13 Years Ago

[mslacat]

13 years ago a bunch of so called Bobcats Basketball Fans/Boosters forced out head coach and Bobcat L-E-G-E-N-D Mick Durham because he was not winning enough Big Sky Championships. HOW THE <bleep> IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU!

[WeedKillinCat]

And it looks like he has MSUB tracking in the right direction

[PHAT CAT]

Love Mick. I remember right where I was when I heard the news. Seattle on spring break with the angry midget. Peter should of been tossed off a building for forcing Mick out. I'm still pissed and always will be.

[rtb]

I think Mick is a great person and a Bobcat legend, but in 16 seasons his team won 53% of their games, and made it to the NCAA tournament one time. While the last two coaching regimes haven't moved us in the right direction we also aren't much worse off. Middle of the pack teams and no visits to the big dance. Looking back and wishing things just stayed at the status quo isn't how you get better. I think it is fair as an institution to seek change and want more.

Hopefully this next coach is the one that turns it in the right direction. GO CATS!

[LTown Cat]

I think Mick is a great person and a Bobcat legend, but in 16 seasons his team won 53% of their games, and made it to the NCAA tournament one time. While the last two coaching regimes haven't moved us in the right direction we also aren't much worse off. Middle of the pack teams and no visits to the big dance. Looking back and wishing things just stayed at the status quo isn't how you get better. I think it is fair as an institution to seek change and want more.

Hopefully this next coach is the one that turns it in the right direction. GO CATS!

Couldn’t agree more.

[PHAT CAT]

Yeah, I've seen just how well that's worked out. Not worth two gobs of goat sh-t.

[3-7-77]

13 years ago a bunch of so called Bobcats Basketball Fans/Boosters forced out head coach and Bobcat L-E-G-E-N-D Mick Durham because he was not winning enough Big Sky Championships. HOW THE <bleep> IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU!

Look at Durham's record. 246-213, a middle of the packer all the way. ONE very good season, in sixteen years. Huse had eight years to get it right. His guys all the way, TWICE!. Fish, five years out of the same starting blocks as DeCuire, yet the cry was, 'He needs more time!' The MSU culture has been 'middle of the pack'.

[bobcatbob]

13 years ago a bunch of so called Bobcats Basketball Fans/Boosters forced out head coach and Bobcat L-E-G-E-N-D Mick Durham because he was not winning enough Big Sky Championships. HOW THE <bleep> IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU!

Look at Durham's record. 246-213, a middle of the packer all the way. ONE very good season, in sixteen years. Huse had eight years to get it right. His guys all the way, TWICE!. Fish, five years out of the same starting blocks as DeCuire, yet the cry was, 'He needs more time!' The MSU culture has been 'middle of the pack'.

There was no cry for giving him more time. When Fish signed his second 3yr contract it was too soon to evaluate his performance, especially with the totally empty cupboard he inherited. When he signed the second 3 yr contract, fans were looking for much better results. Now, that this did not happen the move was made. MSU's culture is no different than UM. The administration and fans want excellence on the field and in the classroom.

[phantom]

13 years ago a bunch of so called Bobcats Basketball Fans/Boosters forced out head coach and Bobcat L-E-G-E-N-D Mick Durham because he was not winning enough Big Sky Championships. HOW THE <bleep> IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU!

Look at Durham's record. 246-213, a middle of the packer all the way. ONE very good season, in sixteen years. Huse had eight years to get it right. His guys all the way, TWICE!. Fish, five years out of the same starting blocks as DeCuire, yet the cry was, 'He needs more time!' The MSU culture has been 'middle of the pack'.

Same starting blocks as DeCuire? What are you on? A simple question ... what prompted the coaching changes the last two times at Montana? How about Montana State? Not even close to the same starting blocks.

[ilovethecats]

13 years ago a bunch of so called Bobcats Basketball Fans/Boosters forced out head coach and Bobcat L-E-G-E-N-D Mick Durham because he was not winning enough Big Sky Championships. HOW THE <bleep> IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU!

Look at Durham's record. 246-213, a middle of the packer all the way. ONE very good season, in sixteen years. Huse had eight years to get it right. His guys all the way, TWICE!. Fish, five years out of the same starting blocks as DeCuire, yet the cry was, 'He needs more time!' The MSU culture has been 'middle of the pack'.

Same starting blocks as DeCuire? What are you on? A simple question ... what prompted the coaching changes the last two times at Montana? How about Montana State? Not even close to the same starting blocks.

Not even worth your time phantom. He's here for one reason and one reason only...and it's not to talk hoops.

As it pertains to the original topic, I love Durham. Love the whole family. Wasn't happy at the time with how he was pushed out. But personal feelings aside, it's not like we were ruling the league with him at the helm. A change was necessary I believe. That said, we've been even worse since he left and that's a terrible spot to be in.

