#FireJimCrews

[brianstl]

He shouldn't be fired, and those who are over the top ugly about this are out of line, horseshit.

Unless you have access to inside information about what is going on with the team, we should still wait and see.

Bad coaching fundamentals? I do not think so. Cannot sell the kids on how we need to play this game? Maybe. He completely lost the team? Doubt it... the 6 sophs came back. Some of the kids just "do not get it"? Perhaps. No talent? I do not think that is it... sure not all are going to be top notch but we have several who might make it there.

Sure the game we played last night was unacceptable. Terrible "D", very poor shooting (MC and MY), and our bigs are not doing the job, at all (still young, sure, but...).

IF this continues without significant improvement, then, of course there is reason for alarm. But not yet. I am concerned, of course.

Suddenly, one or two key players could "get it" and we go on a streak. It happens.

If they do not become competitive at some point for an extended period, though, "that's different".

You wouldn't accept this performance from an employee 4 years in, so why do you accept it from Crews?

If Crews was a CEO of a publicly traded company he would be dumped and shareholders would be filing lawsuits.

[MB73]

Honest questions - what do you need to see before you've had enough? How long are you willing to wait? How low are you willing to let the program sink before you admit it's time to move on?

You appear to be the last man standing on Team Crews. The only "over the top ugly" thing happening is on the court. People are being reasonable here.

I need to see more results this season, 9 games so far with a still very young team is not enough. Have you ever heard of teams that start slow but then gel and get hot? The coach sees some younger kids emerge, makes some changes and / or the kids GET IT finally and go on a winning streak?

To boot, I consider this Crew's 2nd year as coach (in assessing this situation)... some argue otherwise, but I say only this sophomore and freshmen class are his, the 2 jr's and one sr were not because he was not named full time coach at the beginning of the recruiting year.

How many coaches in the NCAA get zapped after 9 games? Not a very wise approach for many reasons.

You wouldn't except this performance from an employee 4 years in, so why do you accept it from Crews?

If Crews was a CEO of a publicly traded company he would be dumped and shareholders would be filing lawsuits.

This is one year + 9 games for Crews, with the 6th youngest team in D-1 last year (by one measure) and another very young team this year without any real help from jr or sr BIGS.

I have hired-fired-entry level employees up to VP's and GM's and everybody in the middle with 9 figure revenue budgets and / or 25% pretax P&L responsibility. There is some similarity to the corporate world, but this is not a truly valid comparison.

NOW, if Mays & The Billiken Board and Administration are aware of issues that we are not privy to, then that is different.

And sure, IF this level of play continues through the year (losing to 200+ RPI type teams and not being competitive) then things will need to change.

[brianstl]

I need to see more results this season, 9 games so far with a still very young team is not enough. Have you ever heard of teams that start slow but then gel and get hot? The coach sees some younger kids emerge, makes some changes and / or the kids GET IT finally and go on a winning streak?

To boot, I consider this Crew's 2nd year as coach (in assessing this situation)... some argue otherwise, but I say only this sophomore and freshmen class are his, the 2 jr's and one sr were not because he was not named full time coach at the beginning of the recruiting year.

How many coaches in the NCAA get zapped after 9 games? Not a very wise approach for many reasons.

This is one year + 9 games for Crews, with the 6th youngest team in D-1 last year (by one measure) and another very young team this year without any real help from jr or sr BIGS.

I have hired-fired-entry level employees up to VP's and GM's and everybody in the middle with 9 figure revenue budgets and / or 25% pretax P&L responsibility. There is some similarity to the corporate world, but this is not a truly valid comparison.

Again, 1 year + 9 games.

NOW having said that, if Mays & The Billiken Board and Administration are aware of issues that we are not privy to, then that is different.

And sure, IF this level of play continues through the year (losing to 200+ RPI type teams and not being competitive) then things will need to change.

Stop trying to hedge your defense.

I know you have made big management decisions before and this isn't the corporate world. I just have a hard time believing you would put up with these results from an employee no matter what handicaps they had entering the job. When it comes to Crews every handicap he had coming into the job was accompanied by at least two positives that no coach before Majerus had.

