WBB falls to Samford

[hapapp]

Samford beats ASU 63-60 with a buzzer beater. Darcie throws the seniors under the bus once again. I really think it is a bad idea for her to do her postgame so quickly after the game. I really think it is a bad practice to belittle and insult your team in a public forum like that. What she says in the locker room is one thing but her choice of language borders on being unprofessional.

[asutrnr81]

I really think it is a bad practice to belittle and insult your team in a public forum like that. What she says in the locker room is one thing but her choice of language borders on being unprofessional.

I would rather be coached by Darci Vincent for one minute than by Jason Capel for four years. If I had a daughter there is NO question that I'd love to have Darci be her coach.

She is stating the obvious....this crowd has underachieved.....but like all basketball....if you do have good PG play you lose! We have not had great PG play this year!

They are playing for the post-season for the 3rd straight year....

Geaux Darci!

[Appersrule]

Playing for WHAT post season????? As many times as shes thrown this team under the bus in the last 2 weeks they are done with her. This team wont be in any post season other than their one and done appearance in Asheville.

[hapapp]

I really think it is a bad practice to belittle and insult your team in a public forum like that. What she says in the locker room is one thing but her choice of language borders on being unprofessional.

I would rather be coached by Darci Vincent for one minute than by Jason Capel for four years. If I had a daughter there is NO question that I'd love to have Darci be her coach.

She is stating the obvious....this crowd has underachieved.....but like all basketball....if you do have good PG play you lose! We have not had great PG play this year!

They are playing for the post-season for the 3rd straight year....

Geaux Darci!

Unless they turn things around, I doubt there is a postseason. According to Darcie this team isn't good enough and she will be glad when this season is done.

I think everyone agrees this team has underachieved. The question is why have they underachieved? If this was a Capel coached team, it would fall on the coach. However, Darcie has had success and she gets the benefit of the doubt, as she should. However, if the team has underachieved then maybe Darcie has as well. Darcie's style works for her, but when a team loses it's way, I'm not sure the way to help them find their way back is public denigration. Quite frankly, I thought her post game comments on Saturday were bordering on disgraceful. I understand her frustration but she needs to display a bit more composure and professionalism.

I think she has been great for our women's basketball program. She has turned a dormant team into a perennial SoCon contender. I hope we have her for years to come but she seems to becoming unraveled. None of us know what is going on behind the scenes so we are left to respond to what is on public display.

[Appersrule]

Did you hear tonights post game comments? Worse than Saturdays.

[asu66]

I really think it is a bad practice to belittle and insult your team in a public forum like that. What she says in the locker room is one thing but her choice of language borders on being unprofessional.

I would rather be coached by Darci Vincent for one minute than by Jason Capel for four years. If I had a daughter there is NO question that I'd love to have Darci be her coach.

She is stating the obvious....this crowd has underachieved.....but like all basketball....if you do have good PG play you lose! We have not had great PG play this year!

They are playing for the post-season for the 3rd straight year....

Geaux Darci!

Unless they turn things around, I doubt there is a postseason. According to Darcie this team isn't good enough and she will be glad when this season is done.

I think everyone agrees this team has underachieved. The question is why have they underachieved? If this was a Capel coached team, it would fall on the coach. However, Darcie has had success and she gets the benefit of the doubt, as she should. However, if the team has underachieved then maybe Darcie has as well. Darcie's style works for her, but when a team loses it's way, I'm not sure the way to help them find their way back is public denigration. Quite frankly, I thought her post game comments on Saturday were bordering on disgraceful. I understand her frustration but she needs to display a bit more composure and professionalism.

I think she has been great for our women's basketball program. She has turned a dormant team into a perennial SoCon contender. I hope we have her for years to come but she seems to becoming unraveled. None of us know what is going on behind the scenes so we are left to respond to what is on public display.

In my opinion, the snowball started rolling downhill immediately following the 3 point tourney finals loss to Samford in 2011. Whatever Darcy said to the team as a group and to Ashlen Dewart in front of the team started the ball rolling and our women have really never recovered. For those who don't recall, our women broke open a small lead near the end of a very tight game only to see our two best players (Dewart and AFreeman) miss key free throws in the final seconds. I think Dewart missed five FTs in the last 40 seconds that would have iced the game and the automatic NCAA tourney bid. Darcie was LIVID and didn't hold anything back. Four weeks later, Dewart was packed and ready to move to River City. The entire team has been a head case ever since; and Samford has continued to have our number.

