Mike Maker Has Got To Go
I write this piece as a proud Marist sophomore, and a Red Fox through and through. Every time the Red Foxes pull out another win or set another record, no matter the sport, I'm thrilled. In my own opinion, basketball games have by far the most electric atmosphere of any kind of Marist athletic contest. With McCann Arena's claustrophobic dimensions, the band's deafening noise, and the fans trying to drown out the band with their impassioned cheering, the feeling of going to a basketball game at Marist is unrivaled across the many athletic programs.However, I began to notice during men's basketball's loss to bitter rivals Siena last week, that atmosphere was nowhere to be seen or heard. Good plays were met with halfhearted golf claps, bad plays with catatonic silence. If felt like i took I-87 up to Loudonville for a game at Siena. It felt more hospitable to those wearing green and gold rather than red and white. At that moment, I had that moment of realization. Coach Mike Maker has lost the fans. Because of this, Coah Maker has to go. Now.
This game came at a time when the men's team is limping towards another excruciatingly poor finish. At the time of writing, they stand 7-22, good for 11th place in the 11 team MAAC. Maker is nothing if not consistent, as that total of 7 wins matches the total from each of his first 2 seasons at the helm. In the name of objectivity, I am not implying that Maker isn't a good basketball mind or can't coach. He was an extremely successful Division 3 coach at Williams College, once making the championship game for Division 3. I am stating rather outrightly, however, that Maker is in over his skis in Division 1 basketball.
Maker's players are not individually poor. In fact, Maker has done a good job of identifying raw talent. Young wing Isaiah Lamb can shoot and defend, and sophomore Ryan Funk is hitting 42% of his threes. Star Khallid Hart can be counted on for 20 points a game regularly. The problem is that Maker hasn't accentuated or improved upon their talent base. That leaves us with several players we are still waiting on to pop with half or more of their college career now in the books. A good coach is as much a teacher and developer as he is a recruiter or strategist. Maker has assembled the makings of a viable Division 1 team, but has yet to figure out how to put the pieces together.
Basketball teams, especially collegiate teams, are often times mirrors of their coaches personality and behavior. An intense, vocal coach often coaches a intense, vocal team. Maker's face and body language on the sidelines often conveys looks of dismay and bewilderment. This confusion trickles down to the players. As a collective unit, they all play 100 miles an hour with no sense of cohesiveness. This has created a team with leading rebounder being a 6'2 guard in Brian Parker, a point guard barely averaging more than 2 assists a game, and big men who can't stay on the court for more than 20 minutes per game. With a lack of cohesiveness comes panic. The Red Foxes shoot approximately 23 3-pointers per game. However, they make just 33% of them, leaving them with the dubious distinction of being 256th in the country in 3 point percentage. A young team that chucks up 3s with reckless abandon, especially late in games, is the hallmark of a coach who isn't taking the steps necessary to develop and help mature his players. The lack of maturity typically rears its' ugly head late in games. Several times over the last few years, Marist has went into halftime with a lead and even pushed that lead to double digits. I don't know if its' because the coaches and players take their feet off the gas pedal, a lack of emotional discipline and/or maturity, or simply lack of talent, but the fact is Marist can't close out games. Ultimately, a 3rd year coach should not be falling into the same pitfalls he did in Year 1.
College athletics at a particular school can sometimes be judged solely on baseball, football, and men's basketball. Too often, it seems as though if one or more of these programs are faltering, athletics at the school as a whole feel the sting. Those 3 sports are what bring in the big bucks. Therefore, if a team has a subpar season, a program must go out of its' way to improve ASAP. During Maker's tenure, Marist has exhibited astounding patience akin to how a general manager would view the coach of a professional team going through a rebuild. When you only have players for 4 years, you don't have the time for a rebuild. When you are losing money because the program keeps putting up mediocre season after mediocre season, you also don't have the time for a rebuild. Maker may have already lost the fans. Should he loose the boosters and/or the athletic director, the clock should finally strike midnight on his subpar tenure in Poughkeepsie.
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