Coach Huse

[Cat_gld]

I honestly don't think PF cares about basketball. That comes from several people who know him well. He wants a program that stays out of the news and graduates players. There is nothing wrong with that, there just isn't the pressure to add winning to that mix like there is elsewhere.

Kind of a bummer for those of us who would love to see MSU and Bozeman become more supportive and committed to basketball.

Given what you say is true, and given a high rate of turnover among players and recent events covered in the Chronicle, PF has failed miserably on both counts. I really find it hard to believe that administation, alumni, and boosters would be satisfied with just maintaining the staus quo. If the stadium project is any indication, Pete's relevance to MSU athletics is seriously lagging. He needs to catch up or be gone instead of just coasting to retirement. MSU and their athletic program deserve so much more than that.

[Common Cat]

To say our own Athletic Director doesn't care about MSU basketball has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard on here. Pretty soon it'll be guys on here talking about how PF is the leader of a conspiracy theory against Bobcat Basketball....come on!

[catsrback76]

Typically, drill-sargent types get even more intense when they're under pressure, rather than mellowing out, so I wouldn't count on that issue going away any time soon.

I also think that if a coach wins 19 or 20 in a season and only gets offered a 1-year extension, he'll probably turn it down and leave. It would be seen as an insult.

huse's issue isn't that he's a drill-sargent type guy in my opinion. i played for a couple of those over the years and have a ton of respect for them. you can be very hard on your players and still have them respect you. he needs to be more flexible in many areas, and that most certaib1nly can be learned and often is. coaches adjust all the time.

as for the 1-year offer, coaches, especially those that know they are flirting with termination take those all the time. especially at this level and lower. and so what if he did leave? that is my point. we're already talking about getting rid of him anyway. i'm suggesting raising our expectations in basketball and demanding a coach reach those expaectations in the last year of his contract. if not....see ya. bet of luck wherever you land. in huse's case, he'd be crazy to go do something else. his resume as a head coach looks terrible right now, and it will be a LONG time before he's a head guy at this level if ever again. however, if he was to have one crazy, breakout type season, i think he most definitely would accept an offer of one year. especially when msu was so patient for the previous six seasons....

Inflexible guys generally become more inflexible under pressure, not less. I also watch too much House, so I'm pretty sure people don't change. For example, I'm not going to stop watching too much House.

Huse is MY kind of coach... double down on the discipline!

[TIrwin24]

To say our own Athletic Director doesn't care about MSU basketball has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard on here. Pretty soon it'll be guys on here talking about how PF is the leader of a conspiracy theory against Bobcat Basketball....come on!

Ok, he cares about MSU Basketball. He just doesn't care about a Winning MSU Basketball Team. That's all

[The Butcher]

I don't think it's a dumb argument at all. I don't believe any of us feel that academics should be sacrificed for the sake of winning, but as proven by the football program, academics and winning are not necessarily mutually exclusive. As PF himself stated, fielding competitive teams is one of the components by which MSU coaches are judged.

Exactly. What's the point of having athletics if not to win, build tradition, and make the entire University better by doing so. I think Fields has been extremely lucky with his Ash hiring. Extremely. If you take a moment and review the other programs, you'll see that all but 2 have slid to near obscurity. The women's basketball program is better. Football is marginally better. Compare where we were with track, volleyball, golf and tennis and I think you'll agree that we rarely, if ever, compete. I remember when Fields kept telling me how good our entire program was across the board when he first was hired and for about 2 years thereafter. And, that was absolutely true. In fact, I seem to recall that we won the President's Cup once.........about 10 years ago or something. Other than women's basketball and football, I would give him an F. He gets no credit for the stadium in my mind. That was all done by the President. Do we still have the committee approval for recruits? If so, yeah, that's really worked out (exceptions not withstanding).[/quote]

That is a hell of a point. I remember when the Cats were the Big Sky team to beat in volleyball and tennis around the time Fields arrived. How things have changed during his tenure. I also would agree 100% about the stadium expansion. Remember that in Field's plan horseshoeing the end zone was phase III- Rice came in and made it happen damn near instantly.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

I honestly don't think PF cares about basketball. That comes from several people who know him well. He wants a program that stays out of the news and graduates players. There is nothing wrong with that, there just isn't the pressure to add winning to that mix like there is elsewhere.

Kind of a bummer for those of us who would love to see MSU and Bozeman become more supportive and committed to basketball.

If this were actually true, it would explain why Fields is satisfied with a sub-.500 basketball program. If you win a lot, they talk about you on the news.

[Freecats]

That is actually the offense. It's always been this way, and it will always be the same. But that's not the only limit of a poor coaching.

Ball up the court slow, couple screens, a lot of dribbling behind the 3pts (might as well call it "circling around") line and then a lost jump shot into the "sea". That's what always happens.

