Mooney--an under appreciated coach.

S

SpiderWill

New recruit
Hi everyone,

I'm a first time poster but long time reader to the boards. My first Spider memory was going in 1997 to the Richmond UNC game at the Robbins Center when i was like 10. While I live up in Fairfax now, I try to make as many spiders games as I can. Anyway, finally had to get an account and register seeing some of the feedback on the Charleston Southern thread about Mooney. I don't think people appreciate him enough.

  1. We went to NCAA 3 years ago and won a game against a Power 5 team that had just won big 10 tournament
  2. The next year we were conference champions in the regular season. While it was disappointing to bow out against St. Joe's in A10 tournament it was a solid year.
  3. We consistently lead the country in FT % and many times are in top 15 in 3 point percentage.
  4. He is very classy and nice and we graduate our players. In short a great representer of our university.
I decided to do some research and see if I was off base but get this. He has a higher winning percentage than all but 2 Richmond coaches. He has a higher percentage than Wainwright, Bill Dooley, Lou Goetz, Carol Slone, Lewis Mills, Lester Hooker and even Malcom Pitt. Facts don't lie. I think fans have too high expectations. Little ole Richmond isn't going to go to the sweet 16 every year. But do we have a better coach than say Davidson, St Joe, or Loyola Chicago--unequivocally!! Enjoy what you have while you have it spider fans!!
 
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welcome, Will.

Mooney's paid like one of the top coaches in the A10. we have a great school and tremendous facilities. we're in a good conference and have a strong NIL program. we've already had very successful coaches in Tarrant and Beilein, so it can be done. are we supposed to be satisfied with 56% and 3 tournaments in 20 years? being nice and graduating players is a really low bar.

2019-2024 was mostly good times (23-24 was a bad season). but last season was brutal. we've played 2 of the weakest OOC schedules ever the past 2 years, and nobody wants that.

Mooney is certainly better than Dooley who's time here was a disaster. his record is comparable to Wainwright's, though Wainwright played a tougher schedule and made the NCAA's one out of his 3 years.

the other coaches on your list are ancient history, way before The Gift and before joinging the A10.
 
“little ole Richmond” - that’s the company line, sounds like you are in the inner circle.

“Enjoy what you have while you have it” - we have the coaching equivalent of Vietnam era army rations. Not exactly something to enjoy. Unless you like clowns, then Clownshow Mooney is right up your alley.

It is funny that this post (and account) spawned shortly after VT correctly pointed out that there wasn’t any of the blind pro-Mooney stuff on this board.

You’re entitled to your opinion but here’s a fact right back at you. Mooney has the most losses in Richmond basketball history. By 123!
 
I have appreciated Mooney and have usually been very supportive. I was the guy on here who countered anti Mooney talk with pro Mooney talk because I felt we had won enough and liked where he had our program. But, no doubt there have been some things that have concerned me the past couple of years. I will get to those after commenting on your post.

1 and 2 I agree with. I loved those seasons and gave Mooney plenty of credit for them.

3. We do not consistently lead the country in FT % ( not even close) and I don't know where your top 15 3 pt% talk comes from. Again, not even close.

The last 5 seasons, we finished 102, 170, 70, 117, and 9 in FT%, and 83, 237, 242, 63, and 315 in 3 pt%.

4. I agree.

3rd in winning % doesn't mean much for me.

What has bothered me lately is the poor high school recruiting, an inexcusable 10 win season last year, and the past 2 inexcusable OOC schedules, along with Mooney's whining about how hard it is to get quality games. Also, I am a big 3 point guy and think good volume along with good 3 point % goes a long way toward winning. Looking at the stats I just showed, I have too often been very frustrated with our 3 point shooting. I have also been disappointed in our guard play too often. This is a guard's game and you need multiple good ones to be successful.

The A-10 season will tell me a lot about where we are as a program. We just went 5-13 in the A-10 last year and the A-10 is not that great of a conference anymore. We should never go 5-13 in the A-10, and really should never be under .500. Another sub .500 or even .500 A-10 season combined with some of the other frustrations I mentioned above, and I could see myself wanting a change like many on here already do.
 
ur2K said:
A few follow-ups to the OP:
1. How many NCAAs total in how many years total coaching at Little ole Richmond?
2. Record vs. VCU?
3. How many A10 final appearances in how many years total
Click to expand...

