Should Lottich keep his job?

[oklahomamick]

Just watch the games and the answer to your question will appear.  It doesn't take an ex coach to see it either

[EddieCabot]

MLB - to my knowledge - doesn't read any of this or care what we think. 

I believe he an occasional poster on this board. I recall the discussion on how to improve things on campus a few years ago(?).

Yes ... AD and Son of AD are both occasional posters.

[EddieCabot]

Instant gratification sometimes takes time

And just like that, I think we have a new mantra for the program.  I'll get the t-shirts printed ... any volunteers to work on posters?

[crusadermoe]

The T-Shirts cracked me up.    But I agree with JD24 and "Sanity Kept" and 64.  Let's admit we are mad about the transfers because we all saw the massive potential and the defensive work we got from Javon. Derrik and Bakari departures would not have sent us into a rage at Lottich.  As said, Javon has the ability to move up and excel.  Our roster suggests a re-build would happen in his junior year.  So, Javon's move is understandable even though it hurts. 

I really hate to see the venom we are firing at Lottich.  I don't know the guy or live in Valpo.  But if I am in a jury, I don't see the evidence to convict him or MLB.  Meanwhile JD24 brings up good points that VU itself does not feature a whole lot of pluses for recruiting.  As we understandably sense and fear, program's momentum is all that halts a descent to the rank of the ARC, VU's financial health, and its student life environment.  MLB and ML are both swimming upstream.   

 

[FWalum]

Just watch the games and the answer to your question will appear.  It doesn't take an ex coach to see it either

Jeez, I watch the games and it seems clear as mud to me and I even have a little bit of experience with this stuff. There are a ton of reasons why things have not gone well for Matt in the past 2 years.  I have outlined them in other threads, some of them he needs to own and many others are out of his control.  How soon we forget that this was the coaching staff it seemed the 2017 seniors wanted after Bryce and Roger left, and they played very well for him (24-9) considering he had no Carter, Skara, Williams and Adekoya. 4 of those loses where without Alec. Do you really think the Bryce led 2016 team wins 30 games without those four guys? Go back and look at some of the threads where we talked about his end game management being better than Bryce because at least now we had timeouts to use at the end of games instead of Bryce burning them all in the first half.

[VUBBFan]

The T-Shirts cracked me up.    But I agree with JD24 and "Sanity Kept" and 64.  Let's admit we are mad about the transfers because we all saw the massive potential and the defensive work we got from Javon. Derrik and Bakari departures would not have sent us into a rage at Lottich.  As said, Javon has the ability to move up and excel.  Our roster suggests a re-build would happen in his junior year.  So, Javon's move is understandable even though it hurts. I really hate to see the venom we are firing at Lottich.  I don't know the guy or live in Valpo.  But if I am in a jury, I don't see the evidence to convict him or MLB.  Meanwhile JD24 brings up good points that VU itself does not feature a whole lot of pluses for recruiting.  As we understandably sense and fear, program's momentum is all that halts a descent to the rank of the ARC, VU's financial health, and its student life environment.  MLB and ML are both swimming upstream.

I've got to agree. The transfer of our potential star player Javon is what is so unsettling. Plus we're not used to losing so many transfers at once ( although each year someone leaves ). As of right now there are 32 teams that have 3 or more players transferring, and I'm sure that number will grow much larger. Are ALL of those because of coaching? Some probably are but not all. 

[bbtds]

Why do you say it will never happen? Do you have inside insight or just saying that based on what you know?

I know it's a pipe dream, but at this point, Lottich and Bryce have the odds against them for lasting after next year.

Bryce won't come back to Valpo. Maybe a step down to a mid-major but not back to Valpo until maybe his late 40's or 50's when his coaching career is heading towards it's latter stages. That is a good time to help the alma mater and feel less of a need to aspire to greater heights in coaching.

I also feel that I need to reserve judgement on Lottich until next year. There were comments earlier about Loyola during their Final 4 run as being a team without the selfishness that has invaded college MBB in so many areas and college sports in general. I'm not saying that it has happened but maybe, just maybe, Lottich has fumbled away some of the selfishness that had seeped into the program by accident and the players that remain may see it and find a way to buy into what Lottich is trying to do for the program. I think Javon bailed on Valpo too early. Just because they gave the Valpo coach a vote of no confidence doesn't mean they made a good decision. Maybe Lottich can find some shooters find a team cohesiveness and finish much stronger. I'll wait to see if this can happen.