No pick and roll, no transition offense game (use of a real motion), poor spacing habits on offense (you often see 4 players stuck on 1/4 of the court without any movement) no defensive habits whatsoever (closest player to the ball stops it even if it's not his assigned player), no big man relationship (high low, triangle offense), and a very flat rythme to finish all game long. There's not a single moment where the rythme changes in Huse's offense, it's always very slow and flat.

The only reason why the 2009-2010 team was successful is because Howard, Johnson and Rush could be somewhat efficient in that set up.

Truth is, you play "slow" ball when you have real big guys (that can score on the post), oversized wings (6'7+) that can actually make jump shots and 3's and use efficiently pick and rolls, and a PG that can REALLY pass the ball.

When you have a team full of athletes, you're supposed to run your opponent to death until you take the edge physically and crush him on that field.

Seems like you guys have a whole lot of passion and I really do feel your pain. Bozeman is such a beautiful College town that deserves a real BB program. The community, college atmosphere, the facilities, the money inside the BB program is significant (you can trust my experience) but all of that goes to waste because of a poor coaching staff.

You guys have all you need but yet I don't think you even have a chance with this staff.

YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN BOZEMAN AND MSU TO BE A REAL SOLID MID MAJOR BASKETBALL PROGRAM EXCEPT A CHARISMATIC CEO

[Freecats]

PF; "Bradley, you guys didn't play too well last night... don't you think?"
BH; "I don't understand, we were 6-2 to start conference with, I thought we were going to go 12-4...."
PF; "Me too, what's going on?"
BH; " I don't know but hey, don't worry about it, RPI is up to 275 this year, just say in the press that the BB team is succeeding in the classroom, JB just had a B in astronomy on his final this am! Isn't it great?"
PF; "Yeah but his shooting %... I mean 1/10?!?"
BH; "hey, we're both cruising into retirement. Fans won't pay your retirement neither will a 50%+ record!"
PF : "Ok Bradley, try to get me a 3.0 GPA team for next year please! And try to go .500 in conference!
BH;" Ok, see ya buddy"

[wbtfg]

PF; "Bradley, you guys didn't play too well last night... don't you think?"
BH; "I don't understand, we were 6-2 to start conference with, I thought we were going to go 12-4...."
PF; "Me too, what's going on?"
BH; " I don't know but hey, don't worry about it, RPI is up to 275 this year, just say in the press that the BB team is succeeding in the classroom, JB just had a B in astronomy on his final this am! Isn't it great?"
PF; "Yeah but his shooting %... I mean 1/10?!?"
BH; "hey, we're both cruising into retirement. Fans won't pay your retirement neither will a 50%+ record!"
PF : "Ok Bradley, try to get me a 3.0 GPA team for next year please! And try to go .500 in conference!
BH;" Ok, see ya buddy"

[defensivearts]

FREECATS post is spot on. We don't have the personnel to run what Huse has implemented. He runs a poor imitation of the Griz system, but he doesn't have anywhere near that kind of player.

Re the correlation between winning and having good students/citizens...

MSU seems to believe that in most cases you need to sacrifice the former to get the latter. But, even at the most 'studious' of institutions, Stanford, they believe that the two are not mutually exclusive. They have statistics that show that a win in football or basketball on the weekend translates to increased giving to the General (not just the athletic) scholarship fund the next monday. The coaches at Stanford, get about three years to win, and if they do not, then, they are gone.

Of course, we are a state institution that is tied to much greater red tape. However, after 5 of 6 seasons being poor, you'd think a coaching change were warranted. MSU, however, operates unlike almost any institution I have seen. Losing is an accepted practice. I think that so many losing seasons has numbed the competitive spirit of the community.

To digress, Ash was not hired to win football games. He was hired to clean the program. Do you honestly believe that PF and President Gamble would have taken Ash over John L Smith, Jerry Kill, Dale Lennon, Mike Van Diest and a host of other far more credentialed coaches if the primary goal was to win? Ash's winning teams are a total accident. Thank God!

And the Huse hire had very little to do with his projected ability to win games. He was hired because PF, et.al., deemed him a man of high character; which he is.

The point is, PF is not really a sports fan. He does not burn when when we lose. He is a typical risk averse government employee who (is a good accountant) is counting the days until retirement. If you think he's going to bring in a coach who may need to rock the boat to produce some wins, then you are mistaken. PF was a very, very, very cautious man when he arrived at MSU. The Kramer experience made him the most careful AD in America.

President Cruszado is the only one who is capable of letting Huse go and asking the board of Regents to eat the $110,000. She was here when Huse was extended and she feels the responsibility. She expended a great deal of political capital getting the football stadium expanded. Huse will be allowed to serve out his contract. After that, we will be praying for another squeeky clean preachers son, such as Ash, who surprises everyone by actually being able to win a lot of basketball games.

