Big game Steve Alford

bamahawkeye

bamahawkeye

Well-Known Member
Another win over a mid-major in the first round, but a loss to a big 6 in the round of 32. This has happened 3 times. Alford has one Sweet 16 appearance in 17 years as a Division I head coach, and that was with SW Missouri St.

I don't love him, I don't hate him. I don't care if he wins or loses. He is no longer the coach at Iowa and I am happy about that now that Caff is in place. And this thread is really about Seth Davis and his backhand slap of the University of Iowa. My point is, Steve Alford is a mid-major coach period.
 
Alford's name is bigger than his resume. This is about the extent of his powers. Sooner or later, New Mexico will figure it out just like the U of I and its fan base did. He will never win the big one, but give you big promises like Gingrich does with 2.50 cent gas.

Snake oil salesman.
 
And iF it were not for Neal he would not have even made it to the tourney the past few years.

Fran can coach circles around him.
 
I'm happy Alford is gone, but he has down an outstanding job at New Mexico, too bad he learned how to coach at the Hawkeyes expense.
 
SirJamaLot said:
I'm happy Alford is gone, but he has down an outstanding job at New Mexico, too bad he learned how to coach at the Hawkeyes expense.
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What has been "outstanding"? I'm just curious, not trying to be a jerk. Two years ago, New Mexico is the 3rd seed, and gets upset in the round of 32. And 3 NIT berths in 5 years, in which he's never made it past the round of 16. A 30 win and 28 win season are great, but if all you have to show for them is 3rd round exits, that isn't "outstanding" to me. He is doing what good mid-major coaches do...beat up on other mid-majors.
 
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Alford is doing what the AD wants; sell tickets, keep fan interest high at a place that can pack the gym. He's got a comfy job there.
 
BilikinHawk said:
Something he could not do at Iowa.
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Actually he did, until the Pierce incident. Once he backed Pierce he lost the students along with a big portion of the fan base. Then the early NCAA exits (NW State) and NIT bids really started taking their toll.

Another big mistake of his was hiring his dad as his top assistant.
 
ssckelley said:
Actually he did, until the Pierce incident. Once he backed Pierce he lost the students along with a big portion of the fan base. Then the early NCAA exits (NW State) and NIT bids really started taking their toll.

Another big mistake of his was hiring his dad as his top assistant.
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That was a huge mistake. Great point kelley..
 
HawkeyeHypnosis said:
Who cares. Didn't we let him go?
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No, he did us a favor and took the New Mex job when he saw the writing on the wall that he had basically failed at Iowa .

He took over a program that had just been to the sweet sixteen, and had a history of NCAA tournament appearances nearly every season.

Under his watch, we heard a lot of promises but got very little in results. The BIG tourney run when they won 4 games in 4 days was impressive, and his first game as Iowa coach when we beat #1 UConn was great, but the loss to NW State, poor recruiting, obvious nepitism, his incredible arrogance and a rapist at point guard trumped the good things he did here.

I do think it's fun to watch him lose.;)
 
Warning need reference in 3...2...1... I wish we would treat Alford like lord Voldemort on this site, and never speak of his name again.
 
The name of the game in college basketball is recruiting and a willingness to play the game with the AAU team coaches. After that it comes down to bench coaching.

Iowa nor New Mexico are going to pony up the money of a Kentucky or U Conn for the best AAU players. It then comes down to finding the best of the rest. Alford didn't seem able to do as good a job in this area that McCaffery seems to be able to do. Looking at New Mexico's roster they had a number of transfers that brought the talent level up. Alford's recruits filled out the roster. When Alford departed the cupboard was pretty thin.

In terms of game bench coaching Alford seems to spit the bit in horse racing terms. He gets rattled then the team he coaches gets rattled.

He is safe at New Mexico unless they tire of not getting past the round of 64. For a Mountain West team this is pretty lofty results. As others have mentioned Steve is in the right place.
 
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