This was to have been OUR BIG YEAR with perhaps the best four seniors to play for the Lady Apps at the same time ever...starters Dewart, AFreeman, Courtney Freeman and part-time starter/super-sub Kelsey Sharkey. It was not to be.

A tourney one-and-done would not surprise me; especially if we draw Samford again! It pains me to post this.

[hapapp]

Chuck, I do believe you hit the nail on the head.

The good news is we don't draw Samford. We open the tourney on Saturday with Charleston. If we win, we get a return meeting with Chattanooga. The tourney has been our downfall in the past, maybe this year things right themselves. Unlikely based on our play of late, but that's the beauty of the tournament.

[Goapps15]

I used to think these girls were soft but after listening to last night's postgame I changed my tone. They really do not have good PG play, which is crucial in the women's game. They also do not have a true big person in the middle to battle these teams, and do not shoot the three well at all. This adds up to a very average basketball team, and that is what we are this year.

The main thing I have taken away is the fact that they are just tired of Darcie's attitude. You can only be thrown under the bus so much by your coach before you just say to heck with it, and quit on her. The girls just have had their heads messed with too many times. It is really sad that this team is what it is but it's fine. We will really see how good of a coach Darcie is next year when she has half the talent of this team in a good SOCON next year. She never takes blame for anything it's always someone else's fault. I can't tell you how many times she has thrown Courtney Freeman and Kelsey Sharkey under the bus this season.

We gave Capel heck last season for his player relationships, so why are we not giving Darcie the same treatment. To be honest, hers may be worse at this point. Every game they lose it gets worse and quite honestly I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the ladies give up on her. Just my .02 but last night was over the top and highly unprofessional.

[Kgfish]

I used to think these girls were soft but after listening to last night's postgame I changed my tone. They really do not have good PG play, which is crucial in the women's game. They also do not have a true big person in the middle to battle these teams, and do not shoot the three well at all. This adds up to a very average basketball team, and that is what we are this year.

The main thing I have taken away is the fact that they are just tired of Darcie's attitude. You can only be thrown under the bus so much by your coach before you just say to heck with it, and quit on her. The girls just have had their heads messed with too many times. It is really sad that this team is what it is but it's fine. We will really see how good of a coach Darcie is next year when she has half the talent of this team in a good SOCON next year. She never takes blame for anything it's always someone else's fault. I can't tell you how many times she has thrown Courtney Freeman and Kelsey Sharkey under the bus this season.

We gave Capel heck last season for his player relationships, so why are we not giving Darcie the same treatment. To be honest, hers may be worse at this point. Every game they lose it gets worse and quite honestly I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the ladies give up on her. Just my .02 but last night was over the top and highly unprofessional.

Once again that little old Baptist school in Birmingham has our number. I've never been a big fan of Darcie. Go to a practice and sit where nobody can see you and listen how she talks to those young ladies. Her language could make a sailor blush. As ASU66 pointed out she lost the team after blowing a fuse following that championship game. She has been under pressure to get that signature win ever since and that tension flows directly into the players. Any coach worth their salt knows you can't play scared and be effective. These kids need to understand they when they make a mistake it isn't the end of the world.

Because of her private life - yes I said it - and coaching style there is no way on Earth I even consider allowing my daughter play for her. She isn't a great role model for young women. OK lib's start firing away!

[JTApps1]

Maybe we can hire Samfords coach when we make the move to the Sun Belt...

[asutrnr81]

In my opinion, the snowball started rolling downhill immediately following the 3 point tourney finals loss to Samford in 2011. Whatever Darcy said to the team as a group and to Ashlen Dewart in front of the team started the ball rolling and our women have really never recovered. For those who don't recall, our women broke open a small lead near the end of a very tight game only to see our two best players (Dewart and AFreeman) miss key free throws in the final seconds. I think Dewart missed five FTs in the last 40 seconds that would have iced the game and the automatic NCAA tourney bid. Darcie was LIVID and didn't hold anything back. Four weeks later, Dewart was packed and ready to move to the River City. The entire team has been a head case ever since; and Samford has continued to have our number.

