The predictions begin

[BBF]

"Milwaukee, with three high major quality senior starters returning, is expected to battle Valpo for the league title and the tourn..."

..oops, sorry, that was the story that would have been written just about this time of year, but for the triumph of craven ego over common sense. So I guess we'll go with this one:

"10. Milwaukee Panthers

The Panthers were a 20 win team last season. However, they easily had the roughest off-season of any team in the league. Milwaukee fired coach Rob Jeter and many players opted to transfer out as a result.

With the dust settled, the top returning scorer for the Panthers is senior Cody Wichmann, who scored just 4.8 points per game a year ago and did not start a single game. In fact, the Panthers return no players who started a game for them in 2015-16. This is a recipe for a difficult season in Milwaukee."

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2016/9/18/12953808/2016-17-horizon-league-basketball-preseason-power-rankings-preview-valparaiso-oakland-green-bay

At least no one will ever be able to accuse the new look Panthers of being fifth-placers.

[dylanrocks]

8. Milwaukee Panthers

"There was lots of angst over the firing of Coach Rob Jeter -- including a broadside from 16- (actually 17-) year radio play-by-play man Bill Johnson -- and former Michigan assistant LaVall Jordan will have to try to make it work with no returning starters. Three transferred out -- Akeem Springs (Minnesota), Austin Arians (Wake Forest) and Jordan Johnson (UNLV) -- while two graduated. Jordan knows about the Horizon League, having played at Butler through 2001 as the "winningest player" in program history. The leading returning scorer is Cody Wichmann ... at 4.8 ppg."

[Skrapheap]

The league pre-season poll has the Panthers in last place. (See http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/horizon-league-mens-basketball-preseason-awards)

One of the true-believers on the eunuch board, MKEPanthers45, thinks they'll finish somewhere between 5-8. That would require one heck of a coaching job by Coach Jordan and staff, because the cupboard was certainly left bare thanks to Amanda "the Genius" Braun.

[Skrapheap]

i hope the Athletic department is suitably grateful to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for running a press release as a Gary Amato article.

[dylanrocks]

i hope the Athletic department is suitably grateful to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for running a press release as a Gary Amato article.

Quoted for truth.

I once tried to explain to Gary that Rob's regime wasn't marked by mediocrity, but by highs and lows. His results were mixed, but things were trending upward.

On balance, the highs outnumbered the lows to the extent that he was the second-most successful coach in the program's Division 1 history, but Gary either won't or can't grasp that concept.

[dylanrocks]

And for a program like this, 20 wins is NOT a mediocre season.

After all, it has had only 13 in its history ... and Rob owns five of them.

"Languishing" at 55-43 over the last three seasons, with 20 wins in each of its two postseason-eligible years? I think not.

[BBF]

"313. Milwaukee
It's a complete wipe job here, as Rob Jeter was fired and a fire sale ensued."

http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/duke-kentucky-kansas-top-cbs-sports-1-351-college-basketball-rankings/

[Skrapheap]

Was trying to decide which thread to post this on. Decided on this one.

This thread has focused on the very realistic assessments of what a depleted Panther program could achieve this season.

For reasons i can't determine :) the eunuch board has not devoted much discussion to the topic. Not that everyone posting there dismisses the realistic predictions; it's more like they all recognize that the team is going to take its lumps this season, but some of them really really really hope against hope that the team will massively exceed expectations.

i won't claim to read their minds, but it seems very likely to me that some of them really really want to believe that only Rob Jeter was standing in the way of greatness, to the point where they almost expect that the mere fact of Jeter's firing will necessarily lead to a drastic improvement in the program's fortunes. Fortunately, the wildest excesses of such thinking have so far been restrained by more realistic folks.

But you do get the occasional comment like the one that claims that Memphis is rebuilding too, so a Panther victory isn't so far-fetched, and (of course) such a win would be a signature win for Coach Jordan and his staff. To which, i must admit, another poster reminded everyone that Memphis is a 15 point favorite.

[dylanrocks]

Was trying to decide which thread to post this on. Decided on this one.

This thread has focused on the very realistic assessments of what a depleted Panther program could achieve this season.

For reasons i can't determine :) the eunuch board has not devoted much discussion to the topic. Not that everyone posting there dismisses the realistic predictions; it's more like they all recognize that the team is going to take its lumps this season, but some of them really really really hope against hope that the team will massively exceed expectations.

i won't claim to read their minds, but it seems very likely to me that some of them really really want to believe that only Rob Jeter was standing in the way of greatness, to the point where they almost expect that the mere fact of Jeter's firing will necessarily lead to a drastic improvement in the program's fortunes. Fortunately, the wildest excesses of such thinking have so far been restrained by more realistic folks.

But you do get the occasional comment like the one that claims that Memphis is rebuilding too, so a Panther victory isn't so far-fetched, and (of course) such a win would be a signature win for Coach Jordan and his staff. To which, i must admit, another poster reminded everyone that Memphis is a 15 point favorite.

Yes. The prevailing notion seems to be that Rob was standing in the way of UWM becoming Butler, Creighton, Gonzaga, Xavier and San Diego State all rolled into one, with no regard for the history or lack of institutional support in the place where he worked. Any observations or ruminations to the contrary are considered "bothersome."

The other widely held belief is that Rob's regime sorely lacked "signature" victories. Here are just a few, all from 2014: at Detroit, vs. Detroit, vs. Valpo, at Green Bay, at Wright State. Those wins netted us a Horizon League championship.