, with three teams with clearly losing records, and another two that are teetering at right at .500. However, on the flip side, you have a Rice with two Power Five wins and a couple more respectable wins, as well that just lost its first game to Middle Tennessee. They’re strong, and then there’s Middle (barf) who already looks good and has a ranked win (albeit at home) against Louisville and the first heavyweight conference win over Rice. On the women’s side, C-USA could be much more of a “have/have not” scenario. Interestingly, though, two of the conference’s main contenders year in and year out (WKU and Charlotte) are well out of the top of the conversation. Could one or both of them do something in conference play?
WKU Men’s Basketball
Preseason Expectations
Quickly, I think anybody who’s been paying attention knows Rick Stansbury (once again) has assembled a historically talented roster, and frankly some of the other less heralded prospects have perhaps proven the most impactful (Fallou Diagne, Tyrone Marshall).
There is such a weird mixture in the Stansbury era of people who are absolutely thrilled and people who are absolutely ready to punch a hole in the wall over Rick Stansbury.
Let’s acknowledge that fact.
However, recent events have absolutely started tipping the scale towards outright distrust of the current regime.
There is a huge portion of the fan base (25-40 percent) that really are just done with the man until he takes WKU back to glory. A portion of those people think he’s sleazy and going to end up getting WKU on probation. Then there’s another half or so that expect this to be Stansbury’s last year to get it done. Those two group amount to between 75 and 90% of the fan base. That number has grown from maybe 60-75% to nearly 9 of 10 people ready to see results immediately.
And then there is a portion of WKU fans that are completely and totally not only “good with it” but absolutely tickled Topper Red with joy over Rick Stansbury. That group has become increasingly quiet and less visible since losing two straight to terrible teams.
I digress…
Heading into this season, I think a majority of people were cautiously excited, ready for the to Tops kick down the door and finally proclaim themselves as the dominant force in C-USA, especially moving forward. Is that not the correct way to approach it mentally? Surely, the Tops should expect that, given the talent level assembled.
On the same token, though, many Topper fans (increasingly vocal) are just plain skeptical of whether Rick Stansbury can get it done. Even now, with an 8-3 ecord, many still aren’t on board.
Oh and speaking of the record…
Umm. That schedule is softer than a fresh hot doggie pile.
So again, it’s frustrating. After eleven games, we have absolutely no clue how good this team is. We have an idea, but the Tops have not had too many signature moments that declare them as one of the serious favorites in Conference USA. Heck, losing to Louisville this year is more of a sign that they will not break through this year. South Carolina had one player lose his mind and a really good freshman, but other than that, they were absolute crap and the Tops still lost.
Of all of the years to have a weak schedule, this happened to be the year that the pre-Thanksgiving tournament sucked, all of the marginal games tell us nothing, and the Power Five teams WKU is playing are terrible. Maybe winning at South Carolina will be an accomplishment. Oh wait, that didn’t happen… Other than that, there is virtually nothing we know except some individual quality of the players. We will have to wait until C-USA to really know how good the Tops are.
Is WKU pending disaster? Or are teams like Louisville, South Carolina, Wright State, Akron, and Illinois State going to prove to have been better than we think? Right now, every one of them has turned out to be pedestrian at best.
The Results Thus Far
W 93-65 (Exh.) vs. Montevallo (5-8 in NCAA DII)
There wasn’t much to observe from this, although this game was a little closer than the final margin. This game was played more in the 18-22 point range, and WKU went on a run late in garbage time. Ultimately, WKU passed the test, won, and we move on. But I will say I felt a little weird after this one. I got slaughtered in our Towel Rack chat for daring question a 28 point victory. However, something didn’t feel right when this “team of destiny” comes out and plays average.
W 88-68 (Exh.) vs. Georgetown College (13-2 NAIA)
This was a dicey game. Georgetown (College) came to play, and actually was tied with the Tops inside ten minutes to play. WKU ultimately put the clamps on and won by 20, overcoming some flukish circumstances. Nonetheless, it was almost complete disaster mode in Diddle. We may look back at that score and feel fine, but my goodness…that was anything but routine.