[usc4valpo]

I think the university's lack of commitment to the basketball program and their frugality is a bigger issue than ML.

[craftyrighthander]

Agree with USC.

I'm not an insider, and I don't see enough games to know whether ML should stay or go.  I do believe that given the scarce resources and the lack of commitment from Board/Admin to make Men's B-Ball a bigger priority, any new coach would be faced with a lot of the same obstacles.

[NativeCheesehead]

Well at least no one transferred today.

[bigmosmithfan1]

any new coach would be faced with a lot of the same obstacles.

Yes, they would if the change occurred in a vacuum. The assumption is that a coaching change would be accompanied by other investments and/or fundraising that recognize we're in a grown-up league with other grown-up programs now.

[valpolaw]

That's a good point about the board/admin not doing much to help ML. It's the one program that gets the school national exposure, and they seem to not do much to help the school's flagship program. That leaves ML less to work with and more pressure. But not sure one should expect much from the board that also oversaw the law school while it went under.

[JD24]

any new coach would be faced with a lot of the same obstacles.

Yes, they would if the change occurred in a vacuum. The assumption is that a coaching change would be accompanied by other investments and/or fundraising that recognize we're in a grown-up league with other grown-up programs now.

Why would you make that assumption?

[VU2014]

Honestly I'm not sure what to think about Coach Lottich's coaching future. There is no denying this is a giant cluster-#%&$ now.

The roster is a complete mess and if he gets let go after the 19-20 season it leaves you a blank slate for the next coach with only a few key pieces assuming they don't transfer (Gordon(1yr eligibility), Clay (3 yrs eligibility) and Robinson(1 yr eligibility), Sackey 2yrs).

It might actually be wiser to let Lottich go now and have the new coach get a year with Gordon/Robinson/Sackey and Clay (if he stayed) and maybe they are convinced to stay after the season because of familiarity and comfort. That way it would also allow the new coach time to recruit the 2020 class and get his guys in there and stop all the turnover. This is a mess.

The sad part is I don't think the University wants to or can afford to pay a coach to go away even if they knew deep down it was time to cutbait. If we let go of Coach Lottich then it seems like we'd lose Coach Gore too who has been a stalwart of this program for nearly 2 decades and is a excellent assistant/associate HC.

This is completely FUBAR

[NativeCheesehead]

And Lottich back next year with a cobbled together roster won't draw 1,500 most nights.

[oklahomamick]

The title is "Should Lottich keep his job?"

At this rate there won't be a team left to coach.

[justducky]

And Lottich back next year with a cobbled together roster won't draw 1,500 most nights.

Yes, I could see 1500 showing up for Vandy. With good weather maybe the complete lower bowl will sell out. 

[oklahomamick]

The one's who believe Vandy is coming are the one's who think Lottich is fine.   

[NativeCheesehead]

To the tune of American Pie:

A long long time ago,
I can still remember how
That Pacer play made me smile
And I thought if Lottich had his chance
He'd get the Saders back to the dance
And maybe find a win for the first time in awhile

But twenty nineteen made me shiver
With every turd this team delivered
The losses, they were stackin,
Half the roster's bags were packin

I can't remember how much beer,
I drank when Javon said, "No, not here."
Matt L in three years sure did steer,
This team, into the ground....

So my, my, how the players did fly.
First came Derrick, then came Freeman, then Bakari said bye
Then Markus too, and all the fans just ask why?
Thinking this'll be the day the program dies......
This'll be the day the program dies

[GoldenCrusader87]

Golder now too ... lol ... how could ANYBODY think he should keep his job at this point? Unbelievable.

[M]

Should he keep it vs will he keep it??

[GoldenCrusader87]

What's it feel like to be a Valpo fan right now? Wondering how things will turn out. How many more players will leave. How many excuses can be made for this disastrous season. How long it will take for renovations to be made to the ARC. Well, it reminds me of this great commercial from years ago. How many licks will it take before we get REAL change and investment into this program? Seems like we're getting close to the center of the tootsie roll pop... right? Can't get much worse, can it? We won't give him an extension - will we?

Well... The world may never know.

https://youtu.be/O6rHeD5x2tI

[a3uge]

This forum is becoming unbearable with the same 3 posts over and over and over again.

[VUGrad1314]

Should we give this guy a call?

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26327845/bama-negotiating-buyout-johnson

[NativeCheesehead]

Anyone else get sick to their stomach reading that glowing bio of Maravilla in The Times?