[Pistol]

I need to see more results this season, 9 games so far with a still very young team is not enough. Have you ever heard of teams that start slow but then gel and get hot? The coach sees some younger kids emerge, makes some changes and / or the kids GET IT finally and go on a winning streak?

To boot, I consider this Crew's 2nd year as coach (in assessing this situation)... some argue otherwise, but I say only this sophomore and freshmen class are his, the 2 jr's and one sr were not because he was not named full time coach at the beginning of the recruiting year.

How many coaches in the NCAA get zapped after 9 games? Not a very wise approach for many reasons.

I consider it his fourth season because it's his fourth season. If we want to cut the interim season because of the uncertainty, it is his third contract season. I see no logical reason to call it his second season.

I've definitely seen teams click later in the season; I talked recently about Soderberg's first season, where we started 8-12 before beating #2 Louisville, rattling off 7 more wins, and making the NIT. However, that team had better players. There's no question. I don't see what you see in this team in terms of talent. I stand by my comment that this is the least talented roster in my 20+ years of being a SLU fan. Also, this entire roster is his. Everyone signed when he was the coach.

I'm not sure what's going to make them "get it," either. Crews hasn't shown the ability to coach anyone up - Reynolds is the only player who looks better from the sophomore class, and arguably the whole team - and he had a low level of talent to start with. That's a lethal combo. We're not going to beat many teams.

[Pistol]

I get your point about no one firing a coach 9 games into the season. If we need to wait until the end of the season, fine. I'd need to be closer to the program at the moment to know which would be more productive.

I'd want to clean house, not just the HC. I think Platt is useless and haven't seen much to impress me out of the others. So I guess there's an argument to be made about not firing the HC and letting the rest of the staff take over; my fear would be Platt as interim and he's a clown.

[brianstl]

I get your point about no one firing a coach 9 games into the season. If we need to wait until the end of the season, fine. I'd need to be closer to the program at the moment to know which would be more productive.

I'd want to clean house, not just the HC. I think Platt is useless and haven't seen much to impress me out of the others. So I guess there's an argument to be made about not firing the HC and letting the rest of the staff take over; my fear would be Platt as interim and he's a clown.

If a coaching changed is made the whole house better be on the table. Any candidate that we want will accept nothing less.

[kshoe]

I'm a bit late to this due to work and sobbing over last night's sh!tshow...

...but what the f*ck was I thinking picking this team to win 20+ games and make the NIT?!?!

I know where my head was at the time. I didn't want to believe that the program could possibly disintegrate so quickly. It was my belief -- still is to a degree -- that there is talent on the team. Crews is a veteran coach who did a good job shepherding Majerus's squad to two A-10 titles and a couple of NCAA wins. It couldn't just go to **** in less than 2 years, right? Right?

Beyond that, I didn't want to buy into overwhelming negativity and cynicism, even as many of the detractors were making legit points using empirical data that showed that this season would suck. So I put my faith in Crews and May. Once again, they wouldn't just let this all go to crap, right? Right?

Last night, I saw a program hit rock bottom. Almost nobody showed up, less than two years after the arena was filled on a nightly basis with excited and engaged fans. Those who did manage to force themselves to Chaifetz were either despondent or physically angry. Crews was heckled by numerous fans throughout the night, and he deserved every insult hurled his way.

This sucks. It just plain sucks. Previously, I could have been labeled a Crews defender. No more. He has to go, and the sooner, the better. I can't sit through another season like this, especially knowing there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

I agree with just about everything you say here and feel very much the same way.

I don't think there is any way Crews coaches this team next year. Coaches almost never get fired mid-season unless they do something improper so people can scream and kick about needing to get a change made ASAP but there's really no point. How it goes down at the end of the season is anyone's guess but I think there's a pretty good chance of a "retirement" instead of a pure firing but either way he won't be coaching the team next season.

[majerus mojo]

What's funny is MB is considering this Crews's second year as head coach, eliminating his work as caretaker of two NCAA teams from consideration from this discussion.. His only good deeds towards the program. There is literally nothing postiive to take from last season, and the beginning of this one, if you were in fact the last man on Crews Island.