This was to have been OUR BIG YEAR with perhaps the best four seniors to play for the Lady Apps at the same time ever...starters Dewart, AFreeman, Courtney Freeman and part-time starter/super-sub Kelsey Sharkey. It was not to be.

A tourney one-and-done would not surprise me; especially if we draw Samford again! It pains me to post this.

Chuck, I had forgot about that but you are probably right about it affecting the team. I just like her style of coaching and how she holds the kids accountable!

[3rd]

In my opinion, the snowball started rolling downhill immediately following the 3 point tourney finals loss to Samford in 2011. Whatever Darcy said to the team as a group and to Ashlen Dewart in front of the team started the ball rolling and our women have really never recovered. For those who don't recall, our women broke open a small lead near the end of a very tight game only to see our two best players (Dewart and AFreeman) miss key free throws in the final seconds. I think Dewart missed five FTs in the last 40 seconds that would have iced the game and the automatic NCAA tourney bid. Darcie was LIVID and didn't hold anything back. Four weeks later, Dewart was packed and ready to move to the River City. The entire team has been a head case ever since; and Samford has continued to have our number.

This was to have been OUR BIG YEAR with perhaps the best four seniors to play for the Lady Apps at the same time ever...starters Dewart, AFreeman, Courtney Freeman and part-time starter/super-sub Kelsey Sharkey. It was not to be.

A tourney one-and-done would not surprise me; especially if we draw Samford again! It pains me to post this.

Chuck, I had forgot about that but you are probably right about it affecting the team. I just like her style of coaching and how she holds the kids accountable!

While she does hold them accountable she degrades them ever chance she gets thats a fact. Her teams keep blowing late leads and have played the same all year. On the other side Jason when a kid turns it over when he pulls him out of a game he teaches him and has been doing it all year (i know the team has sucked) but they seam to know how to beat the press now (at least did it one whole game, need more evidence) but their seams to be improvement in the movement on offensive is moving the ball and not trying to go one on one.....what i am trying to get at is at the beginning of the year if you would have told me mens and womens basketball would be the number 4 seed going into the socon tourney i would have laughed at you.

Dont get me wrong by saying this i am saying Jason is the coach of the future unless he proves something this weekend or next year just throwing some thoughts out there

[eggers76]

I have always been a Darcie supporter, I like the fire and she definitely revived the ladies program. However watching the game on Saturday, it just seemed like something is wrong and I could not help but wonder if she had lost the team. One player made a mistake in the first half Saturday, she was immediately pulled and Darcie never once once looked at her or offered any encouragement that I could see and to to the best of my bad memory this player never made it back in the game and this was one of our regulars. The players just had no bounce or energy that I could see for playing in such an important game. Several of the ladies seemed hesitant to shoot when open. The team has weaknesses, lack of a good PG and post and their outside shooting can be bad at times. They have the talent to overcome some of these deficiencies but something is definitely lacking. Just me $.02.

[MountainMan]

So what should an AD do in a case like this -- not pubicly, but with the coach? Darcie has obviously been very successful multiple times in the past and she did more here at ASU in the first couple of years than had been done in a long long time, BUT now a team seems to be coming apart, Darcie is not exactly a spokesperson to make one feel good about things, and a senior laden team will lose multiple starter next year.

AD say nothing much and let her do her thing? AD tell her she is making some significant mistakes that must be addressed? Support her 100%? Put her on a shorter leash? Any thoughts?

[hapapp]

We know she can coach. She has a record to prove it. But, her public relations skills have not been at their best lately. One assumes if she is this brutal in public that she must really lay down the law in the locker room and at practice (as suggested by Kgfish). Part of coaching is knowing your athletes and what they respond to. This group apparently isn't responding very well to her at this point. The close of this season and the start of next season with an inexperienced group may truly show us what kind of coach she is.

Her personal lifestyle doesn't enter into the discussion for me. My daughter was a college athlete and played for and with women/young ladies with a different lifestyle. That was never a factor for her and is a part of life in the 21st century. You can't shield folks from the world in which we live, work, and play. But, a person's reaction to it and view of it, is a personal decision and I wouldn't judge how one feels.

