re: I still love Will Wade

I love them both.

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s and won one tournament game.

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Such a dumb gaslighting take. It’s so stupid this is reiterate by multiple people. While technically correct, his teams were 3-3 in the tournament and he was not allowed to coach for the games his team won. If he had coached, the team’s record would likely have been better. On top of that, the NCAA and LSU AD were falling over themselves to screw over the team/Wade and create as much controversy as possible at tournament time.

I get it that people don’t like Wade. Fine, but let’s not pretend his teams consistently flopped in the tournament. That’s not true at all.

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I loved WW too, but in hindsight he was never going to deliver a Natty for us.

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I'm not willing to go that far.

He obviously recruited well. And in his first (and only) year operating under the one free transfer rule he pulled in a starter from a No 1. seed the season before (Miller) and a largely unknown reserve from Cincinnati...who immediately became a 1st team All SEC player and 6th man of the year en route to likely becoming a 1st round draft pick.

For 4 years his teams were elite offensively. The defense was terrible and needed to be fixed. I think the fact they were a top 5 defense last season showed he could do it. Wade's biggest strength and weakness was his hubris. He never accepted LSU "place" in the basketball hierarchy and from day one felt the program could be a powerhouse. He approached the job from that perspective and it produced the most consistent period of winning in 30 years. His hubris, IMO, was also the reason his teams were always terribly imbalanced. He 100% believed in his approach and seemingly refused to alter it to fit his personnel. The 19-20 and 20-21 didn't have the personnel to play the style of defense Wade wanted to play. It didn't matter. He played it anyway and it led to terrible results on that side of the ball. Conversely, the 21-22 team did not have the personnel to play the style of offense the prior teams did. It didn't matter. LSU tried to play that same offense...to bad results.

I believe Wade was going to be on his way towards tweaking things to find that necessary balance to be great. Remember, he would have only turned 40 during next season. Obviously, that isn't going to happen, so there is no way to substantiate such definitive statements.

Will Wade reminded me of that rich kid who threw a fit when he didn't get what he wanted.. He was always crying to a ref about a call, very easy to dislike for people not wearing purple and gold.. So getting caught on FBI wire taps doesn't get him fired years prior, but some other violation did? Was this another BS excuse like the athletic department gave coach O?

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Will Wade reminded me of that rich kid who threw a fit when he didn't get what he wanted

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Yeah. Who wants a coach constantly throwing fits on the sideline?

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RammerJammer28

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he was not allowed to coach

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Another reason it won’t be hard for McMahon to be better than Wade.

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ah yes, the "young coach still learning" excuse.

As of last year, Will Wade had been a college coach for 16 years, with the last 9 years as a D-I head coach.

Do coaches keep learning? Sure.

But the "young coach" excuse doesn't work anymore for Wade.

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Before the age of 40, how many coaches have won a P5 conference title? How many have taken a middle of pack P5 team to 4 straight NCAA tournaments?

Look at Cal, Tony Bennett, Jay Wright, Bruce Pearl, how many of those guys accomplished these things in the first 9 seasons as a HC?

What he did in his first season in the NIT game (and the post-game press conference) vs ULL was stuff of legend.

Memory Lane

Wade the Savage

I still love Will Wade so much that each night I go to bed, I turn my A/C thermostat down to 68 F.