[BozoneCat]

I think Mick is a great person and a Bobcat legend, but in 16 seasons his team won 53% of their games, and made it to the NCAA tournament one time. While the last two coaching regimes haven't moved us in the right direction we also aren't much worse off. Middle of the pack teams and no visits to the big dance. Looking back and wishing things just stayed at the status quo isn't how you get better. I think it is fair as an institution to seek change and want more.

Hopefully this next coach is the one that turns it in the right direction. GO CATS!

Completely agree with @rtb here. I think MSU had to make the move at the time in the name of aspiring to higher things, even if that didn't end up happening. And almost every single one of us was excited when we hired Huse, so it was a good decision, it just didn't end up working out. Same with Fish.

Personally, I think the problems with MSU's basketball program are more systemic than anything, and until we address those problems and start to make a financial investment in the program, we aren't going to see anything great happening any time soon, certainly not consistently. MSU isn't a terrible job, but it's certainly not the best job either, if you're an outside coach interested in the position. I think MSU has the POTENTIAL to become a very good job, but not without some added financial backing. Easy for me to say, though - it's not my money.

[3-7-77]

I tried to light a fire under BN posters, so some will have enough balls to post their honest opinions. I'll check every now and then to monitor your progress.

[bobcatbob]

I tried to light a fire under BN posters, so some will have enough balls to post their honest opinions. I'll check every now and then to monitor your progress.

There is no excuse for ass-hats like this. You can't stick a flower in an asshole and call it a vase.

[ilovethecats]

I tried to light a fire under BN posters, so some will have enough balls to post their honest opinions. I'll check every now and then to monitor your progress.

You need balls to post on sports message boards anonymously? Guess we differ in our opinion of what takes "balls" and what doesn't....

Plenty of posters have been VERY clear on their thoughts of Fish and the overall direction of the program. I can only speak for myself but there are many factors that play into why I think what I think about our program right now. I could go on like a broken record on a message board but that doesn't accomplish anything. I could continue to beat a man when he's down but I'm also not a douche.

Finally, I wasn't as vocal recently because I thought Fish turned the corner in some areas and overall I wasn't completely unhappy with his season. Players seemed to respond to him in ways they hadn't in the past. I liked that. I was still VERY concerned with our defensive effort and that would have been alarming for me had he retained his job.

The bottom line is they parted ways. I have no doubts he'll be a great assistant somewhere and make more money. I'm more concerned with our program as a whole. This is much bigger than a Fish issue. We have been average at best for several decades now. We need a culture change and so far finding a coach able to take on that task hasn't worked. Hopefully this next hire does.

[imacat]

In retrospect the basketball program regressed significantly from Durham to Huse. Most of us thought Huse was a great hire when it was announced. We patted ourselves on the back for landing Huse while UM settled for Tinkle. MSU went from leading the Big Sky in home attendance to an apathetic fan base. It points out the truth of the old addage ... “Be careful what you ask for”.

I think we should have kept Fish but that boat has sailed. I hope Costello takes his time with this hire, does his research and is not afraid to go against the conventional wisdom if the candidate he feels is best qualified does not happen to be the choice of the fan (booster) base.

[Catastrophy11]

At least no one is arguing the Fact that Bobcat basketball set itself back 13 years, yesterday

[Cataholic]

I tried to light a fire under BN posters, so some will have enough balls to post their honest opinions. I'll check every now and then to monitor your progress.

Somebody said that you were CDA from egriz and CDA is total dumbass. CDA just posted on egriz that he would never open an account on Bobcatnation because that would be trashy. How funny that even a dumbass like CDA thinks that you are a loser. Same goes for Catastrophy... Losers with a capital L!

[CelticCat]

I was for the firing of Durham at the time, and even with what has transpired since, I don't regret firing Durham. We had to make a change. The grass wasn't greener, no, but the grass was pretty mediocre as it was.

Durham was the Jerome Souers of the league on the basketball side.

[Cledus]

Me, during Huse’s last five years when people would continue to say, “I know Huse can right the ship.”

[The Butcher]

I think Mick is a great person and a Bobcat legend, but in 16 seasons his team won 53% of their games, and made it to the NCAA tournament one time. While the last two coaching regimes haven't moved us in the right direction we also aren't much worse off. Middle of the pack teams and no visits to the big dance. Looking back and wishing things just stayed at the status quo isn't how you get better. I think it is fair as an institution to seek change and want more.

Hopefully this next coach is the one that turns it in the right direction. GO CATS!

Completely agree with @rtb here. I think MSU had to make the move at the time in the name of aspiring to higher things, even if that didn't end up happening. And almost every single one of us was excited when we hired Huse, so it was a good decision, it just didn't end up working out. Same with Fish.

Personally, I think the problems with MSU's basketball program are more systemic than anything, and until we address those problems and start to make a financial investment in the program, we aren't going to see anything great happening any time soon, certainly not consistently. MSU isn't a terrible job, but it's certainly not the best job either, if you're an outside coach interested in the position. I think MSU has the POTENTIAL to become a very good job, but not without some added financial backing. Easy for me to say, though - it's not my money.

I agree with these two posts.
It was time for a change, but it hasn't played out like we all had hoped.