MB might be the saddest, most easily to predict, old bat poster this board has to offer. He somehow stretches posts that could be made in one sentence into 4-5 paragraphs, by sliming (lol, actually love the phrase) others who disagree with him. MB is the Bill O'Reilly generation personified. Old, out of touch, sad from afar, who think their words carry the weight of the world on their shoulder, screaming down from Mount Olympus. It's a clown show. He would be just another easily ignored poster if he didn't flower up all his bullsh1t with lengthy prose each time he decided to pontificate

[BigMouthBilliken]

What's funny is MB is considering this Crews's second year as head coach, eliminating his work as caretaker of two NCAA teams from consideration from this discussion.. His only good deeds towards the program. There is literally nothing postiive to take from last season, and the beginning of this one, if you were in fact the last man on Crews Island.

MB might be the saddest, most easily to predict, old bat poster this board has to offer. He somehow stretches posts that could be made in one sentence into 4-5 paragraphs, by sliming (lol, actually love the phrase) others who disagree with him. MB is the Bill O'Reilly generation personified. Old, out of touch, sad from afar, who think their words carry the weight of the world on their shoulder, screaming down from Mount Olympus. It's a clown show. He would be just another easily ignored poster if he didn't flower up all his bullsh1t with lengthy prose each time he decided to pontificate

Amen

[billikenblue]

Amen

Double Amen

[Soderball]

I need to see more results this season, 9 games so far with a still very young team is not enough. Have you ever heard of teams that start slow but then gel and get hot? The coach sees some younger kids emerge, makes some changes and / or the kids GET IT finally and go on a winning streak?

To boot, I consider this Crew's 2nd year as coach (in assessing this situation)... some argue otherwise, but I say only this sophomore and freshmen class are his, the 2 jr's and one sr were not because he was not named full time coach at the beginning of the recruiting year.

How many coaches in the NCAA get zapped after 9 games? Not a very wise approach for many reasons.

This is one year + 9 games for Crews, with the 6th youngest team in D-1 last year (by one measure) and another very young team this year without any real help from jr or sr BIGS.

I have hired-fired-entry level employees up to VP's and GM's and everybody in the middle with 9 figure revenue budgets and / or 25% pretax P&L responsibility. There is some similarity to the corporate world, but this is not a truly valid comparison.

NOW, if Mays & The Billiken Board and Administration are aware of issues that we are not privy to, then that is different.

And sure, IF this level of play continues through the year (losing to 200+ RPI type teams and not being competitive) then things will need to change.

I'll differ with most and say that yes - this is his second year from all practical consideration.

Two years ago, our last loss in the NCAA tourney, that was the end of the "Majerus era" of Billiken basketball.

This is two years into the "Crews era" and it is NOT acceptable. Even during the worst of the Soderberg years we were not finishing last in conference.

This is his second year, this is a young team, and this is not acceptable.

#FireJimCrews

What's funny is MB is considering this Crews's second year as head coach, eliminating his work as caretaker of two NCAA teams from consideration from this discussion.. His only good deeds towards the program. There is literally nothing postiive to take from last season, and the beginning of this one, if you were in fact the last man on Crews Island.

MB might be the saddest, most easily to predict, old bat poster this board has to offer. He somehow stretches posts that could be made in one sentence into 4-5 paragraphs, by sliming (lol, actually love the phrase) others who disagree with him. MB is the Bill O'Reilly generation personified. Old, out of touch, sad from afar, who think their words carry the weight of the world on their shoulder, screaming down from Mount Olympus. It's a clown show. He would be just another easily ignored poster if he didn't flower up all his bullsh1t with lengthy prose each time he decided to pontificate

Seriously underrated post.

[slufan13]

I'm not sure Crews has ever been the coach here.

2012-2013 - Team coached itself

2013-2014 - Team coached itself despite Crews trying to run them into the ground

2014-2015 - Clearly there was no coach

2015-2016 - Still not seeing a coach.