[wbtfg]

Its funny. When hide was hired people were nervous that fields would go against the hiring committee and fans to hire his own guy. Now we are ripping fields for the hide hire. Lol.

[Freecats]

You guys must face the facts that Huse isn't going to make it happen.

The equation is simple; 1.you can afford to fire Huse and bring in a decent/solid replacement, then you do it.
2. You can't fire him this summer cause you won't be able to afford a replacement, then you wait until next summer.

Guys, whatever will be decided, you need to know that a quality coach with a solid resume usually has a very high price, which makes me believe that Huse will probably stay until his contract is up in 2013.

But even if he gets a winning record next year, he needs to go. Do you guys realize that Huse is probably about 65-115 vs D1 teams? Huse's record currently marks 80-100 but he has played consistenly about 3-4 D2 teams to start each season to put some wins under his belt....

The record is a disaster, the perspectives for the future as well not to mention the tradition.....

Other question; do you guys realize that not a single one of his former players has continued his career after having played for him? Nobody has even made a low pro career in Europe (played for more than 3 years at 30k a year in a real pro league overseas) despite the fact that he has had some talent in the past (Mbunga-Johnson-Howard-Rush) ?

Guys, if you're still supporting Huse to get another 3 year deal next year (even if he wins 10 conference games) then you're only fooling yourself.

I have some further information about what's happen in the past at MSU under coach Huse reign on the BB team... If you are here defending him because his students are doing well in the classroom, then fine. In September 2009, Larry Swann (redshirt in 2008-2009) got kicked out of the team because he "broke team rules"... anyone ever wondered what he did?

See, the big problem when you bring in juco players is not only that you get only 2 years to develop them (although Huse probably doesn't even know what the verb developping means #Jeff Budinich#) is that they often have a criminal past that it's often hard to get rid off....

I'll only finish saying that if the Larry Swann truth was already known, coach Huse would have probably already lost his job given his record.....

[Freecats]

And again, please stop asking yourself what you're missing at MSU to get a successfull program.

You have a beautiful college town, a great college environment, a beautiful city surrended by mountains, great scholarships, etc, etc.

Coach Huse has NO excuses for not pulling it all together, I know of some coaches that have done much much better than him in conditions that are much harder and challenging than his dream set up.

ps; I travel a lot for work and I have visited the most beautiful cities in the world so when I say you have a beautiful college town, I mean it

[Freecats]

Last thing; when Coach Priebe (the only one that deserved a little bit of respect), who did Huse bring as a replacement?

Georges Pfeifer.

"33-34 in three seasons. This year's team was 8-18 overall and 6-11 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference."

How can a coach with NO success in a D2 possibly help a D1 State program that aspires to become a real mid major achieve success?

So not only that Huse is a horrible head coach, but he also hires a personnel with absolutely no credit. Where can Pfeifer recruit? Billings, Missoula and maybe Boise? PLEASE.

What Huse really needed was to get a West Coast coach that could actually recruit real potential not a farmer with no success at MSU Billings...

[all sports fan]

It sounds like freecats is on a roll bashing Huse with 6 posts I assume that when Huse leaves he will be the first one to apply for the head coaching job of the cats and will turn the team around in one or two seasons and all us fans can look forward to being in the sweet 16 or great 8 of March madness and we will continue to have strong classroom success and NO off field issues

Last thing; when Coach Priebe (the only one that deserved a little bit of respect), who did Huse bring as a replacement?

Georges Pfeifer.

"33-34 in three seasons. This year's team was 8-18 overall and 6-11 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference."

How can a coach with NO success in a D2 possibly help a D1 State program that aspires to become a real mid major achieve success?

So not only that Huse is a horrible head coach, but he also hires a personnel with absolutely no credit. Where can Pfeifer recruit? Billings, Missoula and maybe Boise? PLEASE.

What Huse really needed was to get a West Coast coach that could actually recruit real potential not a farmer with no success at MSU Billings...

[wbtfg]

Who are you arguing against freecats? I don't think anyone here is advocating for Huse to keep his job.

The question is whether or not MSU has the financial capacity to buy out his contract and if they go that route will they be able to find a rising star of a coach to turn the program around.

On the other hand would it be better financially to ride it out with huse for one more year so they don't have to eat his contract.

No need to continue bashing brad and his failed tenure at MSU. I could be mistaken, but I think you're pretty much preaching to the choir.

My opinion is that we buy out the contract only if we have a big time replacement in mind. If not, I think we save the money and ride it out another year.

Btw: I cringed when I heard huse hired priebe. I also cringed when carson and pfeiffer came along. I think the losses of sprinkle, dirden, and Orton were a major hit to the program, as all three are/were rising stars in the coaching world. I have, however, heard good things about t-starr.