[asu66]

We know she can coach. She has a record to prove it. But, her public relations skills have not been at their best lately. One assumes if she is this brutal in public that she must really lay down the law in the locker room and at practice (as suggested by Kgfish). Part of coaching is knowing your athletes and what they respond to. This group apparently isn't responding very well to her at this point. The close of this season and the start of next season with an inexperienced group may truly show us what kind of coach she is.

Her personal lifestyle doesn't enter into the discussion for me. My daughter was a college athlete and played for and with women/young ladies with a different lifestyle. That was never a factor for her and is a part of life in the 21st century. You can't shield folks from the world in which we live, work, and play. But, a person's reaction to it and view of it, is a personal decision and I wouldn't judge how one feels.

Excellent post, Jerry. Methinks we all need to concentrate on supporting both of our BB teams in tourney play. Both teams have their work cut out for them.

[huskie3]

AD say nothing much and let her do her thing? AD tell her she is making some significant mistakes that must be addressed? Support her 100%? Put her on a shorter leash? Any thoughts?

The senior women's administrator should be the first to have a talk with Darcie, and SWA should sit in on press conference to monitor things. SWA needs toremind Darcie her actions not only reflect on WBB but on the university as a whole. Our SWA is Debbie Richardson, she has been at ASU 13+ years.

[AppinVA]

I really like her fire and determination, but I'm sure it can wear thin after a while, without the occasional hug. Dave Leitao, who had a similar style, made a fatal mistake at Virginia following a loss during a Christmas break. His team lost, and didn't play all that well, but judging from what I could see, it was a lack of execution rather than a lack of effort. At the very point he probably needed to encourage his team, he locked them out of their locker room. That team was lost, and he was gone at the end of the next year (that final year was a disaster). I wonder if this hasn't happened with Darcie. I really hope not.

Let's not forget that she won a national championship at Division II, so she can coach. Whether or not that team won in spite of her, I haven't a clue, but I do remember the folks up there lamenting the fact that she had decided to move on.

I really don't care what one does in his or her spare time, but I have found that as a general rule (not always) that parents tend to make better coaches when it comes to managing players. I've mellowed over the years as my children have grown, and I've also learned to distinguish between a lack of execution and a lack of effort. I remember recently being more upset at my daughter for getting a 93 on a test than I was on one where she got a 78, because of the mistakes made and the effort I saw her put into preparing for both of those tests. Ten years ago, I would've looked at the result, saw an A and a low C, and would've praised the A and been upset with the C, all the while ignoring the dumb spelling mistakes that knocked a 98 down to a 93 and that cold she was battling when she earned the 78.

I do wonder if not having an older coach on staff, one that has learned from trial and error he or she could only gain through years of experience, has stunted the program a little.

[cbarrier90]

I love how Capel gets thrown under the bus after leading a team with 2 seniors that didn't have their starting PG for the first half of the year to a bye in the SoCon tournament but heaven forbid we say anything bad about Darcie Vincent who has yet to win a SoCon title and whose team, in what was supposed to be "the" season, is underperforming mightily.

At least Capel doesn't throw his players under the bus publicly game after game.

[Appsolutely]

We know she can coach. She has a record to prove it. But, her public relations skills have not been at their best lately. One assumes if she is this brutal in public that she must really lay down the law in the locker room and at practice (as suggested by Kgfish). Part of coaching is knowing your athletes and what they respond to. This group apparently isn't responding very well to her at this point. The close of this season and the start of next season with an inexperienced group may truly show us what kind of coach she is.

Her personal lifestyle doesn't enter into the discussion for me. My daughter was a college athlete and played for and with women/young ladies with a different lifestyle. That was never a factor for her and is a part of life in the 21st century. You can't shield folks from the world in which we live, work, and play. But, a person's reaction to it and view of it, is a personal decision and I wouldn't judge how one feels.

Good post, Jerry...she may well have lost this team by berating them so severely, especially publicly. Her lifestyle, on the other hand, is irrelevant to me--unless she is doing something illegal or dishonest. And we all know that is not what is being referred to on this thread.