[slu72]

From another old observer, it's too early to fire him today. First, that would do nothing to right this sinking ship. In fact, given our lack of AC talent, it would likely speed up the sinking. Now if this downward spiral continues into the first 5 or 6 conference games, then the admin has to be concerned about the program's long range image to the fans and the college hoops community in general. A firing or mutual parting of the ways in late January should send the message SLU is serious about a return to the glory days of Majerus. This is a more effective time to send the message than riding this nag thru early March. Firing him then will be lost among the likely multitude of pink slips that always get handed out at season's end.

One would hope that May has already started putting a list of candidates together. He has to see this is a program that has lost it's way in the space of 20 months. We can question the decisions made at the end of the 12-13 season, but it's a moot issue at this point. It is what it is, and it's ugly. Last year's disaster can be attributed to many factors, but what was disconcerting was the lack of any noticeable improvement as the season progressed. That right there was a huge red flag. Now, we're seeing more of the same. Lessons have not been learned. Time to cut the chord if this continues thru mid January.

[willie]

You wouldn't accept this performance from an employee 4 years in, so why do you accept it from Crews?

If Crews was a CEO of a publicly traded company he would be dumped and shareholders would be filing lawsuits.

Melissa Mayer is still CEO of Yahoo.

[brianstl]

Melissa Mayer is still CEO of Yahoo.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/12/13/yahoo-investor-calls-for-new-turnaround-plan/?mod=ST1

[jimbofive]

I'm not sure Crews has ever been the coach here.

2012-2013 - Team coached itself

2013-2014 - Team coached itself despite Crews trying to run them into the ground

2014-2015 - Clearly there was no coach

2015-2016 - Still not seeing a coach.

yep. pretty much. man. i used to watch ALL the home highlights on the homepage. now i can't stomach them. chaifetz - place is DEAD anyway...

[White Pelican]

yep. pretty much. man. i used to watch ALL the home highlights on the homepage. now i can't stomach them. chaifetz - place is DEAD anyway...

Well, yeah, but we DO have the meatball subs now.

[youjustgotKMed]

he not bad

[Tonka]

Not to depress anybody, but here's something to think about. Would Chris May fire anybody on his own or would he want the backing of Dr. Pestello? I'm sure if the AD wants to do something, the President can empower him to do it and by telling him he couldn't would take away from his job responsibilities. However, when dealing with any high profile employee, there are often discussions with the President when any big move like a termination is going to be made. That being said, Dr. Pestello falls on the side of believing employees should be on a long leash when it comes to overall production. Not sure how that factors into things or not. Crews is not a direct report to Pestello, so the same may not hold true. But, I would not be shocked if Crews is retained after a mediocre or even less than mediocre season.

Maybe if the big donors said something that would make a difference.

[waldo027]

Keep him now, and the team doesn't improve: clean house.

Fire him now, someone like Platt takes over, and the team doesn't improve: clean house.

Keep him now, and the team improves, probably clean house anyway.

Fire him now, someone like Platt takes over, and the team improves. Now what? Give the job to Platt?

I don't see any advantage to firing him in mid-season. Why give one of the assistants a chance to look good as the interim coach? Then he can say "Look at what I did after you fired Crews, now you have to give me the full time job." Just wait till the end of the season and clean house.

[JMM28]

Jim Platt will never be a head coach of a D1 school again. I can promise that.

Crews isn't going to be fired mid season. That just doesn't happen unless something really weird or criminal happens.

The important part of the rest of the year will be hoping the team improves, putting feelers out to various candidates through back channels, and plugging your nose. Hopefully the team can at least put a worth watching product out there.

[RiseAndGrind]

the most important thing to come is that Chaifetz and like minded donors realize that SLU is a god damn powerhouse waiting to be unleashed.

Its history is its only weakness.

[LindellWest]

the most important thing to come is that Chaifetz and like minded donors realize that SLU is a god damn powerhouse waiting to be unleashed.

Its history is its only weakness.

This actually helps a bit with the latest bout of Billiken induced depression.

Thanks RiseandGrind!

Also. #firejimcrews

[Billiken75]

What about Chris Harriman?

[JMM28]

What about Chris Harriman?

No, no, no. No more gambles.