ADVERTISEMENT

Soulis hits the portal

Normally, would have been pretty irritated with losing Soulis, But:
A) Don't have much faith that we are anywhere near an NCAA with or without him so just in another Spider basketball March madness drought malaise.
B) Mooney wouldn't play him anyway
C) Hoping for his sake can get to a strong hoops program that can develop him and make the most of his ability.

Good luck to Ryan!

And Annap - yes agree parents were probably not happy with his PT. Found if quite odd game they showed up to Mooney played him bunch of minutes early, and he did well. Then back to the bench. So guessing the father was like WTF, need to get out of there. I guess Moon was scared of his dad in person, then when he got on a plane back to the bench.

Anyway, curious to see what level he transfers too. Maybe St. Mary's? That would be a huge step up. If so and he can stay healthy I bet we see a guy that develops into a really good player.
My goodness, u love u some Soulis. Played well early? Maybe a couple good minutes here and there qualifies? St. Mary's? Seriously?
 
I bet GW3's dad loved him too.
Please tell me you didn't see anything at all exciting about GW3's game? I just didn't see us ever winning many A-10 games if Soulis and GW3 ever got decent minutes. I know how bad this year was....unbelievably bad. But, as bad as we were, I just don't think Soulis or GW3 ever looked like they could have helped us. I was asking for more GW3 minutes early, but then I saw him play and nothing in his game impressed me.
 
How the eff can you tell??? He never played them, instead played Graham early in the season and that sucker got ripped every single time by a D2 team. Could not dribble against a d1 or d2 guard. One game gw3 got a few continuous minutes was at SBU. And he looked pretty decent. Back to bunker. Oh yeah, this is the mooneyites time to shine - the off-season:).
 
Please tell me you didn't see anything at all exciting about GW3's game? I just didn't see us ever winning many A-10 games if Soulis and GW3 ever got decent minutes. I know how bad this year was....unbelievably bad. But, as bad as we were, I just don't think Soulis or GW3 ever looked like they could have helped us. I was asking for more GW3 minutes early, but then I saw him play and nothing in his game impressed me.
If the whole reason you came out of hiding was to use the advantage of hindsight to rip on all the players and proclaim how awful they were always going to be, are you brave enough to turn this same magnifying lens on the guy that brought them all in and failed to find a system to maximize their abilities? If not, then just go back to the damn bunker.
 
Please tell me you didn't see anything at all exciting about GW3's game? I just didn't see us ever winning many A-10 games if Soulis and GW3 ever got decent minutes. I know how bad this year was....unbelievably bad. But, as bad as we were, I just don't think Soulis or GW3 ever looked like they could have helped us. I was asking for more GW3 minutes early, but then I saw him play and nothing in his game impressed me.
Idk, he shot 33% from 3 which is better than every other guard on the roster except roche. Ofc that was on a whopping 6 attempts. And he was also 83% from the line.

Again, not a hill I’m going to die on but it’s a legit question why he didn’t get more chances to play. We were clearly going nowhere and that was undeniable early on in the season. I’m 100% giving him some time over White as a one year rental who couldn’t hit the ocean from a boat.
 
How the eff can you tell??? He never played them, instead played Graham early in the season and that sucker got ripped every single time by a D2 team. Could not dribble against a d1 or d2 guard. One game gw3 got a few continuous minutes was at SBU. And he looked pretty decent. Back to bunker. Oh yeah, this is the mooneyites time to shine - the off-season:).
Yes, he made a couple 3s that game, but to me, he just didn't look good that game either. He just didn't seem like he belonged out there. His reputation was a great shooter, and his shot didn't look smooth at all to me. I will definitely get on Mooney for the bad roster this year. That's 100% on him. But, I can't get on him for not playing guys who I think were clearly behind guys in front of them. And since the guys in front of them were average at best, that tells you how I felt about Soulis and GW3 after seeing them play. No worries if we disagree. I am just ready for a bunch of new guys next year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: plydogg
Idk, he shot 33% from 3 which is better than every other guard on the roster except roche. Ofc that was on a whopping 6 attempts. And he was also 83% from the line.

Again, not a hill I’m going to die on but it’s a legit question why he didn’t get more chances to play. We were clearly going nowhere and that was undeniable early on in the season. I’m 100% giving him some time over White as a one year rental who couldn’t hit the ocean from a boat.
I hear you, and I was saying the same thing early in the season. Then, I saw him play and was far from impressed. I bet I would have been even less impressed had I saw him everyday at practice.
 
You guys need to back off the personal attacks on VT and the go back to your bunker comments. OK if you state your disagreement but be prepared to back it up as he usually can back up his position.
 