W 66-60 at Eastern Kentucky (#254 NET)
Heading into Eastern, you’re coming off of a terrifying near exhibition disaster. You’re hoping to see some juice, some real fire from the Tops. I think it’s fair to say Western fans were frustrated. WKU transfer Isiah Cozart had his way all night, putting up some really nice numbers. Nonetheless, WKU clamped down and made a truly amazing comeback, completely stifling EKU in the waning moments of the game.
We learned from this one that WKU can really put the clamps on defensively when they want to. Georgetown was the same way. The Tops can really play some defense, and they’re showing that, scoring 75+ per game and allowing in the mid-60s on average.
W 127-61 vs. Kentucky State (6-1 NCAA DII)
This was unbelievable to watch. This was the first moment for me that just makes you go “wow”. The pure talent level of this team is immeasurable at times. It all came together, and the fact that WKU is capable of scoring 127 against even Bowling Green Junior High is still impressive. This was the statement for me personally to confirm that there’s at least something different about this team than other years. One thing to think about: Imagine how much this result skews the numbers in favor of WKU. Without this margin of victory, WKU would average 71 ppg instead of over 76, while giving up 67. That really illustrates how pedestrian WKU has been other than this game despite a pretty 8-3 record.
W 68-50 vs. University of Indianapolis (10-2 NCAA Division II)
Ho hum, another nice win. But what happened in this one? WKU had a chance to slam the door and win by 25 or more. Instead, this became a bit of a battle because the Tops lost focus. This was incredibly frustrating right after a huge statement win. U of Indy was obviously much better than KSU, but when you’re looking for signs of greatness, wouldn’t you rather see your team expand the lead and move on instead of open yourself up for a headache? Ultimately, it was fine, but it definitely got some eye rolls at the time.
L 53-72 vs. Akron (Cayman Islands Classic) (#137 NET)
“Embarrassing”
“Done with this (clown emoji)”
“#FireRickStansbury”
Typical knee-jerk reaction. In hindsight, Akron is the best team WKU played so far, and everything kind of just turned to crap in this game for the Tops. However, at the time, this was a nightmare, and this certainly completely ruined the prospects of a stronger schedule. Nonetheless, WKU got in three games against decent Group of Five competition despite this loss. Ultimately, WKU came away with two of three in the Cayman Islands, something that most probably would have taken coming in.
W 78-66 vs. Illinois State (Cayman Islands Classic) (#241 NET)
After a back-and-forth first half, it felt like WKU would probably pull away in the second. That’s exactly what happened, and the Tops pulled off a nice double digit win against an average team from a pretty good mid-major conference.
W 71-65 vs. Tulane (Cayman Islands Classic) (#152 NET)
Now here was a really nice win. A tight game throughout, WKU found a way to get what should end up being a top 100-ish win. Tulane should probably be an AAC contender outside of Houston, who is obviously a national title contender. Tulane currently stands top 150+ in all metrics currently, so although this is not particularly impressive at the moment, this win could blossom into a quality win down the road.
W 90-64 vs. South Carolina State (#333 NET)
Another “whatever” type of opponent, WKU handled business. But again, WKU was clearly better by more than 26 points. Why was it so hard to expand the lead? These are questions that don’t seem a big deal until they are. How many games has WKU thrown away when they had big leads in the past? It doesn’t matter until it does. For those that laugh at this, look at the game below.
W 75-74 at Austin Peay (#287 NET)
WKU’s last game before finals week, the Tops hoped for a nice routine road victory. WKU has won ten in a row against Austin Peay, but this proved anything but easy. Western melted down a 14 point lead in remarkable fashion. Austin Peay shot 50 percent from three, 20 points higher than their normal average. But the Governors missed the most important one, a running three pointer that clanged in and out twice before falling into the hands of a waiting Topper and the clock ran out. If that went down…
W 64-60 vs. Wright State (#223 NET)
WKU once again could not buy a bucket at times, but the Tops did find a way to scratch out a nice win against what will probably end up being a sure-fire top 200 win and should be a near Top-100 win. Right now, this just stands as yet another mega weak opponent in the sub-200s that WKU barely dumped by a couple of possessions. However, WKU’s defense shined in this one, and it was nice to see the crowd get behind the Tops later in the game. Diddle should be that way no matter what.