1. 3 total in 21 years?
2. I shudder to think of it. Not good but again, as much as I hate it, they are the standard of the league. What's Wake's or NC State's record against Duke--although i suppose they've fired coaches so maybe not the best example.
3. 2 i believe.

Of course, if you cherry pick those questions, it's not great, I admit. Do i wish we had a bit more success and made the tournament every year and can we be better--yes. But do i think he should be fired, no? But i know how hard he's working to fix it. When i'm in town I often go on jogs around campus and like clock work all the coaches are in at 8AM
 
Anyone else listen to Coach's post game radio interview? First, it was delayed by at least 15 to 20 minutes more than normal since clearly there was some talk going on in the locker room and Mooney rightfully seemed to me about as down about our play as I can recall post-game. Lopez handled his part of the post-game show quite well imo.

(overall my Coach position is fairly similar to VT's although I may have had more highs and lows based on how the team is currently doing)
 
SpiderWill said:
... like clock work all the coaches are in at 8AM
Click to expand...
being nice, graduating players, and now add showing up in the morning.
that's still a pretty low bar.

if this year's team is like last year's ... a sub .500 A10 team ... then I'm not sure what's to appreciate any more.
and if it's sub .500 this year, I don't know why we should expect differently next season.

but the board's fickle. if we go 13-5 like you predict, I'll be first in line to jump back on board the Mooney train.
 
SpiderWill said:
1. 3 total in 21 years?
2. I shudder to think of it. Not good but again, as much as I hate it, they are the standard of the league. What's Wake's or NC State's record against Duke--although i suppose they've fired coaches so maybe not the best example.
3. 2 i believe.

Of course, if you cherry pick those questions, it's not great, I admit. Do i wish we had a bit more success and made the tournament every year and can we be better--yes. But do i think he should be fired, no? But i know how hard he's working to fix it. When i'm in town I often go on jogs around campus and like clock work all the coaches are in at 8AM
Click to expand...
“I know how hard he’s working to fix it” the only thing Mooney is working hard at is picking out his next suit for GW with earnings he’s stolen from the university. He’s being payed like a top coach in the conference and he’s not even top 5. No other institution that is serious about their b-ball will hire him. If you want a nice guy who will have a good year every blue moon, he’s your guy. We aren’t asking for a sweet 16 every year btw
 
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Everybody has a different definition of what is a good or great coach. I think most of the large donors and board members think Mooney is a good coach who has improved a lot over the past half a dozen years, but not a great coach. He is doing a good enough job currently to not be in any danger of being fired.

With that said, he is not in the same league as our woman’s basketball coach who is arguably one of the best in the country.
 
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Longtime Spider said:
He is doing a good enough job currently to not be in any danger of being fired.
Click to expand...
we won 8 D1 games last year. our NET was 258 ... out of 364.
with our budget, that's remarkably bad.

Mooney's response to winning 8 D1 games was to schedule even softer to pad this year's record.
if he's under .500 in A10 games this season, the only reason he wouldn't be in danger would be the cost to terminate ... not that he's doing good enough.
 
SpiderWill said:
Hi everyone,

I'm a first time poster but long time reader to the boards. My first Spider memory was going in 1997 to the Richmond UNC game at the Robbins Center when i was like 10. While I live up in Fairfax now, I try to make as many spiders games as I can. Anyway, finally had to get an account and register seeing some of the feedback on the Charleston Southern thread about Mooney. I don't think people appreciate him enough.

  1. We went to NCAA 3 years ago and won a game against a Power 5 team that had just won big 10 tournament
  2. The next year we were conference champions in the regular season. While it was disappointing to bow out against St. Joe's in A10 tournament it was a solid year.
  3. We consistently lead the country in FT % and many times are in top 15 in 3 point percentage.
  4. He is very classy and nice and we graduate our players. In short a great representer of our university.
I decided to do some research and see if I was off base but get this. He has a higher winning percentage than all but 2 Richmond coaches. He has a higher percentage than Wainwright, Bill Dooley, Lou Goetz, Carol Slone, Lewis Mills, Lester Hooker and even Malcom Pitt. Facts don't lie. I think fans have too high expectations. Little ole Richmond isn't going to go to the sweet 16 every year. But do we have a better coach than say Davidson, St Joe, or Loyola Chicago--unequivocally!! Enjoy what you have while you have it spider fans!!
Click to expand...
If you’ve been attending UR games since 1997 you should know the correct name of the Spiders basketball venue. Troll?
 
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