palestra38
Professor
Posts: 32682
Reg: 11-21-04
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03-06-18 10:03 AM - Post#251035
In response to Chet Forte
"The Bagnoli comparison is way off base. Al inherited a program that was at death’s door. Engles inherited a program that had just won 27 games."
Actually, it's a very good comparison. Engles inherited a team that won 25 (not 27) games, true, but it had lost Lo, Mullins and Rosenberg, who as seniors accounted for 54 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists a game. Wonder why Smith actually left? He left almost nothing behind that would be competitive for a few years. So Engles was inheriting not a 25 win team, but one that had to be completely rebuilt, like Bagnoli. And Al took 3 seasons to get to a point where he had a winning record (and remember, he won 4 games at the end, so even there he did a really good job to get to that record).
You have to give Engles a chance. This isn't Ohio State, and despite the rhetoric of being in New York, Columbia has done a lot more losing than winning in the last 40 years. It takes time to recruit to compete and he did not inherit a winning roster.
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