L 83-94 at Louisville (#344 NET)
What a freaking disaster. Not only was Louisville defeated (literally freaking winless), but they parlay this performance out of nowhere to barely beat #359 NET and winless FAMU and lose to Lipscomb, who is also a sub-200 NET team at the moment. For God’s sake, are there any more alarm bells that need to be rung on the Rick Stansbury runaway mediocrity train?
To the players’ and Rick’s credit, if you would, let’s take a moment and realize the impossibility of the situation. If Western lost, this was going to be a disaster no matter what. However, Louisville is at home and is an ACC team, whether they seem it or not. They still have good, underachieving talent, and this is not the same level of talent as, I don’t know, Lamar or something. If WKU won, yes, this would have been a wonderful achievement, but it would be more a fist pump of satisfaction and mockery at Louisville and statement of dominance versus Rick Stansbury (and the Tops) getting credit for a massive repeat and doubling down of last year’s performance in Diddle. WKU was running into a buzzsaw, and frankly, some of us kind of saw it coming. That was a lot of pressure on the players and coaches to perform to an impossible situation. They still should have won, though. Or at least played a great game. Maybe Louisville would have folded if the Tops were remotely close.
L 58-65 at South Carolina (#272 NET)
Good ole SCAR. I’ll be honest. South Carolina played some really good defense, and I believe WKU played hard, closed out on most threes, boxed out, and really had some bad bounces fall in to South Carolina’s hands despite effort. I went back and watched rebounding, specifically, and the Gamecocks probably had five to ten rebounds that just bounced weirdly and didn’t go to WKU. Without those bounces, perhaps WKU wins the game. Still, Western was outrebounded by 20. Perhaps we should have crashed the boards if we were getting slaughtered by that much, methinks? You can’t win getting outrebounded by 20 unless you’re shooting well, which the Tops did not do.
Dayvion McKnight was incredible, although as some have pointed out, his man often goes off for a career night. Nonetheless, 28 points on 16 shots is hard to argue against. The man did his job. Now, is he out of position? Should he be the 2 guard and let someone else distribute, since that’s not his natural tendency? Should he guard a crappy player? Should WKU play zone while he’s in because he gives up so much defensively? That’s a valid question.
Also, what about everyone else? Also, why is it that every other team Western plays definitely plays harder than WKU? This effort was better. But it still wasn’t incredible. It wasn’t intense. It was just nice, South Carolina played well enough defensively, and some yayhoo that has been horrible all year woke up and nailed all of his shots. There’s a pattern here, and I think this and Louisville are finally the tipping point that have really sealed the deal for the aforementioned 80+% of fans that are upset at the moment.
What do the fans currently feel?
According to two polls I posted on Facebook and Twitter…
…Rick Stansbury is currently in hot water. However, 148 of the nearly 250 people polled feel like Stansbury has until the end of the year to prove himself. Now, a follow-up poll might be, “What does Rick Stansbury need to do keep his job? Options: It’s too late; Get 20 wins on the year; Get a bye as a top seed in the Conference USA Tournament; Run to the Conference USA Finals; Make the NCAA Tournament; Win a game in the NCAA Tournament; or He has already done enough to make it to the 2023-24 season for me no matter what.”
Actually I might post something like that and see what happens…
Anyway, at this point, it is an OVERWHELMING majority that are either completely done or done after this season if the Tops don’t get it done in March. That is absolutely alarming, given the unbelievable level of talent he has brought in. Keep in mind: Western’s spends the third most in C-USA on basketball, has had the same coach (with 20+ seasons of head coaching under his belt) for seven seasons, and is no higher than fifth most successful over the past seven years with unquestionably the most talent in the conference by far.
State of Western Men’s Basketball: Nice Record, Absolutely Hideous Optics
Before losing to Loserville and South Carolina, I had “Nice Record, Questionable Optics”. Now that we have seen the full non-conference slate of WKU Basketball, how do you feel, Topper fans? Anyone that says they’re thrilled with 8-3 against Charmin Ultra University’s Junior Varsity exhibition schedule is bold-faced lying to you. They are trying to protect whatever interests they have at this point.