I hear you, and I was saying the same thing early in the season. Then, I saw him play and was far from impressed. I bet I would have been even less impressed had I saw him everyday at practice.
I don’t really understand how you can make that judgment on 46 total minutes of play in 9 games. You tend to be a numbers guy, his numbers were as good or better as other guys getting minutes. That should override the eye test.

I don’t give the benefit of the doubt to CM and the coaching staff on their ability to judge their players. We should all seriously question the player evaluation capabilities, from whom they recruit to whom they start to whomever gets actual PT.
 
I don’t really understand how you can make that judgment on 46 total minutes of play in 9 games. You tend to be a numbers guy, his numbers were as good or better as other guys getting minutes. That should override the eye test.

I don’t give the benefit of the doubt to CM and the coaching staff on their ability to judge their players. We should all seriously question the player evaluation capabilities, from whom they recruit to whom they start to whomever gets actual PT.
Sometimes you can just tell. I wanted Noyes to start...until I saw him play a few games. I wanted GW3 to get some minutes....until I saw him play a few minutes. Let's see where he ends up and how he does. If he turns into something good, I will admit I was wrong about him.
 
Sometimes you can just tell. I wanted Noyes to start...until I saw him play a few games. I wanted GW3 to get some minutes....until I saw him play a few minutes. Let's see where he ends up and how he does. If he turns into something good, I will admit I was wrong about him.
That’s fine, as noted, not a hill I’m going to die on.

Speaking of admitting things, at what point will you admit that CM is no longer entitled to be our coach? You’ve historically said keeping him is about trajectory. Two losing seasons in the last three, no shot at ncaa at large in the last 5, and very little reason to be optimistic we have anything on the roster for this coming season to be excited about. Convince me he’s the guy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 8legs1dream
You guys need to back off the personal attacks on VT and the go back to your bunker comments. OK if you state your disagreement but be prepared to back it up as he usually can back up his position.

he has never and will never back up his position on why the entire team should be scrapped but the person who put the team together deserves another 5 year extension
 
I don’t give the benefit of the doubt to CM and the coaching staff on their ability to judge their players. We should all seriously question the player evaluation capabilities, from whom they recruit to whom they start to whomever gets actual PT.

Ask 4700 about D’Entremont for me.

Not playing at all & then the Loyola game w 8 games left still makes me laugh. If it was a meritocracy he’d have been playing all year.
 
That’s fine, as noted, not a hill I’m going to die on.

Speaking of admitting things, at what point will you admit that CM is no longer entitled to be our coach? You’ve historically said keeping him is about trajectory. Two losing seasons in the last three, no shot at ncaa at large in the last 5, and very little reason to be optimistic we have anything on the roster for this coming season to be excited about. Convince me he’s the guy.
24-7 in 2020.
A-10 title and 1st round NCAA win in 2022.
A-10 regular season title in 2024.
2025 was a disaster. Let't see who else we add in the portal and see how do in 2026 and ask me again.
 
All this discussion about lack of playing time...you guys remember when this board literally had to BEG Mooney to play TJ Cline??

Man is wish we had hired his mother as coach...
You mean the same TJ who came here out of shape and asked to come out of games early in his career here because he got tired easily? TJ was awesome, but those are his words I just said, not me just guessing on something.
 
There it is...we've now extended it out to the 6-year window! No more 5-year window. Last year we couldn't do the 6-year window, but now we definitely can.

By the way in this incredible 5-year window. We average 14 losses a year. And that's with a shortened season or it would have been worse.
Agree.

If we are extending to 6-year window, why not be charitable and extend to 8-year window to include 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 where we had back to back 20 loss seasons. Longer windows give more relevance. Of course we should really be looking at 20 years.
 
Agree.

If we are extending to 6-year window, why not be charitable and extend to 8-year window to include 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 where we had back to back 20 loss seasons. Longer windows give more relevance. Of course we should really be looking at 20 years.
Well, T specifically said "convince me". What was I supposed to say there? T mentioned negative years and asked me to convince him otherwise, basically asking for positives. So, I mentioned positive years.

This is what always happens on here. I get asked specific questions...I answer them and then get replies back like this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: urfan1
Well, T specifically said "convince me". What was I supposed to say there? T mentioned negative years and asked me to convince him otherwise, basically asking for positives. So, I mentioned positive years.

This is what always happens on here. I get asked specific questions...I answer them and then get replies back like this.
Well you sort of avoided my main question which is about trajectory. You’ve always said after the back to back 20-loss seasons you would’ve kept him based on what’s coming back and their future potential.

We literally have no known A10 caliber starters except maybe Walz and he’s prone to disappearing for entire games. Why would you hang onto a coach who has assembled such a suspect roster?
 
