Five players from the University of Missouri ("Mizzou") basketball team have been suspended indefinitely by their coach for misconduct apparently related to an incident over the weekend in which their star player, Stefhon Hannah, had his jaw was broken.
Some people may think the coach Mike Anderson is going too far (mainly the boosters, I'm sure) but I think it's great that a coach has put his foot down and shown that he's not afraid to lose (they were just 12-8 and had only won one game on the road prior to this) for the sake of instilling some discipline in his players.
And to be honest, it's about time something drastic occurred because these players weren't getting the picture. Among the prior happenings:
Wow. Your son and your nephew. That's a lot for one team in the course of two years. The coach is lucky he still has a job - that just means the team is doing OK on the court. This is the kind of punishment all coaches should consider when the rules are violated. Ignoring the little incidents just leads to bigger ones, not including the fact that the team will be decimated in its future games, having lost 5 of its regular players, and having only 9 players suited for each game. Maybe they'll start doing tryouts from the gen pop (that's "general population"). Now that would be interesting.Anderson implemented what he called a "zero-tolerance" policy after junior forward DeMarre Carroll -- his nephew -- was shot in the ankle outside another Columbia nightclub over the summer. Police said Carroll was a bystander trying to break up a fight.
Along with the injuries suffered by Hannah and Carroll, three other Tiger players have been involved in off-court violence or misconduct since Anderson was hired less than two years ago.
One of those was Butterfield, who was arrested on charges of third-degree domestic assault for allegedly punching an ex-girlfriend. He was suspended before the season started but was reinstated after missing one exhibition game and an intrasquad scrimmage.
Butterfield has since pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor, and was given a six-month suspended sentence and two years of probation. He also was ordered to attend 20 hours of anger management classes.
Kalen Grimes, the school's leading rebounder and starting center last season, was dismissed from the team after being arrested for hitting a man in the face with the butt of a shotgun in St. Louis in July.
And last February, reserve guard Mike Anderson Jr., the coach's son, was suspended from the team after a drunken-driving arrest but was later reinstated.
1 comment:
Coach Anderson has not created the family loving environment in which he would like the outside world to believe. If any fans or non MU fans have paid close attention to the way the team has been playing it is quite obvious that the MU basketball program isn't all its cracked up to be. Coach Anderson preaches about family this and family that but what type of "father" turns his back on his family. The chemistry between Coach Anderson and his team isn't there and you can see it in the players. Coach A's team does not have that sparkle in their eye anymore. MU's men's basketball players have always had that sparkle in their eyes. You could tell that they were playing because they loved the game and the team/Coach they play for. Now if you look at the players, they play just to play. Basketball for them just isn't fun anymore. And quite frankly as a fan and alumni, its not fun to watch. I think Coach A and Mike Alden need to sit and reevaluate what type of program they are running. Is Coach Anderson the prayer the athletic department was looking for??? Maybe not!!
Not saying the man isn't good at what he does but maybe he isn't the answer MU needs. Quinn may have done some illegal activities according to some people but one thing he had going is that his players loved to play the game and for him. Every game was exciting to watch.
Personally, I think Coach A needs to reevaluate the no tolerance policy that he so called enforced. Coach A needs to apply that policy to all players including his nephew and son. Coach A should leave personal feelings about his players aside when punishing them for any violations of "team rules."
Just a little advice to Coach A, maybe you should actually check on your players YOURSELF instead of having your coaching staff call other players to check on your injured player. I mean thats only if your players are your family.
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