Here’s the issue: Yes, Western is 8-3. Yippee! That is against two non-Division I opponents, two opponents with better NET rankings than WKU, and the entire rest of the schedule is sub-200. WKU is 1-1 against Quad 3 and 5-2 against Quad 4 and hasn’t even PLAYED a Quad 1 or Quad 2 game yet. That is an absolute disaster of a schedule.
Everyone is supposedly scared to play Western, but Western was favored in every single game and lost three of them, with four more games decided by single digits! Do the math, folks! WKU is a couple more bricks away from a losing record against the 248th strongest schedule in the country.
Here’s what I’ll say, and I think this rolls right along with what most people feel:
Western fans are up in arms, but if Rick Stansbury wins big in March, almost no matter how it’s done, all is forgiven. Now if he goes 0-20 in C-USA and wins the tournament, I think we’re done with him anyway. I think we all know C-USA is difficult this year. So if the Tops can be competitive and be near the top, be considered a contender, and then actually show up and get it done in March, I think we’ll all relax and give him at least one more year. If he doesn’t, almost to whatever level otherwise, I feel like it’s just time to move on.
Rick Stansbury has had seven years to prove to us that he can get it done. How many times have we looked inept in crucial moments in conference tournaments? Literally every year, one way or another. How many questionable decisions, questionable usage of timeouts, questionably short rotations with SEC and NBA talent riding the bench, and chokefest moments are we going to take before we realize enough is enough?
I said this last year and the year before and people got offended. This year, 80-90% of the (polled) fan base is with me on this: It’s time to put up or shut up.
Diddle is bleeding. More and people are just done with it. Done with the shenanigans and the false hype. Who’s going to stop the bleeding? I hope Rick Stansbury does, and if he doesn’t, Todd Stewart needs to pull out the tourniquet and sever the relationship by the end of the season. You can continue that thought further in your own head, but suffice it to say, the majority are in this spot, and many, many more have “permanently until further notice” decided to forego their season tickets, forego their NIL interests, forego their HAF donations.
Money talks.
Hopefully powers that be make good decisions with our money.
State of the Lady Tops
I will not take as deep of a dive into the Lady Tops, but let me just say this: Greg Collins’ seat should be every bit as hot as Rick Stansbury’s, and probably hotter. Collins’ seat has legitimately been warm for years. He has saved his reputation with some incredible “Where did that come from?” moments, like making runs in the WNIT, keeping shattered rosters together and making the most of COVID despite players’ fathers’ deaths, people stuck abroad, and drama galore. However, at this point, just like Rick Stansbury, where are the goods?
Greg Collins took over a program in such a better position than Rick Stansbury, who took over a gutted roster. Greg Collins kept a core, had a staff that was familiar, and has continued hiring WKU connected assistants during his tenure. That’s nice, but it also stands to reason that he should have had some success up to this point.
That hasn’t really come to fruition.
2022-23 Preseason Expectations
Heading into the season, expectations from C-USA were fairly low, but that is really a product of Conference USA being presumably extremely competitive. WKU found a way to squeeze out a de facto 8 seed as fourth place in the East in the 2022 conference tournament, but lost its quarterfinal game to UAB.
WKU was extremely young last year, and this year brought back a strong core despite losing First Team All-Conference Meral Abdelgawad. With Mya Meredith coming off of a late season ending knee injury and Alexis Mead and Hope Sivori highlighting a strong returning core, WKU really does have some nice pieces that could develop into a good team if they can come together.
The Results Thus Far
L 71-82 vs. Vanderbilt (RPI: 111)
Despite the fact that Vanderbilt controlled much of this game because of a roaring start (something you’ll notice has happened a lot already this year), Western held its own and fought back. However, Vandy prevailed in the big moments, finishing quarters and halves with incredibly timed flourishes to make the box score look much different than how this game felt. WKU was in there with Vanderbilt and gave itself a chance throughout. Unfortunately, Vandy was too big and too good, and it turns out they’re actually respectable nationally, falling just outside of the top 100. Before the season, Vandy looked like a bottom feeder in the SEC. Now they are looking like a middle of the road SEC team, something that should give Topper fans some hope.