[Freecats]

Even if I had the job as the Bobcat head coach, it would take me about 4 years to turn things around because the personnel isn't very good. The team has no talent (no decent bigs, no shooters, no talents, it plays without any conviction and confidence) but I surely would do better than Huse with this personnel right away for the simple reason that I would do things right;


I would adjust the systems to the players (in this case, make this a fast pace team) and not the players to the system, which is what a good coach does by definition.


Huse's system has nothing revolutionary in itself (and is surely not a wanrranty than it will make him win games for sure like we've seen in 09-10), why does he insist running this lame offense that only somewhat worked for him in 09-10 ( the program is in such a horrible shape that a 15-14 record is considered marvellous) ?

Because he is a horrible coach that doesn't have a clue what he is doing.

I am bashing him hard I'll give you that because I don't feel like the comunity is realizing how terrible of a head coach he is, although it is SO obvious.


Anyway, I work for a big time company, I've gone to a top graduate school which has opened me many doors so I do not intend to apply for this job although I absolutely love BB and would like to coach someday but at a lower level (High school).

It's so hard in life to get good jobs and it's a blessing to land one, I can't stand witnessing a scam and someone getting a position while 100 of other candidates could do as well if not better simly because they had a connection with PF and the school president.

LIFE IS UNFAIR

[The Butcher]

Freecats is on a roll... Nothing like 3am posts!

I honestly think if you spoke with the right boosters who are/were passionate about Bobcat Basketball they would pony up the $110,000... The real question is whether Fields is honestly considering letting Huse go. The lack of Huse's success would certainly be enough to justify ending his coaching duties, but once you head down that path of considering releasing him there is NO turning back. I certainly feel like the Cats need to reassess the program, but does Fields? Fields is very much a status quo kind of guy, and rocking the boat is not his cup of tea.

[Freecats]

Thanks Butcher

If PF knew anything about BB, he would have already fired Huse. Truth is, PF is emotionally attached to Huse who has a lovely family (I've met them) and he just can't cut him loose because of that.

I've been emphasizing a lot Huse's weaknesses but let me correct this a little bit in order to be fair.

B. Huse is a hard worker, no question. He is very dedicated to his job and spends countless hours at it in his office. Working for Huse isn't easy, he requires you to work very hard for him (movie preparation, academic supervision, locker room and travel preparation, recruiting, etc).

He does have a few qualities but the problem is that his weaknesses and ignorance of the game are so enormous that he can't balance the entire deal.

Working hard isn't even a quality because in today's American society, you can't even get a real job if you don't work hard. Working hard is a requirement, competency and talent is what makes you a good coach and on that field, we are touching the bottom with Huse.

Talent wise, Huse is close to O even though he WORKS hard. Coaching is an art, not a job. You must feel the game, understand it. Huse has never been part of an NBA team or European pro organization, he doesn't know what basketball at a professional level is like and you can tell by looking at how his teams have always been playing (no identity, no purpose, no real "game plan").

Huse's team always have looked like a bunch of chicken running without their heads between the four lines of a bb court.

Enough is enough, MSU has everything it needs and must get ride of its achille heel ....


See Butcher, I started with the purpose of actually praising him a little bit but then I just think of how his teams have always been playing and I get upset

[mr leslie]

Thanks Butcher

If PF knew anything about BB, he would have already fired Huse. Truth is, PF is emotionally attached to Huse who has a lovely family (I've met them) and he just can't cut him loose because of that.

I've been emphasizing a lot Huse's weaknesses but let me correct this a little bit in order to be fair.

B. Huse is a hard worker, no question. He is very dedicated to his job and spends countless hours at it in his office. Working for Huse isn't easy, he requires you to work very hard for him (movie preparation, academic supervision, locker room and travel preparation, recruiting, etc).

He does have a few qualities but the problem is that his weaknesses and ignorance of the game are so enormous that he can't balance the entire deal.

Working hard isn't even a quality because in today's American society, you can't even get a real job if you don't work hard. Working hard is a requirement, competency and talent is what makes you a good coach and on that field, we are touching the bottom with Huse.

Talent wise, Huse is close to O even though he WORKS hard. Coaching is an art, not a job. You must feel the game, understand it. Huse has never been part of an NBA team or European pro organization, he doesn't know what basketball at a professional level is like and you can tell by looking at how his teams have always been playing (no identity, no purpose, no real "game plan").

Huse's team always have looked like a bunch of chicken running without their heads between the four lines of a bb court.

Enough is enough, MSU has everything it needs and must get ride of its achille heel ....


See Butcher, I started with the purpose of actually praising him a little bit but then I just think of how his teams have always been playing and I get upset

You need NBA experience to coach at Montana State? And running around like chickens without heads seems to be the norm in the NBA today anyway, so in some convaluted way Coach Huse may be right with the times.