OMAHA, Neb. -- Frank Haith did not distinguish himself on Friday, not during the game when Mike Anderson's his 30-win Missouri Tigers became just the fifth No. 2 seed to lose a No. 15 -- and not afterward when he basically said Norfolk State was lucky to win.
Clever! I see what you did there! You wrote 'Mike Anderson,' then crossed it out, as if to say that Anderson, former Mizzou head coach, is more responsible for the Tigers' 30-win season than Haith. Classic. Classic Doyel.
Because after all, Anderson recruited all those current players that Haith
Look, these are his words. Not mine. I'm just now finding them after the craziness that was four games in eight hours in Omaha on Friday, but I found his words. Wasn't hard, seeing how he said them over ... and over ... and over ...
In his brief introductory statement to the media, Haith devoted half of his remarks to Norfolk State's fluke points:
"They had two [baskets] on air balls on weak-side rebounds, and they banked a couple of 3's in," Haith pointed out.
Great. Awesome. No, these comments aren't ideal. But, Gregg Doyel, you left off the second half of that sentence. The full quote was: "They had two points on air balls on weak-side rebounds, and they banked a couple of 3's in, but they were better than us going after loose balls and rebounding the basketball which ended up doing us in."
Seems like that last part is kind of important to the integrity of the comment. Leaving off half of a quoted sentence to make your dumb argument seem stronger = bad journalism.
Thanks, Frank. This loss was a fluke. Got it. Not that he was finished.
After Missouri's players spoke to the media, it was back to the coach. Back to the excuses. On the first question to Haith, a question about Missouri's field-goal shooting occasionally being subpar, Haith somehow used that question about his team's offense to talk about Norfolk State's fluke luck on offense. First he discussed NSU star Kyle O'Quinn, then he noted that "there were two air-ball rebounds where they got six points off of." Haith concluded by stating, "So loose balls, air-ball rebounds ..."
Oh my god. We get it. Frank Haith was a little bitter after he watched his entire season go down the drain in the first round against a team no one's ever heard of with a "15" next to its name. We can't possibly cut him some slack?
A few questions later, Haith was asked about the state of basketball, the fact that a 15-seed can beat a two, that college kids are just, after all, college kids. And Haith talked briefly about the tournament, and neutral courts, then went back to his favorite point -- that this loss wasn't his fault. It was a fluke:
"As long as they stay in the game, the momentum, then you bank a couple of 3's, which they did, it becomes a ballgame," Haith said.
Got it, Frank. This loss, not your fault.
Those 30 wins, though -- your brilliance, right?
Given the caustic tone of Doyel's words, it's pretty safe to assume that he just hates Frank Haith for whatever reason. In fact, when Haith was first hired, he called the move "bizarre," saying it "makes no sense, on any level." So I'm guessing this attack on Haith's questionable postgame comments was fueled in part by a personal grudge. And now I find myself defending Frank Haith, which is ironic because I don't even like Haith that much either.
But hey, how's about we look at the facts.
When Frank Haith was hired less than a year ago, the move was almost universally panned. Even Mizzou fans thought it was a bad hire. The fact that Haith wasn't the university's first choice was very public, too, as they didn't turn to him until their hot pursuit of Matt Painter failed. I'm sure all of this affected Haith.
Then he shows up to coach a team of almost-exclusively upper-classmen, none of whom he recruited or even knew. The group had some chemistry issues down the stretch the previous year, which resulted in a lackluster showing in the first round of the NCAA tournament and their former coach leaving for Arkansas. Unsurprisingly, Missouri wasn't picked to finish in the top three in the conference.
Then the team's best player, Laurence Bowers, tears his ACL. He's out for the season. Missouri is left with a drastically undersized lineup--only one player is listed as 6-foot-9 or taller. Frank Haith is coaching a team with seven scholarship players and a four-guard lineup that features shooting guard Kim English at the power-forward position. No one think Missouri can possibly match up with the conference's formidable big men--Thomas Robinson, Perry Jones III, etc.
Then guess what happens? Missouri wins its first 14 games, finishing the nonconference schedule undefeated. The team with a questioned coach and uncertain chemistry becomes the ultimate example of how formidable a team becomes with unparalled effort and unselfish play. The Tigers travel to Baylor, ranked #3 in the country, and outplay the Bears' enormous front line despite inferior size to win 89-88. They rally from eight down with 3 minutes remaining to beat rival Kansas at home. Ricardo Ratliffe has one of the most efficient seasons in college basketball history. Marcus Denmon becomes one of the country's most feared closers. Frank Haith is named the AP Big 12 Coach of the Year. Skeptics turn into believers. They stop asking, "How will Missouri match up against Team X?" and start asking, "How can Team X possibly match up against Missouri?"
Then Missouri beats Baylor for the third time to win the program's conference tournament championship in over 60 years. The Tigers finish with 30 wins, the #3 national ranking, and a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. All of this happens under the cloud of knowledge that 2012 is Mizzou's last year in the Big 12.
So entering the tournament, Frank Haith is facing the prospects of ultimate redemption. After being mocked for months, he has led Missouri to one of its best seasons ever despite incredible adversity. He can give the Tigers their first-ever Final Four appearance in his first year at the program. Seniors Marcus Denmon, Kim English, Ricardo Ratliffe, and Matt Pressey can leave the program they've transformed knowing they've taken their school to heights it has never before reached.
Then Norfolk State happens, and it all goes up in smoke.
The Tigers shot 52% from the field, made 10 3-pointers, and committed only 8 turnovers, but still lost to the fifteenth-seeded Norfolk State Spartans 86-84. No tournament team has ever suffered that kind of loss. 20 points each from Phil Pressey, Marcus Denmon, and Michael Dixon wasn't enough to beat someone named Kyle O'Quinn, who scored 26 points with 14 rebounds. Suddenly, after one stunning game, Frank Haith goes from the top of the basketball world to an embarrassingly early tournament exit. Despite his dream-like season, despite being named the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Assocation, he'll likely spend the next few months answering questions about the uncertain future of Missouri basketball and alleged violations at Miami. Once again he'll hear those whispers--or in Gregg Doyel's case, screams--about whether or not he was the right man for the job in the first place, after all he's done.
So maybe--just maybe--it's understandable that Frank Haith was a little bitter during that postgame press conference. You'd think months of outstanding coaching would give the guy the benefit of the doubt. You'd think his season would be defined by the adversity he overcame and the accomplishments his team earned rather than a few sentences that came out of his mouth after a gut-wrenching loss. You'd think that Haith, rather than the guy who went 18-14 for the Arkansas Razorbacks this season, would get the bulk of the credit for Missouri's success. But not according to Gregg Doyel. And that's a shame.
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