L 47-65 at Missouri (RPI: 46)
Another quality loss, this Lady Topper team showed some more grit, fighting into the second half before succumbing to a much better opponent on the road. Nothing to be ashamed of here, and by this point, true sophomore Jaylin Foster was establishing herself as the premier player on this year’s Lady Topper squad. Heading in to conference play, Jaylin now leads the team in points, rebounds, steals, assists, and free throws made and attempted.
W 91-55 vs Miami (OH) (RPI: 263)
WKU did exactly what it should do against a sub-200 opponent: Thrash them at home. This was a really nice performance and it seemed like Lady Topper Basketball was heading in the right direction. At this point, I think people felt pretty good, that Greg Collins was showing some good signs of having a good team, and it was all pretty positive. That would very quickly change for much worse.
L 50-57 at Cornell (RPI: 210)
In one of the most hideous basketball games I have ever willingly watched (my sister’s elementary school team was slightly worse), both teams played an awful 40 minutes of basketball. I don’t mean to get too graphic with this description, but anyone who had the displeasure of watching this display knows exactly what I’m talking about. Despite three very obvious, massive poop stains on the stat sheet, WKU lost by seven. WKU was 5-of-24 from three for 20.8%. Making an average number would have won the game. Western committed 27 turnovers. Knocking that down by three or four probably saves the day. Western fouled Cornell nearly twice as much, fouling 30 times in a 40 minute game. Cornell fouled 16 times. How did all of that go wrong?
First of all, Western’s calling card this year is supposed to be shooting three pointers, and through the non-conference portion of the season, WKU is shooting a shade under 26% from behind the arc. Macey Blevins, for example, is shooting nine percent less than she did last year. Alexis Mead: Down 19%. Mya Meredith: Down 11%. So part of the issue is WKU has just not been able to make some shots. Still, WKU has had these three issues that all bit the Tops at once against Cornell. This was really a disastrous result. WKU played a really bad team (albeit on the road), played awful, and killed itself in so many ways that it immediately put Collins right back in the same position he has been in for years: When are you going to fix these issues and have a good, consistent team?
L 66-84 vs. Lipscomb (RPI: 285)
This was an absolute disaster. Lipscomb is 3-6 on the year now, including a blowout win in Diddle. Lipscomb shot nearly 60%. WKU only had seven turnovers, an incredible, outlandish performance. But what did they do with that performance? Couldn’t buy a shot, cranked threes all game, didn’t rebound worth a crap. However you slice it, this was a baaaaaddd loss for the Lady Tops.
L 76-82 at Ball State (RPI: 67)
It looked like WKU was headed for another blowout loss, but credit to the Lady Tops: This was the beginning of a nice little December turnaround for them. In the second half, WKU found a way to make it interesting, clawing back and eventually only losing by a couple of possessions. This was a really, really nice performance and it showed that this team really does have potential to do whatever the heck it wants come March. Hopefully this moment was the one that righted the ship.
W 48-25 vs. UALR (RPI: 267)
UALR is a weird opponent. They literally play 1920s basketball, including the occasional punch. Seriously they were super physical and their coach is renowned in women’s basketball for playing a grind of a basketball game. This was a nice performance, simply because the Lady Tops did what they were supposed to do, playing some really good defense and maintaining composure despite a super weird playing style to go up against. Although “Yaller” is a terrible basketball team, the way in which WKU dominated this game was really impressive.
W 58-51 at Indiana State (RPI: 339)
Apparently Indiana State is atrocious, and the Lady Tops just survived another ugly basketball game and found a way to be slightly less awful than the opponent. Nonetheless, this was the second win in a row and the Tops were sitting at a more respectable spot with honestly a really tough non-conference schedule and one more non-conference game to play.
L 61-69 at California Baptist (RPI: 241)
Honestly, tell the truth: Did you know there were Baptists in California? Who knew? Anyway, in all seriousness, Western goes and plays this no name school on the road (clearly to satisfy some kind of recruiting promises, which is why we assume the Tops played Cornell, as well).
Thud.
With all the momentum in the world, WKU goes West and plays in a tight affair, but ultimately just can’t put the ball in the hoop. Folks, Western is shooting 36% from the floor so far this year. 26 or so from 3. They have severely reduced the horrendous turnover numbers from early in the season, but the Tops still average nearly 20 turnovers per game. Once again, the momentum from those two wins is pretty much lost with this stinker. WKU literally just had to play some defense or make a few buckets. They couldn’t do it.
State of the Lady Tops: Plenty of Potential But No Identity
The Lady Tops are like a younger version of the men’s team. This roster is talented. Acacia Hayes. Josie Gilvin. Macey Blevins. Alexis Mead. Hope Sivori. Jaylin Foster. Mya Meredith. Teresa Faustino, as well, who according to her WKUSports.com player profile is in her second “Yeat” at WKU. All of these players are nice looking prospects. Most of them are underclassmen, and all of them have at least three years of eligibility remaining because of COVID.
The core is there, but is the direction? We are in year five of the Greg Collins era. This guy was on Michelle Clark-Heard’s staff for six years before taking the helm. He’s been here 11 years, took over a program knocking on the door of C-USA dominance and national relevance, and this is the product we see after five years? Young, promising talent that can’t put it together? That should be a year one or year two thing. This is year five.
Collins seems unable to attract elite deep post talent for whatever reason. Raneem Elgedawy was a Michelle Clark-Heard recruit that hung over and stuck with the Tops her whole career. She and Dee Givens, an undersized stretch four with the prettiest stroke in America, helped Collins transition to his regime. The problem is, other than a couple of respectable WNIT runs, the Lady Tops have done absolutely nothing since Greg Collins has taken over.
Western has won one game in the conference tournament since Collins took over after MCH took WKU to four of five conference championships in her last five years. He took over a juggernaut and has taken that magical setup and won one conference tournament game in four seasons. Granted, COVID was his best shot at doing something different, with a 22-7 record before the tournament got canceled. Western was tied for second, so it stood to reason that he should have won at least one game and battle to make the championship game.
Nonetheless, it’s kind of like Rick Stansbury in some ways. There doesn’t seem to be a real identity. Who is this team? Are they an up-tempo, chaos type of team? Are they grinders? Are they shooters? Are they going to control the clock and play efficiently? We don’t know.
It’s different from Rick Stansbury in many other ways, though.
Collins took over a program on fire. He was supposed to be a hidden gem that paid his dues that could coach young girls into viable WNBA and overseas prospects. Instead, he has utterly disappointed. WKU was due to falter some after Michelle Clark-Heard left. That’s fine. No one was really upset at that first year, except the fact that it seemed like the fire was gone from the MCH teams.
Ehh. Maybe he’s just transitioning into his true style of basketball.
But after that first year, it became about questioning whether he was really capable of doing the job. Even with the 22-7 team, this dude had all kinds of talent, and they even seemed to underachieve some in that year. Something was off about the juice on the court. Obviously, he got a pass on COVID ruining everything for everybody. Fine. Well, surely he parlayed that into a nice year that just petered out at the end due to injury or something, right? No that was last season. Instead of at least having a decent year, his roster is even more gutted, Western has its literal worst team ever (7-16), and the Tops “caught fire” at the end of the season to become respectable by the time the C-USA Tournament came around. Honestly it was his best coaching job to keep them together at all.
2021-22, like I said, was a year that looked promising. WKU was in bye ish position, and then Mya Meredith goes down and the Tops completely implode. Pre-injury, she was a shoe-in All-Conference player, in contention for all kinds of incredibly historic production on WKU’s all-time lists, and was really looking like the new superstar of C-USA. Instead, she’s out and the Tops had to figure themselves out late in the season, plummeting down the middle of the standings to the fourth seed in the East Division, falling harmlessly in the second round to the West’s 5th best team, UAB in a double digit loss.
Frustratingly, yet tantalizingly, as well, despite all of the drama and frustration, just like the men’s team, the Lady Tops can put all of this crap behind them and end up being a pretty good team. All would be fixed if they could just find a way to make the NCAA Tournament. That’s a huge ask in a loaded C-USA this season. But that is the task before Greg Collins. The Lady Tops have shown life twice this season. They looked good early, looked awful around Thanksgiving, and have looked much better since, aside from Cal Baptist. Unfortunately, that performance is the last taste in our mouth heading into playing the top two teams in C-USA, Rice and Middle to open conference play.
The Tops can do it, but how will they be feeling after they almost certainly start the season at 3-8 overall and 0-2 in conference? My guess would be they might be pretty down in the dumps, even if, by a small miracle, they really hang in there with an MTSU that beat Louisville and a Rice that is loaded that has only lost to MTSU. Oh and they’ll be razor sharp at home after a jarring loss to start conference play.
If the Tops get blown out…this could really get dismal.
Summarizing WKU Basketball
It’s kind of an awkward time in WKU’s history. The dry spells are now at a decade for the men and five years for the women. Never has either taken so long to get back to the Big Dance.
Both coaches are under serious pressure to perform. Both have rosters that could win even if the coaches tried to directly sabotage the team.
In addition to the coaches, what about Athletic Director Todd Stewart’s seat? What about President Timothy Caboni? I love Todd, and I personally think he’s done an incredible job, but it’s fair to say this is absolutely the most negative turmoil he has faced in his tenure at WKU. There are a lot of reputations on the line that largely center around the success of WKU’s historically most successful sport.
Keep in mind, Todd Stewart hired Greg Collins. He hired Rick Stansbury (after a disastrous end to the Ray Harper era that made him look weak and unconnected at best). He hired Mike Sanford. He hired John Pawlowski. He did get WKU into Conference USA, but the Tops have been screwed in every kind of deal since joining C-USA, and there was a very, very embarrassing near entrance into both the AAC and the MAC that left Western fans pissed at the world. Without question, there was a window into both, and both were shut for different reasons.
Those all look to be possibly “bad” situations that Todd ultimately is responsible for. Pawlowski and Sanford were disastrous. Ray Harper’s ending was disastrous. Greg Collins, if he gets fired without an NCAA appearance (or more), will be considered disastrous. Rick Stansbury remains to be seen, but if you hire a guy that ultimately results in nothing but some early NIT runs for nearly a decade and gets fired with no results, that’s a disaster, too.
It’s just a crucial time in WKU’s history. Once again, conference realignment came at the wrong time. WKU’s Basketball program (dare I say it?) is working on being the Notre Dame or the Tennessee (pre-Heupel) of mid-major basketball. Younger fans don’t realize the greatness of WKU, how great this athletics program really is. When you talk about Western being a national power, people laugh at you. When you talk about being the next Gonzaga or the next Xavier or Butler, people don’t believe, anymore. Just like Notre Dame. Just like Tennessee. Many have lost faith that WKU can achieve at the level it did before 2010.
That’s a crock of crap, people.
Western is a coach away, a 50/50 result away, a remarkable set of players away from getting right back where we belong, and I damn well will not sit on my tookhus and wonder what could have been. We have the most awesome facilities, a good basketball fan base, and a winning tradition that almost guarantees WKU can compete in conference every year just because certain players will choose Western over other mid-major programs.
Regardless of the state of how we feel about the current state of things, conference season starts everything over.
Everyone is 0-0 (well, some have already played each other but whatever). It doesn’t matter that Western’s out of conference schedule was as weak as unwadded one ply toilet paper after “taco night” at El Maz. It doesn’t matter that the Lady Tops only have three wins.
What matters is setting yourself up for March, and ultimately, all of this crap from late December to March doesn’t mean anything but the number of games you have to play to win.
This year, as long as teams finish in the top five, it only takes three wins in March. If either Topper team is sixth or worse, it takes four wins. Also, if that coach that does not get a bye does not win said conference tournament, he needs to hit the bricks.
It’s time to see who’s got what it takes. Can either team pull it together and win big in conference play? Will either team tank? We shall see. But as Topper fans, it is definitely not time to quit on either coach just yet. Both have done enough, shown us enough, created enough interest, and put together good enough rosters that could win in March and fix whatever sins they have committed.
Let’s cautiously ride, Topper fans.