Green Acres, got some quick questions for you. What makes you such a basketball expert? Have you ever coached before? Any background in the sport? Didn't think so.
Obviously, you know absolutely nothing about basketball. Or sports, for that matter. Do you think your uninformed opinion matters or means more in regards to the job the Temple coaching staff did this year, or do you think the opinion of other high school and college coaches - people who are in the coaching profession - means more. The answer is obvious to everybody except you. I guess if 99 people said the sky was blue, you would be the one who would argue that it was a different color regardless.
You seem to be one of those who has all the answers. If so, what would you have done different with this year's Temple team? In detail, tell all what you would have done differently. Or for that matter, what another coach would've done differently. Coach Marcum and his staff would probably love to know since they did such a poor job this year. Help them out.
Quit hiding behind your computer, and your black beard, and show us what a basketball genious you are. Enlighten us all with your X's and O's and your coaching knowledge.
There is no shame in winning the district and region titles, then advancing to State and losing to the eventual state champion, especially when no one other than you expected it. You act as if this Temple team was loaded with talent. THAT'S NOT TRUE! It's Sexton and everybody else. A superior team almost always trumps a superior player, and that's what happened in the first round of the State tournament.
You tell me who had more talent, Grace, CSAS or Temple. Grace has three potential Div. 1 players, one of which has already signed with Liberty, another who is a 6-foot-8 beast who plays hard on every possession and the other has already scored over 1,000 points as a sophomore. Who other than Sexton will play college ball for Temple? Nobody, unless its at a very small school and that is highly doubtful. Yet, Temple beat Grace when it counted. CSAS had seven seniors coming back from last year's state championship team. Seven, including Hampton. Yet, Temple beat CSAS when it counted. And your going to come on this message board and diss the coaching staff? Makes no sense. Poll 100 people and ask them who had the most talented team this year and without fail every last one of them would say Grace. Grace's problem was it didn't always play together. And Temple, for the most part did, while riding Sexton's back. Again, that's a credit to the coaching staff.
A coach, any coach, can draw up as many plays as he wants, but if the players don't show up and make plays his team is not going to win. Was it the coaches' fault that your point guard turned the ball over 10 times? Was it the coaches' fault that the tallest player on the court was overwhelmed by being in the state tournament and did very little? Was it the coaches' fault that the only other returning starter from last year's team injured his shoulder and was out for the year? Was it the coaches' fault that there was very little depth to speak of? Was it the coaches' fault that Temple drew the top-ranked team in the state?
Since when does rolling in JV equate to a state title? That's about as insane as some of your other comments. Kemp, Montgomery, Petersen combined for about 1 or 2 points per game last year on the varsity and entered this season with little or no experience. Rector, meanwhile, was playing on the middle school team. Then, Andrews gets hurt. And Sexton, as good as he is, was the third or fourth option on last year's team. Wow! What coach worth his whistle couldn't take that team to the State tournament?
Did you know that Temple was the ONLY returning champion at the State Tournament? The ONLY one, in any classification. What does that tell you? And with one, repeat one, returning starter. If you were at the State tournament and watched all the games, you would realize how important experience is in terms of getting to Murfreesboro and being successful once you get there. I guess you have an answer for that one, too. Right?
I'm sure Coach Marcum and his staff would be the first to tell you they made mistakes. A lot of them. All coaches do, even the most experienced ones. You learn as a coach each and every year just as you do in any profession. But, as the record indicates, they also pushed a lot of right buttons.
Talking to people in the know at Temple, they say the team practiced harder this year than they have in years. Why? That's Marcum's style, apparently. And, Temple couldn't just show up and win on talent alone like they have in some instances in the past. They had to work harder because they weren't nearly as talented as they have been in the past.
Please continue to drag your school, Temple, down. With fans like you, who needs enemies like the rest of us who truly support our schools and coaches....especially when they enjoy a surprisingly successful season like the one Temple did this year. Instead of being so critical for no sane reason, perhaps you should stay positive and do what you can do to help out the athletic program.