Last edited:
Well you sort of avoided my main question which is about trajectory. You’ve always said after the back to back 20-loss seasons you would’ve kept him based on what’s coming back and their future potential.

We literally have no known A10 caliber starters except maybe Walz and he’s prone to disappearing for entire games. Why would you hang onto a coach who has assembled such a suspect roster?
I already said let's see how we finish up in the portal, and how things look at this time next year. No question the recruiting misses lately and the bad roster this past season are 100% on Mooney.
 
  • Like
Reactions: plydogg
I already said let's see how we finish up in the portal, and how things look at this time next year. No question the recruiting misses lately and the bad roster this past season are 100% on Mooney.
Ok, fine with the non-answer but it’s not that hard to have a take.

Hypothetical: if how things “look at this time next year” and they’re looking poor, say another sub-.500 season, what then? How many bad seasons does it take?
 
Ok, fine with the non-answer but it’s not that hard to have a take.

Hypothetical: if how things “look at this time next year” and they’re looking poor, say another sub-.500 season, what then? How many bad seasons does it take?
How is that a non answer? Obviously, that means I wouldn't fire him right now and I would wait and see how we do next year and how things look after next season. How about only going back 4 years? 24 and 23 win seasons with an A-10 tourney title, an NCAA tourney win, and an A-10 regular season title. That is pretty impressive to me, and I would definitely take that every 4 years, even with some bad mixed in. You obviously wouldn't. No worries. We can disagree.
 
How is that a non answer? Obviously, that means I wouldn't fire him right now and I would wait and see how we do next year and how things look after next season. How about only going back 4 years? 24 and 23 win seasons with an A-10 tourney title, an NCAA tourney win, and an A-10 regular season title. That is pretty impressive to me, and I would definitely take that every 4 years, even with some bad mixed in. You obviously wouldn't. No worries. We can disagree.
VT what good is an A10 champion if it does not lead to an NCAA bid?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Spiders4ever
VT what good is an A10 champion if it does not lead to an NCAA bid?
I enjoyed the heck out of 2024. A fun team to watch with a lot of fun wins. King's heater against VCU was awesome. We just have different definitions of successful seasons. No worries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spiderman
I enjoyed much of it too. But the first pivot point was at BC. Really could have had momentum in the OOC. Then at UNI. Didn't have em ready in that game at all. Rest of the way just never had a feeling we could get over the hump. Did enjoy Dji, Bigs, Hunt and crew but Moon had to figure out how to win that first game in Brooklyn and nothing.
 
Agree.

If we are extending to 6-year window, why not be charitable and extend to 8-year window to include 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 where we had back to back 20 loss seasons. Longer windows give more relevance. Of course we should really be looking at 20 years.
I do a different 8 year window.

2019,2021,2023,2025

2020,2022,2024,2026

But we will see…
 
I enjoyed much of it too. But the first pivot point was at BC. Really could have had momentum in the OOC. Then at UNI. Didn't have em ready in that game at all. Rest of the way just never had a feeling we could get over the hump. Did enjoy Dji, Bigs, Hunt and crew but Moon had to figure out how to win that first game in Brooklyn and nothing.
I hear u and agree we should have found a way to get a couple more wins that year.
 
I enjoyed the heck out of 2024. A fun team to watch with a lot of fun wins. King's heater against VCU was awesome. We just have different definitions of successful seasons. No worries.
Yes I enjoyed the game. It is the only game I have attended since 2012 or so, when I last had season tickets. Before that I was a season ticket holder in the Tarrant years and again beginning with Beilein.
The failure to convert the A10 championship into an NCAA bid is on the coach.
I thought he was building a good program but when he failed to make any adjustment in the second half of the Kansas game, I was about done. I stopped buying season tickets because I was tired of the ineptitude of the coach and his refusal to adjust his game to the players he recruited, and he has recruited really good players. Just think back at all those players who never tasted the excitement of an NCAA bid.
He should have been gone long ago.
 
How is that a non answer? Obviously, that means I wouldn't fire him right now and I would wait and see how we do next year and how things look after next season. How about only going back 4 years? 24 and 23 win seasons with an A-10 tourney title, an NCAA tourney win, and an A-10 regular season title. That is pretty impressive to me, and I would definitely take that every 4 years, even with some bad mixed in. You obviously wouldn't. No worries. We can disagree.

every 4 years...well we have 1 NCAA in 14 years.

every 4 years...we are now going into 4th...last 3, two losing seasons, last season 22 losses, the one in between got us a road game in the NIT where we got blown out. and now the 20 year coach has a roster heading into 4th year that U said you'd like to replace every single player on it. not exacty a strong enorsement.

& remember Mooney has told us all directly that we r one of the best basketball programs in the nation
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT