Hate to respond to any of this stuff, but what a loser.

Dr. J knows a lot about coaching and winning NBA Championships...

He won just once in 11 seasons.

Gene Shue coached Dr. J (76ers) for two (2) seasons. The 76ers went to the Finals the 2nd season (1976-'77).

Gene was fired after a 2-4 start to the 1977-'78 season.

The next six (6) seasons Dr. J played were under Billy Cunningham. And in 1982-'83 Dr. J and Billy Cunningham won their only NBA Championship.

Did Billy Cunningham "get it" as a coach?

Or was the 76ers off-season acquisition of league MVP Moses Malone prior to the 1982-83 season the reason Dr. J won the title?

Is Dr. J's title tainted in any way considering their Finals opponent (and then reigning champ), the LA Lakers, lost future HOF #1 overall 1982 draft pick James Worthy to a fractured leg injury the last week of the season?

Having to Google both Gene Shue and Dr. J, I knew it'd be worth my time to see what kind of anomaly would support whatever ridiculous theory you're purporting

Cut Monroe some slack. Just like the team needs their off-season practice, so does Monroe. He's got a tough season ahead, as it won't be easy to try to dampen enthusiasm for a very good team. Once the pre-season magazines start coming out and picking Ohio at or near the top, Monroe is going to have step up his game, though.

I'm not the only one expecting a very good season. What is your prediction?

Apparently you have enough knowledge to predict the end result of next season, no MAC Championship.

A majority of posts you make are an indirect prediction that Ohio won't win the MAC Championship next season unless some things you've identified change.

Am I to interpret your rants any other way? If you think Ohio can still win the MACC without making changes that you prescribe, then why even rant?

That's fine, Monroe. I don't have much time right now, either, but I do have a model that I made years ago that projects a couple years into the future based on recruits, and on what I see from young players. So far it's usually been pretty close, predicting good seasons in 2011 and 2012 (which would have been much better without the injuries, something no model can predict), and down seasons in 2013 and 2014, with 2015 better and 2016 and 2017 being very, very good again. It doesn't have a prediction for 2018 yet, but I expect that to be a drop again, given all the players that will be Seniors in 2017.

Considering that the model has been accurate in the past, I expect it to continue to be into the future, but of course, you never know when factors like injuries can mess up results, as they did in 2012.

As far as QB pressure, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised this fall. The Defensive line is going to be 3-deep with talented players, and they will be able to rotate like crazy, keeping fresh guys in, and the linebackers will also be outstanding, though the depth there is a mystery. I expect a lot of sacks, and I expect the pressure from the front 7 to make life easier for a young secondary.

I believe you are right that other teams will stack up against the run, especially given the returning running backs, OUellette, Irons, and Brown. I, however, see that as a good thing. The years/games when opposing teams have done that have been the years when Ohio was most effective. The years when Ohio's offense struggled were the ones when Ohio had no running game to fear, and teams were able to just sit back in pass defense, or go after the quarterback.

Just semantics, but I'd call last year a "good" season, not great. The three infamous beat-downs were frustrating, but the team recovered from that and finished strong. I agree with your thoughts regarding the bowl game. Didn't finish, but put up a good game.

For a successful next season, I'm hoping for 8-4 or better and contending for a MAC. Don't have to win it but should still be in the conversation late in the season, then a bowl win would make it a great season.

Losing season, no bowl invite = poor season
Winning season, no bowl invite = decent season
Winning season, bowl invite, bowl loss (competitive) = good season
Winning season, bowl invite, bowl win = very good season
Winning season, MAC runner-up, bowl invite, bowl loss (competitive) = very good season
Winning season, MAC runner-up, bowl invite, bowl win = great season
Winning season, MAC Champ, bowl invite, bowl loss (competitive) = great season
Winning season, MAC Champ, bowl invite, bowl win = excellent season

Nor with me. I think where we differ is in our acceptance of the potential reasons for those beat-downs, and what the team does about it.

I would say 6-6 is good as long as we show strong against Texas State. One person has stated we would go 8-5 and lose the MAC, but we would play Bowling Green who lost their coach and most of their players tough and lose in a nail biter. That would have me on cloud nine.

While rummaging through Dr. J related articles I found this article about the continuing buyout payments a former ABA team receives from the NBA to this day.

Worth the read:

http://m.seattlepi.com/news/article/Enterprising-brothers...

C'mon, there are some true patsies on our sched. Texas State (as I understand it), Kansas, Gardner-Webb, Miami, EMU, Kents.

Even the trauma of a loss in one of those games leaves us 5-1.

Then, we split the other six as only Tennessee appears to be a really tough game.

So, we're 8-4 even if we're just okay.

That gets us in a bowl.

Anyone who accepts less than 8 victories 12 years in with this staff will accept anything.


Yeah, show it. We're any good? Then it's MACC.


12 years in and one MACC is a lot to ask?

No. It's not.

Deal. With. It.

I'm relieved to see that Monroe is conceding that even as horrible as he thinks OUr program is, a Big 12 Kansas team is considered a patsy by Ohio standards. So, we got that going for us. By the way I got vilified a couple of years ago by an unnamed, self-appointed blowhard poster for pointing out that Kansas was never a football power. So much has changed!

Personally, I think this team, this year needs to win a division championship and earn a trip to Detroit with wins in head to head games (no backing in) to be successful. Doesn't mean 8-4 and a bowl game isn't a "good" season, it just means that it's time to win. I believe that anything less than that would and should be a disappointment to all involved. Not life threatening - just a disappointment.